An Update on the Greens
Jessi and I left New York City and our amazing family (literally and figuratively) at Liberty Church in November of last year. We moved across the country with a new church in our hearts and a 2 month old baby boy, David Leonidas.
Since then we have learned a lot. About church planting, our marriage, ourselves, and what we really believe (and why we believe it).
This has been, for me, the hardest 6 months of my life. Woah, it’s been 6 months.
We decided from the beginning that neither of us would be taking salary from the tithes and offerings of SALT Churches. For a guy that loves to work hard, being trained in a field for over a decade that you won’t get paid for anymore was a huge trust leap for me. At times I feel exhilarated; at other times let’s just say, not so much. This whole journey feels more like a free fall than a “WOOOO WE DID IT! GOD IS SOOO DOING THIS”.
As SALT Churches has found its rhythm and we’ve clarified who we are as a body, I’m more sure now than ever that God has called us here to plant churches that are notably different from what is normally seen in the United States.
We feel called to plant churches without limits that are led by everyday people. The salt of the earth, filled with the Holy Spirit and power, reaching the lost and making disciples of Jesus. Jessi and I spend every day thinking about how we can make it even simpler, how to make the gospel clearer, how to bring people to Jesus in a way that has no limits.
We are working hard to think deep not wide, long not short; and discipleship to Jesus, doing the things he did and greater, is at the core of what we believe.
My wife continues to run a social media company that is taking ground, and is pregnant again with our second boy. They will be 13 months apart. Yay for testosterone!
Along the way so many good people have encouraged us, supported us both with words and with finances. We are so unbelievably thankful.
I have started laying the groundwork for being “bi-vocational” as it is called with a website and app called My Personal Revival. My desire is to help people get where they want to be physically, mentally, and spiritually. I can’t wait for us to be in high gear early this summer.
As the leaders of SALT Churches want to set the example that anyone, with any job, can make disciples to Jesus. We believe that a calling to ministry does not always mean standing on a pulpit, but standing in the same trenches as those you serve by leading them in everyday life. We pray that The Kingdom Come in our day to day, salting all we do and all who we meet.
The “going” will always be our emphasis.
Making Disciples of Jesus that make disciples is our one thing. We believe that wherever disciples are made, a church will grow up there naturally. We believe in not just changed people, but a fundamentally changed culture. Families, workplaces, relationships, finances, you name it. Changed and transformed by the love of Jesus.
We believe in a revolution of the heart powered by Jesus and his people that are willing to die for him on a daily basis.
Like I said before, the personal journey for me has been difficult. Letting go of the control of outcomes and letting God take me and my family where he desires has been humbling. This has brought a lot of soul searching to the surface recently. As I sit here in an airport, about to depart for Israel, I am more sure than ever of the Great Commission of Jesus of Nazareth. I am more sure than ever that He never leaves or forsakes us and I am more sure than ever that we are called to make disciples.
We can’t wait to see what the Holy Spirit does in and through the people of SALT, now, and 20-30-50 years from now. The call and the cost may be high, but the reward is absolutely worth it. Living lives completely transparent and yielded to the will of The Father.
Jessi and I would love to update you more often and let you know what’s going on with us, with our family and with SALT Churches. If you want to hear more from us and pray with us, go ahead and subscribe here.
If you want to support us in the same way you’d support a local missionary, click here and choose “forerunners” when you give. Recurring giving helps us out a ton in our transition and planning.
The calling on Jessi and my life is to serve others by cutting a trail for them. Like forerunners, we moved west to do just that. We pray that the generations will continue to be blessed by the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do. We are invested into developing spiritual children that are making families of their own without limit. Let’s make the earth look far more like his Kingdom for our kids and their children as well.
We’d love for you to join us by covering us in prayer. if you feel a nudge from the Holy Spirit to help financially, we’d appreciate that too.
Thanks for reading and talk soon.
God Bless,
