Boys and Girls Club

So I just finished my first week at the Boys and Girls Club at Emmons Elementary in Mishawaka. I must say, I was pretty afraid that it would be too overwhelming at first. But after a few days, I have really begun to love it, though it is still a little overwhelming.

A little about the Emmons Elementary Boys and Girls Club:
- 80% of the kids live below the poverty line, making them the poorest school in Mishawaka.
- 90% of the kids in the program do not have father figures in their lives.
- There are a few kid's who cry when they have to leave in the afternoon to go home, because their home lives are so bad. They love being at the club, because there are people who pay attention to them and people to play with. At home, their parents simply do not care.

It really is incredible going into work and immediately being mauled with affection by 5 kids. They jump on my lap, give me hugs, etc. A lot of the kid's have problems, but they have so much potential.

Adren, a kindergartner, is one of my favorites. He's got long, messy, red hair and he's hilarious. He's got a REALLY bad home life though. He's one of the kid's who cries when he has to go home, because he has nobody to play with at home. I love playing Legos with him, because he gets into it like no kid I've ever seen. The way his eyes light up and the way he chews his tongue and crinkles his eyebrows when he's putting together his lego spaceship makes me think he's got so much potential. He's such a dreamer, my goal for him is to become an engineer when he grows up. I probably won't be around long enough to see that happen, but if he sticks around in the Boys and Girls Club.... maybe it will.

Anyways, just wanted to share how things were going at the BNG Club. Be in prayer for me, that I can have an incredible impact on these kids.

Blessings,
Josh

Launch!

Our public launch for Epic Church was this past Sunday, and I thought it was a great success! We had close to 200 people there for it, and all seemed to be moved and impacted in some sort of way. The best stories are when lost friends come to visit and then say that they liked it so much that they want to come back the next week! That makes me feel that we must be doing something right!

Anyways, this week, we will begin our easter series titled, "The Bridge." I'm the guy that makes our sermon graphics for all of our series. I really enjoy finding a sweet picture and then messing around with it in photoshop. Here is the one that I came up with for the coming series. Hope you enjoy!


Blessings,
Josh

Public Launch!

Hey everyone, just wanted to remind you that Epic Church's public launch is THIS Sunday, March 7th! We will be meeting at Meadow's Edge Elementary School at 10:30am. Please keep us in your prayers as we finally reach this exciting weekend in our journey as a church!

Thanks!

Josh

What if...

I'm going to hit on a pretty touchy subject in this post, so bear with me.

So apart from my work at the church plant, I also work part time at the Big and Tall Outlet in Elkhart. Recently a homosexual male couple came into the store and purchased some clothing. They were very friendly and made some nice conversation with me and some of the other customers in the checkout line.

After they were gone, a co-worker (an openly Christian co-worker, mind you) said over the walkie talkie, "Josh, you see that couple? Don't even get me started on them. That is gross and disgusting."

This got me to thinking. Why is that the first reaction she would have? If we are to be loving and compassionate towards people, just as Christ was, why would she be disgusted with these people? Sure, the act of homosexuality is gross and sinful. But in reality, a lot of times the reason men turn to homosexuality is because they were repeatedly abused sexually early on in their lives. Many times from their own family members, such as a father or a brother. Understanding this, it isn't disgust that I feel for these men... its sorrow, pain, and heartbreak. I think this is the feeling Christ would have had. Sorrow that these men are lost. Pain and heartbreak that they didn't have a loving and responsible father in their lives, so they are taking comfort in another man, instead of taking solace in their heavenly Father.

It is a broken world that we live in. I wonder if these men's lives would be different if they were in a different family situation. If maybe they didn't have that sexually abusive family member. When I see these men, I can only think, "What if..."

It is our duty to love, not to judge. Because Christ's death smeared blood or their doorposts, just as much as ours.


Blessings,
Josh

First Preview Gathering

Well, we are now officially done with our Sunday night gatherings at First United Methodist Church, and have now moved on to Meadow's Edge Elementary School. We held our first preview (practice) gathering there this past Sunday and things went surprisingly well! Everyone was excited to be there and worked very hard to make sure everything went smoothly. It was truly amazing seeing people come together to make it a fun, loving, and cozy atmosphere. Even people who weren't previously involved in church or religion before Epic, have now become passionate about their roles with Epic, which is truly exciting to see! It was great seeing their faces as they helped, because they know that they are a part of something big in Mishawaka.

