Possibly because it is often a one way street. Right? When someone needs something from you, no matter how NOBLE the cause, you just want them to STOP, DROP & ROLL AWAY before they ever even think about asking you.

The economy being as UGLY as it is doesn’t help, but that is often an excuse or better translated as I don’t WANT to give to your cause. I say that because Walmart is still packed, sporting events and concerts are still sold out, and well BIG LCD TVs are still being sold everywhere.

But seriously, this is not about spending habits or priorities, this is simply about me needing you and you, whether you know it or not, needing me. This is about your prayer time, you pleas before God, your effectual fervent praying that bring forth much fruit! This is about you praying for me, my family and peculiarplace church.

I have created a new page on my blog specifically for you. A page outlining our desire for YOU to partner with us & be a part of our prayer team.

THIS IS SERIOUS!! I CANNOT STRESS HOW SERIOUS THIS IS!

the spiritual warfare that we, and anyone seeking to take territory BACK for the Kingdom, face is REAL. And simply put, we cannot remain a Christ like family, plant this church, offer the gospel to all for the transformation of the kingdom without YOUR prayers.

Go here NOW and sign up. I’m pleading with you, if you fit the criteria, then sign up. There is nothing to think about, pray about or talk about. Just do it!

For me, well it means that if it were not for an encounter with Christ I would STILL be lost, STILL on my way to plundering my future, STILL stuck in sin, STILL living for me & not Him & STILL alone.

“I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken..”, writes King David. Jesus prayed that you & I would be one with Him as He was one with THE Father. How much more could we ask for. What else should we pray for. Will you allow THIS prayer to go unanswered? We do everyday, that we do not sit, listen & bask in His presence!

Apart from God, I am NOTHING! No, not just lip service, not just guilt speaking through the lens of redemption, but I am NOTHING without Him! In other words, I encourage YOU to spend quality time IN HIS PRESENCE!!

We are still in need of your prayers. Yesterday we found out that my wife’s grandfather passed in Haiti. We are praying for her & her families peace & comfort.

We are still praying that a possible location for our launch in Sept will be made available to us.

We are still praying for Esther to get a great job & for me to find a better job so that Esther & I are able to be both sustainable & be the givers to the Kingdom business that God has called us to!

Love you!

Jobs: Esther & I are desperately searching for jobs. Why? Well, we have decided that we must be self sufficient is this church planting climate. We want to be able to do, instead of just getting by. Will you pray with us?

Projects: a huge meeting takes place today concerning our Easter project. We also have a project on the table for O4W’s children that can be life changing to some degree. We also need you to join with us in praying that as we serve O4W we multiply.

Resources: with only a few days left in the week. We REALLY need your help with financial support. Do you know someone who could write a check today for 500.00, 1000.00 or more? We need at least 6000.00 by the end of the week!!! For what? A portion is for our support, for our projects & for the business of peculiarplace. Will you give? Will you pray?

My family: we have been hit in our health consistently the last few weeks & could really use your prayers as we believe God for healing & divine health as we venture to do what God has called us to do.

Peculiarplace: as we are less than 8 months away from launching a new thing in Old Fourth Ward we could use your prayers! We need everything anyone starting a new church needs, finances, PEOPLE, ideas, creatives, location & your PRAYERS. we are believing God to show us exactly how to make Jesus famous through the way we LIVE, LOVE, & GIVE!!

According to Matt 18:19-20 AGREEMENT is crucial and an important element in a successful prayer life, we are asking you to be in agreement with us concerning these these things. And if you can give, give.

Thank you!!

Far too long we go through life self absorbed, selfish, self self me I and never we! I have searched, studied & read through my bible enough to be confident in what I’m about to say… “There is NO “me” or “I” in the word GOSPEL”!! so get over yourself now!!

With that said, how can I pray for you? How can peculiarplace serve/minister to you?

Leave a comment please!

I am sorry first of all for not providing updates more regularly, but I wanted to take this time to update you on my family, peculiarplace and all that God is doing and how you can be praying with us.

The last two and half months have been a major adjustment. A good one at times, and well a difficult one at others. The boys are back and in school. Enjoying, so that is something to get up and do a praise dance for…lol Esther and I are in an amazing place as far as our relationship is concerned. Still growing, but enjoying the time and growth as opposed to fighting it. Did I mention my little man, Zion, is now 9 months old!!! Whew! He will be 1 in less than 3 months, where does time go?

At this point, she (Esther) is a full time mom, and I have found myself being a pastor, freelance graphic designer and a potential business owner. With that said, things are tight, or are getting tight. We are needing God to show up in a MAJOR way in our sources of finances whether that is support, or a job for me. My desire is to raise enough support, 2500.00, to pay our bills- rent utilities and car insurance, and get a PT job in our community to pay for the rest of our daily lives. I include numbers because I believe in being specific when going to the Father. A PT job would give me the freedom to BE in the community working versus OUT of the community with a job. I believe God has called us to this community and therefore want every stitch of our efforts, work, toil, frustration & joy to come out of this community.

