MY LIFE – PT. 5 (The “Church” Years)

It is the summer of 1989 in Newport, RI and Jesus jumps back into my life in a real and relevant way for the first time in my adult life; and in many ways I changed immediately. My Philly/Sailor’s foul mouth went away almost instantly. My social behaviors overall changed drastically and my home life began to dramatically change.

Unfortunately, for the first few years of my walk, I was Ned Flanders like, but I really did not know any different. Despite that, it was a tremendous period of growth with respect to biblical reading, knowledge and desire for truth and understanding. I did have the privilege of being under the tutelage of a fine pastor at my first real church home. He was a phenomenal exegetical preacher (Pastor Mike Hurt, now residing in Missouri), and it was during this time I gained a real respect and beginning grasp of the scriptures. It was at this church I was hired as the part time youth pastor for a group that started with about 5 kids, but by the time I left 5 years later, were running about 35 or so. One other really strong piece of advice from Mike was the following: “The methods are up for grabs as long as you do not compromise the Gospel”. This quote resonates loud and clear in my heart, in my current church setting, and it will continue to be a driving force in how the gospel is presented by our staff with the Lehigh Valley Project in the future.

Towards the end of my time at that church it was also a period where the issues of my past started to arise and I fell into a pretty dark place for quite awhile. In addition to that, during this dark period, Pastor Mike left to take another position. So.., I floundered for a bit; and then I received a funny post card in the mail for Forefront Church (www.forefront.org). Our family attended the very first service for Forefront and we have been there ever since. Forefront is unique in many ways, but in my entire life, I have never been surrounded by so much Love, Transparency, and Community. Our departure from Virginia Beach will be that much harder because of the “family” we have at Forefront.

This leads me to Vince Antonucci and how God has used him to directly affect me and my future. Vince is the senior pastor at Forefront Church, and when we met, quite honestly I was not in the best place in the world spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. This young pastor however, took me under his wing and showed me an enormous amount of Grace and Mercy over the last 10 years. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Vince’s tutelage I have morphed into a potentially effective leader who is now on his way to becoming a Lead Church Planter. Not in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned this path; but God does have a great sense of humor. :-)

Vince convinced me to check out Londen Institute in Corona, Ca. for schooling. I investigated the school and its potential usefulness for my future and enrolled in the fall of 2004. It is during this schooling period during one of the on-site residencies, which God spoke into my heart about church planting. This is when I met Paul Williams and eventually the staff from The Orchard Group; which is a church planting organization in Mass.. This group is specifically targeting the North Eastern part of the United States; which according the statistics, has the 2nd highest unchurch/dechurched population in the United States.

Tomorrow I’ll complete this series with the adventure God has put us on since the beginning of 2006. Until then – Do take wooden nickels – they actually might be worth more than the dollar now! :-)