Usually I have more than 2 cents of opinion to share on alot of things. But I’ll attempt to keep this short and sweet. As usual, I came across an article that taken by itself is pretty good on the issue of Multi-Site ministry versus Church Planting, written by a very well known church consultant and author. Read it here.  He shares his concern as being:

While I’m all for multi-site churches as I attend one (Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas), I’m concerned that they not replace church planting. While I have no research to support my view, it would appear that a number of pastors are opting for a multi-site approach over church planting. The problem with this is that most churches best reach a younger population not through a multi-site location but by planting churches. Many of today’s youth react negatively to the predominantly boomer, multi-site churches. They want to meet in smaller more intimate groups as seen in a growing number of house church plants. They want to belong before they believe. They want to check things out to see if church people are authentic: “If what you think you see (Jesus) is really what you get.”

 My concern with this is that I don’t think Latino youth or Latino anything is open to the house church or church plant. I think Latinos are looking for the building, they are looking for the programming especially children and youth ministry. Start up churches with little or no budget (which most Latino start ups tend to be unless they went out sponsored by an Anglo organization or Momma Church) have little to no chance of attracting or if attracted keeping these folks in the church.

 I know he was sharing about youth in particular but Latino youth especially those whose parents are from some other country have mental maps ingrained in them so much so that they are suspicious of anything that mets any other place than a “church” building. Just the other day I was talking to a Latino friend of ours who was saying a building is very, very important for Latinos like him because they can’t see how a space used for drinking, dancing, etc. can be used for holy things on Sunday. They don’t get the “we make it holy when we get there” concept.

 This very thing is the reason many church start ups go against recommended advice not to “purchase” property for years down the road and purchase as soon as something is within their budgetary guidelines. I suspect that is the case not only down here in S. Florida but elsewhere.

What do you think?

So this is the secret I couldn’t wait to tell you about…my church is hooking up with XXXchurch.com to shine the spotlight on America’s dirty, little secret. Pornography is a world-wide epidemic affecting countless families, destroying the innocence of youth and hurting marriages. I’m excited to have been appointed to lead this event at the church because its just too devastating an issue for churches not to talk about it. I love it that I am part of a courageous church! Go PCC! It’s especially wild that Hiram and I always wanted to bring xxxchurch.com down for our own church and now God gives us the opportunity to do it with another church plant. Is that a coincidence? I don’t think so.

Why is this such a big deal? Here are some facts:

·         The average age of first Internet exposure to porn is 11 years old. That’s my son Sam’s age!!!

·         The largest group consuming Internet pornography is the 12-17 age group.

·         48% of Christian families admit that pornography is a major problem in their homes.

·         The porn industry brings in $57 billion world-wide. Its revenue is more each year than all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises, combined. 

Think it’s only a “guy” thing, think again: 

·         1 out of every 6 women including Christians struggles with a porn addiction.

·         70% of women keep their cyber activities secret ·         1 of 3 visitors to adult webs sites are women

·         9.4 million women access adult web sites each month!

·         13 of women are so addicted to porn they try to get access to it at work

·         Now this is the really scary part….

o   Women far more than men are likely to act out their behaviors in real life! 

The church can no longer pretend it doesn’t exist.

And I am proud to say my church doesn’t have their neck in the sand! 

Just because we pretend it doesn’t exist, doesn’t make it go away. Pastors, ministers, lay leaders and as we have seen government officials have been disgraced because of some type of sexual addiction. Usually porn is at the root of it all. So……….on Sunday, April 20, 2008, Craig Gross, founder of XXXchurch.com, will speak at The Pursuit Christian Church Celebration Service at 10:30 a.m. Craig is a nationally known communicator who has been featured on CBS Evening News, Nightline, “Good Morning America,” GQ and many other news outlets.

While exposing the tragic impact pornography has on people and communities, Craig’smessage shines God’s love onto the topic, bringing freedom and healing from use andaddiction. The message will be appropriate for middle and high school students. In fact, weencourage them to attend. We will also provide resources for parents about how to talk toyounger kids and answer their questions about this issue. The Pursuit invited Craig to present his story as the third in a four-part message series called “Hooked.” Hooked will address the danger of addictions and how God can set us free from them. In conjunction with the series, The Pursuit will provide information and resources about all the topics it addresses, including prayer, counseling, Community Group studies, books and audio/video resources.

If you live near Pembroke Pines and don’t have a home church, come out to the Hooked Series at the Pursuit (PCC) and find out about the stuff that keeps us messed up and far from  the joyous life God intended for us.

If you DO have a home church, see if you can come out to the special April 20^th event.

