If you have hung out with me for more than one hour, I have probably told you that you or someone close by reminds me of a celebrity. Sometimes it’s the laugh or the eyes and certainly not everyone agrees with me every time. My success rate hasn’t stopped me from making comparisons often and even keeping a list and posting them on this blog.
So here goes the sixth edition. Check out these links to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth editions.
Don’t be offended, just humor me.
Today at Movement Church we made a big announcement that I am personally very excited about…
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Movement Church started in 2012 with a vision to be a movement of people finding their way back to God. In our short history we have seen that vision happen in the lives of individuals and families as God has built a new church in Hilliard, Ohio.
One consistent, foundational prayer among our leadership team has been to create a wake of church plants; not a one time event, but rather a continuous rhythm of planting churches that in turn plant others..
From the advent of Movement Church, we have commissioned 5% of our collected funds along with additional, privately raised money for church planting initiatives. We do this not knowing the time, location, or individual but because we feel called to multiply in the pattern shown in the New Testament.
We are not ready to pull the trigger and plant a church this week, but it is time to take steps and prepare our people and our leadership pipeline. We recently extended an offer to Joel and Morgan Trainer to come on pastoral staff in a one-year, self-supporting church planting resident role.
The Trainers are currently on staff at Kanakuk Kamps in Branson, Missouri, one of the largest and most influential Christian camps in America with 13 campuses and over 20,000 visitors each year. They are both graduates of Indiana Wesleyan University and have ties to Ohio. Morgan grew up on the north side of Columbus and Joel’s parents live in Vermilion.
The Trainers have watched Movement Church from a distance and are close friends with many members of our original launch team. We are confident in their abilities and calling and trust that God is going to use them in great ways to plant a reproducing church in central Ohio.
The vision of this residency is to provide experience in church planting, portable church, local church ministry, teaching, administration, leading teams, casting vision and fund-raising. No program can perfectly equip and prepare an individual for planting a church but our desire is to impart to them everything we have and know.
The goal of this residency is that we (in partnership with Encounter Church) will be able to confidently commission The Trainers and a launch team of church planters on a three-year plan in the greater Columbus area. The Trainers are currently raising funds for their residency with the goal of joining our team September 1st, 2016.
If you have questions or would like to give toward the Church planting resident fund please contact our office or visit movementcolumbus.com.
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MORE ON THE TRAINERS
That was the official press release that we wrote so that we could use common language in many venues, but I want you to hear from me in a way that is not canned. From my heart I want you to know that I believe in the Trainers so much and I am ecstatic to have them in our network and on our team. Joel is a great leader who I think has the perfect mix of leadership, humility, fun, and an entrepreneurial spirit to plant a church. Morgan is the perfect compliment and has a heart for people and the local church that I look up to. I have known them for years and have watched them in many different stages of life and ministry. I think they are the perfect candidates to help us truly become a church planting movement.
I have seen them step in faith toward this calling with wisdom and humility that confirmed they are the ones God has for us. Please be in prayer for them as they transition from their jobs after a busy summer camp season, sell a house, have a baby, and move to Ohio. They are now family and we want to serve and honor them from day one. At a later date I will ask who wants to drive to Missouri and help them move, but for now just pray for the sale of their house and the fundraising process.
MOVEMENT CHURCH(ES)?
When planting a church was just a dream in my heart, I strategically chose the word movement because I wanted to start something that would not just be a one time local event, but something that would multiply exponentially. Movement Church is the first wave of that dream, and this is the second wave. My prayer is that Movement Church will be able to plant 25 churches in my lifetime and that the churches we plant will plant another 25. At the end of my life and ministry career I want to be able to look back and say that God used us to plant 50 life giving churches in Columbus, Ohio and all over America.
I told someone this dream recently and they said “so you don’t want Movement Church to get any bigger?” and I laughed. Growth and multiplication are not mutually exclusive; in fact I think that continually tuning our church’s heart for multiplication will help us be a thriving church with a vacuum for discipleship and mobilization.
I remember years ago having an interest in church planting and not knowing what the avenue was for that call. If you or someone you know has an interest in church planting I want a residency with Movement Church to be on their radar. We are a certain kind of church and I am a certain kind of leader with a certain vision so I don’t want to pretend to be perfect for everyone or that we have unlimited resources, but we are one option that will be a fit for some in God’s timing. We were planted out of Encounter Church and alongside them want to see a network of like-minded reproducing churches emerge so the prayer is that long-term there will be multiple venues to host residents and church personalities to emulate.