We have another preview session this coming Sunday, followed by our Public Launch on Sunday, March 7th at 10:30am! Please pray for us as we prepare to finally launch this church plant and do some amazing things for the kingdom!

Blessings,
Josh

Leadership

So I'm reading the book "360 Degree Leader" by John Maxwell. In it, he speaks about various aspects of being a good leader from the middle of an organization. He talks about how in order to be a good leader, one must learn how to lead those above you (ie, your boss), below you (ie, your employees/volunteers), and to either side of you (such as suppliers or vendors). Although you may not approve of everything that your boss does or how he leads, a good leader will not try and cause a mutiny against the poor leader. Someone who is a good leader supports his superior and tries to compensate for his superior's flaws and understands that the superior was put in that position for a reason.

As I'm reading this book, and also reading through 1st and 2nd Samuel, I'm realizing that David is the perfect example of a 360 degree leader. David was just a sheppard boy when he was called into action against Goliath. After this, he finds himself with a huge throng of followers who support him even above King Saul. As Saul finds himself lower and lower in God's favor, he becomes jealous of David and tries multiple times to kill him. David always manages to escape, and even finds himself in striking distance of Saul twice. Yet both times, he allowed Saul to live. David refused to kill Saul because Saul was anointed king by the Lord, and who is David to kill the chosen king? David knew that God had chosen him to be king someday, but instead of taking matters into his own hands by killing Saul, he chose to let God deal with the situation in His own time.

Eventually Saul did die, and David was rewarded for his patience. If you haven't read through 1st and 2nd Samuel, I would recommend it. The life of David is something you can learn a lot from.

Blessings,
Josh

Epic on Facebook

If you haven't already, be sure to join Epic Church's facebook fan page! Search for "Epic Church - Mishawaka" and be a fan to get updates on all things Epic. We also hare on twitter! Look for epicmishawaka on there to get our updates.

Thanks and have a great week.
Josh

Convicted...

So I've been reading the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan the past few days, and it has gotten me to thinking. So often I want God to just give me straight answers and my future. I feel like when I call for God, he needs to be there and give me all that I ask for. I often wonder why that is not the case.

How can I ask God to give me all of Him, yet not surrender to Him all of me?

If we are to truly see God, hear God, be used by God, then we need to be willing to carry our crosses daily. But what does that even mean? How do I even go about doing that? Lately I've been thinking about what my future holds. How do I fit into God's master plan? I'm willing to give up everything for the Kingdom (I think), but how do I even do that? What would God have me do? This is something I've been struggling with. I ask for prayer for wisdom/discernment on how I fit into the Kingdom.

Blessings,
Josh

In charge...

Epic's pastor (Jeremy LeVan) is officially on vacation until January 16, and he left me in charge of making sure the church doesn't fall apart while he's gone. While I don't expect any kind of major decision to fall into my lap (thankfully), it will require some extra work on my end. I would be grateful for any prayer you can offer for the next two weeks as I try and "hold down the fort" while Jeremy is gone.

Thanks!
Josh

Happy New Year!

2009 was certainly... interesting for me. I found out that God definitely works in mysterious ways. He threw many curve balls my way, which have put me on a path that I never would have expected a year ago! With all that has happened, I feel so blessed to be where I am in life, and I'm excited/terrified (but in a good way) to see what God has in store for 2010!! Happy New Year to you all!

Blessings,
Josh

Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope that you remember what Christmas is really all about, the birth of our Lord and Savior. Many blessings to you during this holiday season and into the new year!

Peace,
Josh

Struggles

December 15th is fast approaching me. It is the date that I would have been done with my 6 month managerial training at Kmart. I left a good paying job at Kmart to be a part of this church plant. So now I'm dirt poor and satan keeps reminding me that it didn't have to be this way. This is the most important thing in my life right now, make no mistake about it, but it has been a difficult journey. A friend of mine pointed me to a website of an organization that he has recently become a part of, enablenow.org. On their front page they have a scripture that relates to what I've been feeling and going through right now.

"If I'm too full, I might get independent, saying 'God? Who needs him?' If I'm poor, I might steal and dishonor the name of my God, therefore this I ask of you, O Lord; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread."
-The Prayer of Solomon

Which is really all I can ask for. Daily bread. Anything else is something that can be given to those far more needy than me. And trust me, those people are all around us. Not just in our community, but all over the world.

