Encouraging...

Did I mention I had a rough day. I believe I did. So a couple of things cheered me up. I got to spend some time with my direct supervisor, John Herrington and his wife. John and Angela have started several churches from scratch successfully and therefore they have more of an idea what is going on in my life than just about anybody. They were a real encouragement to me, just being able to say "this stinks right now" was good for me.

Secondly I found a message from Jocelyn Young on my Facebook page. We served in missions together and somehow it just reminded me of why I do what I do - because God really loves people and more importantly because Jesus is worthy!!!

And finally, I saw this verse as the "verse of the day" on Facebook:
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. [2 Corinthians 12:9]

Bummer Day

So today was a bit of a rough day. Maybe because it is Halloween and I wish I was out with my kids trick or treating (albeit they are still in California hanging out at the Kelly's house where we spent every Halloween for the past 4 years); maybe because I am feeling kinda lonely in a brand new city without Andrea and the kiddos; maybe it's the let down after our presentations to the church-planting committee at HCBC yesterday; or maybe because I was trying to talk to people about Jesus without much success. Who knows but in my short career as a church-planter this day has really been a bummer.
I think one thing that is great in all this is that I really am beginning to long for being able to share the story of Jesus with people here and I am getting frustrated by not getting it done right now. Pray for that. I am excited to be in the various communities around town and talk to people, but I need God to give me an in...

No Way...!

Alright, this is incredible!
We just secured a free - that's right FREE - apartment for Robby and Crystal. They had found a fantastic apartment downtown starting January 5th but needed to find a place to stay until then if they were to come out to Austin.
We just confirmed that we got a free apartment for them from November 10th through January 10th, the exact time-frame they needed a place to live!
Did I mention it is FREE?!?
God is so good!!!

Relevant Church

So here is a question that needs some consideration: Is the church relevant?
Maybe we can interact about this a little but let me throw out my ramblings...

What I am asking is not is The Church relevant, but is a particular church relevant.
I believe that The Church, the one that Jesus established to be hope and life and grace and goodness and love is always relevant because it addresses the very core longings of humanity. We all long to belong somewhere, long to be loved, understood, connected. We want to know that we make a difference and that it matters whether we show up for something or not.
We want to know that we can mess up and be forgiven, that we can hurt and be held, that we can be on top of the world and have someone to celebrate with. (not much of a party if your on your own...)
We want to believe that things can be better, that this is not as good as it gets or all that there is.
As creative and as smart and ingenious as we humans are we long for a superior being, all our literature and movies point to this hero where ingenuity, creativity, power and courage is taken to the extreme.
Jesus Christ, the Messiah answers these longings. He offers acceptance, and belonging, hope and forgiveness, meaning and purpose, incredible love and kindness, grace and mercy! The Church he started is to mirror that - love and inclusion, care for the poor and forgiveness for those who messed up, belonging and purpose.

So what happened? Why is church seen as so irrelevant???
To answer that question we need to consider the indictment that is brought against churches everywhere. Let's consider some of the most popular ones:

The most popular is probably this on "Christians are all a bunch of ___________________!"
Yeah you guessed it HYPOCRITES! We claim to believe on thing but act contrary to it. Hmm... Or how about these:

• "It's always all about the money..."
• "Christians are so judgmental"
• "Rules, Rules, Rules..."

SHARE SOME OF YOUR THOUGHTS!

Alright!

Hey everybody! This is Robby. I thought it was about time that I finally start putting some posts up on this thing. Thanks for checking in from time to time and for praying for us! We really appreciate it more than you know. Crystal and I have been hit with the reality lately that we are really leaving Lancaster! And even though the details of the plan seem to change a little from day to day, it looks like its going to be really soon. Have you ever seen one of those game shows where the contestant is standing in the plexi-glass cube, and there is a tornado of dollars spinning around them and they have a really short amount of time to grab as many as they can? That kind of feels like our life right now. We have dozens of pretty important details kind of flying around us, and we probably sometimes look ridiculous as we work frantically every day to nail a few more things down. But at the end of the day we know that God has called us beyond a doubt to this adventure with Him. We know that we are living in this space where without His miracles we have no chance. We are seeing our faith in Jesus grow... a lot. And we're just trying to get there so we can start! I love it. Bye

Pray for us...

" Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I (Paul) am in prison - that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak."
[Colossians 4:2-4]
It is exciting to be here in Austin and to start meeting people that live here and are so far from the community of faith and a life-giving knowledge of Christ. The reason we are here in Austin is to share the hope of the Gospel with the people of this great city.
Just as the apostle Paul was asking the believers in Colossae to pray that he would clearly and boldly share the Gospel-message with people he encountered, so I would like to ask you guys to pray for us that we could clearly and graciously communicate the life-changing reality of Jesus with the people of Austin.
I am looking forward to sharing some of the God-moments we'll experience as time goes on...

Boots on the Ground

These last couple of days have been a whirlwind of activity and emotion. Monday at 5am Robby and I left California to drive my truck out to Austin. We drove for two days and had a great time driving through CA, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. We spent the night at El Paso and then drove all day from there to Austin. It is crazy to think it took us almost as long from L.A. to Texas as it took us to drive through this enormous state - Oh well, everything is bigger in Texas.

We arrived late Tuesday and then had Andrea and Crystal join us via plane on Wednesday. We spent these last three days walking and driving through the city getting as much of a feel for Austin as at all possible in such a short time. It felt great to finally be able to get our feet on the ground. Doing demographic research on the Internet is great but it does not substitute for actually getting yourself into the city.

We hit 7 of the possible map-points for church-plant locations and we feel that God is stirring our hearts for the city. It is great to have Andrea, Robby and Crystal here to see and experience what these locations are like rather than trying to explain it to them on the phone.
Please pray for us as we explore where God is leading us to plant the church.

Robby and Crystal spent a good bit of time working on housing and God blessed them with a great apartment in an amazing location. Andrea and I are still praying and looking. Please pray with us as housing is significantly more expensive in Austin than where we came from.

All in all a great week - but an exhausting one...

Catalyst Conference

Catalyst is a yearly event where church leaders gather to grow in their leadership skills and be refreshed and revitalized for effective service. A great place to start my new work and as all conferences a great time to bond with the members of your team.
In terms of team building I couldn't have asked for a better intro to the team at HCBC. There was a large group and I loved getting to know these men and women - what a great staff!
The conference had an impressive line-up of speakers and leaders: Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Craig Groeschel, Erwin McManus, Rick Warren, John Maxwell and others. These are proven leaders in the kingdom of God and always have great insights into ministry and leadership. It was a tremendous blessing to be able to take time out and learn from these men.
However, this year the obvious bend of a number of the speakers was an obvious political agenda. It was disconcerting to me to hear several people say that theology did not matter. Half-quoted scripture verses and an obvious bend toward the social gospel (which of course is no gospel at all) as well as anti-war, anti-gun, and anti-everything sentiments were bothersome and somewhat surprising for a conference hosted by Northpoint Community Church.
I am for loving the poor, caring for the sick, supporting the needy, loving the down-trodden and being a provider for the widows and the orphans! As a matter of fact I preached about God's heart for the poor less than a month ago. However, our love for the poor needs to be thoroughly founded in our theology and based in the truths of scripture. There are more than enough verses to support a need to love the poor and care for the sick and needy, as a matter of fact James boldly proclaims that pure and faultless religion is this, to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep yourself from being polluted by the world. As ambassadors for our heavenly Father who is the King of compassion and the God of mercy we have to represent him well and be people of mercy and compassion as well, but this social activism must never replace the true Gospel of Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross through which we can be forgiven for our sins, made alive in Christ, adopted into the family of the Heavenly Father and commissioned as ambassadors for the kingdom!

Moving to Austin via Atlanta!?!

Alright - I finally made it to Austin. I actually moved here via Atlanta, Georgia. I know that seems like somewhat of a detour but there is a perfectly good reason for that.
Most of you know that Robby was going to help me drive my car out to Austin from CA and that we were supposed to leave Tuesday. Well, plans change. Crystal's Grandpa died last week and the funeral was scheduled for Wednesday night. This is obviously not a time for Crystal to be alone, so we decided for me to drive myself. Then I found out that all the church-planters were going to be a part of the Catalyst conference in Atlanta, GA and I called the Executive Pastor at HCBC and the Church Plant Director to see if I could be a part of that - the answer was YES!
Alright! I Love Andy Stanley...
Friday night I finally arrived in Austin where I am staying with the Executive Pastor Bob King. I cannot wait to get started!!!