Question?

What would you do differently regarding prayer if you truly believed that the success of your church plant/ministry/spiritual life depended on prayer?

Thoughts about Prayer

Facing the formidable and largely unexpected task of evangelizing the whole world for the Messiah, the early church went to prayer, waiting for Jesus to pour out his Spirit to empower them for this task. Only the very presence of the risen Lord could equip them to move outward in mission. And this movement could only be maintained through a continual dependence on him, receiving divine direction and encouragement in prayer...The outpouring of the Spirit permanently equipped the church for mission. Nevertheless, a vigorous missionary movement can only be maintained and expressed by unceasing prayer in the face of obstacles and persecution.

~ Richard F. Lovelace, Renewal

A Good Soilder

What is a Missional Church?

My Guide

"I know not where He leads, but well do I know my Guide."

~Martin Luther

Go to the land that I will show you!

YHWH spoke to Abraham and called him to leave his home and go to the land that he would show him. Abraham stepped out in faith and went. YHWH has spoken to me and called me to do a similar thing. He has released us from our call to Duluth and is leading us to plant a church in a land that he is in the process of showing us.

Gary Johnson (senior pastor) will stay in Duluth and continue the work of planting Faith Crossings Church and we will go out and plant. This news is not altogether surprising to us because we had intended to be a church that plant churches from the conception of the church. We wanted to be born pregnant!

What is surprising is the timing. We were thinking it my come a little further down the road. But God, not I, is the navigator of our journey and he is directing our path as we commit our work to him.

I want to ask you to join us in praying as we seek the LORD as to where he will lead us to plant a new church with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. We will be putting in our 58 day notice to vacate our apartment soon and will stop drawing a salary from Faith Crossings at the end of September.

Please intercede on our behalf that God will provide for and protect us in this time. We have experienced pretty much every emotion from sorrow and mourning to excitement and joy over the past few weeks and we are emotionally and physically exhausted.

I look forward to sharing more of how YHWH is moving and working in our lives as the adventure unfolds. Please join us in the journey! We need your prayer and support.

Soli Deo Gloria - To God Alone Be the Glory

Contextualization

Speaking Christianese

sXt

The Erickson's are off to sXt: Strategic Multiplication Training put on by the National Church Planting Director of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. We will be examining the X Factors for Church Multiplication found in the book of Acts.

Vision

"The vision is not merely to start one church but to be a vital part of a church planting movement. We don't merely want fruit but healthy fruit bearing trees!"

Global Church Advancement - Church Planter Training Manual

On any given day!

On any given day you may experience something that dramatically changes the course of your life! Thursday August 2nd may turn out to be one of those days for the Erickson family.

Stay tuned...2

God continues to amaze me!!! This quote sums up my feelings at the moment.

"Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming...WOW! What a ride!"

GCA

My intention was to blog throughout the Global Church Advancement Church Planting Seminar, but it was so full of good teaching that I did not have time to blog. I hope to share some of the highlights over the next days.

This teaching was invaluable and I look forward to implementing some of the things I learned. Anyone interested in church planting should consider GCA as essential training. Check it out at: http://www.gca.cc/

Global Church Advancement

I am attending the North American Church Planting Conference held at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN. Today was the first day and I realize how much I don't know about church planting. I attended two workshops by Tom Nebel on Church Planting Landmines. It was enlightening and encouraging. The teaching comes from his book by the same title. It is packed with wisdom and insights from a seasoned church planter. It is a must have book for church planters, so if you don't have it get it.

I have met many great church planters. This is a time of sweet fellowship because church planters are a rare breed and are a lot of fun to be around. I love these guys!!! They lay it all on the line for the sake of the gospel. I have been greatly encouraged today. Thank you Jesus!

Did I mention that I miss Anne and Asher? Its only the first of five days. I can't wait to see them!

Stay tuned...

When you abandon any desire you have to direct the course of your own life and you commit yourself to doing everything and anything the LORD calls you to do things can get pretty interesting!