Pointway Preview Services

On Good Friday we use Bruce Konold's Way of the Cross Devotional Guide and set up the stations of the cross in our borrowed facility in Baxter. We had 45 people come through and observe Good Friday with us.

On Easter Sunday we held our first-ever, best-every Preview Service. We had 81 people (83 if you count babies still in the womb) attend our service.

We are praising God continually as he builds Pointway Church!

I did it!

I made the switch to the Macbook! What took me so long?

StAn Update

StAn is growing very fast and is an active baby!
He/She is 19 weeks old, weighs in at:10.6 ounces
and measures in at: 6.5 inches

One of the coolest things ever is to feel our little baby wiggling around inside of mommy's nice round belly. I love it!!!

We praise God for your life and we pray for you every day.

We can't wait to meet you!

Another Morning in Brainerd

Today I woke up to -23 degrees with a wind chill of -50. I am definitely ready for some warmer weather. Something in the +20's would be really nice right about now.

Goodbye January

Today I say goodbye to January. As I took a few moments to think about the past month I was amazed at how many things we did and how little we accomplished in relation to all that activity. This little revelation really has gotten me thinking about how I am spending my time.

We have definitely had some good things happened this month. We continued to have our weekly Gospel Community Group on Thursday evenings and I believe that our time has been fruitful. We also began Launch Team Training on Saturday mornings. This too has been a profitable time of teaching and growing in relationship with our team.

My mentor and good friend, John Nyquist, often could be heard saying, "Ministry would be great if it wasn't for the people!" The point he was making was that ministry is the people and ministry is hard because people can be hard to deal with.

Church planting is interesting for a number of reasons. One of them being the people that are drawn to the mission. People have many different reasons for becoming a part of a church plant and many of them are not good reasons.

There are only two good reasons I can think of to be a part of a church plant. 1) God has called you to partner with other faithful men, women and children to plant a new church. & 2) You have come to saving faith in Jesus Christ through the ministry of a church plant. If people become a part of a church plant for any other reason it is best for the health of the church plant for the church planter/pastor to direct them to a place where God may be calling them.

Church planting is hard. It takes wholehearted commitment. You cannot dabble in church planting. If you do you will be completely unsatisfied with the experience and you will hold back the work that the LORD God Almighty wants to do through that church plant.

January has been a good month for us. It has been a difficult and heartbreaking month in some ways. It has been an adventurous and exciting month in some ways. It has been a faith stretching month in every way. There have been high highs and low lows. Through it all Jesus Christ has been faithful to build Pointway Church both deeper and wider.

As I think of how I have spent my time in the past month I am going to need to refocus on some crucial things and set aside some of the lesser things. Brainerd/Baxter is filled with people who are going to hell if they do not repent and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am going to do everything I can to make it difficult for them to go to hell. If they are to go to hell they are going to have to do so while ignoring my pleas for them to receive the gift of salvation that comes from Jesus Christ alone.

I will do this even if I am the only one willing. I will remain faithful whether people stand along with me or not.

For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
~1 Corinthians 9:16

Goodbye January! Thank You Jesus for everything.

Burrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again

I woke up this morning to -20 degrees. You gotta love the frozen tundra of central Minnesota!!!

Burrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Asher is learning to identify hot and cold. He says, "hhhhhhhhhooot" for hot and "burrr" for cold. For the second morning in a row he has an opportunity to practice "burrr" because for the last two mornings the thermometer read -23 degrees. (yes that is a minus before the 23). This is straight temperature not including wind chill. It is cold out so we are teaching Asher to say, "lets stay inside today."

Gospel Community Groups Begin

Tonight we are starting our first Gospel Community Group (cell group). We are expecting 10-12 people to attend. We are very excited for this part of our ministry to grow and blossom.

Please pray that the LORD would knit our hearts together in love and unity as we band together to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ and plant his church in the Brainerd/Baxter area.

We continue to be humbled by the way the LORD is using us to plant his church and we are continuously filled with wonder and awe at the way he works.

Soli Deo Gloria - To God Alone Be the Glory

Our Plant is Growing

This is our third week on site in Brainerd/Baxter and this week our church doubled in size. We grew from 3 to 7 people. I am not sure if we can continue to grow at a rate of 133% every week, but it is sure nice to see God at work!

Our plant is growing to the glory and praise of God.

We Made it!

Yes we finally made to to Brainerd/Baxter and have hit the ground running. We moved in last week and spent most of that time unpacking and getting our house in order. We have already had a couple of good opportunities to share the gospel and we have made a lot of connections with people wh0 have shown various levels of interest in being a part of our church plant.

We will be hosting two informational gatherings next week to share the vision for Pointway Church and answer questions people may have about following Christ and planting a church.

Please pray that God would use these gatherings to help us connect with these new friends. Also continue to pray for us that God would open doors for the gospel to go forth.

We Made It!!!

We finally moved into our apartment in Baxter and are fully engaged in the unpacking process. It is a little scary how good we have gotten at the moving experience. This is the eighth place we have lived in six years of marriage.

We had lunch at Wendy's on Monday and had the opportunity to share the gospel with a man we saw there. I had seen him in town previously at Caribou Coffee and at the post office. (We have p.o. boxes right next to each other.) When I saw him at Wendy's I commented that we keep on running in to each other. To which he replied, "maybe there is some reason we keep meeting".

I was greatly encouraged by the opportunity to share the grace of God with this man and after lunch I rejoiced because I had specifically asked the LORD to give me an opportunity to testify concerning His goodness and grace.

We are busy getting utilities hooked up and updating information with all the people we want to keep in touch with. We are excited and humbled to be serving the LORD in this mission to plant Pointway Church. I can't think of one thing I would rather do with my life.

Soli Deo Gloria ~ To God Alone Be the Glory

Update

Pray for us as we continue to transition from Duluth to Brainerd/Baxter. Things are progressing and we are excited to get on-site and begin planting Christ's Church. There are many things that go along with church planting that are not exciting as well. Administrative things like getting a Post Office Box and obtaining Federal Identification numbers so that I can open a bank account.

It is interesting trying to open a bank account with no money. The banker looks at you and asks, "Why do you need a bank account when you have no money?" Then you answer, "God is going to provide every dollar we need to plant this church!" This is a great answer if you are a follower of Christ, but a terrible answer if you are a banker. So we do not yet have a bank account until we have some money to actually put in the bank.

Another amusing part of church planting is the expression on people's face when you answer their question, "So where is your church?" I usually try to be witty and say, "your looking at it!" Then confusion sets in. Most people think of a church as a building and not a body. Currently we have a congregation of 3 (if you include the pastor).

There are also interesting tasks like putting together strategic action plans, choosing a name and designing logos and websites. I am looking forward to passing these things on to people who are more gifted than I am so that I can spend more time preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to lost sinners.

We need your continued support in prayer and financial giving so that we can see the glory of God displayed in Brainerd/Baxter through the proclamation of the gospel. Please consider what the LORD God would have you to give for the expansion of the Kingdom of God.

You may send your support to:

Pointway Church
P.O. Box 331
Brainerd, MN 56401

Thank you for your commitment to the LORD and your faithful support of our church planting adventure in Brainerd/Baxter.