God is Amazing

Wednesday:

God answered one of my prayers unexpectedly. I was praying that God would give me a roommate but I did not get one when I moved into my new apartment. I felt that I might have to wait a year or so before God would give me one. Ryan Ellis, a young guy at our church was suppose to room with me originally but could not afford to. Ryan and I have been hanging out for several weeks working out and eating meals together (including Friday night dinners). Recently, Ryan has made some life changing decisions to get his life on the right track. After all it is tough being 21. When I was 21 my life was a complete mess. This week Ryan came to me asking to stay at the house. I can honestly say that having him in the house has been a blessing to both of us. Ryan is a young Christian trying to make good decisions, having him around has made me feel energetic. I am proud of the steps he is making. I am glad he is apart of our church plant.
Along with Ryan came his 100 pound weimaraner named Cash. Cash and Rocky hit it off immediately. Rocky falls asleep on Cash...they are the best of friends. This is also an answer to prayer because Rocky has not been annoying me as muc

Thursday:

Ryan has joined me in the bodybuilding routine together for the past few weeks. I have had numerous workout partners over the past two years. I usually burn them out. Anyway on Thursday morning Ryan and I saw a guy that I had met over a year ago. Muhammad is big into lifting and always talks to me when he is in the weight room. We have become friends. The best type of evangelism has always happened for me in the context of the gym. I got Muhammad’s number and we are going to get coffee next week. I am excited about all the possibilities with this encounter.

Friday:

Friday night dinners have been going really well at my house. We have been using community dinners as a way to get to know the folks we are meeting throughout the week. Last week we started praying an hour before the dinners and had an amazing night. Dillard, Ryan, and I started praying again about the unchurched people we have been meeting. As we were praying there was a knock at the door. Ryan and Dani came in. Ryan is a cool guy from Versailles. Abigail met him at Common Grounds coffee shop and invited him to dinner; he has been coming ever since. A few minutes later Steve, who is a new Christian came to the dinner as well. I met Steve at the Wesley Foundation; he is trying to break free from his old friends so I told him about coming to hang out with us on Friday nights. Many times we want new Christians to leave their old friends behind but the Church has never been good at providing alternatives and fellowship for these folks. By the end of the night as the crowd grew smaller (Ryan Ellis, Ryan (Versailles), Steve, Abigail and I) had a mini prayer meeting. Ryan (Versailles) who is not a Christian desired for us to pray for him. God is doing amazing things!

Late night Friday:

Ryan wanted to go out with some of his friends and so we went out at like 10:30pm which is late for this old man. We went to Winchells and I was able to talk with many of his friends. As we ended the night I dropped the fact that I was a pastor. We were at a bar when I told them which explained why I was not drinking. They were really shocked. We had a great conversation about God and we invited them to church and the Friday night dinners. I am so proud of how Ryan is already sharing his faith. It is important for new Christians not to break ties with their old friends. I remembered my first year in seminary feeling out of touch with the world because all of my friends were Christians. We as believers must be the bridges of God to those who do not know Jesus…that is precisely what Ryan is learning to do.

Saturday:

My Saturday night ritual before preaching mainly consists of prayer and spending a few hours at the church to get my head clear. I did not anticipate the text message I was going to receive. “Ryan’s mom just had a severe stroke.” I called Ryan and he told me Abigail was going to pick him up from Versailles. I left Olive Garden (never got a chance to eat) to go the ER to meet up with Abigail and Ryan. We stayed there for like three hours. I asked Ryan if I could read the Bible to him and he gladly accepted the invitation. Then I was shocked when he asked us to pray with him. We went in the prayer chapel and had a powerful time in prayer. The amazing thing is Ryan is not really a Christian yet but is becoming one. We left the hospital and met up with Ryan Ellis at Logan’s Steakhouse. After dinner Ryan (Versailles) crashed on my couch. It’s cool that he considers me his pastor. That night I didn’t get home till 1am and attempted to sleep in a chair. I was uncomfortable but knew that I had to suck it up because the next morning God was going to do something amazing.

