When I was in Bible College there was a well-believed legend that if you said something out loud that you didn’t want to do, that was the very thing that God would have you do.  We even had a song called, “Please don’t send me to Africa…” It was pretty funny, but no one actually wanted to sing it for fear that God would take them seriously and ship them out on the next boat.

I fully intended to work the system.  My strategy was not to say anything that I wouldn’t do and tell God I would do anything for Him.  On the flip side, I would think in my head, “Oh God, don’t make me start a church.”  I would even sit at our Network Conferences and pity the poor souls who were in the ranks of the church planters.

So, I settled in nicely during our tenure as youth pastors at some of the larger churches.  Our youth ministries were larger that most of the church plants, so you can imagine that I had no concept about why anybody would dare to start from scratch.  It was my secret horror in my heart that God might actually send us to plant a church someday.

So, apparently, the Bible college legend is true.  After over a decade safely tucked into youth ministry, God began to stir in our hearts about church planting.  We drove straight up to the Network Office to talk to our superintendent about the possibilities of senior pastoring an existing church.  I thought for sure he was my escape out of this journey, but since he knew us well, he was quick to suggest we dig deeper into the church planting agenda.  Fine.  How can you argue with God and your superintendent?

So, the irony began.  And here is the great news for all of you who are fearing that God is asking you to do something you don’t think you want to do -the one and only thing that I didn’t have on my wish list is the very thing that I am loving every minute of just ten years later… I’m thinking that God loves the ironic things in the world because the Bible is riddled with them…”the last shall be first and the first shall be last”…what’s up with that?  It’s backwards!  And so often that’s case with my life.  And I am thankful that I serve a God who know’s me better than I know myself.

As Mark and I have prayed this year, we sensed a change was coming for North Creek and have desperately wrestled about what that was going to look like. 

We began to think about multiple services, a change of location, a new strategy for advertising and outreach…and it may come to pass that all of the above will take place in one gigantic decision.  As we searched for the specifics we went down the road of location options.  And we learned a lot… sprinkler systems, permits, parking…it is a nightmare for large groups to meet on commercial property!  Add in our limited budget and the doors came crashing to a close.  One realtor actually audibly laughed at me when we told him our specifics.

However, God seems to provide in the midst of the obstacles.  We are currently walking through the process of a building that would allow us to move out of our awesome school within about a month.  And be just enough outside of our budget to require faith, but not stupidity.  WHAT???  Can you say that again?  100+ times of unloading and reloading a trailer full of a church and it would all come to a halt in 30 days?  We would begin to establish permanence in our community! 

This buidling is still a temporary step to a greater situation, but it is an important step!  It is a step that allows us signage on a busy highway and the opportunity to utilize a facility on a daily basis.  I see it as the difference between living in your car or living in a hotel room.  Sure, the hotel room still isn’t home, but it’s nice to have a place get comfortable in the meantime.

I laugh at how God has used this church.  Sometimes I feel like God uses our accidental bumblings to show His glory in the most amazing ways.  We try something ridiculous and He moves His awesome hand to create something incredulous. 

In ministry I would have to confess to pride in my past.  However, I would say that pride has long since passed to great humility.  The last two years have been God and God alone.  I am just humbled to be along for this ride.  Whether or not we are moving in a month, I know that this journey is on a road that is paved with God’s miraculous and awesome power.

North Creek Church is the home to LOTS of leaders who have been intimately involved in youth ministry over the last few seasons of their lives.  So, needless to say, when a teenager walks into our church they are treated well!  Many of us still miss the glory days of youth ministry and find solice in the eyes of someone under the age of 20.  The last two years have actually been a training ground for talking to adults after so many years entrenched in junior high and high school lingo.   

As youth pastors we developed one core value that will never be shaken…teenagers are usable.  They can be on the worship team, they can teach, they can greet, they can serve in nearly every capacity that adults can.  The statistics are staggering for the number of teenagers that walk away from Christianity when they graduate.  I believe a lot of this is due to the fact that we are unable to connect a graduated senior into the life of the “adult” church.  We haven’t given them any responsibility within the context as the church as a whole, so it’s a foreign land.  Outside the four walls of the youth group, they haven’t developed very many relationships…especially pastoral relationships.  So when it’s time to join the worship team, they get to start at the bottom of the food chain by meeting the worship pastor.  It’s daunting and debilitating to an energetic 18 year old who has already invested their teen years into being a productive member of the church…but nobody knew it!

There is balance in our philosophy as well.  We know that teenagers are still part “kid”, too.  They need social time with their peers and teaching on different topics than what a typical adult might need.  For example, abstinence is not a popular sermon among married people, but it’s vital that a teenager grasps the concept of abstinence and purity.  That’s why our youth ministry gets their own sermon every other week.  They get this beautiful mix of hearing from their youth pastor and their lead pastor all of the time. 

We love the teenagers that call North Creek home.  We know their names, we talk to them, and we do our best to understand the challenges and dreams that they have.  And I believe it will pay off.  I fully intend to have all of my jobs taken over by the amazing talent that is lurking two decades below me…