Someone recently asked me what the hardest part of being a church planter is. It is hard to answer for everyone, but for me this answer was simple and easy. It was not the recruiting of people, starting with nothing, being in a new city, or researching models. For me it came down to one thing that immediately came to my mind: ASKING FOR MONEY!

I am not good at asking for money. It makes me feel weird and I am always afraid of what people think about me when I ask them for money. Now, please understand that I am trying to raise money for Baypointe, not my personal income. I know that God has placed us here, He has opened doors for us, sent people to help, yet when it comes to trusting Him to move on people’s hearts to help us financially, I somehow think it is all on me. In reality, the funds needed to start a healthy church are His and He will find a way to get them to us. Why can’t I trust this? Because it is where the rubber meets the road. It is a massive faith issue, and sometimes that is where life gets the hardest. I hate asking for money!

Why am I afraid to ask for money to help bring Christ to a community, but am not afraid to do anything else for the same cause? Because I, like most, hate rejection. I know the state of the economy, and that many people would love to help, but simply can’t. Then I feel bad for making them feel bad. AHHHHHH! I hate asking for money!

I am a minimum of 10 grand away from getting all the supplies we need to open the doors for our first preview service. Did I mention I have less than a month to get most of that? I know God has a plan to make it happen, but I just wish He would let me in on that little divine secret so I could sleep a little! I will have to do the one thing I hate…yep you guessed it…I will have to ask for money!! I hate asking for money!!!

So yes, some of you reading this will be getting a phone call from me. I have learned that the only way this will happen is for God to move on your and many other’s hearts to make Baypointe a reality. So, I am asking you to pray now. To see if God will use you to change the face of a city. To plant into something you may never see with your own eyes, but will be rewarded for. I am asking you for help.

Okay, I did it. I asked for help. I asked for money.

Yep, I still feel the same way…I HATE ASKING FOR MONEY!

Grace.

Ben

Humbled. Excited. Thrilled. Inspired. Confirmed.

These are the words that come to mind when asked how I felt after the first Launch Team meeting this past Sunday. After months of preparing, massive marketing, and a TON OF PRAYER, Baypointe Church had their first launch team meeting and what a great day it was.

We met new families, and most  of them were excited about being a part of the vision of Baypointe. Some signed up for specific launch teams, and some just said “put me where you need me!” (We need more people like that in the world!) It was a great start, and I can’t wait to get to know them better and serve alongside of them.

Words cannot express how much I appreciate the numerous friends (many of whom are Pastors) that took time out of their busy Sunday to call me, text me, email me, and most importantly pray for me and the team that day. They are so busy on Sundays, yet took time to contact me. One of the most unique was a phone call I received around 9:30 from Brian Hunter (Genesischurch.tv) and the entire early service congregation. Yes, he called me from stage, on speaker phone and had the whole church yell and scream for us. Another great thing that happened was that I had 2 texts messages on my phone from Rocky McKinley (Destiny Community Church) and Dr. E. Bob Kuschel (Westwood Hills Ministries) saying they were praying for me before I was even awake!! Another was Marty Martin (Northstar Church) who gathered his teaching team together before their service and prayed for us. This is a church that is in the same city as us, yet is Kingdom Minded enough to truly want to see us explode. Then after service, the number of calls and emails kept coming, and I can’t say how much I appreciate you all.

It was a great start, but we still have a lot of work left to do. Changing our community is going to take prayer, and work, and neither of these will we be afraid to commit to. We also still have funds to raise, and would love to have you partner with us. I will be posting a Baypointe Wish List within a few days, and if you would like to help us purchase any of these items, please email me at ben@baypoinechurch.tv, and I will process it.

Baypointe has started. There is no looking back, and to be honest, I don’t want to!

Grace.

Ben

Yesterday I was speaking to a really amazing guy. We were sitting in my office (AKA Joey’s Coffee Shop) talking about faith, church planting, and even politics. At one point he said that he has never seen God. He knows He exists, but He wants to know how God speaks to me. If you have been reading this site for very long, you know that one of the ways God speaks to me is through my children. And, yes, this morning He did it again.

