Lessons from the Journey

Been in Jupiter, FL now for over a week and focusing on starting Discover Church on a committed basis for 7 days.  I by no means have figured anything out and truthfully have learned how much I have yet to learn but maybe this will be helpful to those who come behind me next week or next year.  If so, I will try to keep these coming on a semi-regular basis.  These are some of the things I have learned/relearned during my first 7 days starting Discover Church...

1. A supportive, enthusiastic spouse is essential and I have the best!
2. Having an advisory team of experienced, wise, talented, Christ-pursuing pastors prevents blind-spots and is catalytic.
3. Establishing a prayer network months in advance of relocation prepares the way in immeasurable levels.
4. Planting in your hometown or a place with significant familiarity is tremendously helpful as it cuts down on the learning curve and allows you to "be" the area quicker and more streamlined.
5. Network, network, network--somebody always knows someone who knows somebody.
6. Be flexible in methods and in schedule but dogmatic when protecting the vision from day 1.
7. Listen to those who have gone before you very carefully (see #2).
8. Don't forget that this is also new for your spouse (and kids in applicable). Careful, intentional communication has been very important for us.
9. Connecting with area pastors provides great wisdom and networking.
10. Connecting with area pastors can be discouraging but resist becoming jaded.
11. Spend time building relationships with potential core team members.  Each person adds texture, connections, and credibility (not to mention tithe) to a new start (see #5).
12. Plan for a separate environments for core team and seekers--seems simple but a mistake I have already made.
13. An intentional vision/plan for multiplication of churches disarms people who immediately assume church planters are about building their own kingdom.
14. Work hard--set a schedule and keep it like you would if are working for someone else.
15. Planting a church with a team allows for much more to get accomplished in a more effective manner and is MUCH more enjoyable.
16. Share your vision as often as possible; it is God's stamp of legitimacy and limits the sting of discouragement that will surely come.
17. Visit area churches and learn from what is going well and what is not.
18. Communicate with your spouse about the day you plan to begin to shift from unpacking mode to church planting mode.
19. Prayer walks are powerful for vision, compassion, motivation.

Lessons from the Journey--Grad Week

Big Weekend for us!  Brittni and I will be graduating this tomorrow, Saturday.  Brittni will be graduating with a Communications major with a specialization in Public Relations/Advertising.  I will be receiving my Masters of Divinity with a specialization in Leadership.  We are so grateful for so many of our family members who will be here this weekend or have sent encouraging cards to us!  It is at moments like this that we recognize how truly blessed we are to have the friends and family around us.  To those who have been given much much is expected.  We certainly fall under that category...

Countdowns

Hard to believe but for us "it's the final countdown" (can hear Europe singing in the background now!).  Here is what the next two weeks hold for Brittni and I:

• Last day of classes is Wednesday April 29
• Discover Church send off party Thursday April 30
• Finals week May 1-7
• Seminary Banquet May 7
• Family comes in May 8
• Graduation May 9
• Move to FL date May 14

Breaking Ground Church Planting Event

On Friday night at the Muse Coffee Shop we had a great time talking church planting and general leadership principles with Daniel and Tammie Floyd.  Daniel is the pastor of LifePoint Church in Fredericksburg, Va.  LifePoint, under Daniel's leadership, is a tremendously generous church and we saw it firsthand as they hosted us last month.  We learned so much from them!  It is so great to reconnect with Daniel and to see guys I went to undergrad with at Liberty doing so well.

Great time of year

What a great time of year!  So what is so great you may ask...I have my last spring break ever (three more than I thought I would have) as I am graduating in May with the MDIV from Liberty.  We are leaving Friday evening for spring break in Palm Beach County.  It is March and there is a such thing as college basketball (I'm a tarheel fan), enough said.  Finally, it is Spring Training for baseball and my Dodgers are looking good.  Here is a link to an article talking about what a solid line up they have starting the year!  It doesn't get much better than this for a church-planting-sports-fan!

