Rolling Thunder

This weekend, an estimated 50,000 motorcycle enthusiasts hit the streets of Morgantown for the 2nd annual Mountainfest. Also in town this weekend were Mike and Deby Prince. Mike is our church planting coach and has been in the area for the past week and a half coaching church planters. He and Deby have been a big-time encouragement to our team over the past several days. Being a biker himself, Mike was interested in the vintage motorcycle exhibit, so the three of us spent some time checking out vintage motorcycles, some dating back to the early 1900's.

Today was a good day at StoneBridge. God again blessed us with new faces and we set a record for attendance over any previous summer month. David and Tom led an acoustic worship set today, both playing guitars. It was awesome. David was right...Tom can really move around the fretboard and his family is bringing new talent to the table. There were two new songs introduced today, both relating to Psalm 23:6, the text for today's message. Jason closed out the Psalm 23 series on a solid note, with the encouraging message about God's goodness and mercy. The only thing missing was a recording of "who let the dogs out?" (inside joke). All in all, a great day, and Flo and Mo both made appearances. I pray that we are able to keep the momentum building through August and then through the fall. I believe it is entirely possible that we may double in attendance over the next few months. Please join me in that prayer.

One other note: tonight we launch our new AdventureLife small group, comprised of several individuals that have never been involved with StoneBridge small groups before. This is an outdoor adventure group, and tonight we will be hiking out to Cheat View, sharing Scripture together, watching the sun (if it ever comes out) go down, and hiking out by flashlight. Good times. I'm thankful that God has placed me here. I can't imagine being anywhere else.

Lessons Learned by a Church Planter

Ridgestone Church in Georgia is getting ready to celebrate their 2nd birthday next week and church planter Gary Lamb shared some lessons he has learned in the past two years. I have to share these...

1.) If you truly believe in your vision then 99% of decisions are already decided. Saves you a lot of trouble.

2.) God will send scaffolding. You need scaffolding to build a house but once it is built the scaffolding is gone. God sent us some GREAT and GODLY people who were scaffolding. I hated to see them leave but I now realize God sent them for a time and for a purpose.

3.) You CAN build a church without a building. Everyone told me you couldn't in this area but, God has done it here. I have really kicked up our land search lately just to be prepared, but lack of a building will never be an excuse for us not growing.

4.) You can lead your people by doing life WITH them instead of being ABOVE them.

5.) People want a pastor who is the same Monday-Saturday as he is on Sunday.

6.) You can't grow as a leader without having mentors who are ahead of you in the game. I thank God for those people in my life.

7.) I have the greateast wife in the world. She is the greatest pastor's wife in the world because her ministry is our family, not Ridge Stone Church.

8.) God WILL send Christians who will be sold out to your vision. It took me a year to understand this.

9.) Go after those that no other church would want and ask God to send those to you.

10.) Be yourself. Love me or hate me, I am who I am. Most pastors are who they think they are supposed to be.

11.) There will be critics. Only insecure leaders feel the need to defend themselves.

12.) You must grow ahead of your church's growth

13.) Fight, scrap, and kill if necessary to keep the BIG MO going. It is so vital.

14.) Preach vision AT LEAST every two months. You think your people are sick of it, but they don't live with it like you do and will forget it.

15.) Core Values aren't some written thing, they are something you live.

16.) Have tunnel vision.

17.) If you aren't friends with your staff, then why are they around?

18.) Sold out lay people actually make the church what it is.

19.) RUN to confrontation.

20.) Love your people no matter what.

21.) It's ALL about two things: Jesus and People

Thanks Gary for these principles. I have to admit I struggle with some of these, particularly #11, #12 and #19. I pray that God will continue to equip me for the challenges and opportunities that are right around the corner and that I will be ready to take the steps necessary to grow as a leader of God's people at StoneBridge.

Weekend at the Top of WV

Yesterday evening, our family left home at 5:30 pm headed for Spruce Knob for an overnight camping trip. One of our summer traditions at the Knight house is escaping on Friday/Saturday overnight camping trips whenever the opportunity arises. This trip marked only the second time we had been camping together this summer, so we had some catching up to do. Our trips to our West Virginia sanctuaries are extremely therapeutic for us.

We had planned to leave our house around 3:45 pm to backcountry camp on the summit of Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia. However, due to some unavoidable circumstances, we didn't leave until the before mentioned time of 5:30 pm and had to settle for car camping at Spruce Knob Lake, a National Forest campground. To get to Spruce Knob, you have to travel approximately 30 miles of gravel forest roads. Pack in what you need, because there's no going to the corner store once you get there. As soon as we arrived, set up camp, and enjoyed a cup of coffee, the thunder rolled in and the rains came. And it rained all night. And into the morning. When the rains slowed down to a drizzle, we hastily broke camp and packed wet gear into the Jeep. Now wanting to give up on the trip, we proceeded to travel the 9 miles from the campground to the summit of Spruce Knob. The weather broke long enough for us to explore the Huckleberry Trail, which runs along the ridge of Spruce Knob for several miles. We enjoyed the exploration and eating the wild blueberries which are prominent on the mountain. On the way home, we enjoyed a big midday breakfast at Bob Evans in Elkins.