One of my morning routines is that I get Gracen in the bathroom, and we brush our teeth at the same time. I always tell him, “Just do what daddy does, okay?” He smiles, but I really think he is saying, “I know daddy, we do this everyday.” We brush, rinse our mouths, wash our face and hands, dry them, and then move on with our day. This morning started the same, except while I was brushing my teeth, the toothpaste began to run down my toothbrush making the handle slippery, not allowing me to get the full scrub I was looking for. So, what did I do? I turned my toothbrush upside down to clean it off. Makes sense right? Well, Gracen not missing a beat, looked at me with this look that says, “What the heck are you doing dad? Your toothbrush is upside down? That’s not how it is supposed to be done. We never do it that way! That’s crazy!” But in the next moment he quickly flipped his toothbrush upside down and just like me began to rinse it off. His look never changed. It made no sense to him, but every morning, he did what he was told, “Just do what daddy does, okay?”

Then again, I could hear God telling me not to miss this moment. Gracen had been practicing obedience every morning. Doing what daddy did was the normal thing for him. It didn’t matter what, he just followed his dad. So this morning, when things were very different for him, he didn’t miss a beat. He followed me. It didn’t make sense, it was different than what he was accustomed to, but in the end he had learned that following his dad was the normal thing to do.

Obedience is not easy for anyone. Following God sometimes makes no sense. Fully living out the teachings of Jesus will make no sense to our culture. Forgive people endlessly? Come on. Love people with no regard? That’s silly. Give money to the church? Outdated. Here’s what I have learned in my life about God. He has never given me a huge assignment, until I have proven that I can be obedient in the small ones. Sometimes it is easy, and sometimes I look at God and say, “really? What the heck are you thinking? That’s not how it’s supposed to be done. That’s crazy!” But in the end, I do it…and everytime it turns out to be the best thing for me.

So now it’s on you. Are you following God daily, just on Sundays, or when it’s convenient? There is something in your heart that God is telling you to do, it makes no sense, you’ve never done it that way, it’s crazy! Let me let you in on a secret…God knows that!! Are you willing to pull the trigger on that major decision? Can you trust that He knows what He is doing?

…can you turn your toothbrush upside down?

Grace.

Ben

Let me start by saying I am a die hard Apple user. I have an iPhone, iPod, and a MacBook Pro. The only real technology I have outside this company is an Amazon Kindle (which I love by the way.) So, when I heard of the iPad I was immediately excited to check it out.

Uh…wait…I’m looking at it…and I can’t find…it’s primary purpose! Other than just looking amazingly cool, what is the primary REASON for this product? Surf the web? Music? Email? I know it does all of them, and might do them really well, but what is the #1 reason I should purchase this product? What advantage will I have in my everyday life if I purchase this? I mean, with all the products out there, what one reason would I want to attend your church on Sunday morning…wait, did I just get sidetracked or is the ipad a great representation of some churches?

I have been going to numerous churches, doing consulting work with some, and just studying others. And one thing that stands out as a major characteristic of healthy churches is that they know their purpose. It is engrained in their DNA and they make all decisions through this filter, and make NO apologies for it. One flaw is that many times churches mistake the wrong thing as their purpose or get to grandiose in their purpose. We are all directed to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ, so that one we all have in common, but Pastors and Leaders, what has God given you that only your church in your area can do. We are not all cookie cutters, but rather a massively diverse group of people all with the same end goal. Your purpose can’t be “we have great music,” there is someone doing it better. It can’t be “we have great preaching,” there is someone better out there. Those might be attributes of your church, but your purpose has to be more. Come on, leaders, we serve a huge God, and just playing the right notes or having great hermeneutics can’t be all we are about. What is the one thing your church thrives to do?

What about you Ben? What is Baypointe’s purpose, Mr “not even open yet but trying to give me advice?” Well, I’m glad you asked. We want to bring encourgement to the hopeless, unite people in community, and complete people in Christ. That’s it.Our music will be amazing, our kids program will be fun and foundational, and maybe I will teach a few things well, but in the end, when all is said and done, we want to be the place people know as hope, unity, and maturity.

Don’t be an iPad church with lots of stuff that is great without a distinct purpose. If you know it, make it forefront in all you do. If you don’t know it, seek God and find it. The world doesn’t need another church, it needs another great church, and having a singular purpose will get you on the way.

