War!

We are eight weeks from our launch!

One thing that has become abundantly clear the closer we come to our launch date, is that the enemy does not want us to succeed! For every story like the ones I wrote about in last weeks post, and there are many, there are testimonies of our committed core group who are being attacked by the enemy in various ways. Many are becoming ill, others are having issues come up with their jobs, problems with their kids at school and the list goes on.

In essence we are eight weeks from launching. Eight weeks from going into a part of Katy that many Christians and churches are trying to get out of. In eight weeks we are bringing the gospel in a way that bridges the Anglo/Hispanic divide and says not just with its words but with its actions as well that a "child of God" is a "child of God" nothing less and nothing more. In eight weeks we say to the stronghold that would seek to keep the church from going into this territory and reaching it for Christ that "WE ARE COMING, WE WILL FORCEFULLY ADVANCE THE CAUSE OF CHRIST!"

This week would you pray? Would you fast? For protection for those called to go! Would you ask for miraculous victories in health, job, family, witness for those who are going to reach this area for Christ!
Would you consider taking 8 minutes per day this next week, one for every week between now and our launch, and intercede for our volunteers?

Thanks for joining us in this adventure for the kingdom!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua, Tate

9 Weeks!

Yes, it is hard to believe but we are only 9 weeks from our launch! There is so much that still remains to be done! Pray that God gives us wisdom and diligence to do everything that HE wants done and to let go of the things we might have planned that don't fit into His plans!

Last week I met with KATY ISD and the custodians at the school we will be meeting in. The head custodian of course was Hispanic and spoke very broken English. AS soon as i began to speak in Spanish her eyes light up and a big smile crossed her face. Throughout the hustle and bustle of explaining what we would need on a typical Sunday i mentioned to her that she should bring her family with her. Even though she had to work they could come with her and participate in the Spanish service and have fun with the kids. That way even though she needed to work it could be something they could still do together as a family! She loved the idea and said that they occasionally went to Lakewood but it was an hour commute for her so they would love to be able to come! - Pray for her and her family! Pray for all the custodians who will be in a similar situation! That they would come to know the Lord and be able to worship and serve together as families on Sundays!

Yesterday Kim was checking our mail and she heard Jesus Culture music blaring from down the street. She decided to go see who was listening to Kim Walker and low and behold there was an Hispanic man all tattooed up! Kim asked him if he was listening to Jesus Culture and with a shocked look, (young Hispanic men that are covered in tattoos usually are not engaged in conversation by white young women on the street, rather they are avoided at all costs), he asked: "Are you a Christian?" of course Kim said yes to which he replied: "I am not a Christian, I was raised Catholic but don't go anywhere, but I love this Jesus Culture music. Do you listen to Jesus culture?" Kim went on to explain that we were Christians and loved to worship through good music. we were familiar with Jesus Culture and that we were starting a bilingual church just a few blocks away and she would love to introduce him to her husband. He got supper excited and so I will get to meet him today or tomorrow! - Pray that God gives me ears to hear and eyes to see and His truth to speak into this mans life that he would come to know Jesus as his savior and Lord!

Finally we are in full planning and prepping mode for "Night In Bethlehem". - Pray that God would bring all things together and that we would be able to share the true meaning of Christmas in a way that reaches the families who are lost in North East Katy!

We love you and appreciate you all!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua and Tate

Never Alone

The picture above is a picture a dive instructor at a national park in Cozumel Mexico took last month of me when I was taking the boys on their first ever snorkeling  adventure. Kim and I decided to book a cruise a couple of days after the Carnival ship broke down at sea earlier this year. The thought was, they will be hurting for business after the negative publicity and cruises will be cheap! Indeed, we were able to take the whole family on a cruise for about $200 per person, but I digress.  

As the boys and I were snorkeling at Chankanab National Reef, one of my favorite places in the world, I got the boys some life jackets and took them out to about 60' depth. I knew the would love seeing the above statue. This statue of Jesus on the cross is about 30' tall and was placed out in the outskirts of the shore-line reef as a way to seek Gods blessing and safety from hurricanes destroying the reef. It truly is an amazing sight. 

________

As we prepare to go into North Katy we are entering an area where most people don't know Jesus. Many don't even know who He is or was much less have a relationship with Him! For most of them He is that God to turn to in times of trouble or need. I think the enemy would rather it stayed that way.

This week as you pray and fast, pray that God would begin to soften the hearts of those who live in North East Katy. That God would begin to plant a seed and a need in their lives! One that could only be filled by His Son Jesus! 

Then pray that God would use "Night in Bethlehem" and our other means to draw them to Himself! But not just a knowledge of Who He was, rather, Who He IS!

Pray for protection for our family and all those who are committed to going and seeing His kingdom come there!  Many of us have started feeling and seeing the enemy raise up attack against us in personal and meaningful ways. Pray that this would only strengthen our resolve! 

Pray for favor and remaining staff that we need. That God would bring His perfect people for the tasks at hand!

We can't thank you enough!

____________

The best part of seeing the statue above, for the fourth time in my life, was that it wasn't just me, my boys were with me! It is always better experiencing the presence of Christ with others with whom we can share the experience. Thank you for sharing in the experience of launching new work in North Katy with us!!!!

Thankful!