If you want to talk about church planting or think you may have an interest in doing a residency at Movement Church lets talk…. today…. or in 5 years.
(This is a blog post to sum up my thoughts and excitement from my Haiti trip last week. This post is written for my Mom and Dad because they made my trip happen and I want to honor them with a recap of events. You can read it if you want, but just know that if your name isn’t Ron or Jeanne you are merely my secondary audience. Thanks Mom and Dad!)
BUCKET LIST
Up until a week ago the only time I had ever left the United States was to venture to an IGA super market slightly into Quebec Canada north of Vermont to buy groceries for the Operation Barnabas team I led in 2005. I know what you’re thinking and I don’t count that either, so basically I was 31 and had never left the USA and that is not ok. Lucky for me Movement Church just started a church-to-church partnership with CPR-3 so I finally had a good reason to get a passport and cross leaving the country off of my bucket list.
CPR-3 PARTNERSHIP
I love the concept of partnership. We are partnering with a pastor in Haiti who will plant a church and bring relief to his area. I wrote a blog entry here about why I was excited about this partnership and why it was a fit philosophically for us as a church. I love this concept because we aren’t just putting a Band-Aid on problems but we are strategically taking the gospel (spiritual relief) and physical relief to an area through a church. The local church is God’s plan to redeem the world so we want to always have our efforts anchored there.
PASTOR PATRICK ALEXIS
A personal highlight of the trip for me was getting meet our partner pastor Patrick Alexis. We had received a profile of him and connected on Facebook before we got there, but its always magic to meet someone in person. I felt like I was meeting a long lost brother. As a church planter I know what it going through his mind. It was so cool to talk about our own insecurity, the way Satan attacks us and God’s faithfulness and provision. Patrick has a great story of how God has saved him and called him to ministry and our team loved spending time with him. Most of the time we used a translator, but his English is not terrible so we had some great one on one moments connecting and hanging out. I got to attend his Sunday prayer (launch team) meeting that he has started for his church. It was only there 3rd meeting ever but the meeting I got to go to and speak at had 35 people in attendance. I had never spoke through a translator but it was so powerful to be with believers outside the United States and see the scope of the universal church.
TRIP LOGISTICS (FACILITIES)
During our trip we stayed at the CPR-3 facility in Bercy. It’s a brand new facility with sleeping rooms, a group meeting room, dining room, huge kitchen, and new shower facilities. It wasn’t a Hilton hotel, and I wasn’t expecting that, but it was very nice way above what I expected. I can recommend that everyone from our church go on a trip knowing they won’t be sleeping on a dirt floor or sleeping in a mosquito infested field….not that those things should effect our commitment to Haiti but you know what I mean. You will be cared for on your trip and from the scheduling of tap taps (Haitian Taxi) to traveling with translators, every aspect of your trip has been planned to perfection long before you step off the plane. I love having that piece of mind as I recommend this trip.
CPR-3 STAFF
Another personal highlight for our team was connecting with the staff at CPR-3. The highest compliment I can pay them is that 1) I want to be their friends 2) I loved spending time with them and learning from them 3) I would love to hire them.
On a personal note, one staff member, Amanda Damon was a student on the OB team that Kristin and I lead in 2005. It was great to see someone that we spent a summer pouring into doing such great ministry. She committed to go into full-time ministry that summer and it was a blessing to see the fruition of that not only effecting my church but having an impact around the world.
NEXT CHAPTER
This was our first visit to Haiti and as Patrick plants a church and we come alongside him I am excited to send back other groups of people to encourage him and support his efforts. We want to send a medical group next. God has put us very close to a clinic that CPR-3 has partnered with that would make it very easy to do a top notch clinic right in Total. We also have several medical professionals in our church from nurses, nurse practioners, dentists, and doctors that I think God has positioned us for great impact. We are also looking to send down our band as music is a huge part of Haitian culture and the church and they would be able to do some great things by way of large events to help gather for the church.
It was a blessing to leave the country for the first time.
It was a blessing to travel with our team of 10 and pioneer what this partnership will look like.
It was a blessing to meet Patrick and find friendship with someone in another country.
I am greatly looking forward to the impact Movement Church can have in Haiti in the future.
