It’s official!  I’m excited to announce that after several months of intense prayer, many visits, and several interviews, God is calling us to advance His Kingdom in Overland Park, Kansas.  This Memorial Day marks one year since I preached my last sermon as pastor of Harrah Church.  This break has been an amazing time of growth and reflection for our family and we are ready to re-enter the battle!

In February I was contacted by New Beginnings Church, a small congregation (about 25 adults) to see if I was interested in leading their church.  I have always wanted to build a church in a densely populated area.  Overland Park fits that description to a T.  Each time Abby and I visited we fell more and more in love with the place.  There is no doubt that God has given us a heart for this City.   Overland Park is a suburb of Kansas City and it has a population of 179K.  The church is strategically located right in the middle of all the growth.  We are looking forward to reaching thousands of people for Christ!

Last week I spoke to the church and laid out the vision that God painted on my heart for the type of ministry He wants us to build.  I challenged them to embrace “Big Vision” and become a significant ministry.  The vision includes a new constitution, a complete remodel of both the inside and out of the physical structure, as well as an intentional relaunch of the ministry this Fall.  All of this was tied to the vote to call me as their lead pastor.  I am stoked to report that they wholeheartedly embraced “Big Vision” and unanimously voted to call us this morning!

There is not doubt that the mission will be filled with many challenges but that’s what makes it so exciting for us.  We serve a big God and He expects us to have big faith and accomplish big things for Him.  He has already started to move in amazing ways.  Just a few weeks ago a pastor friend (Matt Blair) called and asked if I was still considering a ministry in Overland Park.  When I said yes he proceeded to tell me that he had 3 young families moving to the area in the next 30 days.  Abby and I drove up to Tulsa to meet with the couples and they are all committed to helping us build this ministry.  Then I called another friend who always said he wanted first shot at our place if we decided to sale.  To make a long story short we close early next month.  That is all the hand of God and it brings us a great deal of comfort to experience Him rewarding our willingness to step out in faith.

We are sad to leave Oklahoma but we are excited about the future.  We want to ask you to join us in this “Big Vision” for the Lord.   We need you to pray as we work out the tremendous transitional logistics of relocating our family and relaunching a church.  I would also like to ask you to consider supporting the ministry financially for the first year.  The church is not large enough to support all of our salary at this time.  We are believing that God will provide for our family through people who are generous, Kingdom minded, and believe in us.  There are 4100 people per square mile in Overland Park.  If you want to help us reach them by supporting the ministry for one year please let me know!  Stay tuned for more updates.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  (Hebrews 11:6)