If you haven't made plans to attend the Heart Revolution Conference this year then it's time to do so.  Pastors Sergio and Georgia De La Mora are hosting this event, which is loaded with some of the most influential pastors ever assembled.  Do yourself, your staff and your church a favor and make plans to be at this conference.

Last year, a good friend of mine and I were discussing the future of his church. They were struggling, yet had a clear vision to reach their community. Randy Bryan, a church planter, and his wife Debbie, were doing all they could to reach the people of San Marcos, Texas. The opportunities were huge, yet the church was still struggling. Although Randy can preach well, it drained him rather than invigorated him. He told me “Bil, I’m more interested in reaching our community than being the senior leader and visionary.” I suggested he pray about joining ranks with our church, and he began to pray (and get excited) about the possibilities. That was two years ago, and since joining our church, his campus has tripled in size! Here are a few other benefits of becoming a part of the baf team: Randy and Debbie no longer feel alone in leadership. The move helped stabilize them financially. The vision was almost immediately caught by most of the people. The best part: hundreds of new people have found a home in Bay Area Fellowship, San Marcos. It is amazing what can happen when only Jesus gets the credit. Randy and Debbie are doing an amazing job! Pastor John Atkinson (our multi-site pastor) pours into them, provides encouragement, and I provide the vision. Put it all together and you get changed lives! If you are a church planter, or a church, that is struggling with not reaching your full potential, and you are open to becoming a Bay Area Fellowship campus, shoot us an email at jccatkinson@gmail.com This doesn’t mean that you are failing. It means that you are making a strategic partnership, to reach more people. People in the mission field do this all the time. They partner with others (stateside) to be able to have a larger impact in their community. Randy and Debbie could’ve kept going without us, but I’m glad they saw the potential. We now call it a “God-thing.” If you are seriously considering talking with us, here are a few things to consider: 1. You can be a location, regardless of where your church is..in Texas, out of Texas, in the U.S. or out. 2. You must agree with the vision of BAF and it’s leadership. 3. Instead of leaving your church plant, why not stay and be a campus pastor and continue the same great relationships you have, while relieving yourself of the vision-casting/regular teaching role (you still teach every 6 to 8 weeks, minimum). 4. You can help get the church healthy, and if you still decide to leave, then you are leaving the church in good hands (although we really hope you stay!). 5. Joining together means you are no longer on an island, but rather you have a group of pastors who want to share what works/doesn’t work with you! I pray that God’s will happens through this blog post. Who knows what God may have on the other side of our obedience to Him. It’s not about our church or your church…it’s about the Kingdom. Bil Cornelius Founding pastor, Bay Area Fellowship, and campus pastor of the Corpus Christi campus.

Today we finished the final touch ups for the audiobook version of I Dare You To Change .  This has been an eye opening experience and God has opened some doors that I'll share with you later.  Please be praying for our efforts with the launch of this book, Jessica and I are expecting God to use it in a big way.

Shifting Gears: Week 1

We introduced Shifting Gears last weekend with the analogy of the first gear at the starting line. The first gear is the lowest, and I compared it to the importance of humbling yourself before God and in your relationships, both personal and at work. Humility is a magnet for the Holy Spirit to work in your life. Here are some points to reflect on this week:

1. You can stall out without starting low enough.
2. The lower your gears the faster you jump start off the line.

Traction: When you're at the start, in the first gear (humility) and ready, traction will give you the best jump off the line. To get this kind of traction, I lined out 4 steps:

1. Fear God: This is a healthy fear that brings Him honor.
2. Repent and Be Humble: Real worship requires these two actions.
3. Be Grateful for the Goodness of God.
4. Obey God: A sign of humility and honor is to obey immediately. A person of humility jumps at the opportunity to serve his or her master or God!

Here's the Pledge Mason and I shared.

I, Mason Cornelius, promise God and this fellowship of Men,
To honor and obey the Lord.
To keep him first in my life.
To honor God in my speech.
To honor God's House, the Church, by being an active part through serving and giving of myself.
I promise to honor my parents and all other authority
I promise to respect others.
I promise to be pure out of respect for my future wife, honoring her by waiting to have sex until I am married.
I promise to respect other people's stuff.
I promise to be honest.
I promise to be grateful for what I have and work hard to earn whatever I want in life.

Let's pray.  You just committed to the ten commandments, the God Code of real, Biblical manhood.”

Then I declared over my son that tonight he has become a man!  After this, I prayed over my son while weeping, and then I told that the pledge was the biblical code of manhood, which is actually the Ten Commandments.  Then I talked about Exodus 20:4 mentioning God’s blessing extending generations, and I asked my dad (Mason’s grandfather) to pray for Mason while all the men laid hands on him.  When the prayer was finished, we all cheered and hugged Mason, and I thanked everyone for coming.  Several men finished their wisdom walks with Mason, and we packed up and went home.