"Deep Way Down"

Great insight Jeremy, thanks for sharing that. Ed's blog is really good and worth the time to read.

For those of you reading that know us, you know that a cornerstone to our mission the Lord has called us to is working a job. Not just temporarily, but for the long haul. Often in Church planting (not negatively but the reality) a job is overlooked or worked for a short time, and then left when they can be full time at the church. There is a place for this, however, the problem that has developed is that this is the way it is almost exclusively done. Very few church planters continue to be bi-vocational in order to plant churches.

Abby and I are people that get stir crazy, and need structure. I am terrible about working in an office because what happens is I am always in the office, and I never go out and interact with people. The same is true when I work from home. So what does this mean for us?

I have been working at the Pita Pit for the last three weeks. It is a good job, and it is always a humbling experience for me to start over at a new place at the bottom of the rung. But it is so good, no one there cares about my education, experience, etc. To them I am the new guy who hasn't earned his chops. Fantastic, the Lord holds my pride in check and shows me that I am not as important as I think. I work with about 10 other people that have been so kind and helpful in training me. My boss graciously gave me this job, and for that I am grateful. I am also looking for another part-time job that would help me be with both more and different people, but we will see what happens with that.

Abby has been offered a job at the downtown YMCA as a school aged coordinator. She is calling them back today to discuss the position and finalize the details. She will interact with children, parents, workers, teachers, administrators, and other people at the Y. We are so excited about this and what it could mean for her, our family and our calling to Fargo.

Pray for a Movement

First off, congrats to the Fishers for the gift the Lord is giving them. I must admit hearing that description of the development of their baby is absolutely amazing. I am pumped about being a pseudo uncle to Fisher Jr.

On another, missiological note, I read an awesome blog from Ed Stetzer the other day. Here is the link.

To summarize, he talks about Movemental Christianity. It is an exciting and challenging idea in the realm of missions and church planting in America. He draws from David Garrison's book "Church Planting Movements" which is a discussion of Church Planting movements around the world. A Church Planting Movement (CPM) is a rapid growth of the church across a people group where many people come to Christ and many churches are planted by indigenous people. Stetzer believes if something like this was to happen in the West it would look a bit different than it does in the third world countries.

Stetzer presents 10 elements that he thinks would be present if a Movement was to occur in the west. The reason I point you to this is that this is the prayer John and I for Fargo. Our hope is not to plant a single church, but to see the entire region within the reach of Fargo-Moorhead would be transformed by the Gospel. I encourage you to read the article and pray God would start something like this in Fargo and all across the US.

"ooh baby baby, ooh baby baby"

Well it is official, WE ARE PREGNANT. Yes yes loyal blog readers (all 2 of you j/k). Are not only starting a Church we are starting a family. According to babycenter.com our sweet child is-

"How your baby's growing:Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain."

So there it is another personal post but I am sure you don't mind. We are thrilled and cannot wait to be parents. It is such an honor the Lord would bless us with such a gift.

"movin on up" -per my sisters suggestion-

Well the day has arrived, we have now graduated to the main floor of the house from the basement. know I know it is a tear filled day but we all knew this day would come. We will take pictures when we are done but we are painting hanging arranging etc. I did the work of the packhorse but the rest of the people are painting etc, not my gift. I know I am deviating from my usual CP banter but I wanted everyone to know we are in a weekend of moving and decorating. We can't wait to entertain you here in our home, in Fargo.

An Introduction

Hello all. I am new to the blogging scene. After following blogs for the past 2 years it is a bit odd to be doing it myself (since blogging is now a verb). I started a blog a year ago with the plan of chronicling my trip to Nepal last summer, but I didn't make it past the profile. Hopefully I can do a bit better with this.

