To onlookers

Rebecca (my wife) is incredibly wise. Looking at the posts over the past two days she finally made me see, what would someone think if they were considering NBCF?

So this post is to people watching this blog who might be considering visiting or joining NBCF.

First, to non-christians considering NBCF. Give us a shot. The number one complaint I hear from non-christians is they don't like church because it is full of judgmental hypocrites. I agree with you, church is full of hypocrites. Ours is not different, and I'm one of them. We all screw up, which makes us all hypocrites. The key is not thinking we are better than anyone else. We are in, what I would consider a time of transition for our church. We have hovered where we are at for a few years now and it's time to spur growth or we may begin to see a downward slide. Myself and Pastor James were brought on board as associate pastors a month ago. We've both been working in the church for several years, and now we are in charge of several aspects of our ministries. Mine is mainly geared toward outreach. My philosophy is I'm not reaching out to more church folk, I'm reaching out to you. I want you. I want people who have given up on church or who have never been. I want people that aren't Christians. Being in a church community and living with Jesus will change your life. It did mine. I'm not going to lie and say it'll be easy or you'll like everyone. If you're doing it right, being a Christian is the hardest thing you'll ever do. But the benefits are eternal. From my posts I tend to sound like I'm unhappy where we are at. I'm not unhappy so much as passionate. When you read me rant and rave, know that it is all geared toward spurring changes so that we can reach you. I want to create a place where you are comfortable coming for the first time and then plugging into the community.

To Christians considering NBCF. If you are willing to get your hands dirty and serve, come on in. A time like this is incredibly trying. There will be tension as we implement new things. Be ready for it. We need Christians with a heart to reach the world. If you are a church person, who is content to come on Sunday and Wednesday and not do anything to reach the world, there are a lot of churches out there who are about the same thing. Go find them. It isn't hard. We need people who can't sleep at night because they have friends who are going to Hell. We need people who are willing to do everything they can to reach others. And we need people who are ready to plug into a vision that is bigger than just us. God's vision for this church is to do things we don't think possible. But, he's not going to do it without us. Until we get up and put our hand to the plow, it's not going to move.

Everything I do is under Pastor Leon's vision to reach the world. I'm probably more abrasive than most (and sometimes more than I should be), but as Popeye says, "I is what I is." I love NBCF and I love the things God has called me to do here. Please don't mistake my passion for dislike. As I said earlier today, it's going to take some passion to get us going.