I admit it

I admit it. Sometimes I hesitate to tell people what we are doing. I mean, you never know how someone is going to respond when you say, "I'm starting a new church." Many people aren't sure what to say. My mom's honest reply was something along the lines of "Are you allowed to do that?" Probably most honest people have a similar thought.

So, this is my confession. Sometimes I would rather just say I am a student. After all, that is true. Of course when I tell them I am doing my Masters, they might ask "What in?" And then I have to say, "The New Testament of the Bible". Then I am ousted as a religious nut, right?

I'm kinda stuck. I cannot fly under the radar.

I wish I could pretend, with the Christian Pastor bravado that so many have, that I am always excited to proclaim whose I am from the rooftops.

Sometimes, I wouldn't mind saying, "I work as a manager at the new Wal-Mart." Or something else.

Now that I have admitted it, I have to say that I am getting over it. After all, God has entrusted us with the message of reconciliation that the dying world needs to hear.

When I became a Christian I was on fire for God and was ready to win the world to Christ (I was also immature in my approach). Over years of starts and stops, my passion cooled some.

And, to be honest, being in ministry often means putting up with a lot of church crap that can quench the most Spirit-filled among us.

But the truth remains- the Church is God's tool to save the world. After all, we are the ones who have been entrusted with the Good News.

So, that brings me to this morning. We finally got our YMCA membership, something we have been looking forward to. I want to make the YTMCA a place where I purposefully connect with those who are outsiders to the church world through coaching teams and connecting with men.

This morning I got there after a great breakfast meeting at about 8:00. And I was praying. Praying that in a very individual setting (picture fifty adults and 98 ear buds), I would get to meet someone or talk with another man a little bit.

I worked through the weight machines and didn't get to talk with anyone. I was discouraged and thought that once I was on the eliptical that it was less likely to meet anyone. But I did! Troy and I had a great talk for several minutes. Then I noticed another man that I had met at a doctor's office and got to talk with him and get his name. I suspect I will see both of them again.

And in talking with one of them, it rolled off my tongue with no hesitation... "I am starting a new church."

I hope you are comfortable enough with your Jesus that you are growing in boldness.

Permit me a Bible study.

The believers in the book of Acts were being persecuted. Their leaders had been jailed. The pressure was mounting. Their flegling band they called the 'Church' was on the brink of being stillborn. And they prayed. Did they pray for safety or favor or God to shut down their enemies?

No.

They prayed for bold speech, so they might proclaim God's message faithfully.

That's what I'm praying for, too.

Join me?

When we band together, are filled with the Holy Spirit, and proclaim his Word with boldness, we cannot be stopped, even by hell itself.

Official Website

Drum roll please....

Our webiste is up and running! It has a few bugs to work out (the online giving still needs adjusting before it will be up on the site) but many other things work and it looks great!

Check it out, make it your home page (it has Fort Wayne weather on the home page).

http://www.triplepointechurch.com/

For a 20 minute unscripted talk on how TPC came to be,

check out Extra--> Downloads!

Have fun!

I was realizing as I sat in a Disciples of Christ church this past Sunday morning that I have been to a lot of different churches lately. I counted them...

Six in about the past 2 months.

I've been to two "Christian Churches/Churches of Christ", two community churches, a Lutheran church and a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

You know what I found?

They all think that Jesus is pretty great.

If I were to list the churches whose senior leaders I have had one on one talks with I would have to add...

Our Lady of Good Hope
Journey Church
C.U.M.O.
The River
Broadway Christian
Christ's Hope
Georgetown
Cedar Creek

And I feel like I am forgetting someone.

The point I am trying to make?

Other churches aren't our enemies. We aren't in competition. We aren't Burger King and they aren't McDonald's. On a page of our new website, I actually recommend other area churches. I provide links that take you from the TPC page to the pages of other sites.

Probably not a link to BK on MickieD's site.

Is TPC different from every other church out there?

Yes.

And no.

It's time to come together. We might not have long to keep screwing around.

Switching Modes

Hey everyone. Going to be working on Masters stuff for the next week. So, I will be checking out. When we come back, though, I hope to announce the new website. It's basically up, so should be ready for public consumption soon.

BTW- it looks great.

Grace to you,
Patrick

InAsMuch

I spent some time volunteering recently at InAsMuch ministry downtown here in Fort Wayne. I would characterize their ministry in these ways:

1. Organized chaos as they help many people
2. Accountability- the ask people they pledge to help to do a few things, such as
   -Do two take home Bible studies
   -Attend church service (at any Christian church in the area)
   -Work up a budget
   -Try actively to get a job
   -Pay their other bills
3. Sharing the gospel. This isn't a joke- I watched it happen as they talked frankly with clients about trusting Jesus and getting into church and praying with them out loud.

It was good. I felt like they had a great balance of helping people and challenging them to grow.

InAsMuch deserves support.

Break All The Walls Down

I have often wondered, "What keeps churches from coming together?"

