You could learn alot from a teenager

Posted on November 9, 2008 by Carl

Today was our second Sunday service. This week we had lights, air conditioning and a toilet seat that meets city code.

The best part of the day, for me, was after the service. A couple of our teenagers came to me and asked if they could start an Organic Group for teenagers. I was so thrilled to see them grab hold of the idea. So tomorrow night at 7PM, we will start our 4th Organic Group with some highly enthusiastic teenagers.

Tonight one of the parents called me to tell me that these teenagers have spent all afternoon contacting friends inviting them to come. If only we could all be that excited about Jesus!

A Voice of Opposition and Exit Lighting

Posted on November 6, 2008 by Carl

Today I went up to our building for the final inspection with the fire department. As I was pulling up to the building I made eye contact with a young man across the street, who immediately began screaming at me at the top of his lungs “hail Satan, hail Lucifer.” I began to pray for the young man, at which time he discontinued his shouting, crossed the street and disappeared from view. The Lord impressed upon me the need in this neighborhood and that this needed to be a place of focus for our ministry.

My inspection with fire department was good, but when the inspector tested our exit/emergency lights, there was no power going to the sign and system. The sign is hard wired, but for some reason is not getting power. Once I get this problem resolved my inspections will be complete and we can finally get our certificate of occupancy.

…and the Lord added to their number

Posted on November 5, 2008 by Carl

Today I sat around the building all day to have a follow up inspection on the toilet seat, to verify that it was now open face. The zoning inspector stood me up for the second time, so we’ll try to reschedule that one again. Tomorrow the fire department comes out to do their inspection now that the power is on. So once the zoning inspection is done, we’ll be fully signed off on.

Today was an amazing day. I decided I would go “fishing” today while I waited on the city inspectors. I set up a two folding chairs on the sidewalk. One was for me and the other for whoever wanted to come along. During the day that chair was filled with another pastor, Mike and my wife. Mike and I had the opportunity to visit with two of his co-workers, who both expressed enthusiastic interest in what we were doing.

When I got home this evening I learned of 5 more people who had been contacted in divinely appointed conversations during the day. Each of them also expressed a desire to be a part of the ministry that God is establishing through us. Throughout the day the Lord continued to remind me of the following verses:

Acts 2:46-47 (NASB)
46 And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

This afternoon I completed a video overview for churches and individuals who are praying about partnering with us in our ministry. You can view this video at Godtube

Tonight we launched our second Organic Group that will be meeting at a local coffee shop. It is neat to see how the Lord moves with each group.

The Power of Simplicity

Posted on November 4, 2008 by Carl

Tonight we held our first Organic Group at my house. There were 10 people gathered together representing 4 families. We began by praying and asking the Holy Spirit to be our leader this evening and then went where He led.

Before the evening was over, we had seen profound truth come from the mouths of a 7 year old and an 11 year old; tears flowed as the living Word of God moved into our hearts and as the body was edified by the ministry of its members.

We ended our evening gathered around the Lord’s table as we partook of the bread and cup “in Remembrance” of Christ.

My wife summed it up best…”I could feel the spirit of God moving in our interactions tonight.”

It’s been one of “those” days

Posted on November 4, 2008 by Carl

Tonight is our first Organic Group here at my house. I’m excited about where the Lord may take us this evening as we enter in to this time. It is also easy to tell that today must be an important day spiritually, because everything that could be an aggravation has been there.

I started the morning off with Carol attempting to leave for school when her van wouldn’t start. You could hear the starter clicking, but no contact (it had run moments earlier when she went to vote). So I head up to the church to meet with the fire inspector for our city permit….one problem, the power was not turned on yesterday as had been scheduled. After much turmoil with the electric company, we find out that the city never sent the electrical inspection to the power company. I also learned that I get to spend all day at the building again tomorrow to wait on the backflow inspector to sign off on the new toilet seat and the zoning inspector to “perhaps” come by this time. We are hoping to have the electricity on in 24-48 hours, but will just have to wait and see.

Enough gloom and doom though. The Lord provided for the toilet seat through some dear friends who are getting ready to return to Mexico as missionaries. Carol’s vehicle is back up and running with a new battery (the front a/c blower is still out and the easy fixes didn’t work, but hey it runs). The building owner is giving us a lighted sign free of charge and even offered to put our logo on it for me.

So even though life has its challenges, God is still showing himself faithful.

That’s what it is all about

Posted on November 3, 2008 by Carl

As I mentioned before, the highlight of our first service was knowing that a 4 year old little boy was having his first encounter with the body of Christ. Today my highlight was hearing the impression this contact made on the young man. The following is an excerpt from an email I received from his grandmother today:

Little Jason and I went on to see his Dad and he was so excited, he kept telling his dad he went to Church and the Pastor made him Big..You may not realize but you are the only positive male influence this child has ever known.

We are called to be the body of Christ. Jesus wants to be love others through us with His perfect love. It is amazing what He will do if we will simply get out of the way.

Today Mike and I attended a pastor’s prayer conference where I spoke with about my journey with the Lord this past 2 years. The Lord was moving throughout the day and continued to bring us back to the themes of simplicity, lordship and His renovation of the American church. Several of the pastors were moved by God’s presence as He illuminated each of our lives.

What an amazing day

Posted on November 2, 2008 by Carl

What a thrill it was to see the vision God gave me so many months ago come into reality today as Simplicity Church – Corpus Christi held its first service. We had the joy of ordaining Mike into the gospel ministry. We got to welcome a 4 year old boy to his first church service ever.

There was an excitement among the people. They were there because they wanted to be. No expectations, no traditions to uphold…we just went where God led us. I can’t wait for our first Organic Group on Tuesday.

Keeping costs down

Posted on November 1, 2008 by Carl

One of our objectives with Simplicity was to create a rapidly deployed, easily reproducible system of starting new work. As we launch our first work Simplicity Church – Corpus Christi I believe we are on track. Our total start up expense looked like this:

Simplicity Church – Corpus Christi Startup Expenses

• Texas Non-Profit filing – $25.00
• 501(c)(3) affiliation filing – $595.00
• Leasing deposit – $600.00
• First month’s lease – $600.00
• Liability Insurance – $373.00
• Certificate of Occupancy – $211.00
• Website domains – $20.00
• Office supplies – $250.00
• Postage $62.00

Total: $2,736.00

A little easier to find

Posted on November 1, 2008 by Carl

Simplicity Church - Corpus Christi

Yesterday, I bought some 2″ white vinyl letters and numbers, so people could find us a little bit easier. Of course, when it was all said and done the lettering was off-centered. Oh well, I’ll fix it up in the coming weeks.

Tomorrow is our initial public worship celebration and I can hardly wait. Getting to ordain Mike will be one of the highlights of my day. It has been a thrill watching him grow in his walk with Christ over the past 22 months. Tomorrow will also be memorable, because we don’t have electricity until Monday.

Journey To Simplicity