Today I am thankful. Thankful that my biggest problems are trying to get volunteers for north campus. Thankful that when things get tight financially for me it comes down to having to eat Mac and Cheese or peanut butter and jelly versus having to choose to not eat so my sons can eat or even worse not eat at all. God IS good! I am thankful He has blessed us in spite of  who I am. This week there are many things we need prayer for. BUT this week I pause and ask that you would pray for a brother of mine.

Samuel is a gentleman I met while serving in Carrollton. He is from Pakistan. Samuel loves the Lord and many of his family live with him in the Dallas area. I think of all the times he and I talked about me going to Pakistan with Him. This was a deep desire of mine however God never saw fit to make it work out in the years I lived in Carrollton.

Many of you might have heard about the bombing at a church in Pakistan a few days ago. Some of Samuel's family and several of his friends were victims of the bombings. My heart is heavy for Samuel and his family! My heart hurts for our brothers and sisters who lost loved ones in the bombings.

Today would you pray for Samuel and his family! Pray for all those brothers and sisters who lost loved ones! pray for the hundreds who are still injured who need medical care yet have no means to afford it!

Below is an email i received with an update from them and some video shot immediately after the explosion and some pics. I warn you they are gruesome and i hesitated to post them here but this is what persecuted Christians all around the world deal with and this Sunday as we worry about choosing where or what we will  eat, may we be reminded to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who have far more serious things on their minds as they leave church.

Please Pray with us for them!



Here are some pictures and a video that the Pashi's sent me after the bombing in Pakistan.  The video is right after it happened so very graphic and bloody.  Dave & I spent some time with the family tonight and know they would be happy for you to call and pray with them.  The American church really needs to be aware of what is happening there, right after the bombing there were Muslims that wanted to come in to "help people" when they later let them in what they did was steal wallets & things off of dead bodies.  Although some of the original reports said 85 people died the death count is more like 200-300, many died after because they couldn't get medical care.  The youngest sons father in law was injured and taken to 3 different hospitals before he was able to get care,thankfully because his sons could afford care he is recovering.  There are also many children who are now orphans.  Money is needed to help pay for medical care for those injured, many are very poor because of discrimination because they are Christians.  Money can be sent to the diocese there to help the people

Calling on you!

Kim and I can't begin to express how important you are to us!

We are now two weeks into our volunteerism campaign and while things seem to be going well and we hear great things from everyone our signups have not been great! we have roughly 80 signups and most of those are for one week a month. So that comes out to around 20 volunteers per week. While that number doesn't seem so bad I am ever reminded that we are launching with two services. We have between 40 - 50 people who have said they plan on making North campus their permanent campus so combined with the 20 volunteers per week that makes about 60 - 70 people per week or 30 - 35 people per service as volunteers. If all of these are serving then that only leaves us with 30 people per service that are not serving and are creating critical mass.

Needless to say The enemy is trying to have a hay day with Kim and myself. We have felt a little discouraged and an overwhelming since of discouragement the past few days. I know that these are an attack of the enemy. I know God has called us here! I know God has called Grace to North Katy! In fact as I was writing this I was writing an entirely different blog but had stopped mid way through for a weekly meeting with Bette and we prayed about some of the logistical concerns and feel that God has shown us how to navigate through them. HE is good!

AS you pray, pray for peace, patience, and faith to continue to overcome any attack from the evil one! Pray that God would rise up the army He wants to fulfill His purposes!

Thank you for standing in prayer with us!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua and Tate

We are back!

We are back from a much needed family vacation. Much needed in the since that we were trying to be proactive. Knowing that the Volunteerism campaign would begin September 15th. we decided to get the family away before the craziness started. God blessed us with the opportunity to take the boys on their first cruise ever. We were able to book one for dirt cheap the week after that Carnival Ship broke down at sea earlier this year. It was good to spend time just the five of us with no phone access or Internet. We enjoyed lots of rest, lots of fun and food and Gods beautiful Creation as well!

Now we are back and indeed the business has begun. we launch in just 3 short months!

As you are praying for our family and ministry please pray for peace, patience, endurance and hundreds of people to be called to help us reach the lost of North Katy!

Thanks

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua, Tate

Boot Camp

I will be spending this week here in Dallas for a church planting "Boot Camp" will you be praying with me that God will speak too and enlighten me for what He has in store for us at Grace Fellowship North?

Thank You!

Answered Prayer

We have been here in Katy for seven months now! Hard to believe but true!

Summer is drawing to a close and things are going to pick up real quickly this fall as we prepare for the launch of North Campus.

One of our prayers in coming here and over these past few months has been that God would show favor on our home and relationships and He certainly has!

I believe I have written about the neighborhood boys that play basketball every day in our driveway or now it is football in the yard. Anyways, God has opened doors for us to minister to them and some of them have started coming to church with us on Sundays! we are supper excited about this!

Sunday night one showed up on our doorstep at midnight with a sheriffs deputy looking for a place to stay. It seems his situation at home is abusive so we housed him for the night and have been in contact with CPS and the sheriffs department several times since trying to get it all squared away. Needless to say NOT FUN! however God has shown us that these kids see us as a safe place, a refuge. Really what they see is Jesus and that is exactly what we are here for!

As you pray, ask God to watch over Victor and work this situation out in a way that both he and his parents come to Jesus! Pray for strength for Kim and I both emotionally and physically! two sleepless nights begin to wear on you quickly when they are as emotionally draining as well.

