Acts 29

"Build it and they will come." That mantra may have worked for a mystical, fictional, ballpark but try as I did it didn't seem to work for our church plant.  The sad truth is that I actually believed for the first six months the masses would come flooding through our doors and fall upon their knees in repentance towards God and faith in Christ's gospel.....ahem, it didn't really work that way.  I guess when you're building the ship as you're sailing, leaks, creaks and storms occur at a frequency for which you are never fully prepared.   Therein is the importance of our faith.

It will be 2 years in October that Kaleo Fellowship began to gather its core group.  We started with 3 committed couples that now may need to be committed to the local mental hospital.  We met in the evening at a church of a good friend of mine who was gracious enough to offer us some space. However, this space was right next to Qualcomm stadium, so every time the Chargers played, our attendance would drop in half.  Considering we were only about 15 people at that point, it was noticeable.  Don't be fooled: It wasn't the Chargers they were staying home for.  It was the traffic.  We had no one committed to lead us in worship, so finding someone to play for us was no easy task.  One Sunday night, the group that was scheduled to play never showed (my first taste of Christian musicians) and I felt compelled to open the hymnals that were left from the morning church and sing a cappella.  Let's just say that a busted Husqvarna chainsaw was more delightful to the ears than my leading worship (if you're from the northwest, you know what I'm talking about).  I also felt it was necessary for me to pick a doctrinal fight with everyone that walked through the door, as I told them that our church was "seeker hostile".  Yet I couldn't figure out why no one would come back (not a bright man).  Well, after about a year of pulpit therapy, I noticed that I felt much better.  I guess yelling while using theological words has some positive emotional benefit.  Granted, everyone that stayed through that year would be diagnosed as masochists, but they remained faithful in spite of their pastor, thus proving God's sovereignty.

I realized through the wisdom of my elder and co-planter Drew Goodmanson, that it was time to stop deconstructing and actually begin the process of building something that would last. Something that would truly glorify God.  Something that would show the beauty of Christ to a world that is blind.  We decided we wanted be worshippers who worshipped in spirit and truth, not technicians who pull doctrinal levers for a pre-recorded applause tracks from the frozen chosen.  So, we began again.  We moved into our own facility in October of last year and yours truly rediscovered the gospel afresh. It has ignited my desire to preach the word in confidence and power.  We held our first 10 week membership class and 25 people made a commitment to journey with us on our voyage to bring the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to all of San Diego.

We are experiencing lives radically transformed as the Gospel does its work penetrating the hearts of each one of us that call Kaleo home.  We are watching couples  married, babies born, and marriages which were held by a thin thread, now bound into a threefold cord which will not be easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12).  We are participating in the work of the Father, as He draws individuals to Christ that had no intentions of becoming "Christians".  We are welcoming unbelievers to attend our church and are amazed to see them each week as they come to work through, and deal with, questions and challenges that have previously been dismissed.  Most importantly, we are beginning to understand what it means to truly worship God as a church.  What it means to come with hearts yearning for the living water of Christ so that we can worship our great God and savior.  We are learning ever so slowly what it means to die to our agenda, die to our desires, and even die to our vision where it is not God's vision for our church.  We are now living to be the church instead of focusing on building one.  The great providence of God is such that as we stopped focusing on our perfect plan, God has blessed us with a facility that is 100 years old and seats 300 people. It is old, it has wood and lots of stained glass (It's sweet!).  God has brought a solid group of believers that desire to lead us in worship.  God has brought us faithful men that want to lead their families, lead at work, and lead in the church.  God has blessed us in our relationship with Acts 29 through their faithful generosity financially, educationally, and spiritually.  Even as I write this article I am amazed at how good God has been to us in more ways than I can mention.  We get to participate in His work as we watch Him do what He wishes with His Church.  There really is no better place than to be shipwrecked upon the rock of God's sovereignty, and we are happy to report that this ship which was being built as it sailed, has been grounded upon His Rock.

We would covet your prayers for our small family as we desire to rely more upon Him and less upon ourselves.  Specifically, if you could keep us in prayer as we deal with the challenges of finances, as we are in the strange bubble of being large enough to incur expenses, but young enough where the new people are not quite up to speed in their giving.  We would also ask that you keep our wives in prayer (my wife is Grace and Drews' wife is Heather), as they seem to be hit hardest by the ministerial challenges with which we are all familiar.  Lastly, we would appreciate your prayers that God would use us for the forward progress of the Gospel in San Diego.