Moving to Hernando County Florida

Well, this is not exactly a theologically centered post, its personal, but in that way it is deeply theological. This post is about the work of God within me that has brought me to the point of moving to Hernando County, leaving the security of a good job, pay, insurance, and all the people we have come to know and love in Dayton, Ohio.

I am sitting in the Starbucks in the Beavercreek Kroger. Many friends have come by as I have been sitting here, my internet is turned off at home. I cam here to write something "profound" and I became overwhelmed with the realization of my journey. This will be our fourth church plant. Yet nothing can prepare you for being the new guy, the unknown, the lack of trust, the suspicion. So why do it?

I am going to Hernando County for a multiple of reasons. One of them is the Leibensperger family has been asking me for eight years to come and plant a church. Certainly Florida itself is riddled with great qualities, not the least of which is the weather. At the end of the day, I cannot uproot my family and move for those reasons. I am moving because of the great call of God. Hands down I must go. I must leave safety and security, and loved ones, because of an apostolic mission that has been placed upon the church, and in this case upon me. Not that there are not other churches in Hernando County, all doing a great work, but there are not enough! Some might point out that there are not enough in Ohio either. I agree. Yet God called me to Hernando County. My friend Karl says, it was his prayers. He may be right. Paul received the Macedonian call when a man prayed for him to come to his home. So that is why I am going to Hernando County.

The vision for this church plant is what has been brewing in me since early 2000. Has the message we have preached in the American church produced the fruit, the kind of followers of Jesus that fill the church today by accident? I think not. We do not have weak followers of Christ in-spite of the message preached but as a direct result. If we despair of the condition of the church today then we must examine ourselves and the message of Matthew 28.18-20 and ask how does our message compare. I am going to Hernando County to tackle that issue head on in my life and in the life of the church in Hernando County. To make disciples who continually and regularly, make disciples, who will do the same.

We need your prayers! Will you pray for us, in this transition, over the next two years, will you cover us with prayer, and spiritual warfare intercession. Will you pray for my children, and for my wife to enjoy the journey, to make new trusted friends, to find their way, to succeed, and to make a new life in Florida? Will you pray for Tyler as he heads west, to begin his new career, apart from us? Pray for me in that one too?

Last will your pray for the church, not just the Hernando County Vineyard Christian Church, but for the whole church, maybe even for yourself, according to Matthew 28.19-20?

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”