Okay, I’ll admit it, that headline is total ‘click bait’! But, the truth is our home will indeed go up for sale in just a few short days. It’s not because we need a new home, or quite frankly that we were looking to buy a new home, or that we are trying to upgrade to ‘keep up with the Joneses’. In reality, a home with some significant land came available and after much prayer, counsel, and budget crunching we made an offer, and our offer was accepted. The home is still in the area, and no we are in no way desiring, planning, or looking to leave Friendship Church. Now, I know a lot of you will have questions, so to save me having to repeat the same answers over and over again here is a little FAQ I put together for you:

• So, why did you guys decide you wanted to move?
  • Well, we really had no plans whatsoever to move, this has really come out of the blue at us, and this whole process has taken less than a month! One of Traci and my dreams has been to be able to provide a safe place for pastor’s and their wives to get outside the fishbowl of ministry, and allow them a quiet place to relax, heal, and refresh. This home comes with quite a few acres of land all set within the woods, which is an ideal location to someday be able to provide this type of place for pastors and their wives.
• How in the world are you able to do something like this so quickly?
  • We don’t know how quickly it will actually be, because our home needs to sell first. But, I can tell you that one of the reasons we can do this and make this type of a move, even with a daughter in college is because we have followed Biblically sound financial advice, including that of Dave Ramsey and FPU. This has given us a lot of financial flexibility to be able to do something like this. As good ole Dave says, “Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later!” For us this is a part of the ‘later’!
• So, is this a done deal, when are you guys moving in?
  • It’s only a done deal if our house sells…anyone interested?
• Is this going to change anything in your relationship and connection to Friendship?
  • No, none whatsoever. We will still be on the Southside, and my ‘commute’ will still be shorter than about 80% of the people at Friendship.
• Can we tell our friends about your house, I think they might be interested?
  • Please do, here in the next few days we will post the listing on Facebook and Twitter, you can go ahead and shoot your friends the listing. If you are personally interested just shoot us an e-mail and we will set up a private showing for you.
• Can we come and help you pack up all of your boxes and help you move things that will likely cause my back to go out?
  • Okay, I’m pretty sure no one is going to ask that!
• Can we look through the pictures in the listing and get a sneak peak at what a pastors home really looks like, or better yet ask for a showing so we can walk through and look in all your cupboards?
  • You can print off the pictures for all I care, and if you’re genuinely interested in buying our home, you can peek in every cabinet and cupboard during your showing! You won’t find anything all that special, like secret prayer closets or the Ark of the Covenant figurines, but you’ll find quite a few guns…oh and no cats.

Wrapping up, I’d like to ask you to pray for us. As excited as we are about the possibility, it’s also pretty scary. Our intention was to stay in this house until, well probably until after we retired! We had no plans to move, but God always has bigger and better plans, if we are willing to wait for them. Again, this may not happen as our house may not sell, but everything we are hearing at this point is indicating that it will. So, if you’ll pray that God will continue to lead us by either opening or shutting doors, and that if this is his perfect will that our house would sell quickly so that we can begin this new and very unexpected season in our lives.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

The Crandall Clan…and Daisy (Traci’s little white dog) too!

Over the last 18 months my beautiful bride and I have experienced some pretty big life events:

• June of 2014 we celebrated 20 years of marriage
• October of 2014 we celebrated 10 years at Friendship Church
• January of 2015 we celebrated 20 years of full-time, pastoral ministry
• March of 2015 daughter numero uno turned 18
• May of 2015 same daughter graduated
• July of 2015 I signed my life away to begin the building of Friendship Church’s new facility, to launch the next phase of our church
• August of 2015 my parents celebrated 50 years of marriage
• September of 2015 eldest daughter struck again and started college

If reading through this list makes you tired, just think how we feel…BLESSED! That’s the word I choose because even though it’s been a hectic, crazy, tilt-a-whirl year and a half there’s not a single one of those that I’d trade for anything. It would be easy for us to look at that and feel overwhelmed, stressed, run-down, worn-out, you name it, but what would that accomplish? It wouldn’t slow anything down, it would stop the world from spinning, and it certainly wouldn’t help us deal with the changes any more effectively. But, if we choose to see these moments and events as blessings, as a part of the process of growing up, we can smile, maybe a few tears of joy, but mostly smile.

One of the things I’ve learned over the years, or rather God has beaten into my stubborn soul, is that how we look at things will change the way we react to things, and even change the very emotions we feel about things. I’m reminded of David’s beautiful prayer of thankfulness to his Shepherd, “EVEN THOUGH I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil.”

You see more often than not our prayer is, “God please remove me from this situation!” not “God help me see the blessing in this situation!” But, maybe, just maybe, God’s plan for you is NOT to remove you from the situation, but to remove your anxiety about the situation from you! After all, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power…”

See it differently and enjoy the ride my friends!

Dave

(The following is written with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek)

Today, I’d like to share with you 8 ways that you can develop an unthankful and unappreciative spirit, so that all of those who lead you, mentor you, and invest in you will be wounded by your callous disregard. If you’re ready to excel above the rest of the class, pay attention carefully and see if you are doing everything necessary to become all that you can’t be!

