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God's "Mega-phone"

This morning God slammed me on the head with the intensity with how he is guiding RPCC and really wants to see it happen in River Park! I’m still in shock with how real He became to me this morning, how a direct answer to prayer not only came but was sweetened with blessings that were not even thought of. Ok, here is how it went down.

Damon and I met with the principle of Rio Vista M.S. Last month we met with the head of district facilities and he gave us the green light. The final hurdle (as far as we know) would be getting approval from the school principle. She could have turned us down for many reasons… 1. Potential to mess up her property 2. Schedule conflicts (if they need the school on Sunday) 3. Just not wanting to deal with a large group on her campus 4. She doesn’t like God.

Well, here is the slamming part… She didn’t get the memo from head dstrict facilities guy about us… 1. She was immediately excited about having a church at her school 2. She started brainstorming out-loud how we could partner with the school 3. She said, “I’ll bend over backwards to get whatever facilities you need here to make it happen.” 4. She stalled in getting to a staff meeting to give us a tour of the school.

Lord, thank You for being You... that shouldn't shock me and I'm sorry that sometimes it takes a 'mega-phone' moment to fully embrace Your You-ness. Look out Rio Vista, here we come!

Went to 'Sac' yesterday

Went to Sacramento (actually, Elk Grove) yesterday for a GHC Network cluster meeting. These guys are serious about church planters and serious about supporting them. We inked a partnership deal with them and I look forward to a great relationship with them. They have committed to match up to $75,000 of what we raise for the church plant and they are very excited (and flexible) about the possibility of us becoming a strategic partner with North Point. I met Paul Borden - I've heard that he is a man that God has used to turn around a whole region of churches in just 10 years. Being with him for an hour confirmed that he could do even more than that! He is a passionate fire-ball for Christ and doing things right in an organization! I haven't read it yet, but I believe his book "Hit the Bullseye" explains how he transitioned a plateaued region into a thriving region.

Review of my first flight on Southwest airlines yesterday:
1. Boarding was fast & efficient and no assigned seating. (Thumbs up)
2. Left and arrived on time. (Thumbs up)
3. Flight attendants were casual, even funny, yet still got the job done... even more effective than other airlines. I paid attention more to the safety instructions because I was anticipating another clever joke. (Thumbs up)
4. Not one but two small packages of peanuts! :)

Change

This weekend will be the first time since the winter of 2001 that I have not gone to a M.S. Winter Camp. All to Forest Home except in 2005 I went to Pine Summit... I inherited that camp from the previous M.S. Pastor... I quickly corrected that the following year.

I am very excited about this big transition that God is leading me to but at the same time I am sad and will truly miss investing full time into students.

March 2nd is my final day on staff at FBC Ventura. With Damon and I moving on, that's a 71% turnover rate of Pastors in 2 1/3 years... the numbers clearly speak for themselves. When you intentionally cling to no specific strategy an organization becomes schizophrenic and you get large turnover numbers because no one is called to be part of a schizophrenic organization long term especially when your business is handling the most dangerous substance known to man... the gospel message.

My goal is to keep RPCC focused! That's my number one strength on 'strengthsfinder' and I'm excited and up for the challenge. (That's why the last 3.5 years almost drove me to the funny farm!)