And finally, if you don’t live near the area but have friends who do, please let them know about the event.  We all have to pull the covers off this dirty little secret.

Please pray that God move in the church and that people bound by porn (or other addictions) will find hope and healing through Jesus through our Hooked Series.

By now, most people who know me know that my husband and I transitioned out of church planting. We are now no longer AG ministers by choice and are credentialed by a international fellowship of ministers. We didn’t want to be denominational any longer. We are post-post alot.  Without getting into things that might depress church planters who read this, rather say that I could have let this church plant lemon in my life make me roll over and play dead. I sure wanted to. For an overachiever that I am (at least that is what most personality tests say I am LOL), this was one of my most bitter failures. The other two were not be able to carry to term having my youngest son at 26 weeks of gestation which led to a whole other journey and that I almost lost my husband (usually its a two person issue so I take 1/2 the blame). The church plant is right up there in third place.  But you see, none of these things (I know now) were a surprise to God although they were a big surprise to me. I needed to go through that journey. Why? Because “the reason for the journey is this: in a journey, discoveries are made.” (unknown, wrote it on a piece of paper four years ago and found it in my binder as I work on my book proposal)

 Could we have continued? Yes. Did we want to? No. Do we miss it? Very much. What do you miss most? Our worship. Why didn’t we continue? That is forthcoming in my church plant adventures from a feminine perspective but bottomline…the third year hurt. It seems like others go though similar journey’s. Some make it through and thrive, others make it through and continue to struggle with 20 people, some like us, decide to “make the bad man stop!” and give it away and others fully merge with another church.

I found this story  by Chris Elrod of Compass Point Church in Lakeland, FL in Next Wave that I thought related to our story in some way. I want to post it here because this points out again that we need to share our stories because we all learn from each other. This is the 2nd part of that story and you need to subscribe to Next Wave to get the 3rd part.

I made many discoveries on my journey so far, here are some:

* I was self-righteous- I thought if I did things for God, God would protect me and never let anything bad happen to me or my loved ones. Wrong. Bad thing happen to good people.

* I was theologically messed up - My Latino Pentecostal upbringing had me believing that you just ask God, and he answers in the affirmative. Wrong. God does answer every prayer but sometimes its a most definite NO! or NOT NOW! I still haven’t got used to any one of those answers but I can handle them better now. I no longer believe in a Genie Jesus.

* I realized some Christians are just as bad as those who don’t know God - I thought those who professed to know God would be more responsible, more caring, more authentic, just more and that they wouldn’t be backstabbing, wouldn’t be jealous,  …and uh, you guess it. I was wrong again (what a bummer). I was near middle age when I figured this one out. So glad I finally got the human depravity thing before I was 80!

and drum roll please….

* I realized that there is absolutely nothing that can hold me back from pursuing God’s best for my life but me! That means that no matter how many lemons I had handed to me, I could always use them to make sweet, sweet lemonade! “It’s a sad day when you find out that it’s not accident or time or fortune but just yourself that kept things from you!” (Lillian Hellman).

It was in DJ’s hospital room, when he almost died on me that God gave me a word right next to his bed. That was when I was beginning to contemplate walking away from the church plant because of my family needs and I just felt God say, “this is why you need to write, to speak, because life doesn’t always turn out the way you plan but nevertheless, one thing is certain, you can always, always rebound. You will rebound from this and others need to know they can do the same!”  You know what verse came to mind when all this was happening? Proverbs 24:16, “No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don’t stay down long;…”(The Message). The NLT says it this way, “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again…”

This is how our Rebound Life Architects started and the foundation of it all came from my journey. So you see, we all discover and yes, even birth, many things in our journey. Some will continue to live, others will fulfill their purpose and die but everything, everything in our journey is a lesson if we choose to let it be so. So don’t be afraid of life people! Don’t be afraid of risking because you don’t want to fail at something…that will keep you from EVER accomplishing anything worthwhile. Instead, remember this, “the people who are really failures are the people who set their standards so low, keep the bar at such a safe level, that they never run the risk of failure” (Robert Schuller).

A risk free life is a safe way to fail at life, don’t you think? So yeah, I haven’t succeeded at everything I have attempted to do but heck, I feel great to have attempted great things and I got some more living to do…so watch out world because “(lemons) others can stop you temporarily but you are the only one who can do it permanently” (Zig Ziglar).

Failed at something? Fell? Get back up again…we are internally wired to rebound so says the Word (Prov. 24:16).

