BJ Head

Yes that is his real name.

I thought that is was very fitting to conclude this five part blog series with BJ. BJ first attended mosaic about five months ago. He and his girlfriend at the time chose mosaic because they wanted to go to a church that was not all about tradition and where they knew they would not be judged (they actually heard about us from visiting shoreline). Since then BJ has surrendered his life to Christ and been baptized. He is also serving every week with our greeting/parking team and is faithful in participating in many things that we do as a church family.

This week I got a call from BJ asking for some advice on a commentary to help him understand the Word more as he reads. This is a point that many life-long "Christians" haven't gotten to in their walk.

I am so encouraged by BJ and his hunger for Christ to be in control of every aspect of his life. I am thankful to be a witness to what God is doing.

BJ is why we started mosaic church.

Nathan Barrow

Nathan shows up at 8:00 every Sunday morning and helps with sound or media, or really whatever role is needed. Nathan is not a guy that is really needy or that wants a lot of attention. Nathan is just a guy who does what is needed and that you can rely on to give it is all faithfully. I often wonder what Nathan thinks about things because he is so laid back. ( however, Nathan can definitely step into action at any minute so do not think that you can take advantage of him). Nathan is young but yet has the discipline of someone who has been around the block.

I doubt that Nathan will ever receive crowds of praise or awards for leading many, but I am confident that Nathan pleases our Father more than just about anyone.

I look up to this guy that is a couple of years younger than me and so should you.

I am very thankful for the privilege of serving with Nathan and for being able to call him my friend.

Kinetta Johnson

Today is Thanksgiving and we had the privelege of hosting some of my family for this time of hanging out and food. I asked Christie if she wanted to take this on and she went above and beyond to provide a great meal for everyone.

Kinetta goes above and beyond with anything you ask her to do. She is one of those people that is going to make sure that every t is crossed and every i is dotted. She is going to give people specific instructions and she is going to make sure what needs to get done, gets done.

Kinetta is also one of those people who is going to give you her honest opinion if you ask for it. However, she does not just give feedback to hear herself talk, she gives feedback so that things can improve. She desires that people give their all in everything because that is what God deserves.

Kinetta is not a person that just does things, she also hungers for the Word and is one of the most passionate learners of the Bible that I know.

If you are not sure of yourself and why you are doing something, Kinetta is going to make you feel uncomfortable as a leader. If you are called by God, Kinetta is going to be an incredible asset to your ministry.

I am thankful that she is a part of mosaic.

Kevin Clark

As my wife and I balance preparing for this week's message, caring for our son, and getting the house ready for our guests; I am reminded of Kevin. Kevin, is a true servant in every fashion. Kevin has continued to amaze me by his willingness to do whatever is needed. Kevin's heart is that the Church fulfills its mission.

In most situations you find people who serve one area of the Church and have some agenda in doing so. Kevin serves in any area and with the big picture in mind. In fact Kevin randomly calls me to remind me to follow the vision that God has given me and to not worry about man's opinion.

Kevin is the kind of guy that I hear most pastors wish they had in their church. I am so thankful to have that guy serving at mosaic and partnering with me to make an impact in our community and world!

As a partner of mosaic we are asked to commit to serve selflessly, if you ever question what that means, hang out with Kevin Clark.

Bill Zuhlke

Bill is one of the seven original partners of mosaic church. We actually had our first two months of Bible study at Bill and Debbie's house. Bill is also the "church adminstrator" and really handles all of the finances (along with the finance team) and records for the Church. In addition to this roll, Bill and his wife have done/are doing numerous things for our church. He pulls the trailer every Sunday mornings, they print the bulletins every week, they help greet, and I could go on and on.

Bill is also not afraid to respectfully question decisions that I make as the leader of our church and hold me accountable to the vision that God has given me.

I know that Bill has a true desire to see mosaic church grow and reach out to our community and world. Bill does not do all of these things for recognition, he does them for the eternal reward of seeing people's lives changed!

It is a blessing to have someone like Bill working alongside me and for all that he does, I am truly thankful!

Thanksgiving

In honor of thanksgiving week, I will be posting about five different people that are a part of mosaic over the next five days. I am of course thankful for everyone who is involved with our church, but I wanted to take the time to recognize these five people. I pray that every pastor has one of these five people in their life.

where is the feedback?

I was wondering why a lot of people say they read my blog, but no one comments on it. Maybe my readers are just not good with words, maybe their too lazy to comment, or maybe they just don't get technology. Then I was advised by a friend of mine that I had to change the settings because it was currently set to only let registered blogspot users have a say. What a simple thing I was doing to disconnect people from my blog.

I think this sums up most churches today.

They have a great message, but no one is responding to it. They figure out all the reasons in the world why people are not getting into what they are doing; a liberal culture shift, young people's attention spans, money, etc. They are completely unaware of the fact that they have shut the world out and are only interacting with those "inside". It takes some simple adjustments to change from being a gathering of people focused on self to being a living body that reaches out to a world in need. The message they have is compelling, it is what people are born to hear.

