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• Started a new series today called Man to Man.
• 5 weeks of preaching without notes. Scary and a little anxious at times.
• Met two cool new people this morning.  One just recovering from brain surgery and 17 years old, the other a nurse.
• I LOVE EpicChurch and the family which is being created.
• Really enjoyed lunch today after the Gathering.
• Best part of my day, HANDS DOWN, was the family time at the mall and then swimming tonight.
• Totally stoked about the TTT coming Tuesday from the Tour de France.
• Really enjoy eating Milk Chocolate with my daughter really late at night.
• Pretty excited that my mom is on Facebook and Twitter.
• Amazed that the life of a follower of Jesus is easy yet extremely hard all at the same time.
• Excited that Sunday started another great week. Not excited about the amount of trash piled up for me to take out.
• I really enjoy having Mat Johnson at EpicChurch as the Emcee.
• Feeling guilty that I didn’t ride at all this weekend but looking forward to this week riding with Jackson and Kyle.
• I love being married to my best friend, Jennifer. Oh yeah and she help proof read all my posts!
• Last…  I predict…  M. Cavendish, T. Farrar, T. Hushovd

Thanks again for all the Birthday wishes.  I am totally excited I get to spend the day with some of my family (not all SORRY MOM).  I am super excited to goto Jonnies for dinner tonight and some OKC friends will be there too.  In the meantime, check out this:

“I’m all for dialogue. But as a replacement for preaching? This is a strange idea and could only come from a low view of Scripture” -Chandler

I was listening to a streaming event this afternoon about preaching.  It was from the Acts29 BootCamp.  And this quote came across my Twitter feed.  It is making me think a lot.

As I create my thoughts around it, what are yours?

Leave a comment here on my blog.  Or go to the Epic Church website HERE and leave a message in the forums.  Twitter me HERE or email me at:  jake@epicchurchonline.org

Finishing up here in Ohio.  It has been good time for sure.  The people of Ohio are wonderful and gracious.  I got the chance to stay with the pastor of First Baptist Church Mason, Ohio for the weekend.  He is a wonderful man of Jesus and excited about what God has done in his life and has a great passion for the people of his city.  I mean, this guy knows the scores of the local high school sports like Cross Country and girls Golf.  This man is passionate about this community and just a few moments with him you know it. His wife is kind, funny, and so supportive of her family.  Just a great family!

As I have been here a few things came to mind:

• The Kingdom needs all types of churches for all types of people.

• Southern Baptist Church building styles are the same NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO IN THE US.

• God is good and works all over the place.

• The Cooperative Program totally ROCKS.  It not only supports Epic Church but over 10,000 missionaries, students, hunger programs, disaster relief, community programs and so much more.

• If we are to reach our country for Jesus we need to start in the cities and we must start SIMPLE. Complex, highly funded systems will not transform our cities and our nation. (Benesh taught me that)

I have enjoyed my time here but I am excited to get back to Tucson and continue investing into the people of Tucson to transform our city for Jesus!  Anyone with me?

Sunday.  The Lord’s Day. A great day!

Experienced some outstanding family time.  Our children are enjoying the day camp here at College Week.  This is amazing.  Madison really enjoys her classmates and teachers.  We were walking as a family from the Chuckwagon to our room and Madison saw one of her friends and out of no where they just hugged!  It was awesome!

Jennifer and I enjoyed some time together as well.  We chilled in the coffeehouse type place.  Which is a dream of mine, that my wife and I would enjoy coffeehouses together.  We shared meals together and were just by each others side the entire time.

A huge highlight was being able to talk to Epic Church via cell phone.  I am so humbled at all the people who have sacrificed time from their busy scheudle to pray for me and my healing.  I so missed being at the Epic Church Gathering and Community Group. I really missed being at my home when the group met and BROKE my child’s trampoline!  Good times!

Spiritually, an outstanding day.  I was able to experience some outstanding biblical communication.  Although there was little application presented I was able to walk away with a lot ot chew on.  Here is a small hit list:

• What does Jesus need?
• Does Jesus really need us to accept him?
• Why is it when Jesus had large crowds he dropped the hammer?  “Hate your mother, father, wife, children” , “Eat my flesh and drink my blood”
• Why does Jesus seem, “OK” with talking people out of following him? (Luke 9)
• Do I really understand that God doesn’t NEED us?

And I am getting a little more sore walking around here.  I used an ice pack last night and I see it in my future again tonight.  And I am really looking forward to finishing our family moive in our room, “High School Musical”!

What a conference?!  It was an amazing time and I wish I was able to download everything to you.  I am sure over the next few weeks as I process the things I have heard and experienced you too will hear about them.

There is one thing that continually nags me… And it is in relation to the creation and starting of Epic Church.  Now some of you have read the prospectus, http://www.epicchurchonline.org/prospectus.pdf  And others of you had no idea it existed.  Well, here is the nagging thought.  It was from the first afternoon of this conference, the second session with Andy Stanley.

As the pastor of this new church, Epic Church, it is my job, responsibility, duty, calling, necessary thing, to communicate crystal clearly the vision that God has given to me in relation to what needs to be done through Epic.