Pray for me as i head off to Dallas to attend a United Methodist Church Planting Boot Camp. Pray for patience for me! Everything they will be teaching is stuff I have been doing over the past seven months but it is a requirement from the denomination for us to get the funding they have promised us. So I will go!

Pray for Kim and the boys as they stay here alone.

Thank you all!

Jeff

Obedience and Change!

Kim and I will have been married for thirteen years on December the 16th! This past Saturday I was blessed to marry one of our former youth to a young man and at the reception the D.J. had couples get out on the dance floor and then by years of marriage take a seat. In the end there were two couples left, one had been married 55 years and the other 57 years. What a legacy and rarity these days! As I sat there in my seat looking at the two couples I couldn't help but wonder what adventures and surprises they must have experienced throughout their marriages?

As we were driving back to Katy Kim began to experience some sever chest pains that just wouldn't go away. So this morning she went to the doctor, after much prodding on my part, and she is fine! but the reason I tell you this is the experience she had at the doctors office.

As Kim and I have just moved here we have yet to find a family physician. So the couple of times we have been to the doctor over the past six months we have just gone to a minute clinic kind of place up here near the house. The lone doctor is a great guy! His dad is a pastor who migrated here from Haiti his son grew up in the U.S. and graduated from medical school here in the U.S. I assume he is running this clinic because his accent is very thick and he is trying to build his reputation, thus is on his own. I have to add that he is the most thorough doctor I have ever been too.

Today as Kim went to see him he asked where I was? We had told him I was a pastor starting a satellite campus in north Katy back in January and he had not only remembered but wanted to know where I was because he said he had been thinking about me and praying for some time hoping we would come back in because God had given him a word for me. You can imagine what a shocker it was for us that him being so busy and treating so many people as the lone doctor that he even remembered us, but he did. He went on to tell Kim that the Lord had told him to tell us that God was getting ready to do something bigger and better than we expected but that it was going to be different than we had planned. That we needed to just live out each day obeying His prompting and that God would take care of the rest!

What an encouragement and a challenge! We know God wants to do something bigger than we could dream or imagine! We need to be faithful in the little things and obedient to His prompting and prepare ourselves because it is going to be something we wouldn't have pictured on our own! These are great words for us all!

I'm sure, God willing, when Kim and I reach 57 years of marriage, much of what we will have experienced won't have been what we would have planned.  But it will have drawn us together and taken us through an amazing adventure. In fact that has already been the case every step of our young thirteen year marriage.

The same is true for the church, Jesus' bride as well!

As you pray for us pray for us to be obedient and faithful in the little things! That they may add up into a collective big thing that we could never dream or imagine!

Pray for Paul Saavedra our new worship leader for the north campus!

Pray for our awesome team of volunteer leadership!

Pray the Lords will will be done!

Thanks!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua and Tate

God Knows Best!

Wow how time fly's when your having fun!

We have been in Katy now since January and have loved every minute of it. The weather hasn't been as bad as everyone made it out to be, of course we haven't been here during August or September, which everyone says are the worst months. Here's to hoping though, right?

God has been amazing in making the transition and move seem relatively smooth. The boys adapted to a new school, mid year, fairly quickly. After some searching God lead us to the perfect house for us! We started with a new small group on our first Sunday here and made some great relationships with friends who have kids our boys age and more than anything have really enjoyed living life with them.

One thing I didn't anticipate is the amount of behind the scenes work needed to launch a new campus. It is like having all the work of planting a church along with learning and carrying over the DNA of another. So I have been a student of Grace Fellowship as well as a student of what it takes to start a new church all at the same time! Fortunately Grace Fellowship is the kind of church i would want to be a student and member of even if I were not working here. I have already learned so much sitting under the leadership here and God has expanded my capacity to soak it all in in a short amount of time. It has been fun!

As many of you know, we had determined to launch in a retail space and had located a great spot but that fell through while I was overseas meeting and working with the field workers among the UPG's we have adopted.

So much of the last few weeks has been spent trying to determine where God would have us launch. Last week some of our leadership core of volunteers for the North Campus met together and went and toured various schools and unanimously decided on one where we will begin holding services in January. The same day Bette (you can find out more about her in a previous post titled "Sorry" on April 16th) and I met with the executive director of the YMCA and found out that they wanted to partner with us in our endeavors to minister to the community in North Katy. In short they are going to pour resources and materials as well as launch a new program and they will start with the school we launch our services in!

God is good! and we will be able to make a major impact among the families of north Katy and the school we are meeting in for several months before we ever ask them to attend one of our events. This is how it should be!

Please pray that God will help our contract with Katy ISD go through quickly and without a hitch! Pray for the meeting we have set up between YMCA, Grace Fellowship North and The Elementary school staff as we begin this partnership. Pray that families lives would be touched with the love of Christ and we would earn the right and respect to be able to share about Christs ultimate act of love and that they would come to receive the gospel! Pray that as we begin to maximize the facilities and purchase "church in a box" that we can get all we need to do worship services with excellence yet that can be portable!

Thanks!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua, Tate

House of Prayer for All Nations

Our vision at Grace is to be a house if prayer for all nations. Wednesday night we met with our core team of volunteer leaders. 30+ showed up! Representing around 17 nations and 6 different states! I'm excited to see where God grows us from here!