1. Allow them to invest hours and hours into you and your life, take your frustrations out on them, blame them for things they did not do, and when you realize it was really all your problem the whole time…act as if nothing happened!
2. Plead with them to take time out of their schedule to meet with you and them just minutes before cancel…or better yet, don’t show up at all!
3. If you do decide to show up, make sure that you don’t do anything they’ve counseled you to do. And then several months later ask them to meet with you again.
4. Always be telling the person who is working with you, how great every other mentor/coach/leader is, but make sure to never compliment or build them up (this is especially important on social media)!
5. After someone has poured into your life, helped you deal with all of your crap, and got your feet under you again, make sure to always exclude them from any fun social gatherings…I mean that would just be awkward!
6. Never share with anyone how this person helped you, and certainly don’t celebrate the impact they’ve made in your life. You don’t want them to get a big head after all!
7. Take every opportunity to make fun at their expense, their a big boy/girl they can take it! Oh, and make sure to bring others along, it’s always better when there’s more people involved.
8. Get all of the training you can from them, get all of your rough edges sanded off, allow them to suffer through all of your growing pains, and just when you’re really starting to become something, abandon ship to something ‘better’ and leave them hanging.

In over 20 years of leadership, primarily in church settings, I can say that I’ve had each of these done to me on more than one occasion, and every time it hurts. When you pour yourself into someone and then you’re either unappreciated or feel taken for granted it’s a scar that doesn’t easily heal. I’m sure some of the super-spiritual out there will say, “Well, aren’t you supposed to be doing it for God?”. To them I say, “Go suck on a pickle!!!” God made us to crave human interaction, yes, of course we do what we do for HIM and HIM alone, but it doesn’t make the pain any less real.

The Bible clearly tells us to Honor our leaders, whatever form they may be in. Part of honoring is showing gratitude, appreciation, and thankfulness. When was the last time you told your boss, your leader, your mentor or coach that they made a difference in your life. That if it weren’t for them stepping in, you wouldn’t know where you’d be today. Take time this week to make them feel special and important…because they are! Maybe do a few of these 8 things:

1. Deeply, meaningfully apologize. Thank them profusely for being willing to put up with you and help you through.
2. When they take time out of their schedule to meet with you, move heaven and earth make it there, honor their time and their family.
3. If you thought they were important enough to meet with, heed their counsel, God’s probably trying to tell you something. Then meet with them afterwards to let them know how their counsel worked and changed your life.
4. Always be telling the person who works with you what a privilege it is for you. Tell everyone around you and especially others on social media what a great leader, friend, etc… they are for you.
5. If someone has poured into your life, helped you deal with all of your crap, and got your feet under you again, you better make sure to include them in the good times too!
6. When you share your story, give them credit, in fact lavish it on them, they won’t get a big head, they’ll be humbled to have been used by God in such a way.
7. Take every opportunity to praise them, never take cheap shots, and don’t let anyone else take them either.
8. Soak up everything you can from them, get all of those rough edges sanded off, then take your talents and leverage them to help them accomplish their mission!

Dave

Wow, talk about making your head spin! After being in the ‘hurry up and wait’ mode for the last couple of years things, the MOMENTUM is really starting to roll. Over the last month this is what’s happened:

• Loan package approved and signed
• Current mortgage paid off
• Permits applied for and received
• Massive hole for new sewer connection made and filled in
• Asphalt cut and prepped for running the new sewer line
• Playground relocation contractor chosen and date secured
• And a whole bunch of yellow and orange is starting to show up on the property

…and once you’ve caught your breath get ready to see dirt start moving any day now! The time that we have been planning, praying, and giving towards for almost two years is finally here…I can officially say we are building!!!

With all of the excitement I must try to remain calm, but holy cow this has been a tough haul! To see it actually becoming reality is nothing less than electric for me, and I hope for many of you. Now, this doesn’t mean we can all just sit back and relax, just the opposite actually. We all need to be praying harder than we have ever prayed before for God’s hand of blessing and protection to be over this project. Our banker, who is a very strong Christian and has financed countless church projects literally said,

“This has been one of the most spiritually opposed projects I have ever been a part of. The enemy (Satan) doesn’t want you guys doing this…that must mean you are doing something right!”

I know that many of you have experienced spiritual opposition in your lives as well, sometimes even coming in the form of someone who was a friend or a family member, but you have remained faithful and now you are beginning to see God move in your lives, families, jobs, and marriages like never before. God’s promises are certain, his plans are perfect, and his timing is flawless…what an awesome God we serve!

