3....2.....1.... BLAST OFF!!!!!

Annnd they're off like a herd of turtles!!!!!!

First service today!! I feel like it went REALLY well!! It was short and sweet and lots of fun! We had about 25-30 people there (depends on if you count the little ones or not!).  I'd say that's pretty good considering we haven't advertised at all (YET!).  There were about 10ish people there who were not part of the launch team- just some people that had been invited and showed up, so that's cool!  

I met with the guy who will be playing elec guitar for us (most likely, he plays bass as well... so we may use him there some...).  He seems like a pretty cool kid, he's gonna play next Sunday! So that's all that's on my mind! Adios!

Greater things are here!!
and yet...
Greater things are yet to come!  STILL!

Getting Closer!!

Ahh the smell of paint, carpet glue, drills running at full speed, oil from the nail gun and so much more! And the sound? A "violent wind" rushing into that place at God comes!  He is already doing so much in providing for us!! It's amazing!! TOMORROW we have our first service!! I am getting so anxious and excited!! We have a sign now by the way! That's pretty sweet! :-p Anyway... homework to be done and breakfasts to be made!! I better go!!

Tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Great things!!!!!

T - 4 and counting!!

Oh man!! We are SO close to launching this thing!! It's getting pretty exciting!! I haven't been able to swing by the church for the last couple of days because of stinking work, but I'm hoping to get to today just to check on things, see how they are coming! It looks like I'm going to be flying solo the for a few weeks, which is ok... I really wish I had more time so I could focus on getting the band together... It just makes me desire more and more the days that I will be in ministry full time and won't have to worry about school or my other job... We have chairs now!! That's exciting! Annnnd, I'm not sure what all else has gone down since I was last there on Sunday, but hopefully the others have been productive!! Anyway... I gotta get! Things to do before I head to class!!

Greater things are still to be done in this city!!!!

"Mini-service"

So today i got a text from Heath at like 9 a.m. Lauren and I were getting ready to go to Cornerstone and i get this text saying that they are going to be at the church today at 10:30 just to have a small service and lunch and all that jazz! So Lauren and I went!! The "service" went well I think... It was pretty much the four main families that are starting the church so it was a small group, but that didn't matter... I played a couple songs and Heath gave a "message"... more of a "here is why we are here" message, just to get everyone on the same page and it was really cool... The more I am with these people and the more I hear Heath's heart the more I am SO glad Lauren and I decided to take this giant leap of faith and take part in this!!

The stage is almost done being expanded and part of the sound booth is built! It's all coming together and the excitement level rises a little more each time I step foot into the building! I'm out of words....

Greater things are yet to come
Greater things are still to be done in this city!!

A few random comments...

Ya know how right after Facebook started (and I guess even still) you would hear something and be like "oh! That is TOTALLY a Facebook quote!!" well... I have come to the point where I am like... "Oh! That is TOTALLY going on the blog!" So here we go...

Tonight I was handed a tract... this bothers me for two reasons... first off, it makes me critical of myself... i get to thinking about why they are handing the the tract... it's because obviously the person thinks I am lost. Why do they think this? Am I not outpouring Christ enough? Do I really just appear to be happy simply because I enjoy life? So maybe I need to work on Christ being seen in my life more... I don't know... the second reason it bothers me is this... I am always handed a tract when I am the nicest it seems... Does the person just think "Hey, they are nice, they will be receptive" or as Robert put it "They are nice! They'll fit in well." WHY do they hand me a tract when I am nice?!?! I don't get it! Shouldn't the assumption if I am being overly nice be "Wow, they must be a Christian because they are being so nice." I don't understand!!!

I was listening to the radio tonight and apparently according to real estate agents if you live near a Starbucks it raises the value of your house... What have we become?

I saw a opossum running across the road just before I pulled into my apt complex, made me think of the days when I saw them in my 'hood in B.A. Ah... Part of me misses those days... Then the other part of me slaps that part and says, "What are you thinking?! You are married!!"


Greater things!

What I Just Learned

Senate Bill 991 establishes the ice cream cone as the official state dessert....

Ahh the joys of living in Missouri!!!! :-)



----------------
Now playing: Barney - Do Your Ears Hang Low?
via FoxyTunes

Coming along nicely...

Well... I really feel like we are finally getting the building up and ready to go!! The foyer is completely painted!! That''s exciting!! Heath (the lead pastor) and I tore up the carpet in the foyer today... we are just gonna put down an epoxy for the floor... we are going to have a little coffee shop, so the epoxy will make it easy to clean up in case of spills and such... the auditorium is completely painted as well!! The stage is currently being torn apart so that we can make it larger! Annnd I have one worship set ready to go for the most part. And I have another being formed to which I need to add one or two more songs<--- this one I'm WAY excited about because so far each of the songs just roll right into eachother!! It's gonna be great! Not sharing what it is just yet though! Gotta wait until my idea has fully marinated and is ready to be used! So anyway... I believe that is just about it for now!!

