Revelations

Many of you may not know this, but it is a huge struggle to leave all that you know and love behind and move some place that you are quite unfamiliar with.  I recently did this because God told me to.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am supposed to be in Houston planting a church, but it has not been that pleasant of a journey thus far.

Don’t get me wrong.  Great things have happened.  God will prevail, and, yes, I know all this suffering is coming at me and my family because we are on the right track.  We are on the battlefield for God, and the enemy is making his move right now.

Last month I had the pleasure of going to a church-planting seminar put on by the mid-south district of the Foursquare Church.  It was such a pleasure to to meet other couples who are out there experiencing the same things as we are while they are planting churches, too!

When I left Hawaii,  I left behind a dear family at Hope Chapel Kaneohe that was a huge part of my life.  I spent years on those relationships, and each and every one of them meant the world to me.  Needless to say, when I moved to Houston, I felt lost.  I really felt alone.  I knew that at anytime I could call any of those friends that I left to get a listening ear and some support, but it is not the same as having someone face to face.

I have a great friend that God has blessed me with here, but we’ve only known each other a short time.  That relationship is not like the ones from Hawaii.

Anyway, I feel like I have made some friends, and have been introduced to more FAMILY at this recent church planting seminar.

I felt really comfortable for the first time since leaving Hawaii.  It’s like I finally knew that God wanted me to know that, YES, you are still a part of a family.  Just because you left part of it in Hawaii, doesn’t mean that you don’t have any.  GOD’S FAMILY IS EVERYWHERE!!!

This has put me at ease and more at peace than anything since I have began this adventure.

I also learned at this seminar that I am going at the right pace, that I am doing the right things, that God is directing me, and that this church plant will happen because He wants it to.  I tried to start something on my own recently, and it quickly fell apart.  I need to wait on God, but while I am waiting, I need to get involved and become a part of this community that I am in so that I can LISTEN to the NEEDS of the people here.  That way when God’s timing does happen, I will have been preparing to meet the needs of His people all along.

He has planted visions in my head, and they are big.  Bigger than I could ever imagine!  In fact, I have no idea how they will happen.  The truth is, I don’t need to know, I only need to be obedient and be patient and wait upon the Lord!

February 2010 Update

I have been here in Houston for 7 months now. I bet some of you are wondering what’s going on with the church plant. Well, there is not much going on right now. It’s basically been 7 months of getting used to a new area for me. It’s been a time of getting to know a few people that I do believe are key to the process of planting the church. Basically, I am now becominhg a part of the community that God wants me to plant a church in. I believe that community is the Deer Park/Pasadena area.

We’ve tried to start a Bible study once, but due to the conflicts of the holiday season, that did not happen. I am doing much more careful planning on the next Bible study. I have people that are interested in coming. I am excited about this and will be starting it soon.

A few months ago, I heard my friend, Pastor John Wiley, say that if you are driving down the road in your community and you see a need and you say to yourself “Somebody ought to take care of that.” Well, you are that somebody! You are the person God has placed in that community to care of it and make the changes and impact that commnunity with His love by your own actions.

I want us to be that church that does that. The church that reaches out and makes a difference in the community and lives of people around us.

Next month, I’ll be going to a small get together in Waxahachie, Texas, of church planters put on by the Mid-South Foursquare district. I hope to come away from this with new and exciting ideas that will help in the planting process.

The bottom line is that I am still on the battlefield, I am still fighting strong, and God will prevail in the end. So many things have happened that have tried to make me retreat. These things are not a discouragement to me, but yet a confirmation that I am on the right path. Adversity brings me joy in knowing that God will ultimately win!

An Update

Here’s an update for all of you who are wondering what is going on with this great adventure.

A few weeks ago, I met with the district Ministry Coordinator for Foursquare to start talking to him about the desire to plant a church in the Houston area.  It was an exciting meeting for me where I got to share a lot of the vision that God has given me.  At this meeting, he also told me that he wanted to help me out by training a coach who will walk with me through this adventure and be the support, the friend and the motivator that I need.  He told me that he would train just about anyone that I would want.

I immediately thought of my wife’s high school drama teacher’s husband, Steve Taylor.  Ginger also thought that would be a great idea.

The next night, I just happened to be going over to Steve’s house in the hopes of starting a friendship with him so that I could have some support and someone to just hang out with.  It’s sometimes quite difficult for me put myself out there and find new friends, but it seemed to be very natural with Steve.  I had a really good time hanging out with him, and later that night, I asked him to be my coach.

He said that when he heard a long time ago that I was moving here to plant a church, he felt like he was supposed to help out in some way.  He said he would consider it and talk with his wife, Donna, and get back to me.

Well, he has decided that he is going to be my coach, but, more importantly to me, my friend.  Like I said before, it is hard for me to open up to new people so I expected this friendship to take a long time to develop, but it seems so natural to me that it wasn’t difficult at all.

I now have a coach to help me out, a great friend, and a wonderful new brother!  It just seems to me like this was meant to be, that God had planned this long ago!

What an amazing God we serve!

Howdy… Texas!!!

So here I am in Texas two weeks now.  It’s ok here, really.  I know God wants me here, so I know I’ll be happy here.

I am missing Hawaii and all my wonderful friends from there.  I was there for almost 13 years!

Now God has me on this new journey.  I am both excited about this and completely terrified.

I don’t feel like I have much support here in the way of friends yet, but I am sure that will change.

It is definitely going to take some getting used to.  The plus side of things is that there is a free sauna to sit in anytime!  All I have to do is walk outside!

Lord, lead, and I will follow!

God Seeks Us Out

When Adam and Eve did that original sin, immediately they felt shame and hid from God.  So where was God when they were hiding?

Genesis 3:8-9 says that He was walking about in the garden calling out to Adam saying, “Where are you?”

Like any good father, I’m sure that God knew already what Adam and Eve had done, yet He was still seeking and searching for them.  I see no signs of anger from God even after Adam and Eve confessed.  What I see is a Father protecting His children, and showing them the consequences of their actions.

Even though they allowed sin to come into the world, God still cared for them.  In 3:21 it says that God made clothing for them out of animal skins.  God was showing them that the shedding of blood covers sin.   Even after they went out from the garden, they were not cast away from God.  He still sought after them.

It’s like that with all of us today.  We sin, we feel shame, and we either hide or run away from God.  Yet through it all, His unconditional love never waivers, and He still seeks us out even in the midst of our sin!  Be glad today that God loves His creation and seeks fellowship with us!

Hello world!

Welcome to my new blog!  The purpose of this blog is for me to share with all of you things that are happening with the church plant Hope Chapel Christian Fellowship.

On this blog you will find notes from me as well as prayer requests and writings that I will soon be working on.

I’ve divided this blog into seven categories.  One for my notes and one for each of that values that God gave me for His church plant.  I hope to soon begin writing detailed descriptions of what I beleive these values are about and what they stand for.  I also hope to write notes in each of those categories as I come across things in my life that pertain to them.

Please feel free to leave comments on anything.  The more people involved, the better the discussion.

First, I’ll be writing some things on “Daring…to reach out…”  Look for that to be coming soon!

In His Love,

Markis