The idea of the tract got me thinking.  Are we really attracting people to the gospel if our lead message is that it’s easy?  I understand we live in an age where simplicity sells, but being simple and being easy are two different things.  And when you look into it deeper, the gospel is neither.

In a way, we are disrespecting our beliefs as well as the intelligence of others in trying to persuade them to Christianity ‘because it’s easy.’  Should a person’s choice of religion not be more meaningful, personal, and thought-out than to think they are just going to choose whichever one is easiest?  I don’t hear anyone say “I’m a Republican/Democrat because it’s easier.”  When you ask someone what their job is, I doubt they tell you and then explain, “Because it was easier than anything else.”  So why would people be drawn to a religion that claims to be easy, and in doing so make itself appear shallow?

Is there anything you have that sense of passion for?

Do you have a calling that calls you to action?

If not, I would warn you against laziness and apathy.  At some point, something must move you enough that you get up and take action.

If you don’t feel your work is important, you will only do the minimum to get by.  If you’re not passionate about your relationships, you will have few close friendships.  If you don’t sense a calling to work toward a social, political or religious cause you will likely waste your time away rather than do volunteer work or take part in a public movement.

Living life without anything you get this excited about does not sound appealing.  It sounds like a waste.

That’s why I would encourage you to ask God to bless you with a burden.

The word burden may not sound like a good thing.  The word implies weight or responsibility but it can be the kind of productive responsibility that provides something you can give yourself to.

We all need a cause.  We all need some way of contributing to making the world a better place.  We need that thing we can give ourselves to.  Whether it’s music, parenting, missions, or the environment, find your burden.  Find that thing you feel like you must do!

Ask God to bless you with a burden and then give yourself to it.  It’s the better way to live.

• Katy and I have really enjoyed leading our new small group.  This is allowing us to form deeper relationships with some great young couples.
• I’m contemplating going back to school to finish my Master’s degree.  This most likely would mean I take a class or two at a time online.
• Our time-line for planting Freedom Church is still on hold but the church’s website is up and you can now give online.  There have already been a couple donations from the site.
• Katy and I have been having some great conversations lately as we are learning how to effectively deal with conflict and are discussing our dreams about life and family.
• I’m pretty excited that we will be taking a week off at Thanksgiving and going to visit my family in Ohio.
• We really feel a burden to be more involved in ministry and are currently praying and seeking just what that may look like for us in the near future.

As always, your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Anything new going on in your life?

The short book was very obviously written from the same burden for the poor, un-reached and spiritually dead as Radical.  Actually, Platt refers to his first book so often throughout Radical Together that I’m not sure I would have understood as much of this book had I not read the other first.

Radical Together delivers what it promises though, as Platt writes to reveal how so much of what we do in church-world today is more American than Christian.  He challenges the notion that a church service is meant to be a performance by professionals and argues for an involvement of all people in the mission of the church; reaching the world.

Platt’s messages challenges readers to evaluate the how and why of their ministry while encouraging them to become part of a community for the sake of taking the message of Jesus to those on the other side of the world who have never heard of Him.  In doing church in a way Platt sees as closer to the method of Jesus, we would certainly be radical, together.

But because Platt’s message is so unique and grassroots compared to what modern Christianity looks like today, he is constantly interrupting his own message to “clarify” what he is not saying.  Perhaps he is doing this to protect himself from those who may take his words to an unhealthy extreme, but it hurt the flow of the book and also made his logic seem more cautious than confident.

The back of the book contains thirty pages of small group study text.  These sessions are meant to create conversation around the ideas of the book and help the readers have direction on how to apply what they read.  I appreciate that Platt is not asking people to buy an additional study guide but rather includes this in his book.  I find this appropriate for a book and a message that is all about challenging the reader to movement rather than just giving them more information.