What I Love About Church Plants 

Even though we just finished a church planting season and even though it was a great adventure, we did not think we would get involved in a church plant again. At least not so soon but what I am about to share will help you see why there are many reasons we were “ruined for the established church” and became members of another church plant in our area. I’m even hoping you would have the courage to get involved with one near you!

I love church plants because:

1. They are needed. Church planting is the Number 1 way to reach people who are unchurched says almost every denomination and church planting book. The reality is that the mission field is no longer 6,000 miles away, its right across the street folks.
2. They are more fruitful at reaching new unchurched folks. People need to be given a reason to go to church every week and a new church has a better chance of persuading newcomers that they will be offered something fresh. You’ve got a whole generation of people who have never been in the habit of setting the alarm on Sunday morning. You’re competing with every other option they have – including sleeping in. In South Florida and Cali, add the weather and outdoor sports as competition.
3. They usually offer a fresh take on faith. There are so many ways new churches express their love for and need for Jesus that I would have to start a “let me count the ways” post which I won’t. From art during the preaching, videos, dance, and interactive stations, you name it some new church out there is trying it.
4. They give two types of people (the called and gifted and the not sure yet what I’m called to and not sure what my gift is people) opportunities to get involved in various levels of leadership. Newcomers usually can quickly assume leadership roles to help make the congregation into the kind of church they want to become based on expressed beliefs and values. The Lowe’s motto “Let’s build something together” really comes alive.
5. They aren’t institutionalized yet so everything is new including relationships. People know it’s a new congregation and they aren’t walking into a place where people have 20 years of history and don’t want to know anybody else. It’s a wonderful thing to get to know different people from different backgrounds all sharing just one common thing…their desire to know God more.
6. They usually are led by courageous people. Come on folks, you have to have GUTS to plant a church. Guts to follow that voice who they thought was God. I’ve learned to give planters props because this work isn’t easy no matter how much backing it has. And being that I was one for three years…It’s either guts or plain crazy out their mind…I prefer to believe its guts.
7. My final reason why I love church plants is because you see God move even in the Plan B mode. Planters and their teams have a planned out strategy for how things will go. That’s plan A. Plan A looks awesome, everything is planned to the T. A lot of time is spent planning that dog gone Plan A. Then Murphy’s Law happens (who the heck is Murphy anyway), in Latino circles its Pancho’s Law happens…and quickly Plan B goes into effect and everyone just grins and bears it. But the wonderful thing is that God still shows up, He still moves and no one in the crowd even noticed (well almost no one lol).

I’ll end with this one beef I have. A lot of folks in the Kingdom want to chill. Not chill for the purposes of letting God work in them as my previous post suggests. Chill in the I don’t want to lift a finger, let everyone work for me, give me some entertainment, have a 100 programs kind of way. I got a problem with that and if I am going to really be real, I question your understanding of the great commission and I think you’re wack. On top of that, I think lazy Christians are in the throw up category. (N0, this is not fact just my theological interpretation you don’t have to like it). I’m I getting you upset. Well, better to be offended now and awakened to the truth than to suffer the consequences of being one of many Christians who make Jesus Christ want to vomit (see Rev. 3:16).

Jesus said to the Christians at Laodicea, “You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. These are strong and offensive words from our Lord to those Christians. Jesus said He was about to vomit them out of His mouth. The Christians in Laodicea were lukewarm. They were neither hot nor cold. They were comfortable and liked things the way they were. I’m sure like many people we know, heck it could be YOU, they went to “church” every Sunday and maybe to a mid-week service.  Like then, today there are lots of Christians who are lukewarm. In short, they make Jesus want to vomit.

A church plant in your area needs your support. Monetarily. Physically. Prayerfully.  So get involved, in your church or better yet, (if God leads you to) join a new church.  Don’t be a lazy Christian in word or deed, don’t make Jesus want to vomit. 

In South Florida many churches use the beach or a home with a pool to baptize new believers. Today we were honored to use our pool for a new believer in the church we attend, Francesa, a 16 year old Puerto Rican young lady who recently professed her faith in Christ and took the next step by allowing herself to be baptized.It is important to understand that baptism is a result of salvation, not a cause. There are different baptism methods and ways to conduct the ceremony.  However, how it’s done is not as important as why its done. We come to Christ though grace by faith, and our public baptism brings glory and honor to God.

Baptism is an act of obedience, not to obtain salvation, but because of it — because we love Him and want to obey Him.In the book of Acts, baptism is typically the outward response to coming to faith. It was seen as part of a process which includes: 1) hearing (or reading about) the gospel, 2) being convicted and led by the Holy Spirit to confess one’s sins (Greek: “Homologeo” = to agree with, to speak the same),  3) coming to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, 4) beginning the progress of growth (which includes repenting from known sin), 5) joining a group of believers or church fellowship, and 6) being baptized. We were honored to have been asked to use our pool, which I have never even used yet to be the location of the church’s first baptism.

