About two years ago, God began to lead us to begin an organization that would develop and train leaders involved in local church ministries, thereby building the Kingdom of God at large. At the time, we were beginning our eighth year of worship ministry on staff at a local church in North Carolina. As hard as it was to leave that wonderful family of believers, we stepped out in the little faith we could muster and relocated all four kids, all under the age of nine, to Richmond, VA. We knew that this was a temporary move and that our newly formed ministry was supposed to function within the context of a local church. We continued in our new venture, traveling across the US and even into eastern Europe, teaching and training disciples, all the while waiting for God to show us where we should settle permanently.Around five months ago, I got an e-mail from an old friend who was looking at the possibility of expanding the staff at the church where he served as lead pastor. He asked that I “keep my eyes open” and let him know if I came across someone who might fit the position he had described. As I read the description, I began to get excited. It was like God was saying this was the opportunity He had for us. Only one problem…God had not released us from the ministry we began just 13 months prior, though the position in the message fit perfectly with our purpose and vision. The only way it would work is if the lead pastor would let us continue to minister to the Kingdom, not only in this local setting, but around the world as well. There is no way that any pastor was going to let this happen…right?After not sleeping well for about three weeks, I decided to make a call to my friend. Knowing that he would immediately tell me that he wanted someone to work for the local church alone, I called confidently, hoping to cross this opportunity off my list and start resting properly. I explained that I was extremely interested in fulfilling the role described, but only if we had the freedom to minister to the Kingdom around the world as well. Now, it is important to know that my heart was expanding minute by minute for this local church and its mission, aligned as it was with ours. But the freedom to still help other churches involved in the same mission was vitally important to us. Boy, was I disappointed! My friend not only didn’t act like every other minister I had known, he agreed with our vision and said he thought it would work. This did not help me to sleep better at night. I was not able to dismiss this opportunity as expected. Could it be that this was really God’s plan for us?

A month later, Anne and I decided to travel to south Florida for a couple of days and have dinner with my friend while there. It was our 13^th wedding anniversary and was good to get a couple of days away from the routine to pray and relax. I had just finished a 21-day complete fast and was ready for some churrasco and black beans. Sitting at Mario’s, fulfilling that culinary dream, we knew that this was the place we were meant to be. The next month, we brought the rest of the family to Homestead for a mini-vacation. Mariah (9) and Nathan (7) fell in love with the area; Maggie (4) and Meredith (3) fell in love with Kourtney and McKenna. We met a wonderful group of people at Life Pointe Church. I had been reading about these people on their pastor’s blog for many months, but they were even more special in person.

I could go into the many confirmations we have received since that time, both from friends, total strangers and even from God directly, as a peace has overwhelmed the former feelings of instability and uncertainness. We are so excited about this new phase of our life that I can hardly wait to unload my office on the 11^th of this month and head straight to Mario’s for a cup of café something (that stuff that Travis drinks).I believe that God has some incredible stuff planned for Life Pointe Church. I am amazed at the team that He has put in place (Travis, Jesse, Me). As we began to talk, discuss, and plan this past weekend in DC, I saw an incredible mosaic that God had put together, a piece at a time, functioning already like a well-oiled machine. Look out Miami-Dade! God’s about to do something cool in SOFL!