Sunday at Church:

All week long I felt that the Lord was going to do something special at the service on Sunday. Sunday morning I woke up exhausted. I was trying to get ready and of course when I am getting ready to leave I have to clean up pee and poop off the floor. I picked up Andrew Shloemer and then drove like a maniac to the church, hopped out and had Andrew park the car for me. Service started at 10am and I got there at 9:58. Ryan Ellis, who is about 6 months old in the Faith, went to pick up Steve who is newer Christian to bring him to the 11:15 service. Abigail picked up Ryan (Versailles) from my house and he came to the 11:15 as well. At the close to the service Ryan (Versailles) and Steve came to the altar. The awesome part was that Ryan Ellis led them up there to pray! God is doing great things in our midst! After church we were planning on getting a bite to eat at Cheddars. I was riding with Steve and Andrew to Cheddars when Abigail called me to tell me that Darrel was ready to get out of detox. So I called the rest of the folks I was suppose to meet and told them I couldn’t go out to lunch. Afterwards I came home and Abigail came to pick me up because she is a good friend to Darrel. We went to pick him up and we were a bit nervous because we weren’t sure if he would be willing to go into a longer treatment facility. He was supposed to stay at the Rescue Mission but for various reasons they failed to communicate with us that he wasn’t allowed to stay there. We decided to celebrate Darrel’s decision by going out to lunch at like 3pm. We met up with Aaron, the boys, and Harper chick. It was at lunch that we were able to have some awesome conversations with Darrel. Darrel wants to get better and feels God working in his life. What we perceived was going to be a tough sell actually was easy because God was long at work before we arrived on the scene. We took Darrel to get his medications at Wal-Mart and as we were driving by we saw Lowes. Darrel said, “I love Lowes.” I asked why he loved Lowes so much and he said because “it was easy to steal from there.” Needless to say we were dying laughing. Darrel is a hilarious guy. After Wal-Mart we took Darrel home to spend time with his girlfriend. Later in the evening we picked Darrel up from Thortons to crash at my place. Ryan Ellis and I went to go pick up a video so we can watch something to veg out to. While at the video store a guy stopped me to ask me if I was in the Marine Corps. I looked at him like I was crazy at first because I failed to realize I was wearing a sweatshirt with USMC written on it. The guy’s name was Adam. He was there with two other friends. I quickly introduced myself and told them that we were starting up a church. I then invited them to dinner. I got Adam’s phone number and we are excited about him and his friends showing up to dinner. God is at work! I praise Him for the divine appointments He keeps setting up. We look forward to see what God is going to do next. When Ryan Ellis and I pulled away he turned to me and said, “We may have to start the church sooner than we expected.” All I have to say is that I hope that is the case.

Barber Shop Connection

Some habits are hard to give up…especially the military style haircut for this former Marine. I do not necessarily love the high and tights but I am a fan of keeping it short. The minute my hair starts to lengthen a bit I try to get it cut because that is what has been instilled in me. Aaron has been getting his haircut at the same barber for the past 10 years. Last year Aaron took me with him to get a haircut by the barber who is a former Marine named, Richard. Richard and I were able to connect instantly. I told him about the church plant I was starting and wanted me to keep him updated on it.

Yesterday I decided to go pick up my dry cleaning during the early afternoon, which I did not plan to do. Before I walked in the dry cleaners, I saw Richard outside smoking a cigarette. I approached him and he remembered my name. I invited him to the community dinners at the house and he sounded excited. Richard said, “You live on Mentelle Park…that’s funny because I live on North Hanover.” North Hanover is about a block away from me.

Pray that Richard receives Jesus. I would love Richard and his family to be apart of the church plant.

Coffee Shop/Deli

A few months ago John Crissman called me unexpectedly and told me about the possibly of the UK Wesley Foundation starting a coffee shop/deli. John thought it could also be a space for the church plant/ministry. I called the Foundation’s director, Bill Hughes who is a Methodist Pastor. Bill was excited about the new church and the possibly of collaborating. Since that time, we began to dream about what can take place. Down the street from the Foundation is a corner store. The store was shut down due to shady dealings taking place. Bill started talking with the owner about renting; he would call him every other day. The holdup was that the owner could not get into his own building because the previous tenants placed a lock on it. Therefore, there were some legal problems we had to wait on to be sorted out. Anyway, Bill called me today and told me to come down to the corner store. The owner was meeting inside with a prospective tenant who wanted to start a pizza shop. We were not worried because we knew God had opened the door for us and that His will was going to be done. Once the man left, we talked to the owner about renting it and told him our vision for the store and the community. Bill told him he was going to write a check for the first months rent…and like that, the building is ours!!! Once we stepped outside, we talked with the man who wanted to start the pizza business. He also was a Christian and said, “I don’t wanna be in the way of what God wants to do…I’ll find another place to rent.” I believe this only confirmed what God had placed on our hearts.