Let me tell you what I found precious about today’s baptism. While it was definitely different from our home church way of baptism, it was so exciting to see that the act was more important than the planning for it.   I loved that they allowed Francesa’s best friend who has been speaking to her about Christ to do the honors today. I’ve never seen a non-minister do it and so informal but I absolutely loved it! The love that these people at PCC have for the lost is intoxicating and Hiram and I gather that we are here because we are the ones that have a lot to learn from them. We haven’t seen this in a LONG, LONG time in our circles. So many are more interested in position and status, getting something instead of giving something but the folks at the Pursuit were more interested in this young girl experiencing her next baby step in the family of God. No major 16 week New Believers course, no 1 hour service just God’s family and a lot of love. Today was totally a “retrain my brain” moment but it was a memory that will be cherished.

We count it a blessing that they are only five minutes from my home! God moved us to a new location after our church plant experience and strategically orchestrated that we be part of what God is doing right in our own back yard. How awesome is that!  Hopefully there will be more baptisms in my pool in the months and years to come!

Yesterday’s Sun-Sentinelhad an article on U.S Latinos and how immigration (the hot political topic) trends show “a future much like Florida”. That’s right, most of America will be looking alot like us down here and I could already visually see some pastors and leaders sweating this one. This highlights something for the church to consider and I wrote about it back in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of PRISM, Racial Harmony or Racial Divide…The Church’s Future is on the Line.

Interestingly enough, that new church planter Matt, the one that launched The Pursuit Christian Church (PCC) was already thinking about the same issue, read here. Gotta tell you, I like his thinking people!

I found a great synopsis of why diversity is beautiful, let me share it below:

The Bible tells us that every nation and tongue will be represented before the throne in His Kingdom. “Unity in Christ does not mean uniformity.”

“So why do people differ?

“Racially - because God created humans with the biological capability to produce tremendous variety
and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

“Culturally - because God created humans in His image and commanded them to subdue His varied and complex creation. In so doing, they quite naturally developed a variety of cultures.

“Linguistically (which is part of a culture) - because they didn’t want to scatter around the earth and so God, in a single act, gave men a variety of languages.

“Why do people differ? Because God wants us to. When you think about it, it is really quite beautiful.
Let’s rejoice with God in the riot of diversity.

(Source: Ethnic Harvest)

Uh, well sex gets noticed anywhere right! It’s a hot subject no pun intended. A Miami Pastor who I had the honor to be featured with before in the Miami Herald, Bob Franquiz made the news down here for his new series on relationships. He said that “God wants us to have great sex!” Even MSNBC picked up the story. I heard about another church in the mid-west doing this take on “sex” as a preaching series and they too got noticed. What gets them noticed is the billboards they take out in key areas.

There’s the “My Lame Sex Campaign” that Church Marketing Sucks talked about back in 2006. There’s “Pure Sex God’s Way” a church in Orlando did. A Fort Meyers church did a series called “My Crappy Sex Life.com“. Hey there’s even the “I Hate My Marriage” campaign a church did.

Seems like the taboo subjects have gone public and churches are becoming bolder and people notice. Welllll alriggggght! I doubt my home church pastor would do that, I could just see his face squirm at the mere mention of it. Did I tell you most of the churches doing these types of campaigns are 1) mega churches and 2) new church plants.

I caught Dave Ferguson sharing some things on his blog about what Shane would tell church planters. Check it out here. Weighing in on some of what he said, I say on:
“Beware of the commuter mentality - I actually was just telling my hubby this very same thing from the perspective that we need to look at that as we go on our “pursuit” of a church. We want community nearby not so far into Miami that no one would ever come over, we would have a hard time going over to their homes, we could only go to church on Sundays since Broward/Miami traffic during the week on I75, I95 or the Turnpike could make you want to retreat forever!