John invited me to join with him in this blog so that we can document the ins and outs of church planting as we begin the journey. Pam and I are just now entering our journey to Fargo, working on raising support and gathering partners. Everyday we learn a new lesson and gain more insight into the calling God has place on our lives. It is my hope that this blog will be useful not only in giving me and John a place to regurgitate what we are learning, but also a place where people can come and find out what God is doing in Fargo as we seek to bring the grace of Christ to the people there who do not have it.

I think it is appropriate to share with everyone how exactly this team came together. Below is the readers digest version of how God brought the Robinsons and the Fishers to where we are today, I wrote this for a seminary paper so it is not in 1st person, it may read a little awkwardly:

Jeremy Robinson and John Fisher met shortly after Jeremy came to know the Lord at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY. They came from similar backgrounds, so John was very influential in Jeremy’s development as a follower of Christ. As their relationship grew closer, and they began to seek God’s calling for their lives, their paths in ministry continued to cross.

During John’s senior year at WKU, he was introduced to his future wife Abby Callahan. After graduating from college, John began seminary at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. Not yet sure of the direction his calling into ministry was heading, John enrolled for an introduction to church planting class. It did take long for him to realize that God had uniquely designed him and called him to be a church planter. It was at this time that he began to seek out where God would have him to plant. Shortly after coming to this realization, John was hired as the student minister at The Bridge, a church plant in Spring Hill, TN.

Jeremy graduated from WKU in 2006 and immediately began seminary at Southern. During the summer after his graduation, at John and Abby’s wedding, Jeremy was introduced to Pam Lahey, Abby’s maid of honor. They began dating in late September 2006 and were engaged the following year. It is amazing to see how God orchestrated the two couples meeting and the relationships that were built and continue to grow.

Also unsure of the direction of his calling, Jeremy stayed at WKU one year after graduating, interning at the Baptist Campus Ministry and serving as the student minister at Trammel Fork Baptist Church in Scottsville, KY. After spending seven weeks in Nepal on a mission trip during the summer of 2007, Jeremy began to feel a burden to plant churches in North America’s pioneering areas. So, he returned home, asked Pam to marry him, and began to pursue where God would have him serve.

As John and Jeremy began to pray about their burden for church planting, God began to direct them to one another. They shared the same theological convictions, zeal to see lives transformed, and love for the Church, so it seemed God had divinely led them together in ministry over the years. Shortly after they began to talk about planting together, they were asked to come to Fargo, North Dakota on a vision tour led by the Dakota Baptist Convention. So, in October 2007 they set out for Fargo.

Even before the trip, both had felt a strong burden for the people of Fargo growing in them. With an estimated 200,000 people and very little evangelical witness, they saw the great need for Christ exalting churches in Fargo-Moorhead. When they got there, those initial feelings were strengthened as they drove around the city, seeing the great need for Christ in the eyes of the people.

What I didn't say in this is that John met Abby at a wedding that Pam had invited her to. God's hand is all over this team and I can't wait to see what He has in store.

"who dat is"

You're going to start seeing some new content here. The soon to be co-planter of Mission Fargo, Jeremy Robinson, will start blogging here as a co-author. Someday soon Mission Fargo will be something more but for now we will keep the info coming in this format. Jeremy is finishing up a whirlwind summer of Hebrew I, another summer class on top of being a husband, driving to Fargo, and working a pair of jobs. So needless to say he is a little stretched. We are thrilled about partnering with them for the long haul and can't wait for them to get here.

Here is the lovely Robinson couple (Jeremy and Pam).

-BTW-

And as if you didn't already know this he is a much better writer than I haha.

"Oh When the Saints..."

So I have to give a shout out to those who have been so influential and kind to us in our transitional period to Fargo. This is a Church Planting lesson: find like minded people where you are going to join in the mission. These pastors have been ministering in Fargo long before I got here, and the Lord is already doing mighty work through them.



www.prairieviewchurch.com
Nick Geray and David Watson have been so kind and wonderful to us during this entire transition. They invited us to a picnic and other events, and have showered us with support.

www.tbcfargo.org

Pastor Dude has kindly invited us to come and share at his Church this Sunday so we can get to know Temple, and they can get to know us. We are honored by this invitation and look forward to joining them.

www.livinghopewestfargo.org

Pastor John Flowers and Living Hope have been great. They threw a pounding for us and their members have been so great to us. They continue to lock arms with us and show us so much kindness.

