update (part 2) personal life

One word can summarize my personal life lately; strength.  I have had to rely on the strength of the Lord, like never before.  I have come to a greater understanding of my inadequacies and of His ability to work on and through me.  I am continually challenged by Scripture and my relationships with other Christ followers to walk further, run faster, and jump higher than ever before.  Here is what is going on in my personal life.

1. I am more faithful than I have ever been in reading the Bible and praying.  

2. I am being stretched to be continually giving of myself; time, energy, emotion, and money.

3. Cameron is 9 months old now.  He has become an incredibly smart, funny, and beautiful little boy already!  He crawls like a maniac, stands up on his own (close to walking), waves and does more fun tricks.  I am so blessed to have him in my life. 

4.  Christie is three months pregnant.  She is nursing Cameron and has a growing baby in side of her.  Her body has a  lot of work to do!  It is very good that she is able to stay at home.

5.  I am working 40-50 hours a week for the church and another 18 at Starbucks.

6.  After this semester, I will have 18 hours left for my masters!

7.  I am incredibly out of shape and have battled with a good plan to change that over the past year.  I am currently working on a new one.  

8.  I have made some great friends through my involvement in mosaic church of Crestview.

9. As a result of the popularity of our churches nomorechristians.com teaching series, i have several non-Christians who listen to my teaching regularly.  This has provided some cool opportunities.

10. I wish my friends and family from the Jacksonville/Starke area could pack up and move to Crestview.

what you can pray for

Christie and I's relationship.  This is a stressful time for us and we have to be intentional about working on our marriage.  We are both immature and struggle with being the spouse that we need to be.

Christie and I having two kids that are 15 months apart.

Our personal finances. It has been tough for Christie to stay at home.

My continual trust in God's provision and sovereignty.  

Increased opportunities and influence to use the gifts that God has given me.

Thank you so much for your support and love of Christie and I.  God has used so many of you to strengthen us to do the overwhelming tasks that He has called us.

Emmanuel Baptist Church

One of the churches that I would consider being a part of if I were not at mosaic, would be Emmanuel Baptist or EBC as their "members" call it.   Here is why:

Pastor Mark Seagle is a great guy.  He has a huge heart to develop leaders and a passion to help the helpless.  He is in tune with culture, which is unique for a pastor in Crestview.  

(No offense to the other guys doing their thing.  Keep following Jesus and lead how you think you should.)

Their music is modern (but a lot less loud than mosaic's.)

Their children's ministry is the largest in Crestview.  They have amazing crowds of little kids on Sunday and Wednesday nights.  There seems to be a great opportunity for your child to have fun while learning about Christ. 

Their student ministry is so solid.  Led by Ian (an unbelievably passionate dude) and several strong student leaders.  Ian thinks they can change the world and I believe they are working to do so.  

Sure, EBC has weaknesses and so does Mosaic and every other church.  If I were "church shopping" I would realize that the perfect church I dream of only exists in Heaven. 

So if Mosaic isn't your thing, check out EBC.

http://www.ebccrestview.com

equipment

This is our short list of equipment wants/needs right now.  

Please let me know if you know someone that is trying to sell or give any of these away.  

Let me know if you have any advice on where to get quality stuff for a bargain price

another 12 foot trailer

stage lighting

another macbook

keyboard

rear projection screen

easily portable room dividers/atmosphere creators (i;e pipe and drapes)

road cases for sound stuff and for children's stuff

Please pray for us to obtain these things and of course you are always welcome to meet a need!

insight and wasabi

Yesterday I was having lunch at a fantastic sushi restaurant in town with my friend Mark (whom I had a fantastic conversation with).  Just as I sat down a woman came up to me who attended mosaic off and on for a few months.  She exuded that awkward feeling of "i better say hey to him first".  We said our hello's and she asked how my family and I was doing and then I asked her how she was doing......... of course the response went immediately to why she hasn't come to mosaic in a while.  

She said that she loved what we were doing and loved the people at mosaic and that my preaching was incredible (she even said I spoke right to her) but that she was going to a bigger and more established church  (that i won't mention) because it was closer and all the stuff they have. 

TWO THINGS.

One, isn't crazy that someone will pick a church not by the fact that God is growing them but by the things that the church has.  I think having stuff is good, but completely secondary to communicating the truth of scripture in  a way that leads people to get it.  

Secondly, this shows that it is important to single moms for their to be a lot of opportunities for their kids to do stuff.  Our churches must always remember that as we seek to be relevant to families that good preaching and good worship is not enough for that family.   

I wanted to tell her how much better things are for children and students at mosaic, but I realized that she is a christian and is going to church (at least some times). 

parenting

this Sunday i am talking about parenting. If you have any good qoutes or illustrations, comment on my blog or send me an e-mail (james@mosaiccrestview.com).