The questions is whether or not the Church is ready to respond to the world's response to the Gospel.

As a blogger I am now ready for your comments. As a follower of Christ, I am ready to see you respond to the message of Christ.

what is the problem?

John Maxwell says that "everything rises and falls on leadership."

So, when you have a challenge with a staff of your church, when people aren't getting the vision, when leaders are not stepping up, when people aren't giving, when the word is getting out of the four walls; there is one place that you need to look...................................at the leadership.

If you are at an established Church, it may be a deacon board or some lady who has been at the church for 40 years who is the actual leader of the church.

But, in a church plant......it is you. You have got to be the one God uses to bring about results.

What are you doing to see that God's call on your life is being carried out. How are you equipping people to carry our their role, how are sharing the vision, how are leading people to step up to the plate, how generous are you and how are you explaining why people should be, how are you spreading the word and how are you pushing people in that direction?

EVERYTHING rises on falls on the leader.

IN THE HOUSE!!!

On October 29th of this year, my life changed. My wife and I (more so my wife) gave birth to our first child, Cameron Daniel Ross. As most parents would agree, words cannot describe how incredible it feels to hold your child (something that you created) in your hands.

I am filled with excitement because this young man has so much ahead of him and at this point in his life anything is possible. I am nervous because I don't want to screw him up too bad to stop him from being able to follow His dreams. By the grace of God, I think that I will be alright in this.

As the definition of my family has taken a drastic change, I cannot help but think of the many families that are struggling right now with financial stress, divorce, and many other things. It is a great time of uncertainty in our country and in our churches.

So, for the next five weeks we are going to look into the foundation of our country, the homes across America. I invite you to mosaic church's worship gathering as we go IN THE HOUSE and I ask you to keep your heart opened that God may cause a drastic redefinition of priorities, marriage, parenting, communication, and serving one another in your family.

I believe God is going to do some incredible things in our lives if we allow Him!

to be baptist or not to be baptist?

I did not grow up in church. I fell in love with God while attending a small pentacostal church which did some big stuff to reach students. At age 16 my father became a Christian and we started going to a church, a baptist one. God did a lot of things in the baptist church, I watched it grow from 350 people to over 1,000 people in just a couple of years. I witnessed many peoples live being changed. So when I finally started to get serious about my faith as a college student I attended a Baptist church. Then when I responded to the call to Pastor and decided to pursue a degree in Biblical Studies, I chose a Baptist college.

But, as I got involved in ministry in a Baptist Church and then transitioned to Pastoring a church plant that is affiliated with the Baptist Convention, I began to get discouraged about the future of "Baptists". Many people will not attend a church that has Baptist in the name because of the feeling that it invokes. I have seen a failure of Baptist leaders to reach out to younger generations because of their traditions. I have seen money spent on "fellowships" and "buildings" over reaching people. I have seen churches that are a political democracy rather than a pastored theocracy. I HAVE BEEN DISGUSTED!

However, I have not abandoned the Baptist Convention. They have a history of reaching many lives that is unmatched. They have established hospitals and houses of hope across our nation. They have come together to send many people into foreign lands. So, I have continued to hope that the old way of doing things would become a preference and the new lives that can be reached would become the priority!

Well this past week, a young guy who Lord-willing has many years ahead of him of leading people to increase God's kingdom was given another reason to have hope. In a surprising and unconventional move the Florida Baptist Convention elected John Cross to serve as president. John (who is my mentor and good friend) wants to engage young leaders so that churches coming together through the Baptist Convention can renew their efforts to lead people to Christ. He wants to learn from organizations like ARC and Acts 29. He wants to utilize people like Ed Young, Perry Noble, and Troy Gramling who are leading people to share the Gospel boldly. He wants things to change!

So a guy who loves Jesus and just wants others to see how great HE is; will hope and trust that this is a sign that things will get better, that Baptist will become relevant to a culture that has abandoned God, and that affiliating with them will contribute effectively to lives being changed!

YJC, I am praying for you and behind you.

celebration

There are a lot words that can be used to describe what I experienced this past Sunday night. It was one of the most incredible things that I have ever been a part of and most certainly was a marker in the journey that our church family is on.

We began the night by baptizing three people. All three of them were people who did not grow up in church and haven't lived the cookie cutter do good life. They were people who were living but have now become ALIVE!

Later, we celebrated and prayed for Tripp Battle ( our pastoral intern) and his wife Joy as they confirmed to our church that they feel called to serve God vocationally. Our desire is to be able to equip and send them to plant a life-giving church wherever God leads them.

The night ended with us worshiping God through communion. The life that Jesus Christ lived and gave up for us, was a great ending note.


It is incredible to see God use a guy who believes that Christ is THE WAY and doesn't really know what he is doing in leading the church!

Mosaic, let's celebrate and keep reaching out to those who are in need of Salvation!