Resonate Community Church Blog

What happened to September? I mean October? Ok, what happened to September & October!

Every year these two months go by as a total blur in my life. I always have a big trip for work and then a huge work load when I get back. I’m barely even able to keep up with my life and definitely didn’t have the time to blog. This year my trip brought me to Tokyo, Japan then to Taipei, Taiwan and then finally to Nice, France. There was a lot of travel this year for work. This year alone I’ve also been to KL, Malaysia; Shanghai, China; Bangalore, India; Amsterdam, Holland; Nice, France (twice), Napa Valley, CA and Redmond, WA. Next year is looking pretty busy as well with trips to Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan already planned.

The hardest part of traveling is being away from the family. There is no question about that. Are there times that I’ve thought about changing jobs to be in one that doesn’t have the travel? Sure, of course I have. But, then reality hits and reminds me how great I have it. I’m able to work from home. How awesome is that! Yes, I do have travel. Yes, I totally miss the months of September and October. But, I have the shortest commute in the world! I have a boss and a team that values me and the work that I do. I feel comfortable in my role and should be able to balance my work with what we moved to Austin to do. Have I thought about changing jobs…yes. Do I think I will any time soon…no. Heck no.

November, I sure am glad that you are here…

One of the most common questions that I have been asked as I’ve told people that Cindy and I are going off to help begin a Church is what my role will be. I’ve been asked if I’m going off to be associate pastor or whatever other title you would want to bestow on someone.

It’s surprising to me that there is an automatic assumption that we are going off to help start this church and because of that we’re getting a specific role or specific title. There isn’t one. Cindy and I are heading down to help start the church. So, what role do we play? Well, what needs to be done? Because, basically we’ll play the role of whatever is needing to be done at that particular day and time. That means that one day we may have to play the role of treasurer. Another day we’ll play the role of encourager to Kyle and Erika (and eachother!). Another day we’ll play the role of organizing some community event. We’ll definitely play the role of hosts as we invite people from the neighborhood over to our house and into our lives. We’re going to play the role of giving as we begin to truly tithe for the first time in our lives (I’ll definitely have more on this later). A title tells us what we’re supposed to do. For us, no title is best because we’re going to try to do whatever needs to get done!

My role at work is already changing as I get closer to going remote full-time. I can already feel that most people do not expect that I will be with TI in a couple of years. In fact, my new boss has told me that his fear is that in two years I’ll tell him I’m leaving for ministry. Well, guess what! I’ve already left…well, sort-of. Yeah, we’re going off to do ministry. But, thankfully I don’t have to “leave” to do that. I plan on still working. I plan on still making money (and we all know a new church needs the money!). I don’t see myself stopping this at some point in the future. In fact, there’s a better chance that I’m with another company in two years than not working outside of ministry. But, it’s time that we all realize that we don’t have to stop our career, we don’t have to go to seminary, we don’t have to live like paupers to do ministry. Folks, we can all do it and we can all start today!

For Cindy and I that means moving to Hutto. That means me working remote and making professional sacrifices. For someone else it may mean more involvement in their local church. For others it means finding a local church and getting involved! And, yes, for others it may mean giving up a career or something more drastic. But, we don’t have to do all this for a title or someother alterior motive. We do it for one reason, and only one reason. We’re called to it. God calls us to take action, and then you do it. We need to stop finding excuses and talking about all the cups that are half empty and start doing what we’re called to do. If you feel called to step up in minstry…just do it!

For me and my family, we’re called to start Resonate Community. For now, call me the Titleless Apostle. And, you know what, that’s the best title I can have.

I remember a distinct sermon from Tim Bourne, pastor at Genesis Metro. He spoke this the weekend after the men’s retreat. He said that God spits out luke warm milk. He wants hot milk, but would even rather have cold milk than luke warm. I talked to my wife that weekend and we both knew that we were both just luke warm. Not in our marriage. Our marriage is awesome and having a baby girl is a total blessing. But, outside of that everything was just luke warm. There simply was no passion in what we were doing. When we spoke about the Church and prayed about it, a sense of passion began to stir in each of us. Once we committed to going, without knowing how all the things were going to work out, the passion was starting to burn.

So, how were we going to get to Hutto? One critical area that had to be figured out was my job situation. I had posted my resume to a few companies and then my boss got promoted. I knew that with her promotion that there would be several other changes in the functions that were going to report into her. I knew that I was looking for a way down to Hutto (Austin area) and felt that I owed it to her to let her know what I was doing. I didn’t want her to make a bunch of job changes assuming that I would be part of the team when I realized that I would be quitting in a few months. I really didn’t want to tell her because I didn’t know when I would leave. I mean, would you go tell your boss that you’re going to quit, but just don’t exactly know when? Seems kind-of stupid doesn’t it? But, I knew it was the right thing to do. So, I set up a meeting with Darla. I told her the story of the Church and that we were going to be leaving. I told her that before I left TI (Texas Instruments) that I wanted to close every possible door because it is such a great company. I knew two things. 1) I was going to be moving and 2) it was going to be pretty soon. The rest…well, the rest was just somehow going to work out.

