“Wow!” That’s what I thought as I drove onto Forum’s beautiful campus this morning. I took a moment to thank God for all He is doing here. I thanked him for the group of people who serve to take care of our facility and grounds. I thanked God for those that serve the youth and children of this community. I thanked Him for the new mercies and hope that comes fresh every day.
I reread through my updates over the past couple of weeks and I realized that I had omitted some of the “Wow “God stuff. It’s been great to see Eric Ahlander, Jessica Miller, and Darcy Maynes being baptized. I also want to welcome Paul and Naomi McGowan to Forum. God continues to work in a great way here.
Last week I started laying out some of the multisite information. Here’s a status update:
· An advance team has been formed to scout out and find a location for the second campus.
· $1500 dollars has come in toward this effort.
· We are currently working on a brochure that will lay out the vision, the strategy, financial plan and challenge, and some of what will occur in the fall toward getting us ready as a body for this great adventure and leap of faith.
Let me be historically clear on this point: this is a leap of faith. Frankly, God rewards faith. His historic pattern (did you notice I used the word a second time – that was intentional) is to bless those who take leaps of faith. Let me just remind you of this reality – Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Daniel, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Mary, (did you notice that I separated Peter, Paul, and Mary with Barnabas?), the woman that touched the fringe of Jesus’ clothes, and so many others – all lived by faith and took leaps of faith. It was the nay-sayer, the complainer, and the spiritually obstinate that God swallowed by earthquake, doused by flood, and really warns against. Now, I’m not implying that if you have questions or anything of that nature that you are evil and that you aren’t living by faith. Not the case at all. We’ve all got question marks with this venture– myself included. My encouragement for all of us is to be willing to be stretched out by God in faith and see how He uses those leaps of faith. Friends, faith is fun because you center so much on God – you find out how incredibly faithful He is when you trust Him, and you are in a true partnership with Him where He is the majority share holder calling the shots. Just something to think about as we strive to intentionally connect people to Jesus.
This week you’ll get to meet Katelyn Morris, our new children’s director. She’s great. She and Tyler moved here on Wednesday. Jody, Jared, and I pulled up at their house just in time to see the last items being carried into the house. The scripture, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice” came to my heart and mind. Talk about God’s timing being perfect. Anyway, I look forward to you getting to meet her this Sunday. She’s going to have a great ministry here.
I can’t wait to worship with you this Sunday. We’ll continue in the iLife series zoning in on “Authenticity codes.” Christ is driving all of us toward being real through and through – like Him. His words and Spirit are driving my heart and life in new ways this year. It’s been so deep, intentional, and personal that it’s hard to articulate. This Sunday – you’ll be stretched. See you then! Scott
Friday, May 30, 2008
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