FAITH WALKING AND CHURCH PLANTING

To be honest with you, I almost feel like I’m dreaming and will wake up one day to discover that I am still a pastor in my old church, living in my old house, and doing my old life.

Hooky Peak, what is an ordinary run of the mill guy like me, doing planting a Church? Well, to answer my own question; for over five years my heart had been restless and I sensed that God was pushing me out of my comfort zone back onto the path of faith.

You see, over twenty years ago God moved in my heart to step out in faith and accept an open invitation to join the pastoral staff at Valley Bible Church in Hercules California. Although I was neither trained nor educated at the time, God had given me favor with the Church leadership and a door swung wide open for me to serve Him vocationally. Although space and time is not sufficient to share this whole story, it was the desire of my heart to serve God in this way.

Of course, this step of faith was accompanied by fear. After all, becoming a Pastor would push me way out of my comfort zone. You see, I come from a long line of working class people who are known for using their hands more than their hearts to serve people.

Skipping forward twenty plus years, after a great tenure at a wonderful Church, it was most logical for me to play it safe and remain in the comfort zone of a great ministry. After all, with all the perks of a long tenure why step away from it all? Well, for a few years I followed this logic path but while I was comfortable outwardly, inwardly things were much different. My spirit was restless and my joy was waning.

Honestly, I feared that remaining in the “c-zone” would leave me joyless and useless to God and others in the future if I remained contented. And knowing that God’s Will is not always predictable, not always safe, not always comfortable, and certainly without guarantees, it came down to a matter of living by faith or being controlled by fear, the very thing that keeps us in our comfort zones.

As I write this journal entry out I am mindful of a preacher I recently heard who profoundly said, fear tolerated is faith compromised. This was exactly what I was afraid of. For me, to stay in my comfort zone and risk the ride of living by faith, was something I knew would be compromise for me.

Well, I must say, today that I am way out of my comfort zone and the ride has been anything but comfortable but I sure feel alive.

The Planting Process:
Approximately one year ago, a few friends decided to join me and my family and GO for the Lord! We began very simply, meeting in the homes of two dear families; the Ewing’s in Fairfield and the Maxwell’s in Benicia. These few months together were exciting for all of us and God seemed to be smiling on our attempts. People slowly began to join us and before long we hand a handful of about thirty people who were in!

Well, while we loved meeting in homes, we all knew that this was not the goal for the future. We desired to reach people and this would demand us to move out into the public arena and rent a building. Thus we all prayed that God would direct us to the right location in the right city of a Church to be planted.

Jesse Bethel High School: March 2009
My wife and I along with a few others began to research possible cities for which to plant a Church during the first month of meeting in homes. Two cities topped our list; Martinez and Pt. Richmond. Both cities seem to be good places to plant a Church based upon the notion that neither city seemed to have strong witness for Christ. Yet, in the end, God lead us to the City of Vallejo; a city of over one hundred thousand people that is more diverse than most, filled with crime, immorality, and flat broke (the largest city in America to declare bankruptcy).

We found some space at Jesse Bethel High School and got started after about two months of meeting in houses. Weekly, God seemed to be growing our group we began to see that He was interested in helping the hurting through a bunch of imperfect people like ourselves.

Hiddenbrooke Golf Club 2010

In August of 2009 the Montoya family moved into a nice home in a little bedroom community located on the outer limits of Vallejo. Hiddenbrooke as it is called matches it location perfectly, a small bedroom community of about three thousand people nestle in the hills of Solano County established around a very nice public golf course with first class facilities. And from the time we began to look at homes in this location we noticed that there was not a Church of any kind in existence here.

Well again, by faith we decided to move our family into this community not knowing that it would open up to Boundless Grace as our future meeting place. Yet in January 2010 the doors opened once again for us and we signed a lease to move Boundless Grace into Hiddenbrooke.

Our first Sunday was planned for the first Sunday in January and we opened with a bang! We filled the building of about 140 chairs and the community came out in good number. We now have been in this new location for going on six weeks and are enjoying a full house each week with the prospects of moving into their largest reception (300 plus seats) room looming large.