We would all say that denominationalism is a disease that we would like to overcome (at least most of us would say that). We might not actually want uniqunesses to fade away, since that would deny the uniqueness obviously present in the world. But we would more likely agree that the walls between people should be lowered.

So, what keeps the minister at a new non-denominational church in town from having coffee with the priest at the nearby Catholic Church?

Apparently it only takes a phone call.

I had coffee with a brother yesterday. He might wear a collar and I might wear a tie (sometimes), but it is the man who wore a crown of thorns who lives in each of our hearts.

Can I be honest? I really like Father Mark. And I am not just saying that. I like to talk with people who are smarter than I am. So, I liked talking to him.

Some of our doctrines differ, but there is one that is the same- there is no hope in this world without Jesus Christ.

Do I have visions of TPC and OLGH doing joint missions in inner city Fort Wayne? Not really. But do I have intend to get togehter with Mark again and get the book from him that he reccommended as I work on my Masters Thesis? Yes. And maybe I can get him to give me a golf lesson sometime, too.

What stops you? Are there walls between you and a brother or sister from a 'different' kind of church? If so, it's only because of your own inhibitions or ignorance.

Make a call this week. Seek a relationship for the sake of having a relationship. It's good. It's right. It's what God desires.

I prayed for Father Mark, and he pronounced a blessing on me. He asked that he Holy Spirit come upon me and remain upon me both now and forever. How could anyone argue with that?

Sorta feels like we gave the devil the finger.

Foundations

I posted this pic some time ago and it continues to apply.

I am not a builder, but I am guessing that the bigger something is, the more important the foundation is.

Some of the foundations of this ministry are:

• Process We ain't making cheeseburgers, here. However, the process is still important. Where do we want people to come in? Once they come in, what are we trying to accomplish in their lives? Where do we want them to move next? What does success look like? What does failure look like? If we are trying to lead people to Christ, what is the process?


• Financial It ain't all about money, but without some money, things will be hard. We want to have neighborhood parties, we want to help people, we want to support local and foreign missions and do things right. So, it is important to establish not only funds coming in, but the appropriate process and accountability. We need to raise about $8,000 in monthly support.


• Launch Team We need at least 35 trained adults for this ministry, adults who buy into the vision and process. This group needs to be committed to each other and to outsiders. They must also be faithful givers.


• Relational Contacts I have begun networking and will continue. We will have attended many local churches before launch and I will have sat for breakfast, coffee or lunch with many local leaders and pastors. Our launch team also must establish good relational contacts with outsiders and other community influencers.


• Facility We need it to well facilitate worship service and children's activities. We would like a good location and a good price. People will ask where we meet- it is important.
  

God has called us to reach people for Christ who are not going to church right now.
We LOVE GOD through obedience to Jesus Christ. We GROW TOGETHER because Christian maturity does not happen in a vacuum. We SERVE OTHERS because selflessness is the goal of the gospel.

We build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Then we realize there is pre-launch work that is needed. Then we must follow this simple process.

Thursday

Thursday was a good day. I was downtown in Fort Wayne at about 7am. I was supposed to meet Alyn Biddle (more on that in a moment) at 8:15. But I have gotten so conditioned to a long commute into 'downtown' areas after being in Cinci, I left way too early.

So, I hit the Dunkin Donuts in the dowtown library first.

Alyn (the InAsMuch minister from Broadway Christian Church) lead a ministry that is a compassion based ministry in downtown Fort Wayne. In our 2.5 hours together, I learned a lot about InAsMuch, but want to share two things with you now:

• They have an excellent structure and process for helping people out of poverty, not just handing them food, clothes or money without any exit strategy.
• They share the gospel with everyone they help. They provide accountability and help people to grow, not just survive another day.

After my time with him, including a prayer walk around downtown, I met my wonderful sister Penny for a quick lunch and then went to a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce about handling media outlets as a small business/non-profit leader.

One other note- in the last 5 days we have met and had good conversations with about a dozen neighbors. It's been great, and we look forward to getting to know them all better as the weather starts to warm up!

Thank you, Lord.

Onward marching

We have spent the past couple of days unpacking box after box. The house is looking better all the time and we will even be able to park one van in the garage tonight. We've gotten tons of help, for which we are grateful.

I am sitting in the library down the road and people watching as I type. We have been doing a bit of the same in our neighborhood. We've been blessed to meet a few neighbors already and are excited to see what is to come.

With a couple of friends last night I reminded us all of what success looks like in this venture.

• It does not look like getting a bunch of Christians together to do church the way we always thought it could be done.
• It does look like people coming to love God for the first time through obedience to Christ, growing together because Christian maturity doesn't happen in a vacuum, and serving others because that's the goal of the gospel.

Donations are coming in, the launch team is being assembled, a website will be up and running soon, my office will be unpacked, contacts are being made, and opportunities are being realized.

Thank you, Lord. You are good.