Safely in Lynchburg

I carried my wife across our threshold at exactly 1am tonight.  We drove in from Jupiter, FL (north Palm Beach County) today.  Thank you for all of you who prayed for our traveling today.  We appreciated it tremendously as there were so many things that we saw and that remained unseen that could have been hazardous to us.  You are great!!  More info to come soon...

We're back!

Hello from the Stallings.  Brittni and I have had an incredibly memorable several weeks.  I apologize for not updating the blog as frequently as I would have liked.  Thank you to all of you who have so generously made our wedding so special!  Please continue to pray for us as we begin our new family.  Here are some pics below that allow you to travel with us to Cancun for our honeymoonat Moon Palace.  For over 50 pics take a look at Brittni's Facebook page.

Update on Prayer Requests

Thanks for all of you who check out this blog to see how you can pray for Brittni and I.  Finals ended up good for both of us and that is exciting because it means only one more year for both of us!  We have been having a great time here in FL.  After stopping over for a night of laughs and lasagna with my parents in NC  we have made it to Britt's parents in Jupiter, FL.  She has been busy with last minute preparations for the wedding (8 days!) and I am pretty much doing what I am told ( i hear you laughing at me).  We have gone out with many of our friends here in Palm Beach County and still have lots of people to see.  Hard to believe but one week from now many of you will be in FL with us preparing to celebrate our wedding!  See ya soon...

Downtown Lynchburg

Thanks for those of you who have been praying for Brittni and my finals.  Brittni completes her semester on Thursday at 10:30am and I finished up on Wednesday AM.  Hard to believe we both will be graduating this time next year!  Even harder to believe that we are getting married in just over two weeks!!  Here are some pics taken by one of Brittni's good friends Alison Young this past Sunday...

Lessons from the Journey

Sacrifice was modeled by ALL of the early church leaders and should be today.  However, many of us in western Christianity have to battle against convenient living as it clashes with Kingdom priorities.  For most of us it is not intentional but rather comes natural in a culture that celebrates convenience (fast food, 711's, Walgreen's, pizza delivery, microwaves, etc.).  

I am certainly not advocating an abandonment of all things of comfort as I am a creature of comfort but I am encouraging an inspection as to how deep this desire for convenience has penetrated our spiritual decision making.  Sacrifice is the foundation of the church and is resisted in many parts of our lives.  I truly believe that nothing of eternal significance will ever be accomplished apart from sacrifice!  This may be why Christianity is at an all time low in influence in the US and is thriving in most other places in the world.  Is it possible that our spiritual decision making is influenced greatly by our pursuit of ease?  Below are some Scriptures that have pushed me into inspecting my lifestyle in comparison with God's expectations for His children...

• Luke 9:23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 
  
• 2 Timothy 3:12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
  
• 2 Corinthians 11:21What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. 22Are they Hebrews?  So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. 23Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
  
• Acts 7:54When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." 57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Update on Prayer Requests

Thanks for those of you who have been praying for some of the things previously listed.  Here is an update from my talk at FBC of Roanoke.  I was able to take my friend Dave Sewell with me for the brief one hour road trip.  Nehemiah Hansen (pictured, sorry about the scary eyes) is the middle school pastor and a friend from Liberty Seminary.  He took great care of me and showed me around their beautiful church before setting me up with the high school students.  I talked to them about living a life of sacrifice and that it is not only encouraged but expected by our Lord Jesus.  I had some really great feedback after the talk and it was obvious that God was speaking to them.  I blogged about the challenging issue of sacrifice in greater detail above...

Cokesbury Wedding Shower

Cokesbury United Methodist Church, where my dad is the pastor, gave Brittni and I such a special wedding shower on Sunday.  The "Friends" Sunday School class organized the event in their beautiful fellowship hall and so many people came to share with us their love and best wedding wishes.  In addition to the people of Cokesbury, my Mema, aunts, and cousins made the 1+ hour trip to celebrate with us.  We were blown away by their generosity and here are some action shots...