For the last twelve years, I have been serving as the high school pastor at Canton Baptist Temple and I must say that I enjoyed every minute of it.  From a very young age, I knew I wanted to work with youth and I didn’t want to be one of those guys who was using youth ministry as a stepping stone to eventually become a pastor…I wanted to pastor the youth of this generation.  When I was nearing a decade of working with high school students, I began to feel an unexplainable restlessness in my heart and, for some reason, God was not allowing me to be satisfied in youth ministry.  I was very confused.  For the next several months, I was in a season of waiting until God began to unveil His plan for my future.  Everything unfolded quickly as our church staff was in serious talks about opening a second campus of our church, something we had actually been discussing for years.  I sensed God’s Spirit prompting me to pursue this opportunity as the pastor of our Green campus, The Summit.  To make a very long story short, our senior pastor discussed the possibility of me heading up The Summit and I jumped at the chance; however, it would be a challenge since I would remain the high school pastor until The Summit became a stable campus.

It has been 21 months since The Summit launched in September 2008, but yesterday (June 13, 2010) I became the full-time campus pastor at The Summit.  I have learned so much about myself and ministry over the last 21 months.  Some days and months were really hard and I thought about giving up, but I believe God equips those He has called, even when things get hard.  We have seen some tremendous things happen at The Summit during its’ brief history, but I’m convinced that the best is still ahead!  

A special note to all those who attend the Summit – you guys (or y’all, if you migrated from the south) have really become our friends and we have grown to love you very much.  I look forward to what is ahead for us!  Now, let’s continue inviting our friends and family so that they can hear about the hope and forgiveness offered through the death of Jesus Christ for our sins and His resurrection which guarantees eternal life!

I love traveling. I’m not sure what it is in me, but experiencing new places and observing people from different cultures brings satisfaction to my heart. This past week we took a group of 30 people on a mission trip to Boston where we were helping a friend who has recently moved to Quincy to plant a church. Several times we rode the T (the local subway system) and as I looked around, I was struck by the diversity. I heard many languages being spoken. I saw people of every color…and I loved it. I had some nice conversations with people from Africa, Israel, and other exciting locations. Each one had their own story and I also had the chance to share my life with them. At lunch yesterday I conversed with a couple guys who moved to the United States from Africa about ten years ago. They expressed their love for America and how it has presented them with so many opportunities. One thing they repeated over and over was that Americans do not know how good they really have it. I agreed because I’m pretty sure I am one of those people. One of the biggest things I am guilty of is appreciating what America can do for me rather than what I can do to make it a better place. This trip to Boston reminded me that we have a wonderfully diverse country with people from all walks of life. Instead of pursuing more stuff, I need to contribute more to people. In less than four weeks, we will be launching The Summit. My desire is that it would become a place where people can share life together and pursue things which matter. I do not want The Summit to be defined by what they have, but by what they contribute to the lives of others. I believe all of us must stop our selfish pursuits and take the time to be with people. Talk to your neighbors. Speak first even when someone is not looking your way. Involve yourself in good conversations. Have dinner with someone from work. Most of all, do not forget to share what Jesus Christ did for you and how He changed your life. You do not have to travel across the country to learn the lesson I learned this week. Walk across the yard…strike up a random conversation with someone you do not know…contribute to the good of your community.

My five year old daughter comes into our room this morning and says “I had a dream last night.” I ask her “what was the dream about?” She responds “someone stole my shoes.” I said “really…what happened?” This question must have been too loaded because she did not answer, but she did say “I had to open my eyes to see if it was real.” Dreams are pretty confusing because they totally feel real until you wake up and sometimes, even then, it takes a while to convince yourself otherwise. If all dreams were true, I’d be dead. We’ve all had dreams where we die…we wake up sweating, shaking, and scared. In fact, our middle school pastor’s wife came up to me Wednesday night after church and said “I’m glad to see you here.” I was confused until she went on to inform me that I died in her dream the previous night. I may need to watch my back!!!! When she told me about her dream, I remembered a dream I had earlier in the week. This is really true and I am not making this up for the sake of this entry. It was the launch service of The Summit. I just remember nothing was going right – all the seats were not filled, the sound wasn’t right, there was some kind of snafu with the offering, and no one knew what they were doing. Instead of a dream, this was a nightmare…I woke up petrified! There must be some scientific reason why we have dreams (and I’m no scientist), but those things which consume our mind sometimes even become our sleeping thoughts. Of course, The Summit has been on my mind lately…not because I am scared, but I am excited. Every day I am reminded about the possibilities of changing lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Everyone deserves to hear that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and that He was buried and rose again the third day securing eternal life for us. Paul asked a piercing question in Romans 10:14-15, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” If we do not take the gospel to Green, who will? Maybe in a few months, those who have stepped out in faith to launch this second campus will have to “open their eyes to see if this is real” because of all the wonderful things God has done. But for now we pray, we work, we dream, and then allow God to do His work in the lives of people.

