It's "GO!" Time!!!

I almost can't believe it!

6 months ago, we shut down our church so that we could start over again as a new church, with new DNA, new values, new vision, new purpose, and--most of all--new focus.

It was an interesting meeting, when Jennifer & I told the congregation that we weren't having services again until we launched.

There were many stunned looks of disbelief staring back at us in that meeting, but as we talked about the WHY behind the WHAT we were doing, something seemed to click inside each one of them.

"This makes sense," several said, sounding like they almost didn't believe the words they were hearing out of their own mouths.

But now, 6 months later, the very things God spoke to Jennifer & I about Inspire are the very things we're seeing.

And not only are WE seeing them, so is our Launch Team!

In fact, our Launch Team OWNS this! This isn't "my" vision anymore, or "Jen's" vision... It's "our" vision! It belongs to this Launch Team & they are giving everything they have for Jesus AND for those guests that are going to come to know Him through their hard work, sacrifice, & love.

We've worked and worked and worked...

We've done all WE can do, now it's time for God to do what only HE can do!

It's "GO!" time, Baby!

And I'm SO glad I get to be on this adventure with them!

God is STILL Creating Out of Chaos!

Today was our first of 2 Launch-Day rehearsals.

Jennifer & I spent the last week running around like chickens with our heads cut off, trying to get everything we needed for today.

That did NOT happen.

Turns out there are two things going on in town that have... Ummm... "Hindered" us a bit.

Maybe you've heard of them: something they like to call "The Super Bowl" and then this other little local festival called "Mardi Gras."

Oh... You've heard of 'em?!

Yeah, well, as you can imagine, "hinderances" prevented today's rehearsal from having all of the equipment we needed.

Despite that, we were able to get everyone into position & start putting the last 6 months of planning into practice.

And it was... (Anyone wanna guess what I'm gonna say here?)

CHAOS!

Yep: pure, unadulterated, OMG, what-have-I-gotten-myself-into, how-are-we-gonna-pull-this-off-in-two-weeks chaos.

I felt like the villain in some old Kung Fu movie: "Ahh, Chaos... Welcome. We have been expecting you."

And we were expecting some chaos.

And we got some chaos.

A LOT of chaos.

At the end of the day, we told everyone that this chaos was normal & that we'd work through it next week. And that's all true: we will... But judging from the looks on their faces, many of them weren't buying it!

So, after the meeting was over (& copious amounts of lunch were ingested), I decided to send out a little word of encouragement to our Launch Team.

As I was typing this thought came to me: "Out of chaos, God created everything."

Whoa! That was good!

I thought it again (this time on purpose!): "Out of chaos, God created everything."

Then I thought about the chaos of our meeting today: "Judging from today's meeting, He's gonna hafta do it again!"

Then I put the two thoughts together: "Out of chaos, God created everything. Judging from today's meeting, He's gonna hafta do it again!"

Then I remembered WHO we're talking about: God!

And the most amazing peace came over me. It added one more thought to the two previous: "God creates out of chaos EVERY DAY... He's God!"

So I put it all together & sent it to our Launch Team: "Out of chaos, God created everything. Judging from today's meeting, He's gonna hafta do it again! But that's OK... That's WHAT He does!"

In fact, He has never STOPPED creating out of chaos... That's one of the things that clearly identify Him as God!

And He has called US--you & me!--to be part of this wonderful mess... This divine disorder... This creative chaos... THROUGH which & IN which God is always working to accomplish His will.

Yes, my friends, I am happy to report that God is STILL creating out of chaos!

When Not Enough Becomes Too Much

So, here'e the deal: Inspire launches in just 21 days!

Seriously, y'all... 21 days is NOWHERE near enough time! In fact, Panic Mode officially set in for me late last week.

SO MANY things to do...

SO MUCH still left to do...

My task list is supposed to be getting shorter as we get closer to Launch Day.

But it seems to be getting longer!

Aaaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh! (And that's NOT Pirate-ese!)

But thank God for one of our overseers, Monte Young, who gave me some GREAT advice! He said,

"Dude, enjoy Launch Day: you only get to do this once! Here's the reality: you're GONNA launch. You've got a GREAT team. You're probably not gonna "nail" everything. But that's okay... Everybody knows it's your first service."

I needed that! (Thanks, Bro!)

Ya see, I have the kind of personality that gets SO focused (read: is SO anal!) on making sure every detail is squared away that I can TOTALLY miss the amazing things going on around me.

I do NOT want to miss the amazing things God is doing on Launch Day!

And a funny thing happened once I set my mind to enjoy Launch Day...

That 21 days that was "not enough" time to get everything done became "too much" time til we see God what only He can do!