This has been a great time, and we have just one more move left at the beginning of August. This month, being in limbo, has been fruitful, but strange. It is always weird to play the waiting game, but it is where the Lord would have us, and to that end we rejoice.

It is also a reminder that living like a missionary doesn't necessarily lead to roots or stability, but it does lead to usefulness, joy, and the knowledge that you are living as Christ would have you live.

"Walk Like an (Egyptian), I mean, Missionary"

We had a great experience today. Maybe this post should have come before the last one. We met a couple here that are living like missionaries.



Over and over phrases like "I don't know any non-Christians", "that's not my gift", "I don't know how," come up in conversations.



Well, there are answers.



1. If one knows no non-Christians, then one is either blissfully ignorant of their context or disobedient to the calling of Christ



2. Nowhere in scripture can one make a case that evangelism is in fact a gift to the follower of Christ, but rather it is in the character of a follower of Christ.



3. This one can be remedied.



2 Corinthians 5-6 lay out why it is in the character of a follower of Christ: LOVE, we love Christ.

We show Christ through our words and with our lives.



This couple today out of the blue asked Abby and I to go to lunch. They are members at one of the local Churches, and aren't able to come to a "Welcome to Fargo" party they are throwing for us.



Several things that they do are challenges to us all.



1. 4 out of 5 days a week he eats breakfast at the same place. An inexpensive place where it costs very little, and you don't have to eat junk, but it is a place.

2. Every Saturday they go and eat breakfast with a group of people that they are having a significant impact on. When they first started going they were the outsiders but as time has passed they have grown to be the chaplains, so to speak. It has been overwhelming for them to think that by this small practice they are having kingdom impact on them.

3. They Pray consistently for the people they are called to minister to.


We can all do things like this not just to start a Church but to have an eternal impact on the people around us.

"Deep Down"

This is going to be a first of several entries about getting started. People keep asking, and rightfully so, how do you begin well? Let's learn together.





Assumptions:

This is what it falls to, we can make tons of assumptions about the town that we live in and the people around us but at the end of the day, without diligent research, our assumptions are barely worth the time that it takes to formulate them, or the breath required to expel them.





Research:

I know that for a lot of you, this is a rehashing of things that have already been said, but I wanted to throw some different resources to you.





http://www.thearda.com/:


This is one of the best research websites out there. If you want to find out the religious climate for the area that you live in, then jump on this one. Type in your zip code and it will give you a snapshot of the 2000 Census and how things stand in your area. If you would type in Fargo, ND; and then Moorhead MN. Compare them with where you live, I think you will find it interesting.





Then, when you are done, go to the websites of the groups that are in the majority and see what they belive and see how, for good or ill, these things shape how the people there view Christ, His Church.





http://www.northamericanmissions.org/:


One of my profs, Dr JD Payne, heads up this site and there is some great info on cultures, regions, etc... Well worth your time.





http://www.churchplantingvillage.net/ :


Not just because of a particular denominational persuasion, but there really are a large amount of free resources here that you should take a look at.





http://www.newchurches.com :


Another really neat website with a lot of links to places you can go to find all types of resources.

"give a little bit"

Here we are in Fargo ND, the sole reason we have been placed in this place is for the expanse of the Gospel by sharing the Gospel and that resulting in new Churches.

Anyone a little overwhelmed, we are!

So we made the 1200 mile trek Westward this past week, we are moved into the basement apartment the house that we will be living in. So right now we are stuff EVERYWHERE.

So now we begin the journey, will you pray with me for Fargo, the next post will have some pictures of Fargo that we want to share with you to ask for your prayers and support..