Is My Friend Dan a Prophet?

As we search for a location for our church, we're begging God for clarity. Sometimes he works in unusual ways. One of the locations we're closely looking at and talking with another church about tackling together is the New Albany, OH (just northeast of Columbus) area. The following is the text of an e-mail from my friend Dan that he sent to me last week (unsolicited):

Andy- You were on my heart this weekend and I was praying for you. I think there is a great opportunity to reach a growing community near Columbus. Have you visited New Albany? Nancy and I were in Columbus over the weekend and as we were driving back we stopped in this community named New Albany. You were on my mind the whole time as I was thinking of someone perfect to plant a church there.

Always in my prayers-D

Hmmm....

Big Things To Pray For This Week

Please pray with us:

• We're seeing God point us in some specific ways regarding a location for the church we sense God leading us to begin. There are many factors (several out of our control) that play into this decision...so I can't be more clear at this time publicly. I do promise that those who are praying with us will be the first to know where we'll land (when we know!). Please pray for clarity and wisdom over the next few weeks. We're hoping to know clearly where we are going by early December.
  
• That our house will sell. We have listed with a successful realtor in our area. She had an open house this past Sunday and is conducting an open house for local realtors on Tuesday. Pray that these professionals will be successful in quickly selling our house. We recognize that in this market, we're asking God for a miracle. He is perfectly capable!
  
• We're at about 90 members to our prayer team. We're asking God for 110 more people to commit to pray with us. We'd like to have this team in place and praying fervently by year end.
  

Blessings!

Thanks for praying for Silas!

Our little guy seems to be over his virus. His system is back to normal and he is beginning to eat and sleep on a more regular schedule (as regular as he gets!). He is starting to gain back his "smiley" disposition and continues to be as cute as ever. Thanks for praying with us for his healing. We appreciate many of you asking about him.

3 Ways To Pray- November 14

Thanks for praying with us! Here are three immediate prayer requests for our family:

• Silas has been sick with something that leads to diarrhea. His little butt is so red he shakes and cries when we clean him. Please pray that his system will get back to normal, that he'd be more comfortable, and that we would be able to keep enough fluids in him that he wouldn't become dehydrated.
  
• We have a realtor coming to our home this evening to officially list it as "For Sale." We've been trying...and hoped to sell it by owner...but that has not occurred. Our prayer goal was to go it on our own for 4 weeks. Since we haven't even gotten one phone call (except a guy who wanted to know what program I made the flier in!), it's time to get moving. Pray that Linda (our realtor) can move the house quickly and that these plans would fit into whatever God is doing towards moving us to our next location.
  
• We're nearing a decision on the location for the new church we believe God is leading us to plant. There are many factors involved in this decision. If you'd like to know more, please feel free to call or e-mail (andywirt@mac.com or 330.468.5087). Pray for wisdom, clarity, and faith.
  

What Does "Deal Or No Deal" Have To Do With Church Planting?

We're only about 3 weeks into this journey of committing our lives to beginning a new church. God took us through a whole process (over many months) of calling us to this exciting leap of faith. Ironically, one of the clinchers to discerning His work in our hearts occurred as we were watching NBC's popular game show, "Deal Or No Deal."

On this evening, one of the show's contestants had the chance to walk away with $111,000 or continue playing (with the chance for $1,000,000). The odds were against her. She took the risk and continued to play. I think she walked away with under $1,000. Trish and I looked at each other and asked what we would do with $111,000. Without thinking, I said, "I'd plant a church...that's two years of support we wouldn't have to raise!"

After thinking about it, I learned something from my response. That fact that my heart quickly communicated a desire to start a new church...if I only had the resources... indicated to me that what was holding me back from jumping full into church planting was not calling...it was money. If I'm really honest with myself, I'm afraid of not being able to find or raise the resources we might need to support our family, purchase equipment, do marketing, and rent space (all the stuff you have to finance in the first few years of getting a baby church off the ground).

The crucial part about this is that I've believed from the beginning of this journey (back in August) that God has clearly said to me, "Don't be afraid of resources." In a very real sense, right there in the comfort of my easy chair, I realized that church planting was no longer an issue of a choice between finding an existing church to pastor- it was an issue of obedience to God's calling and an issue of trusting Him for the needed resources.

"Deal Or No Deal" is a fun show. But, for me, it will always be more than that. Its a game of risk and chance. Church planting has a lot of risk to it. But, now that I know its an issue of obedience for me, we head willingly into the unknown. I know that God...Who has unlimited resources... is worthy of our trust and perfectly capable of meeting our every need to do His will. It's going to be fun to see what sort of "deals" He leads us through.

Links To Communities We're Praying About

Feel free to check out the links on the side-bar to the right of this blog. I've posted links to the communities where we are praying about church planting possibilities. There are great positives and some challenges to each community. Would you pray with us that God would guide us to the place where He will work through us to reach people for Christ and build a healthy, reproducing church? THANKS!

Check out the fireman and bumble-bee!