Radical Together, along with Radical, have certainly had a deep impact on me as God is using Platt to point to an entire part of the message of Jesus that has been mostly ignored by many American churches in recent years.  The books have challenged my beliefs and caused me to consider what my responsibility and the responsibility of the church is when it comes to giving of our abundance toward a much more worthy calling.  Caring for those who are in physical and spiritual need is the most worthy cause for which we could spend our money.  Platt challenge to Christians to leave their comfort zone, spend time ministering in a foreign context, give painfully of their resources, and depend on God through intense prayer is causing some major shifts within our Christian culture.  I consider this a very good thing and is why I encourage you to pick up both these books and wrestle with these issues yourself.

You can click these links to purchase Radical and Radical Together.

For some reason the prayer stood out to me and a sense came over me that I felt was impressing, “pay attention to this.”  The prayer time ended and everyone went their separate way, but I continued to dwell on my pastor’s prayer against fear.  Why did he pray that?  Why did it stick out to me?  What does fear have to do with a church staff holding church services?

For quite some time I’ve been thinking about the subject of confidence and what it’s role is supposed to be in my role as a leader.  One of my first blog posts was about confidence and just recently I wrote this post about confidence and Godly authority.  In my reading, writing, and thinking about these confidence-like issues I have been putting pressure on myself to grow in these areas.  But hearing my pastor pray against fear and later praying through that concept, I think I realized I have been approaching the issue from the wrong angle.

I left the staff prayer meeting reflecting on how many times the Bible tells us not to fear.  Jesus taught that we are to fear not.  It all of a sudden made sense that my pastor would pray against fear.  He knew that if a worship service, and ministry in general, is done with fear present, it will not be done as effectively.  There will be a sense of hesitancy.  Intimidation could arise.  It will be easier for a fear of man to creep onto the scene.

In mulling these things over I realized that my focus should not be on attaining boldness or acting with confidence, but rather to lead, serve, love, and live my life with a lack of fear.  Since realizing this I have been made aware of how often I feel fear and how many things cause it in me.  All those times I feel fear I am living outside of how God wishes I would live in those situations.

If I were able to “fear not” at all times, what would be the result?

Confidence?  No!

Boldness?  Authority?  No!

To live without fear would bring freedom.  Freedom to be who I am!  Freedom to do what God told me to do!

And freedom is a lot better than confidence.  While confidence would be trusting in my abilities despite the fear of failure, freedom results from relieving those fears because the consequence of following God is not up to me.  So rather than chasing after confidence, putting pressure on myself to feel boldness in order to face my fears, the way God teaches is to simply live without fear.  To live without fear provides the freedom to follow God, to carry out your vision, and to lead worship services in a way that may appear confident, simply because you do not have to deal with the hesitations and self-doubt that comes from fear.

Whether it be through twitter, blogs, or preaching, we are informed regularly of the hotness of the pastors wife.  A few pastors I follow seem unable to use their wife as an illustration or address the issue of marriage without having to give a shout-out to how hot their wife is.

I’m not going to judge their motives as perhaps this is their form of publically expressing love for their wives, though I doubt it’s how these wives would prefer to be referenced.  They are not telling us that their wives are attractive or pretty or do cute little things; they are only informing us that their wife is hot.

At first I thought these references were funny.  Then they got old quick.  Then I continued to hear them so often it became annoying, and now I honestly think these comments are unhealthy.  As a pastor who preaches moral purity and marital faithfulness, should they really be pointing out the physical attractiveness of a woman other than the listeners wife?

Personally, I don’t want you to think my wife is hot.  I want you to think your wife is hot!

I want to see pastors preach, teach, and lead in a way that encourages purity and marital faithfulness.  Pastors should encourage you to work in keeping that spark and intimacy in your marriage, not make light of such by giving the appearance that physical attractiveness is the key factor in marital happiness and at the same time establish that their wife is the most attractive.

I admit this is a pet-peeve and perhaps I am being nitpicky.  Feel free to share your thoughts/experiences on the topic!

How does this change effect where you will live?