We have an amazing project coming up next month. God has shown us a possible way to touch the lives of 10,000 people with a simple flier. We are going door to door with a flier we are designing that will ask our community “How can we serve YOU?” on one side and on the other will ask how we can help making this a better community. We will then direct them to a website where they can submit their ideas. We will also provide a phone number for those who do not have computers or cant get to a computer. We will take those ideas and create a list of serving opportunities that will run every month until our public launch. We will also be asking for those who share ideas to get involved and help, a way to get some face time and build relationships with people in our community. To top it all off, i must brag on God, we have a possible army of 200-400 college students who will provide 3 hours of their time to help us pass out these fliers next month!

We had a meeting this past weekend where two important things came out of that meeting. One, we will begin sometime next month, all of us, serving at least 10 hours in the Old Fourth Ward community. Whether that is at John Hope Elementary, the school we partner with, or at a homeless shelter, or at a community clean up… this is going to be somewhat STRONGLY encouraged behavior for the peculiarplace launch team and then the church when we go public. Imagine a community where 80% of your church membership spent 10 hours somewhere, someway affecting the lives of others by giving up a small amount of one of the most precious commodities, time. That’s what we are striving for!! Serving Groups!!! We want to BE the church Monday through Saturday, giving us a REAL reason to come together and celebrate on Sunday!!

Also out of that meeting we discussed finding a person or couple to begin mentoring/discipling. We are all praying right now for God to openly make plain and share with us who in our lives or what “perfect” stranger He would have us invest in!! God is going to do something BIG here I know He is. Again, this is something we are starting today, that will continue long after we launch.

How can you pray for us & peculiarplace:

1.)Finances, we all could use more right now, but this is a prerequisite to us being able to live in the community God has called us to serve. Pray that He open doors for support, that He opens doors to freelance design gigs, pray that He multiply seed sown!

2.) A successful flier, “survey project” next month. We possibly have the man power, but we need funds to purchase fliers(270.00), tshirts 500, water for army of volunteers, & snacks(150.00). Pray that God through this simple flier awaken His sleeping spirit in this community. Pray that lives will be invested in, hearts will be changed, minds renewed, hope restored & that peculiarplace will be in the position to Shepard those who heed the call to be a part of what God is doing in O4W. Pray that the lives of those college students will never be the same after this project!

3.) Pray that our volunteer hours spent in this community are not in vain. Pray that Lives our touched, relationships are built, God is Glorified in our efforts to serve this community through a number of venues. Pray that doors are opened to new and innovative ideas in which we can serve this community in the future. Pray for our safety as we venture into realms outside of our safety zone in our volunteering efforts.

4.) Pray that Esther and I will come up with the finances to make two very important trips next month. One is to Houston, TX for an assessment. The other is to Tenn. for an amazing opportunity to be in the presence of people who can teach us and build relationships that may lead to partnership.

5.) Continue to pray that our marriage, our ability to parent, our ability to be sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, as well as friends continues to look like the image God has created these relationships to look like. We must first be an example of His Grace, Mercy & Redemptive Power before we can ever honestly share Him. The evidence MUST BE evident in our lives!!!!

Thank you and let me know how we can pray for you, because I BELIEVE HE IS A GOD WHO ALWAYS, and I MEAN ALWAYS, ANSWERS PRAYERS!

Love you!

Top Prayer Needs

1)  Location, location, location: We are interested in a venue that is probably the least
likely to be considered for Sunday morning service, but it is perfect for us! We are
praying for favor in not only securing space, but negotiating a rental fee we can
afford.

2)  Support!: It takes money to do ministry. We are raising 150, 000 for year one,
which includes my full time salary and housing allowance, ministry/evangelism
budget, rent/lease fee, children’s equipment, marketing, computers, and next
years BIG GIVE outreach budget of 10,000. We have 20% of our desired goal.

3)  People Power: We are assembling a launch team of 30-40 families. It will take a
strong team who whole-heartedly believes in the Vision that is peculiarplace. A
team that is 1000% committed and passionate about seeing the Kingdom of
God invades Old Fourth Ward.

4)  Move: We are praying that God has begun to work on the hearts of the residents
in and around Old Fourth Ward. That they are open to being served and loved by
peculairplace.

5)  Urban Missionaries: My family. My marriage. My children as they transition to
new schools, with new friends and new teachers. My wife as she becomes
acclimated to a “new” environment and makes new friends. Me, as I provide
the security she needs and wants while I continue to grow to be the husband God
created me to be.

Top Ministry Needs

1)    Props: Needing light, realistic, crosses made for a street theater idea we have for Easter. The crosses must be life size and
be able to be carried by individuals for long periods of time. We also need circular signs attached to cross that have “what
if God were one of us” on them.

2)    Collateral: Printing of Brochures, Business cards, Street signs, Letterhead, Envelopes and all other collateral.

