Sunday, November 30, 2008

Scariest time in my life happened tonight


Tonight I had one of the most scariest things in my life happen to me. I worked at the hopeline tonight and I had a 19 year old girl named Claudia cry her eyes out and threaten to take a bottle of pills to kill herself while we were on the phone. She had been raped 4 times, beaten by her dad, hated by her mom and her sister; she had no hope.

I was really freaking out. I wanted to transfer her to a suicide prevention line, but she did not want to be transferred. She kept repeating "I want to just end my life", "I want to just end my life", "I want to just end my life".

I was able to get a guy on the line to encourage me through the call. We took the appropriate steps to handle the situation. The first 30 minutes she cried the saddest most hopeless and helpless cry I have ever heard. Things finally turned around. I told her about my story and how God helped me and rescued me through Christ.

We ended the conversation with laughs (which I hoped for, but did not think would happen) and she said she would think about starting a relationship with God and try to call back tomorrow.

I wander how many 19 year old girls live in my city who have been through some of the things Claudia faced in life. Ladies and gentlemen of God, we have work to do. There are hurting, helpless and hopeless people that just want someone to talk to. Can they talk to you? Let's and find them. Let's change the face of our city one life at a time.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Whatever it takes.


I am finding that as I open my life to God, He gives me desires. Right now I have the desire to do whatever it takes to get where God has called me to be.

I love movies like Cinderella Man. The main character comes back to boxing after breaking his hand and fights for his family. Literally he fights for his family. Because of the great depression, he has to fight to make it. He does whatever it takes to provide and support them. In the end he wins the ultimate match that no one thought he could win. Great movie.

Fight for whatever it takes to get where you want in life.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my family, friends and my God.
1.God's love lasts forever. God, thank you for your steadfast love.
2.My wife. You are beautiful and full of wisdom. The best mommy in the world!
3.Kylie.
4.Abigail
5.Friends that have stayed close through thick and thin.
6.Friends helping me fulfill a dream to see a city changed through Awaken Community Church

God has blessed me more than words can say.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Kylie Bug


I dedicate this blog to Kylie. Kylie you are so fun! You make mommy, daddy and Abigail all laugh. You are our sweet baby and we love you. We pray that you would continue to make us and all of our family and friends laugh as you grow up. You bring so much excitement and joy to our lives. We pray that God would bring you the perfect man one day to marry. And just remember daddy will buy a gun when you are 16. We love you Kylie!

all things Admin...

I am finding that there are A Lot of administrative things to do when starting a church. I am definitely not an administrative person, but for some reason I do not mind getting things done. One reason is that I have to get it done to get where God wants us to be as a church. A second reason is getting the bank account, tax ID number, 501c3 and all of the other stuff, can be fun, because I am essentially starting a business. I like new challenges.

For now I will do what I have to do to be where I want to be, and when I am able to start teaching the Word to our Hixson/Soddy community on a weekly basis, I will know it was all worth it.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Give it Away...

There is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers that is really catchy. While the context of their song may be questionable, the words stuck with me. He repeats
"Give it away give it away give it away now"
"Give it away give it away give it away now"
"Give it away give it away give it away now"
Very catchy.

Awaken Community Church is dedicated to giving 50% of the money that comes in, right back out to our community and missions. We just want to "give it away". We want the Hixson/Soddy Daisy area to be different because we exist. Could you imagine what a community would look like if a church gave it half of its resources? We look to do this in our community and see what God will do.

Here is the thing; no strings attached. They to not have to come to our church. They do not have to give us money. They do not have to do anything. We just want to bless our community. That's it. We will have some creative and some off the wall events in our near future. Stay up to date to see what we do in our city.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Personal vs. Pizazz.


The word Pizazz means "the quality of being exciting or attractive: glamour" - Webster.
While the word personal means: "of, relating to, or affecting a particular person" -Webster

As I study church planting and talk with people, I am finding many people would rather be a part of something that is more personal, something that they can relate to over something exciting and attractive.

While I totally agree that we should have things to attract people to come to our churches such as all of the lights, camera and action, I believe an attraction to a person and a relationship is more meaningful. Let's continue to be relevant in as many ways as possible and bring some pizazz, but let us not forget, relationships are what people are looking for. Relationships with God and people.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Your biggest dream ever?


What is your biggest dream ever? Do you dream? Have you ever followed through with any dreams that you've had? I had a dream a few years ago to meet with a pastor in California named Francis Chan. I heard Francis speak at a Student Venture conference that I was at and loved what he had to say. That day he became a hero of mine. I thought it would be cool to be a pastor one day and travel and speak to youth during the week like he did. So one day I looked up whitepages.com and typed in his name. I found a city that I thought was his, so I called the number and began to leave a message.

I believe that I was 21 at the time and nervous as anything to leave the message. Anyway I fumbled my way through the message, probably not making sense, and I let him know that I would love to get together with him and here how he was able to where he was in life. I told him I would love to do what he does one day.