OUR NAME, OUR PURPOSE AND OUR PEOPLE

Concerning a Name for our Church, after praying and brainstorming for about a week, the name Boundless Grace forced its way into my mind. After sharing my thoughts with the people, this name seemed too resonated with us. We all agreed that Boundless Grace, a come as you are Church reflected what we believe God’s heart beat is for people.

Boundless Grace says it all, we will be a church that champions the grace of God. A church "strong in grace" as the Apostle Paul would state it (2Timothy2:1). However we made it our aim, to not only be strong in grace teaching, but strong in the gracious treatment of people.

And of course, our name would need to be matched with some core values that we hoped would begin to shape our people. The most important of these values came to us in the form of three words, Grace Not Guilt. Jesus after all was always gracious towards the outsider, the sinner, the guilty, and those who did not measure up, who had messed up, and who knew they could not meet up to the standards of the religious types. Jesus seemed to attract the very people that the religious types kick to the curb.

Well, once the word got out that we had started "Boundless Grace," people began to come and check us out. Each week new faces come through our doors from every spiritual and non spiritual background you can imagine. People are coming from every ethnic, economic, and religious tradition you can think of.


WHAT TYPES OF PEOPLE DOES OUR CHURCH PLANT ATTRACT?
I must admit that at times this church planting thing leaves me feeling like David when he was hiding from King Saul who had become jealous of David’s powers. The Bible says that those who surrounded David in the cave of Adullam were either in distress, debt or discontented in life. (1Sam22:1-3)

For whatever reason, these types of people seem to be the very ones that God has drawn to us at Boundless Grace. However, there are a few families, thank the Lord, that are not in this condition, and these folks are the ones that I trust will help me bring health and stability to the downcast in time. With this in mind I listed below five types of people that we have attracted and I assume most Church plants reach as well:

1. People seeking a New Start with a Broken Heart:
Many people coming through our doors are broken in spirit. Of course brokenness comes as a result of many different factors: broken relationships, the death of a loved one, a broken life from years of addictive behavior, or variety of other reasons people get broken.

2. People seeking a New Start with Missionary Heart:
A few have come to us with a missionary passion. These are the people who desire an approach to ministry that is about reaching not just teaching. These people seem to be looking to jump start their passion for God and His purposes for their life. I must admit, these are the rare ones that excite me the most. People that come as the result of God's sovereign redirection in their lives, those who desire to assist the Lord of the Harvest.

3. People seeking a New Start with a Selfish Heart: Some have come to us who on the surface appear to be spiritual but leave you wondering if they possess ulterior motives. These are folks who act in ways that seem to indicate that they have direct revelation and act as if they have special anointing. What seems to characterize such types is the typical pattern of Church hopping. These types never join a church, after all, no church is good enough for their commitment and none can promote them fast enough.

4. People seeking a New Start with a Servants Heart:
Many have come to us who are ready to serve and are relatively healthy. The following reasons have brought such types to our Church:
• Families who have relocated to the area.
• Families who needed to leave an unhealthy Church.
• Families who no longer wanted to commute to their old Church
• Families whose Church went out of business.
• Families who felt stifled in the use of their gifts and talents in their previous Church.
Of course, all the above mentioned folks are a blessing to a Church plant because the Lord knows the work is plentiful and the labors are few.

5. People seeking a New Start with a Rebellious Heart: Some are drawn to church plants because they are fleeing a Church that they refuse to submit to. These folks have a spiritual appetite but struggle with authority. They tend to be people who claim to love God yet have won’t submit unless they submission includes their best interest not the interest of the body.


In Conclusion: Regardless of why people have come to our Church, God has called us to figure out how to best minister to the people in whatever situation we find them in. With this in mind, I am reminded of Paul’s instructions to Timothy,

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
2Tim 4:2


SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND CHURCH PLANTING
I would be amiss to not speak about this Church plant without mention of the battles along the way. As you would expect, the forces of evil have worked hard to throw us off course. We have experienced attacks on every level:

• Our kids have come under attack.
• Some marriages have come under attack.
• Some friendships have come under attack.
• Unity attacks from within.
• Some families have experienced financial attacks.
• Some have be seduced into moral defeats.
• Some have been struck with health battles.
• Some have experienced dark depression.

I have chosen to leave out the bloody details of our battles because, as in physical warfare, it is just to emotionally draining to speak about what one has seen, heard, or experienced. But I can say that in it all, the truth is, greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world!