For many years, the leadership of Canton Baptist Temple has been contemplating the possibility of a second campus. Launching a second campus would provide another outlet to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ whom we are not currently reaching at our main campus. After being exposed to the need north of the main campus, our leadership staff and finance committee unanimously agreed to prayerfully as well as financially support this endeavor. Boasting close to 300,000 un-churched people in Summit County and many more attending churches without sound, biblical teaching, the leadership team explored the possibility of planting a second campus in Green, Ohio. This location is ideal even being recognized in 2007 by Business Week as the 16th Best Place to Raise Kids (November 2007). As a growing community, Green also needs a church which meets the needs of its residents and boldly proclaims the truth about Jesus Christ. The leadership staff also chose a unique location feeling that a traditional church building may prohibit us from reaching the un-churched. With this in mind, we decided to obtain a location which was accessible, visible, and neutral. After much research our outreach pastor arrived at a brilliant solution – meeting in a theater. Most theaters are not used on Sunday mornings and make their facilities available to churches for rental. This concept is very attractive because there is very little overhead cost in the initial stages of the church plant (i.e. seating, utilities, maintenance, etc.). In April 2008 we signed a lease with Regal Cinema off of Arlington Road situated right on Interstate 77. The Summit will launch on September 7, 2008. You can keep up with the progress at http://www.thesummitgreen.com/.

I recently read an article in USA Today entitled “More Hikers Wind Up Lost” which tells about the yearly increase in the amount of hikers who get lost while enjoying the world around them. The article states: “In thousands of parks and wilderness areas across the nation, inexperienced and unprepared hikers get lost each year — so lost, they have to be rescued.” To me, there would not be many things more terrifying than getting lost and having no hope of finding my way out. Spending my days wandering in unfamiliar territory and my nights in fear would quickly give way to desperation. All of these hikers began their journey with good intentions never anticipating becoming hopelessly lost, but somehow they got on the wrong path. Rescue is now the only option. Many parks or mountains have a team of people called search and rescue whose job is to find people who are lost and return them safely home. The purpose of the church is very similar to the job of search and rescue teams – it seeks out people who are far from God (lost) and shows them the way of hope (Jesus Christ). The Summit is the Green Campus of Canton Baptist Temple and our desire is to serve this community by bringing those who are hopelessly lost into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus and reminded them that they were once far off from God but now, through Jesus Christ, were brought near (Ephesians 2:13).Maybe you do not think you are lost, but the Bible is very clear that everyone is lost and cannot find the way to peace (Romans 3:10-17). Our sin prohibits us from finding our own way to God and any feeble attempt to find Him on our own proves to only remind us how far we have really wandered from Him. One of Jesus’ followers was also confused about the way to God so he asked Jesus about the right path. Jesus responded that “He [Jesus] was the way, the truth, and the life” and no one is able to find a relationship with God without first believing in Jesus Christ (John 14:5-6). Jesus Christ died on the cross to take the punishment (death) which God demanded as payment for sin (Genesis 3:19; Romans 6:23). He became sin for us and gave us His righteousness so we could become children of God (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:21). John 3:16 declares: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish [die], but have everlasting life.” After His death and burial, Jesus rose from the dead three days later ultimately proving that he was God and guaranteeing our eternal life. Today, if you will “confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) In a moment of faith, you can go from being lost to being rescued.