Thanks for reading,
Josh

Current Status of Epic

So sorry for not posting in a while. Hopefully that will change. I'd just like to post an update as to how things are going with the Epic Church plant that I am involved in.

We held our first gathering on October 11th (I know, its been too long since my last post). So far, it has be simply amazing. The Lord is working in some incredible ways. It seems like every week we have a major need being met by God, and we are more and more amazed every time it happens.

As far as my ministry goes, I am doing a bunch of different things. I won't list them all, but a few of them include: Creating the weekly bulletin and keeping it updated; updating the membership software; coordinating with leaders of various ministry teams; opening and closing the church on Sundays before and after our gatherings; as well as other things that are boring, but for sure necessary for this whole train to keep rolling! I am so proud of where we are at right now, and I can't wait to see how God will use the church in the coming days/months/years.

As always, a few prayer requests are updated on the right side of this blog. Thank you so much for your prayer and support. It means the world to me!

Josh

Update: We have a location!

We finally have a location for our October 11th launch! We will be meeting at First United Methodist Church in Mishawaka every Sunday night from 6-7:15 PM. We went and toured the church a bit today and it will exceed our expectations! It is truly a blessing to know where we'll be at. We are all very excited and ready to go for this stage of our launch!

Outreach

So today was Epic Church's planned outreach for the month of September (I think we're planning on doing one every month, but don't quote me on that). We bought a bunch of groceries and went to one of the trailer parks in Mishawaka and gave them to those that needed food. In all, we were able to help 24 families have food for a while. Each family got 3 bags and a gallon of milk. In the bags were Meat, veggies, fruit, potatoes, mac n cheese and other food like that.

It was a really great opportunity to serve the community. I personally gave food to 4 families. I gave to Don and Anna (a disabled couple who weren't working and really needed some food), Caren and Tim (relatives of Don and Anna who were also very needy), Ellen Louis (an elderly woman who was living by herself with her 2 cats), and Amy (a woman who needed food to provide for her and her kids). It was just awesome seeing the gratitude of people when we just randomly came to their trailer and offered them food!

When we came back together as a group, there was a chance to tell stories about each individual group's experience. One group got the chance to give food to a woman who had been living off of crackers for the past week. She was down to her last $4 in food stamps, so the groceries came at an excellent time for her. She had also recently had a fire in her trailer because of someone she knew coming over and causing trouble with her. We were able as a group to go over to her trailer and help her move some things out of her house that were fire damaged (such as a stove). Some of the women also stayed and helped her clean up her fire damaged house. I think she was incredibly grateful, because when she asked her neighbors to help her with this stuff, they would only do it if they were paid. Its a little hard to pay people to do it if you don't have money. So it was great to go and provide for these folks for free! It was truly a great opportunity to go out and show Christ's love to the people in the area. I look forward to continuing to serve in the future!

Josh

Current Status of Epic

So for this post, I'd like to just give an update as to where Epic Church is at right now in our launch.

We have been continuing to grow our launch team, we now have I think 33 adults and a few less children. Our desire is that we will continue to grow with people who desire to be used to reach the people of Mishawaka.

We have decided against going with a full-out launch on October 11th. Instead, we will do a 2-Stage launch. On October 11th, we will begin our "Stage 1" services, where we will begin services on a Sunday night at a local church (location still to be found). During Stage 1, we will really try to grow our launch team and grow our finances so that once we officially launch, we can do it correctly and have the funds to have some great ministries. In March, we'll begin the Stage 2 launch, which is where we will announce it publicly and invite as many members of the community as we can to come. For this, we will be located in the Meadow's Edge Elementary School in South Mishawaka.

I would love for you to continue to be in prayer for our launch team. This process is very rewarding for all of us, knowing that people's lives will be changed dramatically by what we're doing now. It is also very taxing, though. Satan sees what we are doing and is using all he has to attack our team. A lot of our launch team has expressed that they are going through a lot of stress, doubt, depression, anger, sadness, and other emotions that they don't normally experience. Satan is trying to drag us down spiritually, so that we have nothing left to give when the time comes to launch. Thankfully, God has given us the vision and knowledge to recognize these thoughts and doubt for what they are, simply Satan planting doubts in our head because he knows what we are doing is... good. He knows that his reign in Mishawaka will be compromised by what we're doing, and is doing all he can to stop us. This is where we need prayer, just that we continue to recognize Satan's attacks and that we have the power to fight them and resist them!

