Why I Love Pastor Mark (Part I)

I was tentative about this discussion with Pastor Mark. I knew that my life was going to be significantly different, one way or another, after the meeting. But I want you to hear the heart of Pastor Mark.

Phil: “Mark, I believe God is asking me to explore the possibility of starting a new church in the Omaha area somewhere. So I would like to ask your permission to talk to our District, to see if they have any desire to see something like this happen. What do you think?”

Mark: “Phil, this city needs more churches. If God is calling you to plant a church, then plant it. And I don’t care where you plant it. Even if God calls you to plant a church in Old Mill, then by all means do it.”

I probably don’t need to tell you that a lesser man may have had issues with it. A lesser man may have been protective. But CCC has a great pastor with a huge heart for the Kingdom of God.

The next day I called the District Superintendant, Randy Burg, and set up a meeting. He was enthusiastic about the idea, and sent me off to research some areas. The two areas we thought about were the North Central part of town, where I currently live, and also the southwest corridor of Omaha, which is the fastest growing area of the state. The ball officially began to roll.

Planting seeds about a Church Plant

After wrestling with inner conflict, God begins to work on my heart about the possibility of planting a new church in Omaha. Now you must know I don’t exactly fit the mold for church planters. (I’m kind of old to be doing this, and I don’t have a goatee. Yet!) But check out some of these observations made by David Olson in his book, The American Church in Crisis:

• Seventy Seven percent of Americans do not attend a local church on any given Sunday.
• Studies show that new churches have three to four times the conversion rate per attendee than established churches.
• The percentage of people attending an Evangelical church has declined by more than 4% in Nebraska over the past five years.

The fact is that Omaha is underchurched. There is a need for more life giving churches in the Omaha area. So a few months ago, God planted these facts in my heart. And like the oak trees that began growing in my gutter last month, the idea of a church plant began to grow in my heart. (Probably not a good metaphor – Gutter = Heart – but run with it, okay?)

After some consideration and deliberation with God and with Jody, we decided the time had come to broach the subject with Pastor Mark…

The First Chapter of the Next Chapter

So how does this all begin? How does the first chapter of the next chapter start?
Slowly.

After ten years of loving life at Christ Community Church, it took a few months for the Lord to work on me before I figured out what God was doing. The fact is that I could have easily stayed at CCC for the rest of my life. But the deal is that God moves us when he wants.

It took a few months for me to recognize what God was doing. Part of my problem was my inability to differentiate CCC from the City of Omaha. And so I lived in this weird sense of turmoil, feeling a sense of release from CCC, but also feeling a sense of calling to the Omaha area. Normally, when a pastor leaves a church, he often ends up moving to another city. So I couldn't reconcile my sense that God was calling me out of CCC but at the same time telling me to stay in Omaha.

I lived in this inner turmoil for a few months. so I'll stop writing and start the next chapter of the next chapter