3)    Tshirts: We need 400 black t-shirts printed up. On the T-shirts it would say “making Him famous.com” with the
peculiarplace.tv web address in white on the front. Need those before the end of March.

4)   A Whiteboard: Quartet® 5′ x 3′ Total Erase® Porcelain Dry-Erase Board with Aluminum Frame, Staples list price is
309.99
5)   TH3E: http://www.elevationchurch.org/three/ This is a one day conference that I feel like we would totally benefit from.
One of the fastest growing churches in America doing it with sound teaching and superb leadership. The cost of the
conference is 300.00.

Top Personal Needs

1)    A House: We are looking for a 3/2 home in the Old Fourth Ward community of Atlanta. This is where we are planting the church as well. We want something that we are able to live in for 2 or 3 years and possibly even purchase it by that time.

2)    Finances: In our efforts to raise funds for the church we are also raising support for my salary as well. My commitment
to God is also a commitment to my family. To be able to be the provider that He has called me to be.

3)    School: Our son is battling some learning difficulties and was recommended by an educational psychologist to attend
The Howard School.  We are believing for God to provide the necessary funds for his education.   The school is very
expensive!

4)    Reading: Kindle/Audiobooks, Some would say I have enough tech gadgets, but I am requiring of myself to be very well
read and that takes time. With a Kindle and audiobooks they both allow me to do multiple things, read multiple books
and get more work done.
5)    Vehicle: We are reaching a point where a bigger vehicle is a must, our family is growing and our children have
outgrown our current vehicle.

Does that make any sense to you?

TIME

There is never enough. The people around you want more, than you seemingly have to give. Even when you plan the most perfect day (time management) something will come up and attempt to throw a monkey wrench in your plans. If your in a relationship, then time might be one of the most valuable commodities you have, how else will you ever come to know the person you are in a relationship with. When you make a physical, mental, emotional commitment you also have just committed a large (to be determined hopefully by both parties involved) amount of time to the new relationship. This is the same no matter your poison, whether it be business, family, church planting or marriage… TIME is a crucial asset that must be leveraged correctly or it will destroy you and more importantly the people around you. I speak from experience!

MONEY

Look, plain and simple is WE need it. You need it to start a business (if you don’t want to shut down or not be able to pay employees), you need it for the dates and eventually you will need it for a wedding and BOI!! do you need it to start a church (note: I’m not saying how much, but you need some). The reality is this one thing probably destroys more things than anything else, if you don’t believe me just look at our economy. We have been “thriving” (note: plenty sarcasm) for so long as a country off of credit for money we hope to have in the future or make in ROI and when the bottom falls out, there is no cold hard cash to stand on. Political rant over! But seriously, money or lack of and sometimes surplus of, can create issues in any of the above settings. Like time, you must get a real and honest grasp of your control over it. Over the desire to put it first in your relationship, over the temptation to splurge and not be wise, or the temptation to skim from the top of a business or church. The temptation and desire is real! Equally as important is flat out learning to MANAGE the money you have!!! I speak from experience.

These two things, time and money, are not ALL that matters. Nor or they the only things that make or break an endeavor, but they are two of the first things that will be challenged or attacked by the enemy in any one of these endeavors, especially if you have a fondness for either one before entering endeavor! I love the fact that God has provided Grace for these and so many other issues. You are going to need it. Not, just for yourself, but for those you are involved with. Perhaps you are the one who is a great manager of time but your partner isn’t. Perhaps you are a wise financial stud, but your partner needs to mature in this area, God’s Grace is more than sufficient! Your job is to not tear down, but to encourage, correct lovingly and pray- but you probably should pray first!!! LOL!

out of darkness into His marvelous night…

Needing your Help!

John Hope Elementary School has grown near and dear to our hearts. It is a school that has seen much change and yet has persevered and is doing everything in their power to create a class A education in Old Fourth Ward. Since our first visit there we decided emphatically to ADOPT this school. That is why i am issuing a call for your help. The fifth grade is schedule to go on a field trip next month, but were not going to be able to because there are NO funds to rent the buses for the kids. Yeah, times are that hard in GA education! SO, we have stepped in and are wanting you to partner with us for both this trip and an end of the year trip, but we want to get this one out of the way first!

So, come give a helping hand to a group of Fifth graders who need it. Exposure to life outside of the finite circle, the four block radius of their neighborhood, is important to a child. It is just as important as reading and writing, and without it how will they ever know the full potential that they have?

Help us to send these fifth graders on this one of two filed trips planned for them this year. We have a small goal for this upcoming field trip of 500.00 and need the monies by the end of the week. This will cover the rental fee for the buses as well as a lunch option for the kids, that is actually a surprise to both the kids and the administration!! I just believe in BIG, not in just enough, my God is an abundant God and I want these kids to know that we care!!!

Join us in serving the community of Old Fourth Ward with $5, $10, $20, or even $100 to help with this effort.

Your donations may be 100% tax deductible.

To donate simply click here.

I hope to have the audio from last Thursday night at Genesis very soon!!!

Lets do this!!!