Session 1 is such a huge encouragement to me. This speaks volumes to all that I went through just a few months ago. You should check it out.... Mark is doing a great job of giving the highlights. I've been to C3 a few times and I'm sure it's all good... but Mark is doing a good job reporting what God is sharing through these men.
Today I also spent the day at our state convention's Church Planter Meeting. It was very refreshing from my point to be able to report how genuinely excited I am about where Focal Point is today. I haven't seen most of these guys since September or October so there has been a ton happen. As I caught up with several guys it was good to be able to report all that God has brought me through and taught me.... not to mention how pumped I am about the church right now.
ONE BIG CHALLENGE from today was EVANGELISM. Today they did a great job by inviting some recent college grads from a church called Aletheia... The church is several hundred and is based on the campus of James Madison University. The Pastor is named Dave Proffit. He first gave a VERY GOOD but all to quick overview of the use of apologetics in evangelism. He then brought up two young women who are on the team at Aletheia. They walked through a sample situation of evangelism. What shattered my heart and then mended it all in one was when I heard the young lady who was leading the conversation say "Yeah... I accepted Christ as my Savior 2.5 years ago and I thought that God was all about good works and stuff..."
(Aletheia's logo)
I was hammered because:
1. Here she was giving a GREAT presentation of the gospel
2. She was speaking in the front of a room of maybe 100 or more Pastors (brave)
3. She has totally been equipped to share Jesus in her context and language....
This is a testament to the church and to her as a saved child of God. The evangelism and discipleship at Aletheia must be fantastic. I was so pumped that I went and invited their group to come to Focal Point. They have a great band so I'm going to book them to come and lead us in worship and present some of this evangelism stuff with our people.
Dave (the pastor) is moving to Richmond this week to begin another campus of their church. It's mainly a college-aged church but they are doing and AMAZING work. I'm looking forward to getting to know them more. What's cool is that Dave's son Aaron will be staying behind at JMU to lead the original campus. Talk about reproduction! Amazing!
That entire church started when Aaron came to JMU to take classes... so the family moved out to start the church on his campus... such a great story.
Anyway-- I'm encouraged. I'm looking forward to all that God will do. I'm pumped about C3's message today as it confirms so much that's been on my heart and now I look forward to all God will do in us and through us!
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