We’ve finally got settled into our small little home on a lake. It’s such a cool little place and if you’re friends with my wife on facebook, she has posted some pictures of it. We have met a couple of our neighbors and they are very cool. Last night, in fact, our Audri decided she wanted to pick some wildflowers for one of our neighbors and take them to her. We did and ended up staying for over an hour just talking.

We are beginning to settle into our new roles at this church. There is much work to do. We were given a little time to adjust to this big move and in the next week or so, we will start really working hard at what needs to get done.

I’m about to start a new contract that I can do offsite and have had a couple other chances for some work. Debbie was offered a part time job that she may take, but ultimately we are seeing God give us chances to provide and to GIVE.

All this is great, but what has gotten me the most these past couple weeks has been the people we have heard who have been praying for us. The kind of support, prayer, love and cash we have been receiving is humbling. Sometimes, you never know who is praying for you, but you see the effects of that prayer. God has been moving in big ways in our lives, in Detroit Lakes and in people we have been getting to know. We know that this was the right move and we will be sharing all kinds of awesome stuff God is doing.

Yesterday, we met a pastor from another church in Brainerd who came to speak at eXperience church who told us that he and his wife have been praying for us since they heard our story. That sort of thing humbles me. We’re just doing God’s will and we have the prayer support of many others. It reminds me of the weight of our calling but also encourages me that we will be just fine when things look dark and we wonder “what the heck did we do, moving up here?”

There are still ways you can help: You can continue to pray. You can come to eXperience church in Detroit Lakes and see what God has been doing and spread the word. You can still help financially. While we will be starting work soon, there are some resources that we still need to make it all happen. For instance, the contract I am starting requires that I have a Mac. I’m borrowing one for now, but could still use some help in getting one in order for me to provide for my family and give to our church.You can use the chipin link below. You can also spread the word, we are trying to sell Debbie’s truck. You can find the eBay listing here and the craigslist posting here.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been praying, who gave, and who work their guts out at eXperience church. We will be updating this on a regular basis, so check back. Until next time, God’s Got It.

In the middle of a raging storm, the disciples were freaking out while Jesus was in the back taking a nap. “Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is rest” – Pastor Eric.

Debbie and I are in a storm right now. We’ve jumped into the lake, hoping that Jesus will help us walk. We’ve pulled the rip cord and are hoping the parachute will open. Yeah, I’m not a fan of using cliches, but you get the idea. Sometimes I have to use them. In reality, these examples are how we feel. As Debbie and I move, we are trusting God for everything. We’re trying to sell our truck, we still have no clue how we are going to pay for everything in the next month or so and I still do not have a job lined up.

It’s crazy RADICAL faith that drives us to do this. We are answering God as He calls us to Detroit Lakes. As I have been searching for work and have been doing interviews, doors have closed. But yet, we still move on. We aren’t sure where the money is coming from and we are in a storm of uncertainty, but we rest.

Sometimes, following Jesus requires insane acts of faith where the only result is God being glorified.

Debbie and I are acting in radical faith. We are taking this step knowing that the only way that we will survive is if Jesus calms the storm. “BIG GOD…. tiny little problem”

Will you join us? Will you help pray for us and if you feel led, donate to us by using the link below?

We are moving to partner with eXperience chuch in Detroit Lakes. Jesus has done some amazing things through that church and we can’t wait to get started.

Will you help?

In my last post I talked about the HUGE news that we are moving up to Detroit Lakes, MN to help out Mike and Amy Verlennich and eXperience Church grow. I encourage you to check it out to get the background on that move.

In  the last little while, we have had our faith tested which is pretty normal when you take a huge leap of faith like we are. My bible readings recently have been filled with stories of Abraham and that has encouraged us. God called Abraham to pick up his entire family (which in those days included not just their immediate family, but extended family, servants, livestock, all their stuff, it was a big ordeal) to move from their home, their friends and all they have known to a foreign land where they didn’t know the culture or anyone.

Along the way, Abraham’s faith was tested about having a son, increasing his wealth by giving away 10% of all he owned, waiting on God to provide a sacrifice so he didn’t sacrifice his own son, and many other things.

