As guys, one of the first questions we will ask each other when we are just meeting is “what do you do for a living?” AKA- do you make more money than me and do you do something cooler than I do? All guys do it. It always cracks me up when someones demeanor totally changes when I tell them I am a pastor. Their voice goes up an octave, they start really being careful what they say. I always make fun of them for that.

But with being a pastor, how do we measure success? They same conversation happens between pastors. We don’t talk about what we make but want to subliminally leak how many people are members at our church. How many seats are in your sanctuary. We aren’t  businesses so we can talk about our profit in money, so we talk about or profit in people.

And thats dumb. Our main barometer should be disciple making. And not simply knowledge. Disciples that make disciples that make disciples. Knowledge and action together.

I was hanging out with some of our church the other night and I made a comment about something- I don’t even remember what it was. And one of our freshman in college called me on it. What I said was opposite of our vision and direction of the church.

And thats when it hit me! People are catching the vision! They understand that language matters because there is a heart behind that language. Its not just our leadership talking our heads off. Vision has leaked and soaked our people. And they are doing it.

This time last year, we had maybe 2-3 people that understood the vision of The Branch. Now, a year later, we have 10-12. That is a measure I am ok with. Because that means God is doing something. God is working. God is calling people to live in community and to live on mission! That makes me excited. So for me, I learned a huge lesson on the health of a church. Is the main core team in your church living on the churches vision? Is vision being pushed and modeled so people are actually doing it? I had never really seen or thought of this metric before. But I am grateful God is doing it in our midst.

And keep in mind…. this is because God is at work. God is doing this, not me. This is Gods church, not mine.

I am grateful God is working and leading our church to really follow him. I am glad I get to watch and play.

Here I sit, at the Starbucks on the campus of University of North Georgia, a church planter. Yea, I said it, my family is here to plant a church in Dahlonega, Ga. To some of you, this is no surprise. But for others, this is new news. To say we are excited is an understatement! To say that my wife and I are crazy is true. And to say that this church plant will never work with out the wisdom, grace and providence of God is what I cling to.

Just a little about the church… We are The Branch Church. “A gospel centered community living on mission.” We prayed and did some preliminary core team development in the fall, but officially launched in January. Currently we are meeting in my home on Thursday nights. We are still developing our core team and adding people to this team. We haven’t publicly launched and wont until the fall. We just moved up to Dahlonega in mid-January so we are still meeting people and learning what it means to be a ‘nugget’, even though we will never officially earn that title (they don’t pass out that label to just anybody. Only life-long Dahlonegians).

I am still working at Starbucks part time in Cumming because their insurance is awesome! Bre and I constantly talk about how full our hearts are being in this city. We literally told God we would plant a church anywhere in the US and we are so grateful he led us here, to Dahlonega.

Let me be honest though, there is a lot of work to be done. A constant prayer and plea from our core team to the Lord is for laborers. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…”

I will be blogging more and more about the church and what God is doing through us. How he has led us and guided us here is more than a miracle. And we know that he has big plans for this church and this city.

So will you join us in prayer. Just an hour ago, I sent Bre a text to pray for me, that I felt attacked, and within minutes, her prayers let to a spirit of peace over my soul. Prayer works, no lie. And I know we need tons of prayer from the saints.

Just two quick ways that you can pray for us…

1. Laborers- we are trying to get the right people on the bus so that our launch and ministry will flourish. Will you pray that God will draw people to the work He is doing.
2. Provision- we have had a few churches and organizations step up and support us both financially and partnering with us. As we launch this church, we will be raising support for the church for the next 3 years while we get it off the ground. I am in the process of getting the fundraising started, so pray that God will provide for the mission of The Branch Church through His people.  If you would like to support the church, please contact me and I would love to meet with you and explain the vision and the need.

Thank you for your prayers. And keep praying.

gabe, bre, aubryn, and grady

As my family and I begin the journey of church planting, my mind is continually racing on every different aspect of our next step. Where we our landing, our name, our vision and mission statement, what we want our reputation to be. And it can be very overwhelming.
But I want to be so pure in our motives that drive every decision we make.

I was at a big leadership conference last week and every speaker is this great leader that has an incredible church or business…
And I have to check my motives for why I want to plant this church.

Do I want to plant so that I can one day stand on a stage infront of 13,000 people…

Or do I have something to prove?

Or do I want to be recognized or known for how great of a leader I am?

Or do I want our plant to go so well that I have instant success as an author?

Or… oR…. OR

I heard one guy compare ministry and church planting  to pornography. We all watch these few, rare guys have all this success in church planting and it gives us an unrealistic view of what can really happen in our lives. I fall guilty in this so often.
I want to make disciples and see God transform lives on a daily basis. I dont care about my name, I care about His glory. I want our family to live and breath obedience to God, whether we ever get recognized or not.

I know so many guys our in the trenches that our serving the Lord and their community so well and will never be asked to speak or write or share, at anything. And they dont care. I want that heart. I want to use whatever platform I have for the Glory of the Lord, not so people notice me.
So if you are on this journey with us, pray for a clean heart and pure motives- because motives are everything.