Greater Things!!!!!!!

The rest of the tour!

Here we go! This is the "Foyer" greeting area! Just to the right you can barely see a door that leads into the main room....






"Behind us" is the door to the main room, you are seeing the main entry door, facing Virginia street, for those of you that know JoMo. The open door on the left leads to the children's church room...






"Behind us" is the main entry door! The double doors lead to the main room... Behind the pole is one of the kids rooms, the next opening leads to an open room and the bathroom... the open door on the far right is the children's church room!




This is the children's church room. At the end to the left is a door to the nursery... I'm standing in the foyer.




Children's Church room from the opposite side... the open door leads to the foyer....



This is the Nursery (Which my wonderful wife Primed ALLL by herself and did an AMAZING job!)... Door in front leads to main room, door on left to the pre-school room (a.k.a. the Rainbow room)




Hence the name! The preschool/Rainbow room! Open door is the foyer... (This is the doorway I was standing in in the first pic... also the doorway hidden by the pole in the third pic...)




Pic from the same doorway, turned around... this is the nursery... as far as the curtain goes... this building is actually in between two office buildings... there is a door that leads into the offices next to us... kinda weird, but will be good whenever we start to grow!! :-) ;-)



Rainbow room from the doorway that leads into the foyer...




This is the "open room" and bathroom mentioned in the third pic... yes... ONE bathroom! We are eventually going to turn this open room into another bathroom!



And lastly... this is from the opposite corner of the open room facing into the foyer!!


Ok! SO! Now that you are completely confused as to how this church looks you should come by and visit!! :-) 7th and Virginia... Septempber 28th... 10.30-11.30!

Greater Things are yet to come!

More Painting... and Pictures!

So, today I went and painted for about 2 more hours... I have plans of going and painting more tomorrow... Yeaaa!! I took some pictures of the main room w/ my phone today... It's not the greatest quality but it'll give you at least some idea of what this place looks like and how it has evolved since we first moved in... imagine the walls completely white when we first came in... and it has now changed to this over the last three days... and will change even more drastically as time goes on!! I'll get some pics of the other rooms tomorrow when I'm up there!


This is the front left (stage right) of the room... there are what could be two little offices just to the left of the stage... one has a funky padded room... i tried to take pics but the bulbs were out and the flash on my camera wasn't good enough. I'll show you once we get some light back there... it's pretty wierd.





This is from the stage... the door you see is the main door into the room. Out this door is the lobby and the main entrance into the building...





Once again, from the stage, this time to the left. The main door is on the right hand side. The door on the left leads into what will be the nursery (Lauren and I think, if we remember correctly!).






Another shot from the back of the room, about where the tech booth will be. The open door on the left leads to the "offices." The closed door just to the left of the stage leads to backstage... it's pretty trashed right now, but I have dreams of cleaning it up one day!



The green-ish color you see is the color we are painting it... it's actually called "Cannon Grey," it's a pretty sweet color... anywho! That's about it for now! Adios!

Greater things are yet to come!

3...2...1... PAINT OFF!!!

So you may be asking yourself, "What is the reason for this blog?"  Well good question! First off, I wanted to start one because of the new adventure my wife and I are taking in our life! Secondly, it fulfills the requirements for one of my classes in school this semester!! Thirdly, I want to keep a bunch of people up to date w/out telling the story half-a-zillion times!! So here we go!

The new adventure? Helping start a church! About 2 weeks ago my wife and I were approached about helping start a church, obviously we decided it was the direction God wanted us to take. Name of the church? IgniteChurch (www.IgniteChurch.tv).  Our purpose is to reach out to the people who wouldn't normally enter a church... In everything we do we will try to relate to the people around us... We ditch the traditions (except the important ones, communion and such) and make our services relevant to the world around us... Seeker-Oriented is the term that I like (stolen from Annie Ruble). 

Today was our first day in the building and what did we do? Painted!! Yeaaaa painting!! Lauren and I met a lot of new people, all who will be involved at Ignite C. We are all REALLY excited to get this thing rolling just to see what God is going to do. I already have a feeling that it is going to be great... One song keeps on coming up in services that I have been attending and I am going to close this first post with the lyrics from that... If you can, please remember us in prayer! We will take all the help we can get!! 

God of This City- BlueTree

You're the God of this city

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You Are

For there is no one like our God

There is no one like our God

Great things have yet to come

Greater things are still to be done

In this city

You're the Lord of Creation

The Creator of all things

You're the King above all Kings

You are

You're the strength in our weakness

You're the love to the broken

You're the joy in the sadness

You are

Greater things have yet to come

Greater things are still to be done

In this city

Where glory shines from hearts alive

With praise for you and love for you

In this city

Greater things have yet to come

Greater things are still to be done here