Hurry up and Wait!

Friends and Family,

Many of you have called, emailed, written, texted, tweeted, and sent smoke signals about your desire to see an update to our blog. Well, not really all of those things, but the point is that you want to know what is happening!  I have been holding out in the hopes of having a bunch of new details to share with you. However, the truth is that not a lot is going on in the way of logistical changes in regards to the church planting. The good news is that although the physical movement has slowed the Spiritual movement has not. God continues to confirm and press upon our heart the calling to church planting.

What started off as a shoreline experience of Jesus calling out to us to immediately, "Leave your nets and follow me", has now been transformed into a calm and quiet voice encouraging us to "Be still and wait on the Lord". The emphasis has now shifted from the urgency to step out in faith and get our feet moving, to being still and patient for God to work in His timing, not ours.

To me, this waiting part may be more challenging than the first part of stepping out in radical obedience to the call. By nature I'm a "go-getter". Once I get my mind made up to do something and I waste no time in getting it done. While in many aspects of life this can be a desirable trait, in ministry this can be a detrimental set back when we become reliant in ourselves or when we get ahead of God.

Isn't it cool that both of these scenarios, moving and waiting, each require a stretching of faith? God is using this time to mature, teach, and prepare our family for ministry. Today I found a verse that brings me a great peace in my restlessness:  I Thessalonians 5:24, "Faithful is He who called you and He will bring it to pass." This verse confirms that we don't have to do anything else other than obey the call. HE will bring it to pass. HE will provide. And, HE will open and close the doors at just the right time in order that His work be done. Boy, does that take the pressure off!

Of course we are still doing the responsible things to get prepared and equipped for the work ahead. These are the things we can use your specific prayers for. Before I list our prayer requests, let me quickly recap where we are in the process of moving into church planting.

We (the Harmons) feel that our calling is to come along side the Scott family to share in vision and support of their calling to planting a church.  Because God has placed a specific calling and vision upon Pastor Chuck, we (the Harmons) feel that our role as servants is to follow the lead. Pastor Chuck has been very open to our thoughts and input and so far God has confirmed the calling through a matching of Spiritual desire and discernment in both of our families. What we now know is that we are being called to plant a church in the Northwood section of Gainesville, Florida. We are in constant prayer for this to come about. We are still seeking a denominational partnership with a Gainesville based church or organization and there are a couple of things in motion for that to happen. Chuck and I are scheduled to attend Church Planting training in April and are seeking an ongoing network of friends and mentors.

Prayer requests:

- The sale of our home here in Chiefland. We can't start an effective ministry until we can break ties here, and get moved over into the community in Gainesville. This is a 3BD/ 2 BA brick home on 1.5 acres. 4th room can be used as office or 4th bedroom. $155,000

- Relationships. 1.) We need to be surrounded by people who can pray and share in our vision. Mentors, partners, and friends. 2.) We are starting to look for folks in the Gainesville area in which we can start praying about ministering to. Just as God has revealed the calling and the area, we believe God will soon start showing specifically who we are to be reaching out to.

- Specific calling. Pastor Chuck knows his calling. He knows he is called to preach and now plant a church. My specific calling has not yet been revealed. I have some interests and gifts in a couple of different areas, administration, missions, media & creative, and perhaps counseling. I am currently praying about whether any of these areas may be a specific area that God desires me to hone in on. I am also praying about the possibility of being calling to ministry as a vocation. I am also encouraging Maria and the kids to seek their gifts and what areas God may have them work in.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. I'll try to be a little more prompt in posting future updates.

Alan

-The Harmons

A QUICK UPDATE

Hi ya'll, just wanted to post a quick update so that you didn't wonder where we are at and if we changed our minds about church planting. Things have been so busy in the past couple of weeks that we have had to be purposeful in the last couple of days about getting into some quiet time and really take in and praise God for the doors that are opening up to us.

First, the training and mentorship is off to a great start with our new church Westside Baptist. Phil Young the Senior Associate Pastor has taken us under his wing and is providing both nuggets of Godly wisdom and ample opportunities for hands-on experience with outreach driven ministries. Chuck and I have been put in charge of the First Impressions Ministry at the church. The purpose of this ministry is to provide a warm, welcoming, and helpful experience to families and individuals who are visiting the church for the first time. The staff is particularly interested in our input and suggestions from the point of view of being new to the church ourselves. This is a perfect ministry for us to be involved with as it will give us great insight and experience that we can translate to our new church plant.