I’m not trying to compare our journey to Abraham’s, but we are encouraged by his example. God provided everything Abraham needed in just the right time. God blessed him when he was obedient. Ultimately, God has used Abraham as an example for us to keep our own faith strong when we question how crazy this is.

We are EIGHT days away from packing up the moving truck and relocating to Detroit Lakes, MN. Not because we know many people there or because of a job, but because God has told us to. We are completely humbled that God has called us to do something radical for Him.

Here is the thing though, we are completely relying on God for everything here. We have just enough to pay for the truck rental but little else. We still need some cash to complete this move and I’m not exactly sure what I am going to do for work. See, in February, my business stopped being a viable option for income. I started doing contract work, but it’s been part time and not nearly enough to keep us going. We’ve been tithing regularly which has helped, but been tough. I started another contract at the end of June and we thought that this contract would let me work remotely when we moved. Last monday, I was told that wasn’t an option anymore. In the meantime, I had been looking for work and had a few interviews but have received nothing but rejection letters and emails.

So, while we have an awesome place to move into on a lake, we still need some cash to get us by on utilities, living expenses, and a month of rent while I’m looking for work. Some of you reading this might be like, “Oh these guys are crazy! How can they move without having the resources, that doesn’t MAKE SENSE!” Yeah, I would agree with you. But following God’s call doesn’t always make sense in the natural. Do you think it was natural for Jesus to walk on water during a storm? Do you think it was nuts that Peter got out of the boat too? But guess what… even Peter walked on water for a few steps. Debbie and I have gotten out of the boat because we believe so strongly that God wants us to help that church grow that we have JUMPED knowing that the only way we will make it is if God comes through! It takes radical, insane, crazy steps of faith to follow Jesus and to make sure other people know about Him.

We are not worried about any of this. The call on our lives is vital to seeing a church grow full of people who will get in touch with a real Jesus who can change their lives. We have seen God come through in many ways lately, not just in our own lives, but the lives of others. Samm and Angie Platt followed God’s call to New Zeland early Thursday morning. They sold their house, left their jobs all to move to New Zeland for 6 months with their three young boys. As of Wednesday night, they still needed $9000 to have their entire trip and expenses paid for. Guess what? God came through 5 hours before they were about to leave. The Crossing took an offering and matched the gifts and the Platts were able to leave on the plane knowing God did a miracle.

God has and will always come through. So, as we follow this call on our lives, we know God will come through. Sometimes its through strangers, sometimes its through people like you. One of our pastors of eXperience church posted on her blog yesterday. I’d encourage you to go check it out. It gives some more details on what their church is doing right now and how you might be able to help us. Click here to check out Pastor Amy’s blog.

Our journey will be an exciting one. It will be a TON of hard work, but it will be so rewarding as we see people come to know Jesus! Detroit Lakes has no idea what it’s in for. We hope to make that area one of the hardest places to go to hell from. We would appreciate any help you could give us! Thank you!

To Him be the Glory…

I reserved a great room at an upscale resort weeks before and we had been counting down the days.

When we showed up, I knew that the resort was going to authorize some cash on the card, but it turns out that I had never actually paid for the rooms. I was so confident that I had. I guess it was an honest mistake, but I had to make the decision to leave. We were still going to meet some friends for dinner, but decided to come back home after a couple hours with them.

Well, turns out, our friends had a deal struck with a local hotel and pulled some strings so we were able to stay and continue the vacation. With that stress gone, we were able to have a great time with our friends (SIX hours chillin’ at Zorbas), enjoy the small town, see some cool stuff and my wife and I were able to re-connect.

I believe that our decision to tithe had a ton to do with it. God blessed us with a great room; so it wasn’t the resort, who cares? We were able to relax, enjoy some great friends, good food and have God share with us His brand new calling for our lives. (More on that in the coming months)

Today, the job I’m doing contract work for has some more hours for me, I have some meetings about building some websites and doing some social media in the next couple days. God is making sure that I can provide for my family and continue to be open handed with our cash.

All of this is because we have been tithing. The last few posts I have written have all been about being obedient with your cash. This will be the last one for now.