A couple of immediate prayer requests are:

1) I am preaching at the original campus Sunday. Pray the Holy Spirit speaks trough me and begins a revival work at Grace!

2) We will hopefully decide on a location this next week. Pray God leads us to where He wants us and where we will have the most impact for His Kingdoom!

3) July 14th we will have a guy lead worship at grace so we can get a sense as to weather or not he might be whom God wants to lead at north campus. Pray God will reveal His will clearly!

As always we love and appreciate you all!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Josh and Tate

Thank You!

Well I know it has been a while since our last update to you all! So much has happened since our last post!

I spent the last couple of weeks in South East Asia! God's blessing in sending me to spend a few days alongside our field workers reaching our UPG's (Unreached People Groups) was amazing! just getting to walk a day in their shoes was so incredible and humbling! These are people on the front lines. They know first hand what it is to suffer for the cause cause of Christ. Yet I never heard one of them complain, they took it all in stride. Many of them had experienced first hand spiritual attack on their families and yet they just kept on going as if that were an every day norm. I remember wondering how many of us so called "christians" here in the US would just keep going on if we faced trails and tribulation like our field workers over there. IF the preacher didn't preach that God wanted "our best" and to "bless" us all the time? IF the "prosperity gosple" that is so prevalent in our society didn't exist how many "christians" would stop coming to the church?

Lord help us to check our devotion and motivations for wanting a relationship with you! Teach us that You are worth having a relationship with because of Who You are, not because of what You can do for us!

The latter part of my time there was spent on another island where we brought all of our field workers that work with the UPG's Grace has adopted, and put on a retreat for them. What an amazing time! Giving them a chance to gather with other believers and worship, pray and hear God's word preached! Being that they work with people groups that are 100% Muslim most of them have no church to go too. Many of them haven't worshipped corporately in over a year! We served communion the last day of the retreat and some hadn't taken communion in over two years! We had activities for the kids during the mornings, sort of like a mini vbs while Wayne led worship and I preached for the adults. This still brings tears to my eyes as I remember watching these faithful worship and be filled and refreshed by the Spirit. You could visibly see it happening as the prayed and worshiped corporately unhindered for the first time in over a year for many of them.

In the afternoons we gave them free time to just be families and we divided our team up into teams of two and scheduled 2 hour intensive prayer times with the field workers and their families individually so our prayers could be specific and targeted to each of their needs.

I heard so many miraculous stories of hod God is moving and manifesting to and through their work that I could spend the next year writing them here. If you would like to hear some we will be sharing at Grace this Sunday during both services in room M203!

Once back in the US our family took some much needed R&R and went to New Mexico with Kim's family! Kim's dad took us all for a whole week to Angle Fire and I got to spend uninterrupted  time with the boys exploring, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, 4x4 trailing! We saw more elk and deer than we could count. Caught trout and salmon, and had a blast!

Thank you for all your prayers for me while I was abroad and for Kim and the boys back home. Kim faced some spiritual attack while I was abroad and being able to email some of you knowing that you would drop everything and pray was so comforting to me and so effective in ceasing the attack of the enemy here in Katy at our home. You all mean more than you will ever know!

Below is a link to some photos from my time abroad. I couldn't post photos with the field workers online but these can give you some of an idea where we were and what we were doing!

Photos from trip

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua and Tate

Travel Mercies

Just as the title of this book says, this is what we long for and what we are seeking! Sunday I will head off to South East Asia! To learn, to see first hand some of those whom we have been praying for. To walk in their shoes, even if just for a few days. To smell the smells, see what they see, taste what they taste and hear the sounds of a place where the name of Jesus is unheard of. Oh that the Spirit would go before me! That He would move in me and through me! That I would see a miraculous movement by Him in these people before my life is lived out!

Pray For Me as I'm gone for the next two weeks for travel safety and for Kim as she stays home with the boys!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua, Tate

Selecting vs. Recruiting

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the 4x14x14 Initiative. In short, 4x14x14 is an initiative adopted by the pastors of the 14 largest or leading edge United Methodist churches in the Texas Annual Conference. The idea was that each leading edge church would commit to launch a church plant, multi site, venue or merger by 2014. They would also commit to recruiting 4 people into the collaborative mentoring community (4x14x14).  They would meet at least 4 times per year and at each gathering they would bring in a guest speaker, a virtual who's who from one of 7 areas of ministry. Multi site, Planting, Leadership Development, Multiplication, Mentoring, Missional or Prayer.

In yesterdays meeting our speaker was Chris Mavity. He is on staff at North Coast Church in California. They are one of the churches that pioneered multi site ministry. In yesterday's meeting he was discussing amongst other things how to effectively select, train and keep volunteers.

His talk was incredibly useful and practical information. Way to much to go into in this blog but one of the quotes that stuck out to me was "select your volunteers, don't recruit them." This is a simple difference but one that has long lasting impact on how effective they will be and longevity of their commitment. We shouldn't give help them do a "duty" rather help them fulfill a "destiny" one they were created for and gifted to do.

Tonight we have the first of our informational meetings for our North Campus. The room will be full of potential volunteers. Please pray that God would call and then help us discern where they need to serve. Pray that God would raise up "supper Volunteers' that can head up various ministries and coordinate and lead other volunteers. Pray that God would raise up future pastors who will come to lead these ministries for years to come!