Darla’s response was amazing. She told me that they wanted to keep me. That I could keep doing my same job remote. I would need to travel back to Dallas (3 hour drive) one day every other week, but the rest of the time I could work from an office at home. Now, it helps to know that my job is very conducive to working remote and I do it a couple of days a week right now…but to agree to let me do it full-time was far beyond anything that I could have expected. So, one of the monster items that had to be worked out was now worked out! I would not have to change jobs to help start this Church. And, working from home would give me even additional flexibility to have a greater impact for the Church. This is crazy! And, you know what. Not only did TI retain an employee by allowing me to work remote, they will also get an employee who is going to work harder for them. I mean, how can I not? What they are doing for me is amazing and I hope that the results that I can deliver for them are equally as amazing.

Who knows if this will really work out? Maybe I’ll get down there and six months later I’ll be leaving for another company. Maybe TI will want me to go? But, this company is giving me a great opportunity to follow my heart and God’s leading to start a Church, while continuing in my current job. How cool is that!

I’ve never blogged before and don’t really know where to start. In fact, I just deleted a couple of rough drafts and am starting over. Covering history just seems impossible, so let me start more recently.

My wife (Cindy) and I have decided to move to Hutto, Texas with our daughter Peyton. We’re moving for one reason and one reason only. We’re looking to live a life of passion. We believe that we have found that passion by sharing a vision with Kyle and Erika Sears (and their daughter Kylie) on what Church should really be about. It’s about community. It’s about connecting. It’s about going through life together. And Cindy and I have decided to take the biggest steps of faith (outside of accepting Christ and what He did) that either of us have ever taken.

Hutto is about 3 to 3.5 hours away from where we currently live. For us, that means two main things. 1) I have to find a new job and 2) we have to buy a new home and sell our current home. But, before I jump into those I want to cover how we came to this decision in the first place. The next couple of entries will cover the job and house…maybe the next several entries!

Crap, I just re-read what I’ve written. I just don’t know how to do this. I guess some are natural bloggers…I guess I’m not one of the “some.” I had written about how I came to Christ, how Kyle and I started talking about starting a Church…and it just didn’t feel right so I deleted it. Now I’m reading this and that delete button is blinking in red! But, you know what, the whole goal of what we’re targeting with Resonate Community is to be honest and real. If I keep deleting what I’m writing and editing, will that be real? I think not! So, here goes nothing!

I’m not a great Christian. I believe in Christ. No questions about that. I give financially to the Church, but not as much as I know I need to. I serve by setting up Church on weekends, but I miss a lot of the weekends I’m supposed to be there. I’ve worked in the nursery, but no one counts on me in that area. I’ve led Bible studies, and some of those have been unsuccessful. And, I’m about to help start a Church. Are you kidding? It’s me, my wife and baby and one other couple. I’m half of this Church and it’s supposed to succeed? How in the heck is this going to happen?

You know, when Kyle spoke to me about starting a Church I knew almost immediately I HAD to go with him. I didn’t want to admit it, but there was something in me that knew. But, I prayed. I told my wife and she prayed. And, you know what…the more we prayed, the more we knew. I can’t say that I have a freakin clue why God put me on the Earth or why he would save me. But, I do KNOW that He did. And, I also KNOW that he wants me to go start this Church. How do I know? I don’t know how to really explain it. It’s like there is a this bridge. Below it is all this water and rocks. But, I know the bridge will hold me. And, I know I have to cross it. And, that is what we’re going to do. We’re crossing it. I know the bridge will hold me, but I still have to take that first step onto the bridge trusting it’s the right thing to do. We’re going to do whatever it takes to build this church because I believe it is what we are supposed to do. I believe that this is exactly what, at this time and moment, what God wants me to do. It doesn’t mean we’ll be successful. It doesn’t mean we won’t have struggles. But, I am totally convinced that he wants me to take this step of faith at this moment. Be willing to leave my job. Sell my home and buy a new one. Move to a new community. For once to live for Him instead of for me. I just know it…I may not be a “Super Christian”, but I am a willing and available Christian. And you know what, just maybe God wants someone who is just willing and available. In fact, that’s what he usually does isn’t it? But me? Yikes!