I trust that some of you will see what has happened to our life and seen the blessing. I hope that you will join us in being obedient to God and giving back the 10% He asks for. It works.

Coming up next: how God will use me to recruit jr.high leaders for the Crossing campuses and the absolute mind-blowing call God has on my wife and I. It’s a humbling thing to be an answer to someone’s prayer.

My wife and I have struggled to remain faithful with our giving and there have been consequences, as I brought up last week. However, this time, we have decided to become united in our giving. In our case, the results were almost immediate. After the Big Give a couple weeks ago, we received a check in our account. Our tithe that week was 10% of what that check was. I had completely forgotten about the source of that check so it surprised me when it showed up. Does it mean that it was a blessing when it would have shown up regardless if we had tithed or not? I think so. This was a lesson in trust. God used this as an example of what happens when we refuse to let our money dictate how we spend it.

Tithing isn’t always going to result in immediate financial blessing. And there might be times that we will have to choose between giving back to God and paying a bill, but what we have learned is that God will always provide if we trust in Him.

Another result is how my wife and I interact. I could argue that I’m much more excited to see my wife because I work away from the house three days a week, but it’s different. Through the act of being obedient to the Lord, we have been connecting at a much deeper level than we have in quite a while. God never promised that the blessing would be financial.

Anyone reading this who is having a hard time with tithing, I can relate. Money is a big part of our lives. But once you are able to break the hold of money on your life, there is so much freedom and blessing. Life seems less stressful.

Tithing works…

The real silver lining here was that we were able to give a wonderful gift to an amazing couple, so yes, while my wife gave birth, we didn’t have to bring it home with us! God came through just as he always does and the day I flew back from Texas (and a week before we were scheduled to move) we had an appointment to look at a home and we ended up taking it.

The amount of stress that our family had to endure in that short amount of time was immense. We say to each other now that there must be quite a large plan for us if we were put through that test and passed. Princeton isn’t bad. God has a purpose for us up here, we know and I’m enjoying the rest that he is affording us right now.

However, there is a reason all of this happened the way that it did. We simply hadn’t been tithing properly. It wasn’t until last October that we really got serious about tithing consistently, but by then, it was too late. Our church has been preaching how important this is for a really long time and both of us have known forever that tithing is important.

Our inability to be consistent tithers has held us back in so many ways; not the leas of which is financial. Our marriage had some issues, our relationship with our kids has been strained from time to time, and our volunteering time sometimes was a chore rather than something we looked forward to. And really, we’ve had to move WAY more than I have wanted to.

Christ follower, hear me. YOU MUST TITHE! This is a commandment from the same Lord that you follow. Ten percent is the minimum required. Giving begins at 11%. If you are unable to live your life on 90% of what the Lord of the universe has provided you, how do you expect Him to make you responsible for more? Once you make the decision to follow Jesus with your life, there are a few things that are required. Baptism, prayer, reading scripture, leading others to Jesus and honoring God with your cash. These are the basics.

My wife and I have learned the hard way what happens when you live for Jesus in every other area but leave the wallet out of it. Our money is NOT ours. It comes from the ultimate provider. We have made the conscious choice to return to tithing and giving. God hasn’t let us fall and He won’t as long as we honor God with our money. This does a couple things; it make us obedient to Him and it also breaks the chains of greed on our lives.

We want to be blessed. It’s not always going to be in a financial return on our investment in the church. Sometimes we will be blessed with good health, or with a smoking hot marriage, or with a good relationship with our children or with successful ministries with the Crossing. Our main focus is on seeing Jesus glorified and us giving Him honor with our money.

Christ follower, don’t do what we did and ignore this very important principle. Trust that God will take care of the details if you commit to obey Him and TITHE.

To HIM be the Glory…

It’s just what I needed to hear today. In the past, when money was tight or business dried up or I felt like a failure, I used to either blame God (see #ineed2change) or I used to get so pissed off, I ruined the day of everyone around me. It was difficult to look beyond my own situation and look to Jesus for strength, guidance, purpose, and so on….