We will then have a identical meeting on the 19th as well pray for the above requests for this event as well.

Praise God! We have signed a contract on our house in Carrollton and have just a few days for it to go through. Please continue to pray that nothing falls apart in the mean time.

Thank You for praying

Jeff, Kim, Max, Josh and Tate

Faith Like A Mustard Seed!

There are a few places we see a mustard seed used to illustrate something or used in a parable in the bible. One of those is when Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed in Matthew 13:31-32. 

"31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

A second time we see him use a mustard seed is when He says:

“20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

Many use the later to say that if we have enough faith we can will God into doing anything we want Him to do. I am not proposing that at all! God is God and I am not that He should be lorded over by my faith.

The later passage is in response to the disciples asking Jesus why they were unable to cast a demon out of someone when Jesus was able too. Jesus responds telling them that it was because of a lack of faith. I think what often gets lost here is the fact that, faith, as in a response to believing God is Who He says He is and will do what He says He will do, applied to carrying out the will of the Lord is always effective. Jesus had already commanded the disciples to do many things including cast out demons earlier in His ministry. We see this in Matthew 10. So He wasn't necessarily telling them they could do whatever they wanted in faith rather that they could do what he had commanded them to do, in faith, knowing that where he commanded them he would empower them as well.

It is in this spirit that I ask you to be praying this week for us. Yesterday we sent letters to 470 members of Grace Fellowship who live on the north side of I-10 in our target area where we feel God has called Grace Fellowship to minister in. 

In the image above you can see the target area we feel called too marked by a blue box. The dots are Katy ISD schools. The red ones are ones that house church plants currently and the green ones are schools available to use. One of the red dots in our blue box will be moving to the south west of Katy in September with the completion of their church build. Needless to say our target area is unchurched.

We believe God is calling us to reach this area for Him so would you pray with faith that:

1.       Our 470 members living in our target area would receive the spiritual gift of missions and evangelization. That their hearts would be drawn to their neighborhoods and people they live close too.

2.       Pray that God would show favor and provide His perfect location to meet and minister from!

3.       Pray for favor with the community and that God would foster opportunities to develop relationships.

4.       Pray for financial provision to do what He has called us too.

5.       Safety and protection for me and my family spiritually, physically and emotionally.

6.       God will bring the right volunteers to lead as a staff of Grace Fellowship North
    
Pray that God would pour out His Spirit on the 56,000 people who live in our target area! That revival and Spiritual awakening would spring forth.

We have several determining things going down in the next two weeks that affect the above mentioned requests and many will be determined these next two weeks. So please pray with faith over these!

Thanks and Love

Jeff, Kim, Max, Josh and Tate

Sorry

Let me begin by apologizing for not sending out a prayer update last week! When things get supper busy it seems the first thing to get put on the back burner is prayer. Unfortunately this is the exact opposite of the way things should be. This is not the kind of pastor I want to be and it is not the kind of church Grace Fellowship is. As you pray with us in our adventures always pray that I would be the kind of pastor and man that would resort to prayer first in all things!

The past two weeks have been overwhelming and blessed in many ways!

In our family we celebrated Joshua’s birthday last week and Kim’s parents came down for the weekend. It was great to see them! Joshua is our middle son and he is such a blessing. The older they get the more individuals traits come out in them and it is so fun getting to know them. This next week we will celebrate Maxwell’s birthday as well. If you would pray for my boys! Pray that they would grow up with a hunger to know God! To serve God! To abandon all things for Him! Pray that they wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle and hustle and bustle that planting a church campus can be.

For those of you who have known me for some time, you are well aware that I am an abstract thinker, a visionary and dreamer. However I am not one who is the best at the administrative details of implementing those visions and dreams. So this has been one of my biggest prayer requests as we get closer to the launch of Grace Fellowship North. This has never been more felt by me that over the last two weeks. God is true to His word though and He has ordained my steps. Several Sunday ago I preached a mini sermon series at Grace Fellowships original campus and out of that I was approached by a woman named Bette Moser. She felt like God had told her to come help us with the new campus. So Sunday we met and she shared some of her heart and story and it was quickly evident that God was behind this teaming. Bette is the executive director for HomeAid Houston www.homeaidhouston.org . In short she is God’s gift to me! Taking so many of my weaknesses which are her strengths and bringing her at just the right time. Lord bless Bette and everything she does! Pray for her as she has to deal with me on a regular basis now! J

 

I am excited for what God has in store!

Continue to pray for our location we have several options but we want Gods best and right place and will settle for nothing less! Pray that He opens doors to lead us there and closes all others.

Begin to pray for May 8^th and 19^th as we will have information and vision casting meetings to prospective volunteers and leaders.

We love you all!

Thank you for laying a spiritual foundation ahead of us by bathing our efforts and us in prayer!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua, Tate

Location, Location, Location!

We the time has arrived! It is time for us to nail down where the temporary location of Grace Fellowship North will be! Finding the right place is key in so many ways! Accessibility, size, acoustics,  seating, usability, the list goes on and on. This week please pray that the Lord leads me to His right location! so much of what needs to happen here after depends on this!

Thanks!

Jeff

Hello April!

Well we are a quarter of the way through the year now!

….dramatic pause and let that sink in…….

