the big move

hello everyone, just a heads up this is a long one so gird up your loins.

i am proud to say that we received an offer to be apart of the team at Northway Oakland campus in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. starting march 23rd 2009 i will begin leading the music department there at the church. i know this is going to be a stretching experience but i’m really excited about the growth and fruit that God will produce from it.

7 months we have been sitting still waiting for God to give us direction. finally He has answered our prayers in providing a place where we could plug in and use our gifts.

we have gone through so many emotions these past 7 months. looking back and seeing God’s love through the whole experience. He really did heal my heart to even be able to take this position.

looking back at the 3 years we have been in reno i can now see how reno has been a tremendous place of healing and restoration for my heart and soul. my gratitude goes out to everyone who has been involved in my recovery. in order: my beautiful wife natalie, mac smith, jacci and dave turner, Hillside foursquare family, louie locke, val tramonte, vaelyn bella, jason bennet, dennis and georgia clifton, thursday night bible study group, and dan whittemore. thank you to all of you who poured into me and loved me well.

coming to reno 3 years ago i was hurt and avoided putting myself under any authority because of the fear of being controlled. i decided in my heart to be my own master without even knowing it. i was blind because of my hurt, isn’t that always the case. its amazing how our conscience makes excuses for the flesh. so i began pursing the career of music missions and traveling abroad. it was easy because i had already been moving in that direction. God in His grace allowed me to seek out my ambitions all the while leading me to relationships that would ultimately draw me closer to Him and bring healing to my hurt.

after vaelyn’s birth we attempted to travel, there was a week while on our summer tour 2008 when we spent some time in las vegas our home town we had decided to spend time with our families separately. natalie with her family and me with mine. its amazing how in that week alone God really showed me what was important. my family. it killed me to be away from natalie and vaelyn. the thought of missing vaelyn developing without me killed me. it was that week that i realized i didn’t want to be away from my family and began to pray for God to bless my desire to be with them. slowly after that God began to allow my vision of traveling with the music to die.

around this season several churches asked me to be apart of their ministry. odd that! i thought to myself. as i walked through the process of praying wether these opportunities were what God had for us. nothing panned out. ready to give up, i received a phone call from my good friend mike arnold pastoring in pennsylvania. “ hey chris i was wondering if you would pray about maybe coming out and being apart of the ministry here” sure bro. i began to pray.

not thinking much of it at the time God began to show me my hearts desire. WORSHIP!

i had prayed about finding a job that would allow me to pay the bills, save, and allow me to be with my family. i searched for what i would and could do in reno for months. i hadn’t worked a job in at least 10 years. as i prayed about what i would do i began to realize i wanted to do what i was doing on the road which was, lead worship, build relationships, and make music. i had been traveling around tying to build up the church, which i believe God used, but to settle in one place and really allow God to use me in a consistent way. i was afraid. traveling i could never really go deep in relationships. if the relationship got hard i wouldn’t have to deal with it. not good.

God finally allowed me to see my sin in being my own master. i lead myself into a place of avoiding community which in reality cut me off from the flow of true life, the body of christ. God talks about being connected to the body, serving one another. finally ready to be apart of a body this pittsburgh opportunity opened up. ready to dive in to the local ministry here in reno and God opens the door in pennsylvania? that in itself has been hard. natalie and i have both wanted to plug in here in reno ever since we moved here but because of the traveling and my unhealthy ambitions we were never able to. to trust that God as my master is a new concept for me. i’m excited to walk out what it is to have a healthy fear of the master and those who are over me. as ephesians 6:5 says : bondservant, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ.

God in His love has provided pittsburgh for us to be planted and grow and i’m not only trusting that He is going to bless us in that community but i’m getting really excited to follow Him into the new adventure for Him. God is so good and is always trustworthy. i know this in my heart even though my doubts get the best of me at times, but God always is victorious. ALWAYS!

i thank God for second and third and millionth chances. He is such a forging and loving God. through my journey i continue to realize His love and grow closer to Him. with everything between the lines the only thing that really matters in my story or your story is that we grow closer to our God. and learn how to love people. don’t miss out!

if i can be a source of encouragement. pursue your ambitions seeking God’s LOVE. He will always correct and lead you to life and life abundant. never give up on your dreams, but always offer them to Jesus. He is an awesome master and will never lead you into something that will hurt you. remember we are the ones who are blind in our sin. looking back at the hurts i’ve worked through they were all caused by my own lusts and desires. this is one reason why its so important to pursue community in Christ. to be known in your community is huge and has been healing for us here in reno. God has used it to show us so much truth about ourselves. make the best of the opportunities that God gives you. its there for a reason and that reason in my experience is to bring you closer to HIM, which always result in drawing closer to community. you can’t have one without the other. sorry folks God shows Himself through people. thats just how it works.

thank you so much for joining us in our journey. its a pleasure to be able to share what i’ve learned and am learning in my walk with Christ. God bless you in yours.

sincerely

chris