Church {Solid Rock}

We have been at Solid Rock Church in West Fort Worth for almost 5 months now. I've been leading worship and getting life groups ready to relaunch for the last few months, and this church has been such a blessing to us!

It is a great reminder that the church is not a building, an organization, or a club. Solid Rock Church truly is about making disciples. The church is the people whose lives have been radically transformed by Jesus in such a way that they will never be the same.

The church is not about what we want, how we can be catered to, or where we fit in. The church is the beautiful bride of Christ and it exists for no other reason than to bring him glory.

I pray that God would continually remind me of that truth: the church is not about me. It is not about what I want. It has nothing to do with where I fit in. It is more about how I can serve, how I can impact the world for the kingdom of God. The whole point of the church is so that he will increase and I will decrease.

Reading. Good.

So recently I have discovered a truth that I should have been taking advantage of a long time ago. You can check out books from the library and read them. I know this is a simple idea, but I have always thought that if there was a book I want to read, I should just buy it. Since I have been in Seminary there have been so many books I want to read that I can't even count the prospects... This makes the library a great resource!

So some books that I've always wanted to read but never have.... Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon, and The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul- but there will be many more. These books have so much teaching and analogy that I've heard all my life, but now I am getting it at the source.

I want to encourage anyone who has stopped by to read. Most importantly we should read the word of God because it is the single most important thing that we could ever read. We are saved by hearing and believing the word of God, we're instructed, and we see the very nature of who God is. Also, it is important to read because authors like C.S. Lewis and Charles Spurgeon can spur you on towards thinking harder and being more passionate about God and about life. I know that is true for me.

Here are some resources for reading the Bible:
www.biblegateway.com

And you already have my latest "libraried books" but here are some others I'm reading...
John Piper Don't Waste Your Life
Brennan Manning The Ragamuffin Gospel

Amazing Story

So tonight we had a small group from our church plant over to our house. We are studying and training a few leaders of the church in evangelism. Right during the middle of the meeting I heard my doorbell ring. I thought it might be some kind of electricity salesman or a roofer, but it was not. The group was optimistic because we had just been talking about finding opportunities to share our faith.

So I answered the door. It was a man named Craig. He asked me if I had seen the dog he was holding. He found it and was trying to return it to its rightful home. I did not, but I did take the opportunity to ask Craig if he went to church anywhere and invited him to our church. He replied that he was an agnostic and didn't really think there is any way to know the truth about God. After explaining a little bit about what he believed, I asked him if I could share what I believe.

I went on to share my testimony and the entire Gospel. I told him about how sin separates us from God, Jesus made a way for us to have a relationship with Him, and that by trusting in Jesus alone and committing your life to Him you can be saved

After thinking it through and making a few excuses Craig decided to ACCEPT CHRIST! I am planning on following up with him and his family, because he said they don't know Jesus either! Praise God that during the middle of our evangelism small group meeting God brought someone to our door that left with his life forever changed!

The First Big Step!

Our real purpose in this blog is to encourage people to support us through prayer in our lives and our call to missions. We thought this would be a great way to keep in touch with all of our loved ones!

Moving to Fort Worth is our first step toward our call to missions. We have known for a while now that the Lord has great things in store for us, but to be honest we don't know exactly what they look like. We know that we have a call and hearts for missions, so I (Brian) am starting an MDIV in International Church Planting in Spring of 2010 at Southwestern Seminary. We also believe whole-heartedly in the role of the local church, so we are praying for God to lead us to a great church family to serve Him during our time in Fort Worth!

We are heading out from Abilene with our loaded Uhaul on Thursday, January 7th. The Lord has provided us with a great rent house that is only about ten minutes away from the Seminary. Orientation is on January 12th, and classes begin after that. Amy is still praying for a job in Fort Worth, and we are confident the Lord will provide.

So Please continue to pray. We know that the Lord is going to provide us with jobs, a wonderful church family, and a way to make it through Seminary. Please pray that the Lord brings us closer to Him always and closer to each other! Also, please pray that the Lord gives us discernment in making decisions.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

This is our new home in Fort Worth