Bono with ONE.org – “to make poverty history”

It is so simple.  Not the “how” but the “what” they exist for is really CLEAR!  Right?  To make poverty history.  There is nothing complex.  No large statements.  No words which are hard to pronounce.  No methods, models, motives, or much of anything other than starting why they exist.

Now I understand this is not something you can craft for me.  I have to do it on my own.  And I understand that this is something that should have been done at the start of Epic.  But, the fact is here we are now, and what am I going to do about it.  I also understand that to an extent in the prospectus  and the Epic Church website this has been addressed.  But, I don’t think it is simple enough at all. 

Here are my TASKS in the coming days in regards to communication and vision…

Find the problem Epic Church is to address in our community?

Define is the problem Epic Church is trying to address? 

What is the proposed solution to the problem?

Explain why Epic Church is going to fix it?

Why are we going to fix this problem now?

Simple enough huh?

-Jake

It was a wonderful experience in which I am still trying to process though my mind to see how it all fits into my life and into the life of Epic Church. So, I hope to share with you the way I have processed this material in future postings.

The first session Ed Stetzer talked about a new research project which addresses the “State of Church Planting”. This was an informative session. Ed talked about the need to have not only churches starting but the need to have churches, starting churches, starting churches, starting churches, sta…. I am sure you get the picture. I discovered that it is “never a good time to start a church,” and the #1 way to start a new church is by having someone who is dedicated to making it happen. I am still working this out on how to communicate it. But, I do know this for sure… we (the church) need to be dedicated to the expansion of the gospel.

The second session, Andy Stanley talked about vision. And about making vision stick. Here are the 5 points from his talk:

• State it Simple.
• Cast it Convincingly.
• Repeat it Regularly.
• Celebrate it Systematically
• Embrace it personally and publically.

Ok, I am sorry because I am sure, all 2 of you who are reading this are intrested in more meat on this stuff. I just can’t keep my eyes open anymore. So, I will have to catch you all up tomorrow. Plus, my head is in a whirlwind of new ideas.

Goodnight and sleep well.

I received this email and I am going.  Just wanted to share with you about this experience.  I will let you all know about what I  experience.

We would like to personally invite you to join 40 of your peers for a conversation around social justice, missions and empowering the next generation of global leaders, taking place around the Exponential Conference in Orlando.

VIEW YOUR INVITATION
http://create.imb.org/conversation

Global concern, social justice, environmental stewardship, serving the poor, poverty alleviation, cultural engagement and the importance of doing common good projects in local communities have never been at a higher interest for the next generation.

Simultaneously, the institutions that have been leaders in seeking God’s heart for the nations and sharing His love for all peoples are desiring to better serve younger evangelicals in Kingdom work.  Join us for a conversation to explore how to best engage twenty-somethings and new churches as they seek to engage global needs.

The International Mission Board is hosting this unique evening to dialogue with other church leaders about the future of global missional engagement and partnership with young leaders and new churches. We would like to personally invite you to join 40 of your peers for a conversation around social justice, missions and empowering the next generation of global leaders, taking place around the Exponential Conference in Orlando.

Greetings from Orlando.  The weather is wonderful, the hotel is nice and we are getting ready for an exciting conference.  Tomorrow we will be hearing from Ed Stetzer and Andy Stanley.  And a round of breakouts.  I am looking forward from hearing both of these men.  Both have started churches and are currently on the front lines of taking the gospel to “lost” people.

I am excited to learn from them both.  Thank you to all of you who are gracious enough to allow my wife and I to attend this conference.

Until tomorrow….

As many of you know I have taken the step of faith to being a new church in Tucson called, Epic Church.   So far we are a few weeks into it and I think things are going well.  Granted I wish there were like 10,000 people each Sunday for our Worship Gathering and then 20,000 in Community Groups with thousands coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ each week.  But, we will continue to trust Jesus to grow His church.  We will remain faithful to the scriptures and press on to achieve the prize.

On Monday my wife and I will leave for Orlando Florida for a conference.   The conference is called the, Exponential Conference.  The topic this year is:  “The DNA of Reproducing Churches”.  And although the focus might be on how to reproduce churches there is a heavy emphasis on the tough things in starting a new church.

My wife and I are totally jazzed about attending this conference to learn from some people around the globe who are making an impact in their cities for Jesus.  We are looking forward to removing ourselves for the daily grind to meet with Jesus and to receive some much needed training for new churches.

I would like ask you to pray for the two of us as we prepare for this journey.  1) that our children will cope with the separation from mommy and daddy.   Although they will be in great hands it might be hard for them, we know it will be fore us.  2) that we would be like a dry sponge in the presence of a large waterfall.  We desire to soak up tips, knowledge and wisdom from those who have started churches and who are in the same stage of the game as us.  3) that my wife and I would enjoy each others presence.  As much as this is a conference about how to better pastor Epic Church, it will be a time where my bride and I can rekindle our romance and connected with each other.

I will do my best to keep you informed along the way as to learnings and challenges I receive.  Thanks to all two of you who read this.

-Jake