Katy and I are still looking to move to Chattanooga.  We love Chattanooga and actually think it will be a benefit to live and work there before starting the church.  This will allow us to make natural friendships and engage in and with the community.  That way we are not outsiders when we begin to start a church in Chattanooga.  Please pray for us as we seek to make this transition!

What will you do for employment?

Before, our plan was to move to Chattanooga as full time church planting by receiving donations and support through the church.  Now our plan is to look for a job in Chattanooga and live and work there just like everyone else in the city.

Job hunting is hard and though the economy is not as bad in Chattanooga jobs are still scarce.  For those of you who live in Chattanooga, if you know of an available position or have some connections I would appreciate if you would let me know.

Can we still support the church?

Absolutely.  Though I will not be receiving a salary from the church at this time and will not be doing a formal fund-raising campaign as planned, the church is still able to receive funds (We are already giving our tithe to Freedom Church).  Our website is now up and by visiting www.FreedomChattanooga.org you can get information on making online donations or giving through mail.  Thank you to those of you who are already supporting the church.

How are you explaining this change to others?

We are saying that we are slowing our church planting plans down to focus on our marriage.  We want to be emotionally, spiritually, and physically healthy when we go into church planting and we do not want to rush and miss God’s timing.

What is the new timeline?

There isn’t really one.  We knew that now is not the time and I believe that we will know when it is the time.  A lot of our reason for slowing things down is to focus on our marriage.  We just celebrated our one year anniversary so we are still newly weds and we want our relationship to be happy and healthy.  If we are deeply rooted as a couple and walking with God, we will know when the time is right.

I’m not putting specifics on it but I would say more than a couple months but less than a couple years.

Is there any other reason for this change of plans?

No.  Because I personally know some pastors who have had to leave ministry for various moral reasons I feel I need to address this.  There are no hidden or unspoken reasons to our change in plans.  This is strictly about God’s timing and the health of our marriage.  Do not take this to mean that something has happened to our marriage.  We are simply a young couple who has realized the importance of having our first years together to focus on building the foundation of our relationship.  There is nothing I am leaving out.  This is purely a decision my wife and I are voluntarily making as a result of our personal conversations and prayer.

What are others saying about this change?

This idea was first presented to us by a group of church planters and counselors who love us and have our best interest in mind.  I have also had a conversation with our pastor about this.  He has always been incredibly supportive of our church plant and is just as supportive of us now as he realizes the importance of healthy ministry families.  A couple of other area pastors also know about our change of plans and have encouraged and supported us.

Last week Katy and I were able to share this news with my brother-in-law and his family, who are moving to Chattanooga with us.  They were very supportive and we all agreed that we must seek God’s timing together as they also are going through the transition of moving to Chattanooga, starting a new job, and expanding their family.

Will you continue to give updates?

Yes.  However, they may be more infrequent.  Though we desire your prayers as we look to relocate to Chattanooga and secure a job there, over the next period of time there may not be much news on the church planting front so my updates may be more sporadic.  If you desire to know more details during this time I would encourage you to email me as often as you like or follow the blog as I try to always share my thoughts and stories about what is happening in our lives on this site.

If you have any other questions or comments I would love to chat.  Please email or call me so we can connect.  Thank you for your continued support!

Allow me to first thank you for your support.  So many of you are consistently praying for us, encouraging us and asking for updates in our church planting journey.  The purpose of this letter is actually to inform you of a pretty significant update on our lives.

While Katy and I were dating I informed her that I felt lead to plant a church.  I tried my best to explain what that meant and how it may look for us and our family should we stay together.  Doing a great work of faith such as starting a church resonated with Katy and she told me she was fully supportive.

As long as we’ve been together church planting has had a major role in our relationship.  We have spent several of our weekends and some of our vacation days participating in church planting events.  During the weeks leading up to our wedding and immediately after we were participating in a school of church planting.  At times, church planting dominated our plans and schedules, distracted from our relationship, and even became a point of conflict, occasionally.

