The Name Game, Plus an Exciting Week Ahead

ANNOUNCING OUR CHURCH PLANT NAME!

Except not. Today I planned to reveal the name of the church plant. However, due to an unbelievably odd (I mean really odd) series of events, that will not be happening. In fact, we have to ditch that name altogether and pray about a new name. While this is certainly frustrating since we did put a lot of time and prayer into picking out this name, the Lord was very gracious in keeping us from using that name. Had we gone forward with this name, it would have caused us a significant headache down the road. This is life in the church planting world - lots of excitement and plenty of interesting turns.

This past week I preached at Christ Community Church (PCA), one of our two supporting churches in Gainesville. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and some families from that church have already expressed interest in supporting us or even joining us. It is so encouraging to have supporting churches from different denominations.

On Thursday Kristen and I will leave for California to spend six days support raising in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. I will also be preaching on Sunday at the Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach (CA), a church I attended for almost eight years. This church is now supporting the Gainesville church plant, an amazing development since this church is about 3,000 miles away from Gainesville!

Please Pray:
- That Ryan Harding (the associate church planter working with me) and I would prayerfully settle on a different name for the church plant in the next week or so. We have some other awesome choices, and we're thankful for that.
- That the Lord would raise up several families from Christ Community Church to join the church plant launch team. Pray that my time there this past weekend would help people think more clearly about their involvement.
- That the Lord would speak through me in powerful ways on this coming Sunday morning as I preach at the Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach for the first time. 

Schools and Courtrooms

One of the primary ways Kristen and I  (and everyone on the launch team) hope to reach Gainesville as we plant a church is to serve the schools in our community. We have identified two schools where we are trying to invest our time, including an elementary school on the west side and a K-12 school on the east side of our target area. Beginning in February, Ryan Harding and I (and possibly other people on our launch team) will begin helping twice per week with an after-school tutoring program at the school on the west side. Last night Ryan and I attended a student advisory committee (SAC) meeting at the school on the east side and met the principal and the guidance counselor. They have invited us to tour their school during this coming week and we hope to start spending time in classrooms soon. Approximately 97% of the students at the east side school are in the free/reduced lunch program. Praise God that things are beginning to happen at local schools!

Please keep my family in your prayers this week. On Thursday I will spend time in court with my mom at a pre-trial hearing for the teenager who is accused of hitting and killing my dad. This is the first time either one of us will see this teenager, so this will inevitably be a very difficult time.

Please pray:
- That the launch team would serve faithfully at both the west side and east side schools and find ways to bless these schools for the long haul.
- That the launch team would find favor in the eyes of school administrators so that we can continue to love and serve these schools in substantial ways. These are also schools where we might consider trying to meet for Sunday services in the future.
- For my mom (in particular), me, and the rest of my family as we deal with the emotional and practical implications of Thursday's pre-trial hearing.