My kids are true mountaineers. They love being outdoors, and I'm glad that wilderness activities is a part of their DNA. Belinda loves the mountains also, and these getaways give her a chance to breathe deep and detox from the busyness of her work and the rigors of life Monday thru Friday. Thank you Lord for allowing us this time together.

May the glory of the LORD last forever! The LORD rejoices in all he has made! The earth trembles at his glance; the mountains burst into flame at his touch. I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath! May he be pleased by all these thoughts about him, for I rejoice in the LORD. Let all sinners vanish from the face of the earth; let the wicked disappear forever. As for me--I will praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! - Psalm 104:31-35

Addition to the Blogosphere

Fellow church planter Aaron Johnson has entered the blogosphere. Aaron moved to Washington, PA last month to begin a new church planting journey. We share the same sending church, FBC in Inwood, WV. I am pumped about what God will do through their planting team in the weeks and months to come. You can view his blog here.

Birthday Recap - Part 2

Today, my beautiful wife Belinda celebrated her 33rd birthday. Yes, 1 day after mine. She tried to keep her big day on the dl at work until I busted her cover by emailing her boss so her co-workers could have a little fun. Happy birthday sweetheart! I hope God allows us to grow old together.

Wherefore Art Thou, Excellence?

Excellence is a core value at StoneBridge, but I can tell you it went on vacation yesterday. Problems were abundant...a mic was left unplugged to the snake, inputs were switched, our wireless went down at the halfway point of Jason's message due to a dead battery, dead space during the service, and Flo never arrived. Add to that an entire group of worshippers who seemed tired, and it made for a difficult day at the Warner. Jason's message on "No Fear" (Psalm 23:4) was the highlight of the morning. On the bright side, having a day like this forces us to go back to the drawing board to raise the bar on Sundays. God deserves our best, and if Gary Lamb's crew in Georgia can set up church starting at 5:30 am every week, we can certainty give a consistent, top-notch effort at the Warner week in and week out.


Reaching the lost and unchurched people of Morgantown will require us to continue to strive for excellence and give God our best. I'm looking forward to next Sunday already...

Birthday Recap

Yesterday marked 33 years since my entrance to the world in Henderson, Texas in 1973. Highlights of my big day included enjoying lunch with Belinda, Ryan, Janna, and the Sheffstalls after church. Last night, I hiked out to Cheat View to meet Jason, David, Manny, Adam, Loren, Ashley, David, Kevin, and Uus to hang out and watch the sun go down. They stayed to camp for the night, and Jason and I hiked back out at midnight. We saw several deer as we hiked back out. Cheat View is an awesome overlook in the Snake Hill Wildlife Management Area close to Morgantown and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a 3-4 mile roundtrip hike in the area.

Belinda and the kids really gave me the VIP treatment yesterday. God has blessed me with an awesome wife and great kids. Thank you Lord for 33 years.

Small Groups Kickoff

Tonight begins our new semester of small groups. I can't wait to see what God will do thru all our small groups between now and Christmas. Tonight, one of our families groups will meet and we're going to return to Acts 2 to reexamine how the Jerusalem church did life together, how they functioned, and how their city was ultimately impacted with the gospel. Life-change happens best in the context of small groups. In the next 2-3 weeks our small group will "give birth" to a new group which will be forming. This is a monumental step for StoneBridge, because this is the first time one of our groups will be multiplying. If we can successfully multiply a small group, then some day we will be able to successfully mulitply and plant a new church from within our own congregation. I know this will be a real test of leadership for Jason and me, and I'm praying that our people will follow our lead on the journey of multiplication.

Pumping It Up With Hans and Franz, and Manny

Today I began a quest to fulfill a longtime goal of getting in serious physical shape. Manny guest-passed me into the Student Rec Center at WVU for the first of two sessions this week. Manny is acting as my personal trainer on my epic journey to pompitude. We worked out for about two hours and I was really proud of myself until the post-workout weigh in, when I weighed in at 196 instead of 188. Oh well, I've got lots of work to do.

Fruit

God is at work. Last week, a group of 10 StoneBridgers spent the week at Summit Lake Camp in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Jason and I have been involved helping to staff this camp for the past two years, but this year we took David with us to lead camp worship, and Manny, Dan, Krista, Loren, and Ashley to help minister to the kids who were at camp. Our group displayed the hearts of servants and made a difference in the lives of several children last week.

God seems to be harvesting some fruit that's been on the vine for a while at StoneBridge. This morning Manny Johnson shared with our church that God is calling him to a life of ministry. I love spending time with him and am looking forward to continuing to encourage him and begin some training time with him. For more about Manny, check out Jason's blog. More and more people are finding out about our church, checking it out, and sharing positive worship experiences with us. God is sending us a unique mix of people including young families, college students, and a group of homeless people from the Bartlett House. I am so glad we didn't abandon downtown and are getting a chance to impact the heart of the city.

We had a great service today...we sang two songs recently written by David, Jason hit a homerun with the message dealing with Restoration (Psalm 23 series), and several guests made return visits. Our attendance this summer is higher than its ever been in the summer months...and I'm looking forward to watching what God does when the students come back in force.