As far as some prayer requests go, there are many, but a few main ones to be praying for are:

1.) Epic is in desperate need for a building to hold our services on October 11th. It is only a few weeks away, and a lot needs to be done in order for us to find a place. Just pray that God will open doors for us to explore and that we will find the place that He wants us to be in.

2.) Spiritual battles. Pray that our team will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will continue to be energized to make this church plant something that is completely radical and life changing. Pray that our hearts will be broken for the people of Mishawaka, and that our #1 focus will not be on petty squabbles, but on serving and loving the people of our community!

3.) Launch Team. Pray that as time goes on, more and more people will hear the call the join us in this church plant. As I said earlier, we have around 33 adults at this time, but are in need of more. Our children's ministry especially needs more people to step in and help. Our children's director, Erica Egolf, has an amazing heart and passion for God, but we only have 2 or 3 people that are also assigned to help in that aspect of ministry at the moment. We would love to have more people step in to passionately serve in this area!

4.) Jeremy and Ann LeVan. They are the pastor and his wife. Pray that God will continue to give them the vision and continue to instill in them a heart for this church and our community.

5.) Josh (me). I am nearing the end of my support raising, but I still have a bit to go. Pray that God will continue to provide for me this year financially. Pray that I will always keep my heart open to what God has in store for me. Pray that my heart will continue to be broken for the community. I just want to serve and be used for the kingdom in whatever way needed, and I pray that I can help restore this fallen world.

If you could keep us all in your prayers, it would be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions about Epic or anything, post something in the comment box or contact me somehow, and I will respond as quickly as I can.

Thanks,
Josh

Adam and Eve

So I'm currently on a Donald Miller binge. I finished his book Blue Like Jazz last week, and I'm now onto his book Searching for God Knows What. This book has a chapter titled "Naked," and it is Donald Miller's take on Adam and Eve. His view on the creation story is one that is more beautiful than I have ever heard.

He points out that too often we read through Genesis without looking deeply or thinking about it. We've heard the story over and over since childhood, so we don't think twice when we read it. He points out that if you truly read the story of Adam and Eve, you find a truly amazing love story (both between Adam and God, and Adam and Eve).

First of all, God's first order of business for Adam was to name every animal and creature on the earth. If you just read that and move on, you might think, "Oh, no big deal, he probably did that in a few hours while waiting for God to create Eve." Well, if you really think about it, how many species are there in the earth? Lots, likely many many millions of species. And Adam was put in charge of naming each and every species? This would probably take decades to do, because not only did he have to name the incredible amount of animals on the land, but he also needed to make a trip to the water to name all of the fish in the ocean as well. So after all this time, I had been under the impression that Adam only spent a few hours on earth alone, before Eve was made. In reality, he was the only person on earth for possibly up to 100 years (Just a rough estimate, he had his 3rd son, Seth when he was 130. There is no way to truly know how old Adam was when God created Eve.). Yes, it says man and woman were both made on the 6th day, but how long is a day when referring to God? I find it unlikely that Adam would be able to name every creature on earth in what we know as a day.

This means that Adam had the most intricate relationship with God that anyone has ever known. It was just him, the animals, and God. Could you imagine how deep someone could get to know God when it is just the two of you for that amount of time? It was likely that Adam knew more about God than any human being ever will (other than Jesus of course). That's pretty incredible to think about.

It also means that Adam was possibly the loneliest guy the world has ever known. Sure, he had God and the animals, but he still didn't have a suitable companion in life (See Gen 2:20). So, after all those years, after Adam names all the creatures of the earth, God blesses Adam with a woman. For Adam, this must have been incredible. After spending that amount of time without anyone else on earth, he must have thought she was the most beautiful creation he had ever seen! Adam is filled with so much love and emotion that he can describe Eve in just a couple of words: "Bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh." (Gen 2:23 NKJV) Donald Miller describes it in the most beautiful of ways:

"And then I thought how very beautiful it was that God made Adam work for so long because there is no way, after a hundred years of being alone, looking for somebody whom you could connect with in your soul, that you would take advantage of a woman once you met one. She would be the most precious creation in all the world, and you would probably wake up every morning and look at her and wonder at her beauty, or the gentle, silent way she sleeps."