We recently had some experienced church planters and counselors advise us to take some time to develop the foundation of our marriage before jumping into the demanding task of full force church planting.  That Godly counsel hit home for us and God confirmed this advice in us.

So our update is that we are stepping back.  Not stepping down or away, but temporarily stepping back to enjoy God and each other before rushing to start the church.  I want my marriage and my family to have a solid foundation.  I want my wife to know she is the most important thing on this earth to me.  Because of this, we are making some changes to our timeline of launching Freedom Church.  Basically, we are slowing things way down and leaving it open to God’s direction as to when we pick them up again.

Again, we thank you for all your love and support through this endeavor so far and we hope you will continue to stand with us.  Though the timeframe is being adjusted, we still know that one day Freedom Church will exist in downtown Chattanooga.  We just believe that if we take an extended period of time to be a family first and then be church planters, that both our relationship and the church will ultimately be stronger for it.

If there are any questions you may have about what I have said or what we are doing I would encourage you to contact me if you would like to discuss these things further.

Thank you and God bless!

Aaron Marcelli

Like with anything, there are some basic principles and guides you should follow.  I mean the legal, set up process will look about the same for every church (that is, if you want to be legal).  But other than that, there are as many different philosophies on church planting as there are church planters.

I think part of the reason I spent so long doing nothing was because I was waiting on the proper method or trying to find the correct way.  Such a thing does not exist and as long I was looking for it I was not going to be able to do anything else.  I was looking for permission to get started from a book or a seminar.

In observing that one church can start in Los Angeles, California doing one thing and another church can start in Dalton, Georgia doing something different (and they both work), I realized there is not a combination.

What’s important is that I be faithful to who God called me to be and what He called me to do.  If I’m living in the middle of those two truths there is actually a lot of freedom in the specifics of what and how.

So now I learn from others for encouragement and for ideas I can tweak to perhaps utilize in our setting.  I’m no longer looking for someone else who has had success to dictate how we are going to do church.  What works for them may not (and probably will not) work for us.  There’s no one way to do it.  So I’m just gonna be me.

Though we are just a few steps in and more than a year away from having a worship service, I have learned church planting is about more than just what I will do.  It’s about who I become.  It’s about what happens to me.  It becomes more increasingly obvious that the process of me planting a church is not just for God to change the lives of people in Chattanooga who we are going there to reach.  It’s also about Him changing my life.

The first thing I’ve learned (or should I say been reminded of) through church planting so far is that God is sovereign.  Basically meaning, He is in charge!  He is calling the shots!  This is His gig!

The early pre-launch stage has been one of up’s and down’s for me.  Go to a great conference – up.  Stress about fundraising – down.  Get to meet with another church planter – up.  Have argument with wife – down.  Find a great house in Chattanooga – up.  Get outbid on the great house – down.

Mountain tops and valleys have never been as high, as low, or as frequent as they have been of late.  Yet, when things seem to get very stressful, difficult, or discouraging God seems to show up.  He usually does something very, very small that seems almost insignificant yet could only be something He orchestrated.

My wife and I have begun to call these little things “confirmations that we are doing the right thing.”  Sometimes the finances don’t make sense, the risk seems too great, or what’s required goes against my personality.  I usually react with doubt, concerned that doors are closing or I am discouraged because moving and starting a church is actually not what God wants.  But then there will be a letter, a phone call, a conversation, a sermon, a…………whatever.  And you know.  You just know its God saying, “See.  I got this.  It’s not about you and how well you can do it.  I’m planting this church because I WANT IT.”

I have to admit that way too many times I’ve cried in repentance, telling God I’m sorry.  Sorry for doubting.  Sorry for trying to have it all figured out.  God is sovereign.  He is in control.  My only responsibility is to be obedient.  He’s the one who is going to do all the rest.  He has to.  He’s the only one who can.