On “Beware of big and celebrate small.” I would not necessarily say beware of big because anything healthy grows right? But it all depends on what you think you are supposed to be about, something definitely gets lost in mega. Period. No matter how many small groups you intend to have, you get lost. I like that my pastor gets to know who I am and doesn’t send me to see another pastor because he’s too high on the hiearchy or because of too many people doesn’t get to know his/her folk. It is not a bad thing for churches to grow to mega status but people seeking out churches usually have a preference, I prefer 400 or smaller. As to celebrate small, not many people do and since I have yet to see a “small church pastor” less than 100 people get invited to speak at any conference, I’ll just assume that there is still no one celebrating small. LOL

Now that we are not pastoring/planting anymore, we are seeking a place to worship and serve. My home church pastoris anxious to see where we will end up. As he says, since we’ve been in leadership and have done so much it won’t be easy for us to find a place. I told him he’s right LOL but one thing I know for sure…I don’t want to go to a megachurch. Call it what you want but I just can’t do it. Having been a planter, having struggled with planter issues such as core team recruitment, $, location, $, marketing, etc. I know that if we can help out a plant that would be beautiful but we also want to find a place that ministers to us, some times they are not mutually inclusive. But let’s see where God takes us.

Speaking of this pursuit for a church, my son, DJ was in the ER yesterday down with an early case of phenomia due to the latest weather changes in FL (the reason we are in S. FL instead of NYC as his doc told us to go to warm climate due to him not being able to tolerate the cold and of course, in God’s overall plan) so Hiram stayed home with him and Sam while I went and visited that new church plant like 5 minutes OR LESS from me. I have to say I was impressed. You could tell they read all the church planting books out there! They had signs leading right up to their door step, the greeters were friendly, the materials they gave out were of professional quality, I love their tag line/mission love.live.lead. I could totally get into that. Now you know my home church rocks in worship so Hiram and I always look at that and our own worship was awesome at Grace…at Pursuit what I liked about their worship and which was actually very unique was that it was bilingual! That’s right not a separate service, it was all together (later on message is translated via headphone thingys). What I didn’t like was that the songs were kind of more for a solo than a group and the backup singers weren’t too sure of themselves (almost like they didn’t rehearse). I like worship to be tight and allowing for God’s spirit to move but this is typical in most church plants for various reasons I won’t get into there. The Arts Director though had an awesome voice (he just needs a better backup team). The message was pretty good, it was a storyteller kind of style, very down-to-earth. Its only their 2nd service and I think they are doing fantastic overall. I give them an A! LOL

Last week we visited a church that is a bit bigger that had been recommended to me by two people I know called Metro Life in Doral about 25-30 minutes away. Pastor Marc went with us. The worship was AWESOME (but then again the worship leader is Mary Alessi, Martha Munizzi’s twin sister!). They also had a good impression on me. The greeters were friendly, the place (their own) was very clean, the sanctuary was in the style that we like (all black), the materials were also professionally done and the preaching was ok. The thing about this church we liked was it reminds us more of our home church because again worship is important to us (I used to lead worship and Hiram used to be in charge of the musicans back at Primitive and at our church plant) so we just felt like we were home.

On this pursuit, we are trying to hear God’s voice as to where and what he’ll want us to do. I know we are not supposed chill as I have said many times on this blog which is the favorite pastime of most Floridians. I don’t know where we will be returning to next Sunday or if we will visit yet another church before we make a decision but one thing I know, I ALSO need community and a tribe to get closer to God with, so this pursuit won’t last too long. We want to find our new church soon so say alittle prayer for us will ya.

I saw a sign for a new church that popped up recently called The Pursuit Christian Church which is meeting at a Ballroom near where I do my nails. Interesting thing is that as I continued to drive, I saw a few more signs for church plants and I smiled.

Although we no longer are planters, I was encouraged to see that the cause continues. It is so easy to just relax here in Florida and not go to church on Sundays. So many work hard (6 and even 7 days a week) that they want to take their only day and just chill. It’s so important to continue to try to cultivate Florida seed for the Lord…here’s why:

In the July 11, 2005 issue of USA Today a large portion of Florida (including the Tampa, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, and Miami metropolitan areas) was cited as a “megapolitan super city”.  This stretch of Florida’s peninsula is projected as one of the top 10 regions for tremendous growth in the United States.

Florida will soon become the 3^rd most populated state with more residents than all other states except California and Texas,(that’s right its replacing NY!)  Florida is already the 3^rd fastest growing state, only growing at a slower percentage rate than Nevada and Arizona.  That’s a one-two punch that means Florida’s growth is unparalleled.  People are coming to Florida in waves to ride the waves and most of them don’t have a relationship with the Lord. (Source: Florida Church Planters)

As I visited their website it was nice to see they had success for their first service, have volunteers already set up to help who actually moved toFL to help (!!) them and are supported heavily. I was glad for them. Amen. May God continue to provide for those who dare say yes to Him because as we know not all of those who start…finish. I pray The Pursuit, El Auditorio de Fe, The Fountain, Church by the Lake, Church of the Glades (and all the church plants I didn’t see signs for) make it in this sunny but in need of a Savior Florida.