PLANTING IN IOWA

Got a call today from a guy I have never talked to before who is getting set to plant a church in Iowa City, Iowa. Randy has been there since before Christmas and is getting ready to have his first preview service on Mothers Day and for some reason someone in Colorado told him he ought to start talking to me.

So we talked - probably around 75 minutes.

It was great. I've said before there is nothing like the buzz you get from starting a church. And since you don't launch one yourself regularly, the best way to get the buzz is to enjoy it vicariously through someone else who is planting.

I was pumped when I got off the phone.

Another theater church, a county with 70% of the population unchurched and a 46 year old guy with enough ministry experience and general savvy to make some impact on that area for God.

I talk to church planters all the time and I love it. These are wild men, shunning the comfortable and predictable in favor of the unknown and the uncertain. You don't learn what they're doing from books or through college courses. Every situation is unique, every town different, every new church a one-of-a-kind.

So since there's no real blueprint, you just stay tight with a few other insane planters and bounce things off them as you plot your own course.

Randy reckoned I could help him with that as he moves forward and I relish the thought of every step of the journey.