I know that some of you might still be in the dark a little bit about this whole move thing that is going on with Heather and me. So let me share a little bit about what is happening with us.

We have recently sold our house, as was mentioned before. We also are moving forward with the building process and should be pulling our building permits this upcoming May. Other than that there is nothing else going on. We don’t have friends or family up there, there is no job we’re going to just a compulsion of ‘this is where we are suppose to be’. Let me try to explain this.

Over three years a go we had a desire to move out of Florida. My parents had just passed away and Heather’s mom wanted to move as well. There was just this urge to be in a different place. We found ten acres in Dallas, Georgia which we purchased. Shortly after that, though, we felt a call to come on board at New Community Church, our home church, so we put those plans on hold for a while.

While working at the church over the past 2.5 years. We have seen great things and movements of God. We saw our church make a courageous decision to become LifeChurch.tv. There was a burning desire to reach those in our community that didn’t go to church anywhere. So we decided to give up something we love for something we love more. Along this journey I also discovered that I love what I do. I believe that being a pastor and leading people to a closer relationship with God is what I am supposed to be doing. Along this journey in the midst of God moving He got our attention again.

Heather became pregnant this past June. At the time we believed it was going to be twins. I remember looking at her while going up the stairs one day and saying to her “I think we need to start considering moving again”. Our thinking was with a growing family and the kids getting older that it would be a good time to start this process. So while on vacation we found a home builder and started the loan process.

Many of you know that the pregnancy did not take but we were still going forward with our plans. Again this is just based on a compulsion to do this. We still don’t have more to go on than that. Then when we were in Oklahoma for LifeChurch.tv’s December Event, Craig just happen to be talking on what was going on with our lives (not actually but you’ll see). Here is what happens often when God puts a calling on your life.

“And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,” Acts 20:22

We were discussing what happens when we are ‘bound’ by the spirit, as Paul put it, to do something. In the Greek ‘bound’ comes from the word ‘deo’ which means to bind as if with chains. It is this compulsion, or this undeniable urge that the Spirit puts into us to do something. Here’s a natural order that is found throughout scripture.

1. An undeniable urge by the Spirit of God to move.

2. As Craig lovingly calls the ‘Holy Oh Crap’ moment happens. As in you just stepped out of the boat like Peter did onto the raging see. A big step of faith.

3. You will hit a resistance stage:

· Either by demonic forces / they certainly don’t want you to succeed.

· By people in general when wants and visions collide.

· By God Himself. Sometimes God inhibits the process and you have to take a step back in order to see God’s movement in the whole thing.

4. Clarity. The dust settles and you can see why it is you were bound up in the first place. It is the arrival stage.

Heather and I truly believe this is what is happening to us. Phase 1 has happened a while back and is still going on. Phase 2 happened this summer when we decided to go ahead with this vision. We are in phase 3 right now because things have definitely not been smooth since we started this process. We are praying that phase 4 is around the corner. Please be in prayer with us about this move. We are waiting on God to show Himself in all of this. We would rather be with Him in the midst of a storm than sitting on the beach without Him.

I am wondering what has you bound all up today. Maybe you are on the other side of it. I would love to hear what you may be struggling with or what you found when the dust settled. Sorry to write so much but I promise when the dust settles we will let you know what was discovered.