New Ministry: LIVE Church

If I am being honest with you - this has been a crazy 3 years for me personally. A percentage of my life seemed out of whack, unsettled, and uncertain about the future. As I found myself in this uncomfortable place it forced me to ask some difficult questions of myself.

Who am I?
What am I all about?
What do I want out of life?
How do I fit into God's plan? 

The amazing part is that through this in-between phase God grew me and prepared me for the next journey in my life. It seems God uses these "desert" experiences to prepare us for God-sized assignments. I am 100% confident that this is exactly what he has done for me. 

It is with greater clarity, enthusiasm, and excitement that I step into a brand new ministry focus and assignment. Over the last few months I have been working nonstop to launch an online global church. 

LIVE Church is “an online global church community connecting people together to live out the mission of Jesus.”

LIVE is so much more then a weekly church service – we are launching a full functioning church online. You can read about our LIVE Mobile Groups, LIVE Missions, and LIVE Services on our new website. I am VERY excited about how God is going to use this new church to reach many with the hope of Jesus.

I would love for you to join me in this journey. This is not something our team can do without you. It will require many to serve and participate around the glove. Here are a few things you can do to become clear on our vision and mission:

VIEW: WWW.ONLIVECHURCH.COM

LIKE: Like LIVE Church on FACEBOOK & share.

FOLLOW: Follow LIVE on TWITTER.

SHARE: Share LIVE with other via social media

Please reach out! Email me, tweet me, message me with any questions about LIVE. I would love to share the vision with you in more depth and detail. We can’t do this without your help and there are many ways for you to participate in helping us launch LIVE to the world.

Email me directly: jake @ onlivechurch.com.

Church & Technology

As technology continues to explore new methods of advancing the mission of the church a greater gap develops between churches. Many churches are working towards utilizing new technology and web environments to reach more people including gathering an online community to accomplish good. I don't believe there has ever been a greater time in history to mobilize the online community to meet social needs. Within split seconds needs can be broadcast around the world and needs can instantly be met.

Bobby Gruenewald, creator of YouVersion Bible app, recently spoke about the need for churches to adopt technology and integrate it into the mission of the church. 

 "Gruenewald also spoke at length about the importance of Christian churches getting on board with technology. While LifeChurch.tv is certainly answering this call, some aren’t moving so quickly. Regardless, he believes that failing to meet emerging trends in technological advances could truly harm Christianity.

“I think it would be one of the most historic misses for the church if we don’t,” he said of harnessing the power of technology. “Our point of view is that we’re alive at this extremely unique time in history … there’s this exploding population … and you and I are occupying this space in history … that’s going straight to the roof — and at the same time, we have these tools and technologies that knit us together like never before.”"

I couldn't agree with him more. "This is a perfect time to engage people in the gospel." We must continue this conversation and explore how we can reach, grow, and release people in the online space to advance God's kingdom.

Taking one step forward today...

"Make your way plain for me to follow..." Psalm 5:8b

How often is God's path for your life perfectly crystal clear? If you are like me, there are many times throughout the day I am asking God, "Can you just make my future clear?" My desire is to follow Jesus into the life he has for me but I want to know everything about that life upfront.

How much is it going to cost?

What will I have to sacrifice?

What is the percentage of hard times verses good times?

When will I be rich?

Unless you and God have a special arrangement that I don't have - you seldon get more from God then the next step. I hate that. I love that.

I want to know all the steps so I can control my future and God only gives me the next step so I don't ruin the future!

I am convinced that if I knew everything that was to come I wouldn't sign up for the journey. God's limited revelation about my life keeps me growing and moving ahead. In the last few months I have grown more comfortable only knowing bits and pieces of God's plan for my life. The key to peace is continuing to meditate on the scriptures. This sounds like "Christianese" but it is true. If I don't reset my day around the truths I read in the scriptures I lean into stress, anxiety, and worry. When I spend time in the scriptures I am able to operate knowing little about how everything is going to turn out. Without the anxiety and stress I am 100x more productive.

Worry = Unproductively 
Peace = Clear Thinking

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light to my path..." Psalm 119:105

So for today, when I pray, "Make your way plain for me to follow..." I am satisfied with next steps as little as they may be. I cannot handle the whole picture. I would probably run and hide. However, one step at a time - manageable!