Sunday our “Church Has Left the Building” was a great time! We shut the doors of the church and left the building and went out into the community and served. Our family and small group along with about 40 other members went to Franz Elementary School and worked alongside the PTA and the school doing various different things. What a blessing to get to serve others for no reason other than Christ loves them!

At a time of year where the church becomes so inwardly focused in many ways and we gear up for one of our highest attended Sundays of the year (Easter) what better way to spend Palm Sunday, the Sunday prior reminding our selves of the real reason Christ came! Thousands of years ago the people worshiped Christ and waved palm branches and laid them down along with their cloaks for the donkey to walk on as Christ entered Jerusalem. However the people were worshiping the one they thought had come to be an earthly King who would liberate them from the rule of the Romans. In many ways they worshiped Him with self serving motives. Sometimes I wonder if we do the same today? Christ, on the other hand, had other plans. He had come to serve not to be served. He had come to die for us! What better way to place Easter in context today than to worship Him on palm Sunday in a way that remembers that we are to be like Christ and Love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. By going and serving others the Sunday before we celebrate His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins so we could be in a relationship with God Himself! 

Pray:

As we gear up for Easter please pray that all our work in the community will bring people into a relationship with Christ. pray for His name to be made great in the greater Katy Area! Join us in praying for our unreached people groups in Indonesia the B's, M's BG's we will call them God knows their names!

Now that Kim and I have been here three months soaking up Graces DNA it is time for us to begin to look for location and staff and volunteers to go launch with us! Please pray God will lead us to the right people and location for this campus!

Kim's health! This cold front has caused her fibromyalgia to flare

Our house in Carrollton to sell!!!!! This is a big one!!!!!!!!!!

Praise:

Max our oldest has taken a new passion to the bible and is reading and soaking it up! God continue to grow his hunger for the word

God continues to bless us and we can't thank Him enough! HE blessed us with the opportunity to take the boys on a great vacation this summer and it will be great after the stresses of moving and starting new everything, to get to go away as a family and just enjoy each other and His creation!

Love you all!

Jeff, Kim, Max, Joshua and Tate

Church Has Left The Building

Well spring break is over! Kim and the boys had a great time in McKinney visiting grandparents. Then some of our great friends came down and visited and Scott and Dustin helped me out with a skit on Sunday morning during the sermon! It was great!

This week we gear up for Church Has Left The Building (CHLB)

I'm supper excited about this opportunity! This coming Sunday, Palm Sunday, We will be closing the doors to the church and we will be serving the community! Rather than attending church we will be the church in action! Over 55 small groups will be out ministering in their community and then there are several big projects as well. I will be leading one of the big projects at Franz Elementary school. We will be sprucing up all of the PTA's carnival games. We will also be re-painting all of the covered slab games, doing some landscaping and many other little projects. At the end of the day our goal is that the community of Katy will know Jesus loves them as his church serves them!

As you pray for us pray that CHLB will be a success! Pray that Christs love is lived out! Pray that many of our groups will be able to share Christ with the lost! Pray that God will use this as an opportunity for us to make our presence known in the area we are seeking to open a new campus in! Pray that our families will grow "deeper" in their relationships with each-other and with Christ as they serve as families.

Other prayer concerns:

Pray for our prayer pastor Brenda who's mother went to be with the Lord this morning!
That our house in Katy would sell
Kim's continued health
God would prepare me (Jeff) for our trip to Indonesia and for the campus launch
God would begin to call people to launch with us!

Praises:

Max has suddenly become supper hungry for the word and can't stop reading it! I think this is in part due to the Bible series on TV which has peaked his interest. Pray God will write it on his heart!
All three boys are well adjusted in school now!
Our house feels like home!

Are You Nervous?

Are you nervous?

I have been asked this question to many times to count as I have been preparing to preach the next two weeks at Grace. The answer is simply no! Yes, there will be more people than I am used to preaching in front of.  Yes, this will be my first time to preach in front of our new church. Yes, I am looking for many to decide to go and start a second campus with me preaching to them weekly. But, no, I don't feel intimidated. I am not worried about people’s perception of me. I am not trying to impress. Maybe a preacher of old put it best:

“Whatever subject I preach, I do not stop until I reach the Savior, the Lord Jesus, for in Him are all things.” - Charles Spurgeon

My job, what is asked of me, is that I would merely be a vessel through which God’s Holy Spirit could do what He does through me! If people don’t remember me at all, rather they encounter God on Sunday, then I will have been successful.

I preach not unto men but unto God and ask that He in turn speak to those in attendance and bring change and intimacy with Him.

As you pray for us this week pray that God would do just that this Sunday and next! Pray that it wouldn’t be me they see! Pray that God would remove every distraction so I might hear Him clearly as I prepare and as I preach! That lives would be changed!

Preaching is one of life’s greatest blessings and most powerful ways I see and hear God! Pray I would be changed!

Thanks!

Jeff

How's Your Heart?

How's your heart? This is such a very simple question. Yet it has the opportunity to be so intimate, life giving, giving life bearing results. It is a question we don't ask very often. Most likely because we don't really care to take enough time to listen for a real answer from whom we asked the question. it's so much easier to ask How are you? which in today's vernacular really is just a greeting not anticipating a response.

