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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.