Maybe a day or two later I get a call. Guess who it was? My mom. Just kidding. Francis Chan called my phone number. He called, I answered. He asked if this was Justin. I said yes. Then he said this is Francis Chan and I am returning your call.

To make a long story short, we chatted, he believed in me and said he would meet me. I flew out to LA and met him at a Student Venture conference where he was speaking. He and his family came to pick me up where I was staying and we talked for an hour or so. I learned a lot.

Two dreams happened. One is I met with a hero of mine. The second is that I just started Awaken Community Church and am now a pastor. I am also starting to travel and speak more and more.

Although dreams may not happen right away (it took me 6 years), they can happen.

Follow Jesus and dream big.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

We Are Family


Just wanted to say congratulations to my sister and new brother-n-law. Daniel and Heidi united as one this past weekend. I love you guys and wish the best for your future.

I pray for you Daniel that you would love your wife like Christ Loves the church. I pray for you Heidi that you would trust and submit to Daniel's leadership as your husband. God bless you in your future together.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Awaken Community Church... Now

I have been studying, praying, asking, listening, thinking and everything else there is to know about church planting. Today I go. Awaken Community Church will be starting in Hixson/Soddy Daisy area. We will begin informational meetings in the next few weeks. We will simply get to know one another, teach the Bible, talk about core values and sing to Jesus.

I'm 27 and do not have my masters in anything. Many would say that I am set up for failure. All I know is that in my journey of this thing called life, God made me to preach His Word, so I will obey His command.

I thank God that He has equipped and prepared me to be apart of making history in Chattanooga. I pray that our community would be better off because Awaken Community Church is in existence. Thank you God. May you receive all glory, honor and praise for who You are and what You are doing.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

My baby Abigail


I love both of my girls. Kylie is 2 years old. Abigail is 7 months. I will dedicate this blog to Abigail.

My prayer is that Abigail will grow up and marry a godly man. I pray that with her sweet smile she'll bring warmth and comfort to her family and friends. I pray that she would love Jesus and make His name known throughout the nations. I love you Abigail and with God's strength, I will continue to be a godly daddy for you.

New Life

I love to teach the Word of God. The book. The Bible. It is amazing to see the life change that it can bring to one's life. While four students gave their lives to Christ last night at Student Venture, many others were challenged to embrace the sovereignty of God in their lives.(Ephesians 1:3-7)

I think people really want to live. Not just exist, but live. If we understand that God is in control and we submit to Him, we will see His greatness and our freedom, then we will begin to truly live.

Today embrace the sovereignty of God.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Preaching


I absolutely love studying the topic of communication. It is such an art. Preaching for example, on average you have 30-40 minutes; what do you say? I love to hear guys that can capture the attention of a room full of people that range from 8-80 in age. It is so interesting how you can say the right words in the right way and captivate an audience. Of course the other side is that you choose the wrong words and your audience is nodding off or counting down the time until you stop talking about whatever it is that you are talking about.

Andy Stanley and Lane Jones have written the book "Communicating for a Change". Andy is an incredible communicator and basically tells you everything he does. I believe that while you are your own preacher and need to be original with your preaching, you can still take this format and apply it. This book is a must buy for any kind of communicator. Here are a few random thoughts that I like to use from the book:

One Point: Talk about one point and build illustrations, stories around it. Just one point. Not five. Not even three. One.
Sticky statement: When you find your one point, fashion a sticky statement and say it throughout your message over and over. A sticky statement is a short statement that gets your point across.
Story: Jesus always used illustrations and parables. People love stories! Use them near the beginning of your message to draw people in.
Tension: build tension right before you bring the Word. Create a problem or a question that people are dying for you to answer, then bring Gods Word to answer it.
Apply it: Its great to find the context of the culture back in the day, but make sure the audience knows how to apply it to their marriage, finances, kids, work...
Vision: Cast vision as you close your message to say "Could you imagine if we applied this to our lives, what our community would look like."

Great book. I hope this helps you in your communication journey. Everyone has their one book that they refer to everyone, this is mine. Buy the book.

Life is hard

Life is hard sometimes. I often have my ups and downs in life just like the next guy, but I like to evaluate the ups and downs. When I get through the good or bad times in my life, I look back and see how I responded. If I responded without faith, I realize it and repent. If I responded by faith, I praise God and pray that He would continue to fashion me so that my life would look more like Jesus.

I am in a season right now where times are tough and God is in the process of building my faith. When times are hard, people either turn to faith or fear; they trust God or they don't.

I am learning that I have no fear when I realize the sovereignty of God. And when I realize His sovereignty I am satisfied in Him. And when I am most satisfied in God, He is most glorified in my life.

Today I choose faith. Today I will trust in God's sovereignty to get me to tomorrow. It's my only hope. How about you? How do you respond in tough times?