One of the things I have so enjoyed and already learned from sitting under the discipleship of Jim and Mitch  (our senior and executive pastor here at grace) is the importance of bearing ones soul with a few very trusted people who will be praying for you. Not the kind of people that will say "I'll be praying for you," no the kind of people I am talking about are the ones who stop whatever they are doing and say "let me pray for you right now."

One of the realities I knew was coming in becoming a pastor was the ever increasing amount of meetings I would need to attend. One of the things I never expected was how life giving and enjoyable meetings can be! Here at Grace every meeting I have attended over the past month (to many to count) have begun by sharing the best and worst things that have happened to us in the past week. Depending on how many are in the meeting it might be with everyone or just those sitting right next to you. Nonetheless we begin by sharing where we are at Spiritually, emotionally, physically. Then we pray for each other. Not a 30 second token prayer, rather a sincere cry out for our brother or sister to the Father for His intervention and provision.

Sometimes this only leaves a few minutes for the business to get done, but it is amazing how after spending time "being" the church, rather than trying to "do" church, the Spirit gives wisdom and like mindedness so that the business flows and tends to take care of itself.

This is the kind of pastor I want to be! This is the kind of staff I want to lead! This is the church I want to be a part of!

Monday the pastors of Grace left their busy schedules and Jim took us on a mystery day. We started off at a  place in Houston that is the size of an airplane hanger that had various courts for differing games. The cool thing was the floors of each court were trampolines, the walls were trampolines. What ensued  was the ultimate game of dodge-ball much like when you were growing up as a kid in PE only here you didn't run around you bounced, jumped, launched yourself off the floor and bounced off the wall to get the ultimate 10ft in the air (slight exaggeration) throw across the court. IT WAS AWESOME! We then left, everyone having had a total cardio workout, to go eat lunch together. We ended the day sharing 15 minute versions of our life stories. Then the pastors gathered around me and welcomed and commissioned me for ministry here.

Life! It's meant to be lived together! I can't thank you enough for praying for Kim, Max, Joshua, Tate and I!

It means the world to us and we covet your prayers! Without them we would surely fail and fall apart!

Here are some prayer requests for this week:

1. Tate had strep-throat this week. he is feeling better but pray the rest of us don't get it 

2. We REALLY need to sell our house in Carrollton, please pray God's intervention here

3. Pray for continued vision and clear direction as we work through the complexities of starting a satellite campus

4. Pray for Kim and I to continue to fall in love with each other more and more every day

Finally, How is your heart? email us and let us pray for you and what is going on in your life this week! It would be our honor!

Jeff

Reationships

God has blessed us in too many ways to write or describe!

As we pray and prepare to launch our satellite campus in a year, we have two main objectives... to soak up the DNA of Grace Fellowship and to build relationships with people to start this journey with us. Grace is a large church with close to 6000 members. Several hundred live in the target area we plan on opening a campus in. However to assume that all of them will want to pioneer a new campus, leaving the comforts of an established campus with all its frills, would be naive.

With all these new things comes lots of opportunity! Opportunity to try the unthinkable... to strive to see dreams fulfilled! Our vision at Grace is to "be a house of prayer for all nations". This vision is broken down into three main components. "House" is true relational and biblically founded discipleship. "Prayer", there is no way we can accomplish the dreams God has given us unless they are bathed and covered by prayer and a move of the Holy Spirit.And finally, "Nations", we want to take the gospel to all people groups! 

God is teaching us so much about each one of these three components and we are so excited to see where HE will lead us in each of these.

We came to the conclusion the other day that, though while in Carrollton we were able to be a one car family, it just wasn't going to work here. We live a good distance from the church and many of my meetings are late in the afternoon, so Kim needs a car to be able to pick the boys up from school and just so she's not stuck in the house all day long. As we explored vehicles and prayed about it, we felt the Lord leading us to avoid another car payment, so we decided to pay cash for something older that could just get me to and from work. This way we have a little bit more financial flexibility to use our money in any way God wants to use it. So we have been looking for a couple of weeks and literally visiting every used car lot in northwestern Houston (too many to count). We couldn't find anything that we would feel safe spending money on for the cash we had. So back to the drawing board. After days of searching, praying and searching some more, finding cars only to have them sold before we could get there, and praying some more, I gave up. No sooner had I given up, then I noticed a little, and by little i mean tiny, dealership three blocks from the house. So little in fact, I didn't know it was a dealership. There, on the lot, was a little vehicle that fit what we were looking for, so today I drove by to let Kim look at it. We felt peace about this vehicle and decided this was the one, so we bought it. We quickly drove home to get the cash and Kim drove me back up to sign the papers and pick it up. When I walked in Samer,a very nice gentlemen who also happens to be the owner, began to  witness to me. "Do you know that the Holy Spirit told me someone was going to purchase this vehicle today?" "Do you believe in Jesus Christ the son of the one true Lord?" To which I replied "I sure do, in fact I am a pastor!" He began to cry and for the next hour Samer, a christian from Lebanon, and I shared stories and celebrated that God had brought us together. In fact, Kim and I are going to go eat Lebanese food with Samer and his Syrian wife in the next couple of weeks

In our previous post I talked about just looking for the next step. Well, God is leading us into relationships with people of other nations already. Our dream is that Grace Fellowship North would be a church that is a true mosaic of ethnicity, full of people from every tribe and tongue. That each week we would see a slice of what heaven is going to be like! As you pray with us, pray God would bring to fruition the dreams he has given us to do just that! Pray for Samer and his wife who's home countries are in such turmoil and unrest right now. Pray for North East Katy for the seeds of revival to be planted so that when God calls us to launch we might reap the harvest that is so plentiful here. Pray that God would continue to grow me into the man He needs me to be to lead and have favor here. Pray for Kim's health to become less and less of a burden and distraction for her. Pray that we might be the parents God wants us to be for our boys so they might become mighty men of God! And thank God for our little black SUV, an ever present reminder that He is guiding our every step!

