Big Changes, New Faces, Same Journey

If you look at the date of my last post, and then the date of this one, you might be wondering where I've been. Yeah, I've been wondering that myself.

It has been over a year since I last posted, and I could give you a thousand (well, maybe more like ten or twenty) reasons why I have been so silent but I won't bore you with them. Trust me when I say that what I would have written probably would not have made much sense. There was a lot going on in my heart and mind - most of it better left there and at the feet of Jesus. Thanks go out to my precious family for deep and constant patience, and to all my friends for their faithful prayers and continued fellowship through my, at times, crazy life. You don't know how much I appreciate you.

As many of you may know, I am now the Sr. Pastor of Frenchtown Community Church in Frenchtown, Montana. We left Kentucky on the first of September, and arrived here - just fifteen miles west of Missoula - on September 5th. The journey that led us here would take too long to recap, but it became evident to us during the last year that our ministry in Kentucky was not bearing the fruit that we had hoped. That is not to say our time there was unfruitful. We made many dear friends, and saw the Lord work through us and around us for His glory. We will have lots of wonderful memories of special people who blessed us in special ways, and we hope that somehow, God was able to bless them through us in the short two years we were there. There will always be a place in our hearts for Deep Creek Baptist Church, and saints who make it up.

Frenchtown Community Church seems very familiar to us in lots of ways. First, it is an non-denominational evangelical church, which is what our first two churches were. Second, we are back in the northwest, where we spent almost ten years prior to moving to Louisville to attend seminary. Third, the people here are so much like the folks we ministered with while living in Alaska and Oregon, that we just feel much more "at home" than we have in a while. We have found a place that - at least from what we have seen so far - appears to "fit." I am hoping that this is where God can plant us for the foreseeable future and we can begin to invest in what He is doing in the lives of this congregation and in this community.

We are excited about the potential ministry experiences and opportunities we will have here. There seems to be a hunger for a deeper knowledge of God's word within the congregation, and a desire to reach out to the people of this area with the gospel of Christ. Those things are evident by the number of Bible studies that are being organized and attended, and the ideas that are already being suggested for outreach to the community. With patience, lots of prayer and steadfast faith in God's ability to work in and through us, I think we will see some awesome things accomplished for the Kingdom.

Let me close this with a benediction that provides all the hope we need.

"Now unto Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations - forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)