The funniest thing someone has ever said to me in my ministry career is “attendance doesn’t equal commitment”. It happened a few years back when a lady wasn’t happy with me and my wife for asking the students in our small groups to commit to the group and make it a priority. Something deep inside of her must have been rubbed the wrong way knowing that her daughter was serious about soccer and gave the church some leftovers. She proceeded to corner my wife and I separately on a Sunday morning and tell us her opinions.
“Attendance doesn’t equal commitment” she said. It broke my heart because she was saying that complete opposite of the truth and was deceived.
Imagine telling your boss, or your coach that you are supper committed, but will attend marginally. You know the heart and reasoning behind that meeting or practice, but you have another commitment. You understand this game is a big deal, but so are Buckeye tickets.
I see this kind of marginal commitment to Church all the time. Why do we talk about our commitment to Jesus, but not back it up by spending time with his Church?
Attendance equals commitment. When you care about something you will schedule and prioritize around it. When you are committed to something or someone you give your time to them to show where your heart is. When you care about Jesus you will love the things he loves and you will love His Church.
In this season of startup, I have asked the Movement Church launch team to not miss one of our meetings together unless they or someone they love are in the hospital. There is no substitute for faithful attendance because it equals commitment.
FRESH FROM KRISTIN ARTRIP….
Wow, it has been a while since we have updated our friends and family on progress or news about adoption. As you know, we started this process right after Canaan turned one and have been pursuing private adoption since last summer. Private (or Independent) adoption is where we use our own network to find a birthmother. It has felt like a long road and at times frustrating with so many closed doors. So we continued to pray for direction.
A few times over the past two years people have told me about a public agency in Dayton called Adoption Link. I would get information and then back down because I saw the price and thought “there is no way”. Well, this past spring Mark coached t ball here is Hilliard so that we could make connections in our new town. He was assigned an assistant coach Rob. It so happens that Rob and Melissa have adopted two little boys from Adoption Link and told us to re consider. I think God was up to something.
So over the last two months we have prayed about changing the direction from private adoption to public and joining the agency. We did a fundraiser late last summer and will use that money along with our own to make it happen. We have come to the conclusion that we would step out on faith financially and pursue a public agency.
So after calling many agencies all over the country everything kept pointing back to Adoption Link in Dayton, Ohio. Rob and Melissa had us over for dinner last week and explained everything to us and it confirmed to us that this is what God wants us to do!
We are excited to say that we have officially applied and will be excited to start this process as soon as possible.
We have been challenged over the last few weeks and motivated to take this leap of fatih because of a few verses and a statistic…
James 1:27- Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”
Proverbs 24:12- “Once our eyes have been opened ,we cannot pretend we don’t know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act.”
34% of Christian families say they are going to adopt- only 1% do (147millionorphans.com)
We say we are about adoption- so we want to be about it 😉
We look forward to updating you in a couple weeks as we move along in this process!
Much love,
Mark, Kritstin, Malachi and Canaan
A couple months ago the Artrip’s announced we were transitioning from staff at Grace Church this summer and moving to Hilliard to plant a church. Since January lots of stuff has happened and some details are coming together. I thought I would give a little Movement Church/Artrip family update for those who care…
Now….you are officially up to date.
A couple of months ago I was sent a new book-ENCHANTMENT: the art of changing hearts, minds, and action by Guy Kawasaki. If you don’t know Guy you live under a rock, so here is a bio. He is a leading speaker on the topics of being entrepreneur and innovation. I have been apart of the alltop.com ministry blog community for a few years that he founded.
The heart of the book is how to influence what people will do while maintaining the highest standards of ethics. The book explains when and why enchantment is necessary and then the pillars of enchantment: likability, trustworthiness, and a great cause. The next topics are launching, overcoming resistance, making enchantment endure, and using technology. There are even special chapters dedicated to enchanting your employees and your boss.
Jump on facebook and take this test to see how enchanting or GREAT you are.
The reason I wanted to read this book and why I think you should care is the vision applies to people in business, people in ministry, people in the non profit world, and anyone who interacts with people (that’s pretty much all of us).
Name: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions
Page count: 224
Suggested retail price: $US 26.95, BUT I FOUND IT FOR $13 ON AMAZON. Check it out on Amazon.com
Year of first printing: 2011
ISBN: 9781591843795
A few weeks ago on this blog, I made my picks for this year’s Grammy Awards. Since the ceremony happened this past weekend I decided I should put up the winners and admit the picks I got wrong and see if I got any right. I hardly got anything right-2 and some half rights. The truth hurts. I wish I could blame it on something….How about it was a pretty wild year with some major unpredictable upsets?