Our next steps will be cleaning up the old place and probably painting which means I will need some volunteers.

I'm weird...I know it

Within the last 10 years, I have discovered another one of my passions to be weight training and nutrition. I was into fitness even before joining the Marine Corps. I have become more serious about it within the last few years. I have always dreamed about competing in a bodybuilding show but never thought I had the discipline. Before the end of the New Year, I decided one of my goals was to compete in my first bodybuilding show. I decided that I needed someone with a lot more expertise so I have been working with a trainer at the Lexington Athletic Club. The trainer provides the workouts and nutrition and my job is to follow…easy, huh? not so fast! I have made some drastic life changes in the past 9 weeks. I have given up caffeine, refined sugar, and fast food. Instead, you will see me carrying around Tupperware of chicken and tuna…yum:-) The awesome thing about it is that I have lost 26lbs without doing an ounce of cardio, which is one thing that I hate doing! The weird thing about this bodybuilding pursuit is that it has helped me significantly in my spiritual life. If I can say no to refined sugar, caffeine, and fast food, then I can say no to areas of sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. As I have dedicated myself to working out and eating right, I have seen myself more dedicated to prayer and Bible reading than in my whole life.

I know many of my friends think I am strange for doing this, but if Aaron Mansfield can make cheese as a hobby than I can do bodybuilding!

The New Muscle Beach

Muscle Beach has been known where the renaissance of modern bodybuilding took place thanks to the likes of Arnold, Franco Columbu, Frank Zane and host of others. Venice, California provided the perfect scenery for outdoor lifting/athletics, sun tanning and swimming. Modern bodybuilding and the current fitness revolution we have seen is much attributed to the cult classic Pumpin Iron (1976). It stars a charismatic 28 year old by the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold agrees to this documentary as they follow him on his journey to his sixth Mr. Olympia title. The fame of this documentary placed bodybuilding on the map and started the fitness revolution of the 80s, 90s, and today. The fitness revolution has grossed billions of dollars since the making of this film.

Prior to the Pumpin Iron documentary bodybuilding was seen as plain weird. They fit in with the artists, freaks, hippies, and transvestites. They lived in such a diverse atmosphere. Part of the reason that attracted me to the Chevy Chase/Woodland Park area for planting the church was the diversity. In my opinion, it could be the new Muscle Beach of sorts. Not that there are bodybuilders lifting outside, but the diversity of the population makes it a unique culture.

Once, Twice, Twenty-One Times A Charm

A little over ten years ago, God began to give me passions for His service. One of those passions was evangelism. I never thought I would be a pastor because I always felt God was calling me to travel as an evangelist. Therefore, I decided to become a Methodist pastor because I would be traveling every few years anyway! When Aaron arrived at our church, I thought he was a bit crazy to say the least. He would go visit people door to door and invite them to church. Aaron is not the most tactful person when it comes to his evangelism style, but it works for him, so who am I to criticize. When I heard Aaron was starting an evangelism team my eyes lit up. I knew that God wanted me to be involved. When we were meeting together as a group there is one fact that I will never forget, it takes roughly 21 invitations to a person before they receive Christ. What does that mean? We cannot give up when it comes to our personal evangelism. Even though I may receive a rejection, I could be number one or two on the list. You maybe number 20 or 21. People’s receptivity levels are different based upon their circumstances in life. Listen to what the Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7:

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”

A Major League Baseball player as hitter is considered successful if he hits over a .300 batting average, which is only 30% of the time that they reach base, which means the other 70% he fails to get a base hit! The difference for us is when someone receives Christ it does not matter all the previously “failed” attempts because they were not failures but merely planted seeds.
I am learning it may take many invitations before an individual comes to our community dinner and maybe many more before they receive Christ. The good news is that God is long at work in the hearts of His people before we ever interact with them. God is at work in a person’s life whether they know it or not. Our mission is simply to be vessels in delivering this Good News!