Secondly, the bullseye on the location of the church plant is starting to become much clearer. We now feel with most certainty the God is calling us to plant in Gainesville, Florida. We even have our hearts and eyes on a particular neighborhood there. Unless God changes our minds in a big and unexpected way, we feel settled about Gainesville being the place. Like Chuck stated in his blog, we don't want to get ahead of God so we are holding out on sharing some of the specific details until further doors start to open.

We need and appreciate your prayers. Here are some things you can pray with us about.

Pray that Scott and Harmon families will receive wisdom and direction from the Lord in how we can best serve to further the Kingdom.

Pray that through the process of mentorship and ministry work with the church, that Chuck and I will develop a standard of servant hood and love that will be translated to the church plant and the people that we will minister to.

Pray specifically that the hearts of the people we are being called to serve will even today start being prepared and softened for our arrival.

Pray that God will open doors and make very clear the specifics of when, where, and how we are to proceed with the Church Plant.

Pray for our two families that provisions will be met as we seek to find ways to start cutting ties in our current locations and prepare to move into the community we will serve. Many logistical things will need to be accomplished such as selling our home, kids changing schools, adjustments with jobs, etc.

Pray that God will give YOU the heart to consider us, the Scotts, and this new church plant in your daily prayer life. 

We encourage your comments and thoughts here on the blog as we continue keeping you posted on this God-Adventure. Create a free blogger account ----->>> over there to the right of your page and "follow us" so that we know who all is checking up and praying for us. Some of you have left comments on Facebook and this is good too.

With Love and Respect,

The Harmons.

A LITTLE WEDNESDAY NIGHT HOME CHURCH

Tonight after we returned home from eating out and having ice cream dessert for my mother-in-law's birthday, we had a family church time here at home. We had great discussion with the kids about what they felt was happing in regards to all of this church planting stuff. Their answers were remarkably on target and it is apparent that God has given them an understanding and excitement for the church planting vision.

We reinforced with them the idea that this is a "family together" mission and that they play a just as important role in the ministry. We talked about how in ministry, just like other things in life, that in order to be successful we must train and practice. In our walk with Jesus, this preparation consists of praying, studying, and being on guard against sinful and selfish behaviors that inhibit us from having a loving and caring spirit. We also had a brief introduction to the Gospel and discussed why it is so important for us to know about Jesus and be able to tell the good news to others. We closed our discussion with talk about how these small and intimate times together are good practice for what is to come, as it is very likely that our church plant will start with some small in-home groups.

Thanks for continuing to check in on our blog. Your comments are always welcome and your prayers are felt and appreciated.

The Harmons

PROMISING PROGRESS

The last 5 days have been AMAZING!  In just this short time we have experienced the following:

 - Attended a new church.
- Taken part in a Call to Vocational Ministry Interest Meeting which allowed us to spend some time with pastors, missionaries, and church planters.
- Met with senior staff at Westside Baptist.
- Chuck has officially been brought on board as an Outreach Ministry Intern which I suppose makes me the Intern of the Intern.
- The church has confirmed its commitment to offer us support through mentorship, training, and prayer.

We also feel like the bulls-eye is closing in on our possible location for the church plant. Unless God moves in big and otherwise mysterious ways, we are praying about either Gainesville or Jacksonville as the location for the plant. So those who thought they might lose us to the mission field in Zimbabwe are in the clear, for now. :)

I cannot express through the typing of words the multiple confirmations of the call that we have experienced in the past couple of weeks. It is truly an exciting time in our lives and we are grateful to those who are praying and continue to pray for us.

The Harmons

The IMPOSSIBLE.

Have you ever noticed that when Jesus issues a call or a command that it is usually for an impossible thing? There are dozens of examples of this but a few that come to mind are, when Jesus approaches some fishermen on the shore (the same ones who will become His disciples and closest friends) and says, "Leave your nets and follow me." Now this was their lifelong profession, this is how they made their living. Leaving their nets and possessions meant, giving up their job, income, and life as they knew it. They couldn't possibly leave, how will they make a living? What about their Thursday nights bingo club? Plus the guys on the bowling league were counting on them to be there, what would they do without them?

Or what about when a few of the disciples are out to sea and a raging storm is upon them and Jesus shows up walking across the water. At this point Jesus commands Peter to walk out to Him. WHAT! Me, walk across the water, yeah right - IMPOSSIBLE! Don't you know there are big sharks out there? Haven't you seen JAWS??