And I often find myself, at age 24, getting worried because I haven't found that "special someone". Perhaps I should be feeling the exact opposite. Maybe God hasn't intended for me to meet my soul-mate yet because perhaps when I finally do find her, after so many years, she will mean that much more to me. I should be using this time not to find that special someone, because I'm convinced that God will introduce the two of us in time. But rather, I should be more focused on becoming that special someone to the woman God has in store for me. I should use this time to get to know my Creator, the way that Adam got to know his in his time alone on earth. Only then will I be ready to meet that special someone He has in mind.

I hope you were moved by this story as much as I was. This is just one interpretation of the creation story, don't be offended if you have a different view. This entire idea is based off of the possibility that one day for God could be equal to thousands of earth days, or vice versa. I'm still not entirely sure that I believe it, I just thought it was a unique take on it that I had never heard before. I, like Donald Miller, am not an expert on this, just someone interested in contributing to the discussion. Tell me what you think, thanks for reading!

Stuff Christians Like

I recently came across a guy's blog that I thought was hilarious. Its titled "Stuff Christians Like" and it basically he just updates it with more and more things that Christians like, and puts a humorous spin on it. A few of his blog entry titles are: "Dating God instead of me", "Greeting the people around you", "Unspoken prayer requests", and "Getting tattoos for God". He has a ton of blog entries, so these are just a few, I just thought I would share his blog and see if you enjoy it as much as I have.

You can read his blog at: http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Book Review: "The Noticer"

Hey guys, I recently became an official book reviewer for Thomas Nelson. How it works, is they send me free books, and all I need to do is post a review of the book on my blog as well as on a public consumer retail site. I will be doing this regularly. The first book that I received from them was "The Noticer."

The Noticer is an interesting book about a man named Jones. Jones is an older man who has a remarkable gift, the gift of perception. He is able to perceive things that most others are not able to see. He is a homeless drifter who has an uncanny ability to meet people in their most desperate of times. The author of the book, Andy Andrews, tells of when he was a homeless teenager living under a pier, with both parents dead and with no family or friends. One night, an old man named Jones finds him under the pier and gives him the best talk of his life, one that encourages Andy to live life to the fullest.

The book also goes through several accounts of the members of a town that were at one point in a desperate state of mind. They were suddenly met by Jones, who offered simply a bit of perspective, changing their lives forever.

The Noticer is a very touching book that encourages everyone to plant seeds in the people around them. It is important to remember that everyone has a purpose in life, and we are all here for a reason. I recommend this book to everyone who is looking for just a little perspective in life.

The Beginning and The End

I recently went to Mars Hill Church in Michigan to see Pastor Rob Bell speak. Let me tell you, it was a really great experience! He has such a command for the scripture and has such a unique and gifted way of phrasing it. He might have given the best sermon that I have ever heard, it was about how if you skip over the first two chapters of the Bible, as well as the last two, then you completely miss what the Bible is all about!

If you start in Genesis Ch. 1, the Bible is all about you being God's beautiful creation and being created with a purpose - to rule the land and it's creatures side-by-side with God in a beautiful garden. He created you to create things, to be artistic, creative and imaginative. However, if you start in Genesis Chapter 3, you completely miss out on what your purpose in life is all about. Genesis Ch 3 is all about the fall of mankind into a life of sin and being removed from Eden. You see, Chapter 3 is all about what you're not, while chapter 1 is all about what you ARE.

But there is hope. When Jesus came in the flesh to Earth, he set in motion a series of events which would eventually bring a new heaven back to earth. Starting in Revelations Ch 21, a new Eden is described, where it will once again be heaven on earth. It gives us all something to be living for. We know that this life of sin is not how the story started, and it is NOT how the story will end! We know that we are not perfect, but we are all beautiful Godly creations who are walking side-by-side with our Creator to take care of the land, until once again Christ returns to take His proper throne on Earth. He is the Beginning (Gen. 1-2) and he is the End (Rev. 21-22)!

To me, this message was incredibly encouraging and inspiring! I hope you find it just as encouraging. Always remember what you were created for, and never let satan lead you to believe that your story begins at Genesis Chapter 3!

All of Mars Hill's sermons are on their website as well as on iTunes. If you would like to listen to the sermon, head over to their website and check out the sermon dated 8/16/09. Or click here.