The Big End of Summer Update!

I can't believe that summer is just about over. The kids go back to school on Monday. My baby boy starts Middle School...sniffle, sniffle! Marissa got re-zoned to a brand new public elementary school where she has to wear a uniform. She's not happy about losing her freedom of fashion!

After much prayer I've decided to stop talking so much and actually do something about my desire to stop human trafficking. On Sept. 20th I have my first Master's level counseling class. I'm going to Liberty University Online. I decided that it's finally time to start taking steps toward my ultimate goal of becoming a licensed counselor in an aftercare facility for rescued girls. My dream is to work for an organization that rescues girls from the sex trade industry. I want to be part of the healing and restoration process in their lives. It's going to take a while, but you've got to start somewhere, right?

Verve is going really well. We're advertising like crazy this Fall; please pray. I often feel like I live on a mission field (like in a foreign country). People are so skeptical and so uncommitted to attending church on a regular basis. It's amazing how many people come to Verve and love it but don't have any intention of attending regularly. I talked to one guy who said, "I love Verve. I'm not really a go-to-church-kind-of-guy, but if I did go I'd go to Verve." It kind of reminds me of the Christmas/Easter Catholics I grew up with.

A hard-core atheist named Warren told us that he came to our first service with every intention of destroying it. His plan was to create a scene during the service. He said that he wanted to stop us from starting a new church and that he hated us. After the service he realized that he forgot to create a scene because he was so entertained. He got baptized last week. It was one of the coolest baptisms I've ever witnessed! We've baptized 23 people since we started 23 weeks ago (has it really been that long?)! The life change that is taking place is such a good reminder of why we're here. It makes all the sacrifice, depression and sorrow of moving to Las Vegas worth it!

I still have no update on my health. All the tests have come back normal. I have a few more doctors to see before they release me. Unless they can find something, they are diagnosing me with panic attacks. This doesn't make me happy! The good news is that I haven't fainted since Father's Day weekend! Thanks for praying for me.

Vince is hosting a church planting event in October called Vault. Click here for more information. We'd love to have you and your husband hang out with us in Vegas!

Featured on newchurches.com

Who Do You Want to Be?

I almost peed my pants in hysterics! We were at the strip club on Saturday night and this little Christian lady named Linda starts hugging a super tall stripper in stiletto heels. Here's the funny part...the stripper didn't have a shirt on...of any kind. They kept hugging over and over. I had to look away because I was laughing so hard at the sight of it! At that moment I thought, "I want to be like Linda when I get older." Not because I want to be in a similar physical situation as her, but because I want to have a heart like hers.

The strip club ministry I'm a part of is made up mostly of older women. They give their hearts and souls to these strippers; they love them unconditionally. They are the sweetest bunch of women I've ever been around. If you look at them you would never guess that they spend time at a strip club; you'd be shocked to know that they hug topless strippers.

What kind of person do you want to be in ten, twenty or thirty years? I'm sure those women never dreamed that they'd be involved in a ministry to strippers. There is something about their hearts, though, that makes them give unabashedly to a ministry that most would frown upon.

I don't know about you, but I want to be someone who loves the unlovable, who serves without limits, and who goes beyond my comfort zone to show the love of Jesus.

Featured on newchurches.com