Church Planting Life So Far

Planting a church is a ton of work.  It’s not that the work is difficult, but man is it selfless.  One of my biggest struggles thus far with this whole process has been giving up my personal time to intentionally be around other people.  I knew this would be a struggle so I began praying about it before we even moved here.  What is amazing is that now, after living this intentional life, I have seen the Holy Spirit working in those we have built relationships with, and it makes every minute of this worth it!

Our church that we have planted runs a little bit differently than any other church I have been in.  The most significant structural difference is a church service.  We don’t have one.  When I invite people to church, I don’t invite them to church.  They are invited to a weekly Bible study that we have, or into a disciple group.  The Bible study consists of our two church planting families, and a new middle school student.  Our disciple groups consist of neighbors or co-workers who we read a large portion of scripture with.  We meet weekly and discuss how we are living by what we read.   

What I like the most about the set-up of our church is, I have to be intentional.  It is my job to make sure the people I am meeting with are shown the truth of God’s word.  If I truly want to show them Christ, I can’t rely on a pastor or church service to do it (Granted I do ask Dave a ton of questions!).  I have to not only act out my faith by showing love, but I also have to be up on my game when it comes to God’s word.   One of the greatest things about being part of a disciple group is that I am held accountable each week to read scripture. Sometimes that means the entire book of Isaiah in two weeks, or the book of James 5-7 times a week.  How can I expect to disciple someone and help them follow Christ and God’s word if I don’t know it! I certainly still don’t know all of it, and that’s why I have an amazing church family to help me and guide me, but I have learned so much through the amount of Scripture that I have been reading. 

I have been asked a couple of times by different people, “Don’t you miss singing and worshipping with other believers?”  The first time I got this question, it wasn’t something I had really thought about.  I do like singing with other believers, but I sing by myself all the time to God and just hadn’t noticed it.  The second time I got this question, my answer was, “No.”  To be honest, I don’t miss it.  I know I am exactly where God wants me to be.   I don’t feel like I need to sing with a crowd of other believers to be sustained or renewed.  It kind of shocked me when I came to this conclusion because I really do love singing with other people. I just don’t miss it, crave it, or feel like I need it. 

If it is Gods will, then one day, Sentral Church will have an actual service in an actual building, with a worship leader and a crowd of people singing to the Lord.  Until then, we have a primary focus of serving God by making disciples who follow Christ, study His Word and make other disciples who do the same.   We don’t need anything else right now.  

Month Two

My how the time has flown!  It seems like just yesterday we were unpacking the last box.  Our new married life has begun and is filled with 40 hour work weeks, meeting and building relationships with new neighbors, and trying to find the time to actually go out and explore OKC a little bit.  With those schedules and our new OK Driver Licenses, we definitely feel like this is home.  People told me Okies would be wierd, and I have been asked by many how the people are here.  So, after some quiet deliberation I can honestly say that either they are normal, or I am just as wierd with them.  I will say that when you tell an Okie that you will have Jolly Jumps at your block party, they look at you with a wondering expression of what on earth those could possibly be.  Other then that they're pretty normal.  

A conversation came on the radio the other day that got me thinking.  It was actually a few weeks ago and I thought, "I should write my next blog post on this topic."  Well, 3 weeks later, here it goes.  

I feel like I know more people who rededicate their life to God then those who become Christians for the first time (as if you can become Christian a second time).  As this thought occured to me, I had two main questions pop in my head.  The first: Why does becoming a Christian not always work the first time?  That lead me to the second question: If people become a Christian and truly follow Jesus then they wouldn't have to rededicate their lives again, so were the people rededicating their lives actually Christians?  I am sure some were (because I was), and it sure makes the case for discipling.


I have been at youth conferences where many students go up to the stage to rededicate their life to Christ and it's a victory, but then three days later, they are living exactly the same as they were before they came, saying the same types of words, and negative statements.  I feel  as humans, we have great intentions, but we are very set in our ways.  It is difficult to completely change your lifestyle after one decision.  

So, whether a person rededicates their life to Christ after falling away or chooses to follow Christ for the first time, discipling is very important.  It is what every member of our church chooses to do on a weekly basis.  It is an intregal part of who we are.  Not only do we teach and build each other up, but we are reading the Bible with people whose worlds are going to be turned upside down when they realize they are not following Jesus and choose to make the incredible decision to act out the faith they thought they had. When that happens (because it will) we will continue discipling them, then they can disciple others.  Slowly we can begin to wipe out the rededication aspect of Christianity where it will no longer be necessary!  I can't wait!