Now I gotta go figure out if I need an iPad to stay in the Apple club…

Grace.

Ben

Yesterday, our family, along with Billy Tisko and his family went to the Zoo in Panama City Beach as part of my daughter Cadence’s 7^th birthday. The place is really amazing with tons of animals including lions, tigers, and bears…oh my! Yep, that was a cheap shot a humor, but they really did have all those things.

One of the shows we went to was about Wolves. They brought out two Wolves, Montana and Dakota. Dakota was much bigger than Dakota, walked with a different walk, sat in the middle of the stage area and kept an eye on things. Montana on the other hand was smaller, still big by my standards, but definitely smaller than Dakota. He was led by his trainer around where everyone was sitting, so we could pet and feel this amazing animal. When they finally took him to the middle of the staging area, he was much more intent on being involved with the people. He was never wild, out of control, or tense, but it was obvious he was different from the much larger Dakota.

The trainer then asked the question, “Which one of these two animals is the alpha male of this pack?” That was a no brainer for me, it had to be Dakota, the bigger, more laid back, observer who had sat in the middle and had complete control. He had “the alpha male” look. I proudly raised my hand that it had to be Dakota. I was quickly informed how wrong my answer was. It was Montana, and as the trainer went on to explain why, an amazing leadership lesson emerged.

He told us that size, strength, or age had anything to do with being the leader of the pack. It was all about ATTITUDE. Montana was able to walk around the room, adapt to each person, handle all the stress, be led by someone else (did you get that one?), all without biting and attacking the others. It was about being able to adapt and adjust to people and their needs. It was not about sitting in the middle of the room, purporting “the look” of leadership while being obviously detached from others. Montana was the alpha male leader because his attitude was in the right place.

Leaders, what does this stir in you? Simply being the big guy in the middle of the room does not always make you the leader. Where is your attitude? Are you able to adapt to circumstances, adjust to different people, without biting or attacking? Gut check time. Now, before you give me the “that’s just how I am wired, so I can’t be that flexible, adaptable, blah blah blah, I can’t be like that, blah blah blah, I don’t have it in me, blah blah blah,” think how many times we challenge others to develop and grow new characteristics. I am not saying you have to be a people person, the life of the party, etc, but we must all be adaptable, and adjust to the moment we are in. Yes, how you are wired will be a difficulty for some, but using it as a crutch will never allow you to develop. You will simply be the big wolf in the middle that stays the same, never with a chance to help others through your gifts.

Be the leader God has called you to be, and never stop striving to be more each day. Never rest on improvement. This world needs you. Which wolf are you?

Grace.

Ben

Today is a day where we celebrate a man that had a dream. A dream that was bigger than him, bigger than his life, and bigger than the culture that tried to derail it from coming true. I think of one of my favorite lines from a movie is from Pretty Woman, when there is a man at the beginning and end of the movie. He is holding a sign and just keeps repeating, “What’s yo dream? What’s yo dream? Everyone’s got a dream!” One of my all time favorite songs is a song called “Dream” by Priscilla Ahn. I love dreaming. I love people with dreams.

Do you have a dream that you are working towards? Sure you do. Its that thing deep in your heart that you would do if you would stop looking at outside circumstances. What if money was no object? If time was not an issue? If your education was where you wanted it to be? What would you do? Are you afraid of failing? Are you afraid of someone laughing at you? What’s yo dream??

Ok, I am about to offend you so if you are easily offended stop now and go to Joel Osteen’s page where you will not be offended. (Not bashing, just sayin…) Do NOT use your spiritual obligations as dreams. This is not Jerry Springer. Do not get married and tell me your dream is to be faithful. You are supposed to be! Do not have kids and tell me your dream is to take care of them. You are supposed to! Things you are supposed to do because you chose them don’t qualify with me. Let me tell you my dream, and yes those of you that are close to me have heard it a hundred times…go to Joel’s page. I’m kidding…

I dream of one day standing in front of Jesus and he tells me to turn around and look behind me. I see thousands and thousands of people and I know NONE of them. He says to me, “because of your willingness to be obedient to me, all of these people are here. You did the right thing, lived selflessly, loved recklessly, and these people are here indirectly because of someone I influenced through you. None of them were members of the church I let you pastor, but that was never the point.” (Notice Jesus didn’t speak in King James? Okay, I just offended more, man I am on a roll…) This dream drives me, makes me work hard, teaches me that building the Kingdom is way infinitely more important that just building a church. I want that day so bad that we structured Baypointe to give us a chance to help people find a savior in a real way, an unfiltered way, a way that will give them dreams that are bigger than themselves. Then they will go out and change the world.

