And they’re off

Today we finished putting our donor letters and pledge cards together. We also finished our constitution and bylaws, along with the supporting documentation for our 501(c)(3) affiliation ruling. Before we went to the post office, we prayed over the letters and asked for God release all of our needed provisions.

God is still revealing new facets of the ministry to me by the day. We will use the Simplicity Church locations as church plant incubators open to any starting ministry that is pursuing Great Commission ministry. I am already dreaming of seeing 5, 6, 7 or more congregations birthing in one location on a continual basis. Since our model is based on the incarnational ministry (being the church in your day to day world) of the Organic Groups, the facility is truly only used for a weekly coming together of the groups for mutual edification. This great stewardship, and again something birthed in my spirit in prayer many months ago.

I think the most difficult part of this for those coming out of the institutional design of church will be the paradigm shift. It has been so ingrained to have the building as the hub of activity, to have the family split out by ages, to have programs for your leanings and to have designated leaders. In the Organic Group the Holy Spirit is the leader. We know from Scripture that He is the one who joins the body together for effective service. He is the one who will equip the teacher, servant, administrator, evangelist, etc…

Someone to journey with

Last night my wife and I had dinner with a couple with whom the Lord has given us a special relationship. They have been seeking the Lord’s direction for their lives and saying “Yes Lord” as He asks them for greater steps of faith. After much prayer and searching they sense God calling them to join us in this journey to Simplicity.

This man’s heart was the prototype the Lord impressed upon me when He unfurled the structure of Simplicity. What a thrill it is for me to see God call this specific individual to fill that gap. The Lord impressed upon me the new beginning last night as we stood in the parking lot of a local restaurant discussing the excitement of the journey the Lord has put before us. I will always be able to look back to last night and say…”It officially began over dinner in a restaurant….” We truly are mustard seeds in the hand of Almighty God.

On the boring side of life, I have also been putting together constitution and bylaw documents for the Simplicity Network. I was very blessed today to find governing documents from another catalytic church planting ministry, so I am now in the process of adapting them to our particular ministry calling. We did get the donor letters completed and ready to mail, so those will go out tomorrow.

If at first you don’t succeed…

Ok, so I get my Secretary of State paperwork back for the non-profit corporation and we’re good to go, right??? Nope! I used my mailing address (P.O. Box) on the application, because I did not see a prohibition against it; however, the Lone Star State requires a physical address.

On a brighter note I did get the bank account opened for Simplicity yesterday. I also had a friend challenge me on the need for a building. The location I am considering was impressed upon me as Simplicity was unveiled in my spirit, but my friend felt like I should focus more on the home/office/coffee shop organic expression and utilize free space if we need to do a public meeting. Simplicity is able to operate in both the organic and attractional modes, but I want to make sure I don’t jump ahead of the Lord, so I will be praying this through a little more.

On that note, anyone reading this blog is always welcome to challenge my thinking and push back on my direction.

Tonight I will be meeting with a couple who I believe God has set apart to play a key role in the life of Simplicity. It will be exciting to hear what God has been saying to them.

It is simple

Yesterday we went to look at the building that I want to use for our first Simplicity church. This building was formerly used by a church planter I had begun to develop a relationship with, who was unable to remain in ministry for personal reasons.

The building is a store front with 1,000 square feet, a bathroom and a platform. The carpet is fairly new and the walls have been painted in the not so distant past. The lease is $600 per month with a $600 deposit. Carol and I both felt this was the place (and I’m a firm believer in “beauty from ashes”).

Elishba, our Indian ministry intern who is living with us commented: “It fits, it is very simple.”

The landlord is supposed to fax the lease to me this week and I am trusting the Lord to provide for the deposit and first month’s rent. Currently all of the expenses are coming out of the Willis household budget, so hopefully we’ll have some donations coming in soon.

Trust me

Last week the Lord brought me to a place of repentance for trying to create my own opportunities to support my family. The Lord showed me that I didn’t trust Him, that I was choosing to work in my own strength and not His provisions. So I repented and decided to “be still” and allow God to bring forth His provisions.

Today, the Lord began to blow my socks off. I was asked if I would be open to someone providing a home for my family…and wouldn’t you know it, the home is right where we have felt we should be all along, but beyond our wildest dreams in the sheer awesomeness of the thought.

If that in itself was not enough, the next question was would I help develop a business for a friend of mine? This friend has been a great encouragement to me in my ministry since I arrived in Corpus Christi and he feels this would be a mutually beneficial opportunity to further the work of God’s kingdom.

If that wasn’t enough, I was also approached about using a worship facility in Annaville free of charge any time except Sunday AM. So I believe God is showing me I need to work on developing a second plant in that area simultaneously with the first plant in Central Corpus.

The Lord also spoke another 2 things to me today through others that were very powerful and penetrated the depths of my soul. I have heard several mention over the past few weeks that they have sensed a turning of the spiritual tide in Corpus Christi over the summer. Today one of those praying with me indicated that he firmly believes my week in silence and mourning in the middle of June broke a spiritual stronghold over the city. The second thing that was said is that he believes God wants me to again retreat with the Lord in silence as I enter into this new journey. I have felt the same prompting, so I will use one of these weeks of vacation to take another retreat of silence.

Meeting space

Today, I went to look at a meeting space for our weekly community worship services. The facility was being leased by a planter I sponsored who had to close down his church. They had renovated the space with a platform, new carpet and new paint. The price is $600/month for 1,000 square feet that includes the worship center and an office.

I was not able to do a walk through today, but hopefully will have that opportunity tomorrow.

I also secured my EIN# today and sent off my affiliation application for 501c3 status under a group ruling with FGOCI.

So far all of the expenditures for Simplicity have come out of my pocket, I hope to begin receiving some pledge cards here shortly. My last day at my current pastorate will be a week from Thursday and I will be on vacation until the end of the month. At that point there will be no more paychecks. Walking by faith is exciting, but not always fun.

Ye Old Print Shoppe

Today, I put together the covenant partner cards that I’ll be sending out and also drafted a supporter letter. My wife and I will pray over the cards before we send them out.

I also had the opportunity to approach a local pastor to pray about being an overseer for the ministry. He is very excited about what God is doing with me and I look forward to having him as a partner in my ministry.

Today it hit

I’ve been in a bit of a funk all day. I haven’t slept overly sound the past few nights, so I’m not feeling extremely energetic. I spent the morning working on a few things at my current pastorate and donated boxes to another pastor on staff as he was clearing out his office. So the morning was hanging at bummer level.

I got home this afternoon and finished printing business cards and letterhead. I’m still trying to determine how to handle my 501c3 question. I have found an association of churches that will allow me to operate under their umbrella, which would save considerable time and expense in the whole 501c3 process, but since Simplicity is supposed to be a multiple church network, I’m not sure that’s prudent.

Then there’s the larger philosophical question. If you’re having to go through all of this legal filing just to get works established, aren’t you stepping away from the whole concept of Simplicity? To top it all off the markets tanked again and the countdown clock in my mind reminded me that I have only 25 days left with an income.