The Obvious is Often Forgotten

I walked out of the office today to see a delivery of several boxes. When I say several I mean upwards of twenty or so! We are talking stacks with more than six or seven in each stack. the stacks were so high I couldn't see the top of each stack and I am 6'4" so they were piled up!

ON the bottom of one of the stacks I saw a box with a sticker that said "Fragile xxxxxx Do Not Stack." As you can see in the pic above there it is! Clear as day! Bright and Orange!

I found it so hilarious and had to pull out my phone to take this shot only to be caught by one of the delivery guys walking up with a dolly, my cue to exit the scene!

As Kim and I endeavor to start a new campus for Grace and then seek to pastor that campus with everything that is entailed in that I am ever reminded to look to the One who "holds all things together"He says that "the steps of a righteous man are ordained by the Lord." Psalm 37:23

It's my desire to not only be righteous before the Lord but to lead others to do the same. If we are to be successful in creating and pastoring  a satellite campus, and success is measured by creating disciples of Christ, it will only happen as I follow the steps God has laid before me to take.

I mustn't forget the obvious next step. I mustn't look beyond the next step! He will guide me one step at a time if I will only pay attention and not try and get ahead of God!

Please be praying that this will be ever present on my mind! That God will make each step very clear!

Ask God what the next step is in your life! Pause and look and listen! Let's make sure we aren't overlooking or forgetting the obvious!

Preyed On Or Prayed For

Well we have been in Katy for two full weeks now!

It feels amazing to say that and at the same time rather daunting! We are still scattered and in boxes in several rooms in the house. Most of the major things have found a place but it is those little things that you didn't think much of when you just threw them in a box that now suddenly you can't live without and you desperately need that now you can't find. This is moving!

Our journey has been challenging in many ways but good, really good!

My first two weeks in ministry here have been truly amazing! God has been stretching me in ways I so needed and yet had highly overlooked or neglected. God, true to Who He is, has been patient with me and oh so gracious. He is pouring into me so much love and encouragement that it makes the growing pains truly enjoyable like the muscle pains you feel after working really hard. You feel sore all over but you spiritually and emotionally feel like there is no other place you would rather be!

There are so many things He is doing in me that I will share over time but for this first post I will just mention one.

My first official day in the office I found a gift from one of the pastors at our church. There are twelve pastors on staff at Grace. Each of them manages a staff of associate pastors, part time ministers and interns and then volunteers under them. I say all this because you could imagine my surprise that one of them would have already gotten me a gift when they are so busy, it would be easy for me to be just another drop in the bucket. However I have quickly come to realize that Grace however large it is, is still a family and a "church" in the true since of the word.

The gift was a book accompanied by a personalized hand written note. The book was entitled "Preyed On Or Prayed For."

Now I will be the first to admit, I have read some of Terry Teykl's stuff and been to a couple of prayer conferences he lead. He is good and with the busyness of a move and getting plugged in, it would have been easy to put the book on the shelf with the rest of the books I have yet to read. However the note was from Brenda, our pastor over prayer at Grace. The note simple welcomed us and then said that at Grace they want all of the pastors to have a "Prayer Shield." This is simply a group of 25 people or couples that commit to be in prayer, not just pray for, but be in the trenches praying for their pastors. She offered if we did not have one to not only get people to become our shield but to manage it for us as well. 

In ministry we often hear and say "I'll be praying for you" but as I was already discovering here at Grace that simply doesn't suffice! Just like one of those little things we throw in the box and don't pay attention too when moving only to need it and not know where it is. 

I opened the book and began to read it immediately!

If you do not have this book, I would love to buy you one! Please let me know! It is that important! 

Our first weekend here Grace hosted a city wide 50 continuous hours of prayer and praise service with several other churches in Katy leading two hour sessions. Grace has devoted space in the facilities where this is going on almost 24 hrs a day and soon will be seven days a week. Then this past Sunday Jim, our senior pastor, preached about prayer. ( you can watch it here)

VIDEO PODCAST 02-03-13.mp4 from Grace Worship on Vimeo.

Prayer has been one of those things I truly believe and know the power of. But something I have so often taken for granted. This is the first thing of many God has begun to challenge me in.

As Kim and I launch into this new territory God is calling us into He is calling us to be more devoted to prayer and to being covered in prayer! Not that our prayer life was anemic by most standards before, But God is wanting us to go deeper and become more dependent.

This is the purpose of this blog. This will be a newsletter of sorts for those whom we feel God wants to be a part of what He has called us to do here through prayer. So if you would, pray and ask God if He is indeed calling you to be a part of our prayer shield. We will be posting regular updates and prayer requests here so keep checking in!

Thanks

Jeff, Kim, Max Joshua and Tate