Creative Scribble

Week one is in the books and as if we just blinked, week two is knocking on the door. One of the things that I?ve thought a great deal about this week is what OneLife has to stay focused on as we get into the weekly routine.

The hardest part of that is there are so many voices. We have five churches helping us get started. Each one is very different. Some are older churches in established facilities. Others are brand new churches still meeting in schools. Some have young leadership. Others are a little older. Some focus heavily on certain ministries while some focus heavily on others.

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Then there are the organizations that have supported us. We are being financially supported by three different church starting organizations. Each one has a different focus or a different model of how you are supposed to do church.

And now that we had one ?official? service, we now have 160 people that have a voice ? and an opinion. Some won?t like the music. Some won?t like the sermons. Some won?t like our ministry teams and small groups plan. Some won?t like our philosophy of children?s ministry.

That?s ok. Those folks won?t be ?wrong.? They just might not be ?right? for OneLife. That?s ok, too. While we in no way think that we have it all figured out or that our way is the ?right? way to do church, we are definitely focused on the vision of why OneLife Church got started.

There are many great churches in our community reaching a ton of people. We are now part of that great team. But we must remember that there are still 60,000 people within just five miles of Powell High School who are not at all involved with a church, Christian community, or a relationship with Christ. If we are going to reach the people no one else is reaching, we can?t keep doing the same things everyone else is doing.

There are so many voices telling us and telling me how we are ?supposed? to do things. If I listened to everyone, we would be scattered and far from focused or able to do what we set out to do. So after two years of seeking God, meeting with pastors, and studying to get ready to start OneLife, my job now becomes protecting the vision. Our vision of being laser-like focused on reaching people who are not being reached can not change. That doesn?t make us better. Just different.

And that?s what God has called us to be. So now I have to stay close to Him and protect the vision He has given us. I can?t wait to share more about what that vision is this Sunday.