A third example that comes to mind takes place at the pool of Bethesda. Now the background here is that this is a body of water in which the sick/ lame reside around in constant waiting because it is a place of healing. However, the catch is that the water only periodically becomes stirred and ONLY the FIRST person to make it in the water when it becomes stirred will be healed. So Jesus shows up on the scene and you have a invalid man laying there. Now this man had been an invalid for 38 years and he has a real problem; He can't get to the water without someone to help him. Even if he had help, it would be highly unlikely that in the mad rush to be the first to the water that someone could get him there first. So he just resides on this porch day after day, year after year. Jesus says to the man, "Get up and pick up your mat and walk!" Yeah, OK Homie, whatever you say. Do you think if that were possible that I would be lying around for 38 years?

I use a little humor in my examples but the truth is that sometimes our arguments of why we can't seem just as silly to God. In each of these examples along with many, many more, the impossible is accomplished through faith in Christ.

A call to uproot and go into church planting seems to be an impossible command for my family. I mean, our children are settled into their schools and routines, I own a company that is just finally becoming established here locally, Maria has signed a 2 year contract at work, we have a house that would need to be sold in one of the worst housing markets in history, and the list goes on. Yet, looking back on those examples given to us in God's Word, gives us a peace that God will handle the impossible. He will work out those details to fulfill His purpose in us.

When we are faced with an impossible call from God we have two choices. We can try to argue with finite logic, or we can choose to trust infinite God and step out in the faith that Jesus spent so much time talking and teaching about. How different the story would have been for these folks in the examples had they said no to Him. The disciples would have been lost fisherman their entire lives, and the man at the pool of Bethesda would have very likely died on the porch next to the very pool that he longed to make it to healing waters of.

Please pray for both the Scott family and ours that God will start to move these impossible blocks from our paths so that we can not only be able to do His work, but so that we can also give Him credit and praise for something only He could accomplish.

Much blessings and respect,

The Harmons.

THE CALL

First off, thank you for stopping in to check out our new family blog. This means that you either care about us or that you are curious to see just exactly what we have gone and gotten ourselves into. I hope that it is a little bit of both. The purpose of this blog to stay connected with each of you, and to take you with us on the journey that God has prepared. 

Since we have shared with our family and friends the "calling" to church planting, we have a fielded a barrage of questions about where, why, and when. To some, our answers seem to make even less sense than the calling itself. But before I get to that, I want to clarify what we mean by "calling" and "church planting".

In a general Spiritual sense a "calling" is a direct communication and/ or summoning from God via the Holy Spirit. This calling can be manifested outwardly through revelation of scripture and inwardly in thoughts, desires, and emotion. The Bible is clear in its teachings that a Spiritual calling is upon ALL believers.

- The first type of "calling" is that of God to draw us from our sinful and destructive reliance on self to a fellowship and salvation through His son Jesus Christ.

- The second form of "calling" is a general call to action, growth and maturity in our walk with Christ. The Bible says that ALL followers of Christ are called to be involved in actively proclaiming the gospel. The Great Commission in Matthew 28 was not just for teachers and preachers but to all who hear and believe. 

-The final type of calling is that of a specific ministry and/or purpose. God used Moses to deliver His people, He used Elijah & Elisha to take a stand against idol worship, He used John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus, and of course He used His only and perfect son to save an evil and dying world. But God has also used many people, everyday average people, even less than average people like me, to fulfill His purpose in us and the world. This specific calling for my family is to come along side our brothers and sisters in Christ, The Scott Family, as they answer the call to go forth and plant a church. Because I have already gone long on this post, I encourage you to check out the Scott's Blog at http://family-of-scotts.blogspot.com to get a much better prospective of the Church Planting process from the pastor's point of view.

So, back to those questions: Where, why, and when? At this point, we can only answer the why. It is because the love of Christ compels us to reach out to those in need of Him. To bring a source of light and hope to those in trouble and darkness. For if we don't go, who will? As for the where and when, the story is still being written. We don't know, and we have decided that the where and the when doesn't matter nearly as much as the why. It may be somewhere here in Florida, it may be North Dakota, or it might be Zimbabwe. The Lord knows and will reveal it to us in His time. So for now we are in the prayer and preparation phase. We will be seeking networking with other church planters and looking for specific training for folks who are called to church planting. The "where" may be revealed in 2 months or 2 years, but right now we are keeping focus on the why.

We know that not everyone is going to get this, not everyone is going to understand or agree that this is a wise thing for our family to do. I hope that through this blog each of you will be able to hear our heart and better understand the Love of Christ that compels us. Romans 8:31 says "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" God will look out for our family. He will meet our provisions, be the source of our happiness, and bring us peace that passes all understanding. His blessings will be upon us in a mighty way for hearing and answering the call.

Will you share in the faith with us? Will you pray for our family, The Scott family, and the new believers that will be reached through this act of radical obedience? I hope so, because we desire the prayers and support of each of you.

With much Love and Respect,

The Harmons