Album of the Year
My first pick » Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
Runner up pick » Eminem – Recovery
Actual winner » Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Record of the Year
My first pick » Eminem (featuring Rihanna) – “Love the Way You Lie”
Runner up pick » Cee Lo Green – “F— You”
Actual winner » Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Best New Artist
My first pick » Florence & the Machine
Runner up pick » Drake
Actual winner » Esperanza Spalding
Song of the Year
My first pick » Miranda Lambert – “The House That Built Me”
Runner up pick » Cee Lo Green – “F— You”
Actual winner » Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
My first pick » Sade – “Babyfather”
Runner up pick » “Glee” cast – “Don’t Stop Believin’ (Regionals Version)”
Actual winner » Train – “Hey, Soul Sister (Live)”
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
My first pick » B.o.B, Eminem and Hayley Williams – “Airplanes II”
Runner up pick » Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg – “California Gurls”
Actual winner » Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck and Oumou Sangare – “Imagine”
Best Dance Recording
My first pick » Lady Gaga – “Dance in the Dark”
Runner up pick » La Roux – “In For The Kill”
Actual winner » Rihanna – “Only Girl (In the World)”
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
My first pick » Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
Runner up pick » Muse – “Resistance”
Actual winner » The Black Keys – “Tighten Up”
Best Hard Rock Performance
My first pick » Soundgarden – “Black Rain”
Runner up pick » Stone Temple Pilots – “Between the Lines”
Actual winner » Them Crooked Vultures – “New Fang”
Best Rock Song
My first pick » Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
Runner up pick » Kings of Leon – “Radioactive”
Actual winner » Neil Young – “Angry World”
Best Alternative Music Album
My first pick » Vampire Weekend – Contra
Runner up pick » Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Actual winner » The Black Keys – Brothers
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
My first pick » Sade – “Soldier of Love”
Runner up pick » John Legend and the Roots – “Shine”
Actual winner » Sade – “Soldier of Love”
Best Contemporary R&B Album
My first pick » Usher – Raymond v. Raymond
Runner up pick » Chris Brown – Graffiti
Actual winner » Usher – Raymond v. Raymond
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
My first pick » Eminem and Rihanna – “Love the Way You Lie”
Runner up pick » Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Actual winner » Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Best Rap Song
My first pick » Eminem and Rihanna – “Love the Way You Lie”
Runner up pick » Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Actual winner » Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Best Rap Album
My first pick » Eminem – Recovery
Runner up pick » Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
Actual winner » Eminem – Recovery
Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
My first pick » Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson – “As She’s Walking Away”
Runner up pick » Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson – “Bad Angel”
Actual winner » Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson – “As She’s Walking Away”
Best Country Song
My first pick » Miranda Lambert – “The House That Built Me”
Runner up pick » Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Actual winner » Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Best Country Album
My first pick » Miranda Lambert – Revolution
Runner up pick » Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
Actual winner » Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
Best Americana Album
My first pick » Willie Nelson – Country Music
Runner up pick » Robert Plant – Band of Joy
Actual winner » Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
Best Traditional Blues Album
My first pick » Jimmie Vaughan – Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites
Runner up pick » Cyndi Lauper – Memphis Blues
Actual winner » Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith – Joined at the Hip
WeShare2010 is still going and my fast for the gospel continues. I thought today I would highlight two things I have been thinking about as this month moves on.
1) WHY DID I GIVE UP ICE CREAM?
The vision of weShare2010 was to fast from something and than redirect that money toward advancing the gospel. Here was my thought process as I looked at excess in my life.
We don’t have cable, we don’t go to movies, and we don’t really eat out with consistency as a family. Our budget is pretty locked in. Lots of people could give up renting movies, buying Starbucks, going out for lunch, or things like that. To be honest, we don’t do any of those things, but every summer I seem to alter my schedule and budget around my love of ice cream. It might be sad, but if I am being honest, I spend significant time and money focused on ice cream. So I decided to give it up-cold turkey.
2) SO HOW MUCH HAVE YOU GIVEN UP?
I would say I eat ice cream 2-3 times a week easily. I can’t reveal how many times or the money…at least not yet. Let’s just say I miss my ice cream and it hasn’t been easy 🙂
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