And as the Apostle Paul once said, our battle is not against flesh and blood but against evil in high places! With this in mind we have tried to put on the full armor of God to stand our ground against the attacks of evil and thus far we are still standing.

MY PREACHING IN THIS CHURCH PLANT
One of the most enjoyable things about planting Boundless Grace Church has been the incredible feeling of freedom to preach the word of God. The Spirit has enabled me in both preparation and proclamation of the Scriptures and I have been aware of his presence in it all. My preaching focus thus far has been on Jesus and the grace of God, Spiritual Warfare, and the Fruit of the Spirit.

I must confess that I have never had so much fun in digging out the truths contained in the scriptures as I have this past year.

God is using these teaching to grow us all and I can see that we are all growing in the knowledge of God which translates into godly behavior.



FIANCES AND OUR CHURCH PLANT (3/1/2010)

I must admit that the most fearful thing about church planting for me deals with economics. The bottom line for a pastor raising a family is how to pay the bills when you have no outside support other than a few family members who graciously help as much as possible. (Boundless Grace did start with a generous gift of $10,000 dollars from my previous church to help pay rent on a facility and one years worth of health care for my family). But, my how fast this first year has past us by and now we are stranded on omnipotence and totally dependant of Jehovah Jireh to come through. At this present time we are so tight that we are operating month to month.

Of course, we started this church at the worst economic time in the past 60 years. And to make it more difficult on God, we planted this Church in the largest city in America to declare bankruptcy. Oh, did I fail to mention that many of the people from the distressed, indebted, and discontented group that are attending Boundless Grace have yet to learn to be givers!

And if this is not wild enough, we have yet to teach on giving because we di not want people outside the faith community who we desire to reach to think that we are just another religious group of people wanting to take money from the pockets of the people.

But this weekend however, we will speak to the issue of faithfulness as it relates to giving out. While it is necessary for us to teach on this subject at this time, we needed to get to this subject anyway because to not do so would be doing God's people a disservice. People need to learn the joy and responsiblity of giving to the Lord.

God is faithful and we trying to remember that He will provide all our needs according to His riches in glory! (if someone is reading this post, stop now and pray for our finances please!

The cool thing about being financially challenged as a Church though is that it forces a pastor and his family to learn to pray and not take money for granted.

Four Great Women in My Life

I suppose the purpose for writing this afternoon is to flush out some gratitude from my soul for four of the best and greatest gifts God has ever blessed me with.

These gifts in order: Denise, my wife of going on 22 years now. This woman is amazing, her character is virtuous, her disposition is second to none, her looks still beautiful, and her ability to follow this imperfect man amaze me. Denise has been a great mother and template to our three daughters. If our girls just copy their mothers manner of life they will be a blessing to their future husbands, children, Church, etc......

Samantha, our oldest daughter, now 20 years old. Wow, did God ever bless us with a strong spirited one. This blessed young woman has kept us all on our toes from the day she was born, and we are all stronger for it. What shines the brightest to me about my Samantha is her loyal love for family, her appreciation for the story, and her love for laughter. This girl is at her best when she is laughing especially when being told a story from an adult she looks up to. Although Samantha has a strong spirit, she does recognize that God is the final word in her life and will be a great asset to God's kingdom throughout her life.

Mandi. our middle daughter is another huge blessing to us. This girl is sharp, well adjusted, strong in temperament, and spiritually directed. Mandi, like her mother, is a game lover and enjoys reading books like mom. Pooch, as I call her, has one of the greatest smiles you will ever see! Mandi is already engaged and hopes to be married in the next year or so and she has picked a young man that loves Christ and has our approval. I just don't want to let go yet! Our home will not be the same without her in it.

Karlie, our youngest, who I used to call my little bear, is now a young woman. This girl is charismatic. God has gifted her with a strong and passionate voice and the upfront personality type to lead. I sure am curious with God's plan for this kid. Karlie is an affectionate and affirming girl to those who know her best and is loved by everyone. Yet, my little bear can stand tall, after all she has survived her two big sisters.

Well, I could ramble on forever about these four women in my life but suffice to say, God has been good to this man and I can't thank him enough for gracing me with these blessings.