Philippians 4:19 reminds us all of God’s promise. This isn’t the “prosperity doctrine” most people associate with being provided for. It’s not about that. It’s about trusting in God to supply your needs. God knows what we need, but he wants us to make sure we’re seeking Him with the correct heart. What’s more, sometimes we’ll fail and be ruined before our needs get met. Maybe it’s a “re-boot” of sorts? I hope that doesn’t happen to us, but I know that not only will God see us through, we have so many people at the Crossing that will be there to help us in case we do fail.

When I’m flat broke and my business is struggling to meet basic needs, I no longer just rely on my own strength to get through. I HAVE to trust that Jesus has my best in mind and that he WANTS to bless me. I lean into Christ because only He has the strength and power to lift my family and I out of whatever trouble we’re in and take care of our needs. And in those seasons when my business thrives and we have plenty, I give Jesus ALL the glory and honor because Jesus is the one to make my business succeed.

Jesus isn’t always going to simply give you money or take care of it in the way that “you” expect, but he WILL provide. It does take effort on your part to choose and also to give God a portion of your income. For some, it’s easy to just make an emotional decision to not live in fear and trust God. But when it comes down to it, the attachment that we have on cash/provision can be broken if we choose to take that next level of trust and tithe!

I hope that this encourages someone to sit back and take a hard look at where their focus lies. I’m not perfect at this and it’s a continuous decision. But if you take this risk to trust God in the middle of your struggle, He WILL come through.

To HIM be the glory…

In my last post, I said to be prepared and be guarded for Satan wants to get us.

Today I have to be guarded more than ever. See, I’ve recognized one more area that I need strength in. There are times, while being a part of a greater whole, that I’m not privy to everything happening. There are times that my desires might be seemingly ignored while someone else receives what I’m looking for.

These situations are dangerous. My first reaction should be either joy or thankfulness that I don’t have the burden of “always needing to know what’s going on.” I need to guard myself from feeling envious or jealous if someone else gets what I want.

This is not the heart of God. He wants me to be satisfied in my position, joyful for the success of others around me and supportive of those who seemingly have what I desire. I should share in their joy.

The warnings are clear: Job 5:2, Proverbs 14:30, and Jesus’ words in Mark 7. This envy, this jealousy doesn’t belong in a heart that serves Jesus. One of the things that I try to be is faithful in everything I do, from SiGNS to lighting and video to the Zimmerman campus. That means nothing if I have envy for others around me or their positions.

If you have any envy in your hearts, ask God right now to help remove it. I’m going to have to add this to my daily prayers. I will not allow the seed of envy to come destroy how I serve Jesus at the Crossing or let it spread to others under me.

I hope that this encourages someone to take a stand against what is holding them back or to search themselves to recognize what Satan is trying to ruin them with. I commented on a post of mine a couple days ago that “I’m so done being average”, and that is true. I’m tired of making excuses for my own weakness. I’ve been a Jesus follower for a long time, I know the Word, but I’ve spent far too long just applying the “simple stuff”.

This change in attitude happened six or seven months ago, but it’s a daily choice. I will NOT allow the same weakness to take hold in my life as I had done before. I will NOT allow envy to have any influence in my attitude or relationships.

to HIM be the glory…. it’s always ONLY about Jesus….

If there is one thing that has been constant, change or no change, is that Satan knows where to get me. For the longest time is was my internet usage, then it was my anger, then it was money at the same time as relationships. Jesus has helped me in all of those areas to make positive changes to be more like Him.

Over the last couple days it seems it’s been envy. I wasn’t keeping guard and all of a sudden I feel overwhelming envy for a specific group of people. I know it’s silly and I know the reasons not to be envious, but the feeling is still the same. So my wife and I combat with prayer and just continue on, living with Jesus.

I write this as a warning. The next few months at the Crossing are going to be busy, life-changing, focused and also awesome. The next series, Angels & Demons deals with the supernatural. Satan is going to do everything that he can to mess with us. He is going to try and find those little areas where his demons can tweak a feeling, make something break, steal our money, whatever…

Be guarded. Be prepared. Don’t let there be any room where Satan can get us….