So what’s your dream? What’s stopping you? Write it down, begin the process, and watch God handle the rest.

Grace.

Ben

So it is 2010 and the world of resolutions is among us! I used to be against these crazy things because the majority of them were short lived and just frustrated people, but I now just use the beginning of the year to check my priorities and make sure they are where they need to be.

I have quickly learned that starting a church from scratch is a tedious, overwhelming, yet exciting task. But in the midst of it all, I want to make sure I keep things in the right order. So I will use this time of year to make sure the things that are important are still at the top of my list. Here’s a sample IN ORDER of importance:

1. MY time with God. Not a time of praying for needs, asking for stuff, or even filling in all the prayer requests I promise people I will pray about. I am talking about Ben and God time. I am not any good to Brenda, my kids, or my church without it. I will have other time to go through the other prayer list stuff, but I need time with God to feel love, give honor, get direction, and just be a “kid.” I am fortunate to live in what I think of as paradise so spending an hour on the beach reading, listening, and praying in the mornings may not seem hard, but when the to-do list is as long as mine is, it is easy to “justify” just getting to the office.
2. BRENDA! She needs me. She needs me to be her husband, friend, and dad to her kids. Many of you know how important she is to me, but in 2010, she will know it even more. We will date, we will laugh, we will cry, but we will do it together. I don’t deserve someone like her, yet for some crazy reason, God gave her to me, and I will cherish her like no other.
3. My kids. The main reason God trusted me with them is for me to instruct them in a way that they will get back to him when they die. My ability to be a dad is more important that my ability to plant a church. We will have family nights where I will beat them badly in MarioKart and Apples to Apples junior…they need to learn how to lose! Yes I talk trash even to my kids…
4. My responsibility as a Pastor and leader. I will lead my staff with love, passion, and accountability. I will strive to make them the greatest leaders I can. They have left everything to follow the vision of Baypointe Church and that is something I will never take lightly. For all the others that God has lined up to become part of this church called Baypointe I will lead them in a way that creates an avenue to get closer to Christ.

Nope, I do not have a top ten list. That’s my list. I believe that if I take care of those things, everything else will take care of itself. Will I work out? Of course. Will I stay on the Dave Ramsey plan? Absolutely. Will I read X amount of books? Yep. These things will be driven out of a passion to fulfill one of the top 4.

I hope that 2010 is a great year for you and your families!

Grace.

Ben

Last night I had a conversation with someone and it revolved around heaven. He believed that all Christians had heaven as a destination as their number one goal, and when I explained that it wasn’t for me, you would have thought I just slipped a live hand grenade down his pants. He was terrified that a PASTOR of all people didn’t believe that Heaven was my main goal. Is Heaven your main goal? Let me explain.

I believe that Heaven is going to happen for me. I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and what little strength I seem to have recently. I’m just a little tired, don’t panic. I believe that I will live a life worthy of that “reward.” Reward is something you get for accomplishing a task. Does that mean I get to enter into a place so amazing that words really can’t describe it, a place where joy reigns, a place of being in the tangible presence of Christ at all times, and all I have to do is say a prayer? Just believe and the reward is yours? Now, before all you theologians blast off, yes I fully believe that a prayer in Jesus grants to access to Heaven, but I believe there is more to the life of a Christ Follower. Not more things to do to “earn” anything, but rather things that will naturally flow out of our relationship with Him.

For me, heaven is not my primary goal. My primary goal is to live out the teachings of Christ in a way that will lead others to a relationship with Him. I will try to love God and love people with everything inside me. I will try to give to the places that God leads me to give. I will try to spend time alone with God for reflection, strengthening, and worship. I will work to make the lives of the marginalized of society better. I will work to make our city, county, state, country, and world a better place than before I was born. I will try to use the power of The Spirit which lives in me, to do things that are beyond my capabilities. I will thank God when I succeed, and I will repent when I fail. I will love God, and love people…recklessly. These are my goals.

Each relationship with Jesus is different, and with different dynamics come different goals, values, and results. Yes, there will be some people in Heaven that did just enough to get by. So. So what. I will be glad they are there rejoicing with me. Christ died a torturous death on the cross for those who believe just enough, and for guys that live a dedicated, crazy life of faith. I will challenge those I lead to live a deeper life, and then they will make that decision.

In the end, all that believe will enter into Heaven, but for me, that is not my goal. I have only been given a certain amount of years, and my goal is to make them count…for Him.

Grace.

Ben

Do you ever look at the people around you and just appreciate your friends? Not all the people in your life are friends, and you need to be able to recognize the difference. Some people are in your life because they have the same interests as you, some are in your life because you work with them, others just want something from you (yes I said that), and others are real friends. What do I consider a real friend? No, do not look at your Facebook page and answer with that number, you don’t even know half of those people really! Oh, you do, you say? Go through every single one of your “friends” and name their kids, what would make them uniquely happy, or something else that few know about them. I love having all the connections on Facebook, but that number is not even close to the genuine friendships I have. I think, outside of my wife, I have probably 4 or 5. I love each of them more than they will ever know, and know that love is returned.

Most people have only about 3-5 really close friends. Why so low? Because having real friendships requires lots of time, work, and effort. Great friendships don’t happen by accident. They are many times God-ordained relationships for the benefit of each party. When people tell me they have a one-sided friendship, I usually tell them, “No, you don’t. You have a one-sided relationship, but not a friendship.” Here is part of my criteria for a genuine relationship:

1. They love you regardless of what you do for a living.
2. They could care less about your money. They don’t fluctuate as your income does.
3. You can call them, rant, rave, scream, and cry, and they will listen through ears of love.
4. When you are wrong, they will tell you, and while it might hurt a little, you will accept it.
5. You can share your deepest sin, and it will stay with them. They will help you through it, not call the Pastor with a “prayer request” for you. Man, I hate that kind of gossip. Side note, if you would like to be a part of Baypointe Church, don’t ever do that crapus maximus. (That’s Latin for stupid, stinkin, pile of selfish, crapola.)
6. If it’s 3AM and you need them, they will be there and you know it. Physically if they need to be.
7. They celebrate your wins with you and mourn your losses with equal passion.

There are plenty more because each friendship brings with it unique dynamics. These are a few of what I consider the basics.

Are you a friend to someone? Are you allowing someone to be your friend? It’s a two way street my…friend.

Grace.

Ben

So for the past few weeks, I have been documenting most of my church experiences. If you have read the past posts you know that they have not been good, at least by my standards. Let me be honest, I believe that the primary purpose of a church service, experience, meeting, gathering, or whatever other term you want you use is for worship. But I also believe and know that Sundays are the main vehicle used by God to draw the unchurched to Himself. I know it can be done anytime, but statistics show this is the most common day. With that being said, I went to a church today that did a lot of things really well.

We went to a church called Northstar Church, and it was a refreshing time. From the very get-go they had great signage in the lobby, very helpful people checking in the kids, a lady that did not just point to where to go with the kids but walked us there. The kids department was obviously using a methodology called “Orange,” which is a brainchild of Reggie Joiner the former Families Pastor for Andy Stanley at Northpoint Church near Atlanta, Georgia. This in my opinion is the best method of kids ministry which combines the power of the family and church. You can look it up to see how amazing it is.

The worship experience for adults was well put together as well. A first time visitor, an unsaved person, or a mature believer would all be able to not only feel comfortable in this service but to gain something from it. It was obvious to me, that this church values the conversion of the unsaved into a relationship with Christ. I was moved many times as they spoke of the importance of beginning of a relationship with Christ.

I can’t tell you how refreshing this church experience was. Not just because the last few weeks have been less than desirable, but because I found a church that values what I believe God values. They are in the middle of Panama City, and our church will be out on the beach so we will be lots of miles apart, but I genuinely hope that Northstar and Baypointe will be able to work together to bring Christ to a community that needs to be affected by His love.

Grace.

Ben