The giving part of the project currently sits at 70%, leaving about $180,000 of pledges yet to be received. That amount is almost the exact amount of our need to complete the parts of the project that are not covered by our new loan. These items are ‘by owner’ and called the FFE Budget or Furniture Fixtures and Equipment. This money pays for such essential items as:

• Sound System in the new auditorium
• Additional Chairs in the auditorium (to save costs we will reuse current chairs mixed in with others)
• New furniture for foyer and sitting areas
• Stage Lighting
• Landscaping
• Alarm System (burglary & fire)
• Communications
• Playground Relocation
• Interior Redesign of current building

So, as you can see that last $180,000 is pretty important stuff. So, for those of you who have been giving, thank you and keep up the good work! For those of you who are new and haven’t joined in yet, why don’t you start this month to help us finish up, you can get all the information on the project at FriendshipMOMENTUM.com. You can also make a one time or recurring gift right here: Friendship Church Giving Portal or you can always give on Sundays through the offering or at the Connection Center.

Thanks so much everyone, and get strapped, in because the MOMENTUM is ready to cut loose!
Dave

Psst, here’s a look at the schematics in case you forgot…

Last night, May 27th, we gave an update on our MOMENTUM Project, a topic of fairly regular conversation here. In that update I gave some information regarding what has been going on and what is happening next. To get a little more context look back at my article “So What’s Going On With The Building Project”.

Here is a very brief and abbreviated overview from last night (bullet point style):

• In order to get sufficient financing we needed to cut about a million total dollars from the project, or be willing to wait another year. We cannot, based upon our numbers, afford to wait another year, so we began in March the process of looking at what we could do and get financed.
• We decided to go with a smaller building to the North side (side closest to Worthsville) that would address all five of our chokepoints of momentum:
  1. Children’s Space (essentially our entire current building will become kids space)
  2. Parking Space (we will be able to at least double our parking space and more if financially able)
  3. Auditorium Space (we will be able to double our capacity from 230 to 450 seats)
  4. Office Space (as most of you know only Jamie and Jessica currently have offices at the church, this plan will allow the entire staff to be back in one location)
  5. Student Ministry Space (One half of our current auditorium will become to our Ignite and RIOT ministries)
• We already have a bank that has given us a letter of commitment for a loan and will be working to find the best funding partner.
• 65% of the MOMENTUM giving has come in, to be able to fully complete this project we will need everyone following through on their commitments. If you need a few extra months to complete your commitment please let us know.
• 1st Quarter Giving Statements have been printed, but were delayed going out because I was working so hard on trying to get all of this completed. If you would like to see where you are in your regular and MOMENTUM giving, they will be available for pick up this Sunday morning. 2nd Quarter statements will go out on time, I apologize for the inconvenience!
• Since 2010 Friendship has grown by 170% (138 – 381) in attendance and 130% in giving, God is blessing like crazy!

That is certainly not the same thing as having been there last night, but at least that should give you a pretty good idea of what was discussed. If everything goes as planned (I know I just hate even saying that out loud!) we should be in the building in late February of 2016 and celebrate our ‘grand opening’ on Easter next year. So, here are a couple of things that you can be praying for:

• That all of our financing comes through quickly with no delays and the best pricing available.
• That we have no more surprises that end up jacking up costs.
• That we have great weather that will allow us to move very quickly on every phase of the project.
• That all of the MOMENTUM commitments come in therefore enabling us to do everything necessary for the project.
• That once the doors are open and the road is finished that God continues to bless us and this new building is filled up with people who have experienced the life changing reality of Jesus Christ through Friendship!

Dave

BTW, here is a rough sketch of the building, I know it’s not very big, but it’s the best I have right now. We will update and upgrade as available:

Wow! Here’s what I am struggling to grasp: Why in the world are we seeing so many of these types of ‘protests’ all over our  country these days? Sure, a significant part of it is ginned up by political operatives and race-baiting profiteers who want to line their own pockets. But, let’s be honest, for this type of thing to happen multiple times in different locations across the nation there has to be something systemically wrong in our country and specifically in our urban communities.

Now, I am no politician (thank God!) nor am I a philosopher, but I am both a preacher of the truth and a student of the human condition. So, my thoughts on this are based in those two things, the truth of the Word of God brought to bear on hurt within the human condition. Here are the systemic problems I see:

Lack of leadership: John Maxwell wisely once said, “Everything rises and falls on leadership, everything.” It’s tempting to qualify that statement and say, “Well, almost everything, but not EVERYTHING!”. But, think about the course of human history, even in the midst of humanities darkest, most desperate moments, great leadership was transcendent. The problem is we have far to many people who want the power of ‘leadership’ but abandon the responsibility that it takes to be a real leader.

If a king is fair, he makes his country strong,
but if he takes gifts dishonestly, he tears his country down. – Prov 29:4 NCV

Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers. – Prov 11:14 NLT

Unclear Vision: Vision is a picture of what the future could be and should be. In far to many of our urban and even suburban areas there is no vision or at best cloudy vision of what the future holds. Vision provides hope, it gives a reason for working hard, it tells us that better days are ahead. Today we are being told by some of our ‘leaders’ that this is as good as it’s ever going to get, this is just reality. Many of our urban citizens (regardless of ethnicity) wake up everyday with no hope in their hearts, no dreams for the future. When the most lucrative future for young men is to join a gang, sell drugs, or simply become a thug of some sort…there is no hope!

Where there is no vision a people perish. – Prov 29:18 KJV

Rampant Abuse: In our world abuse has become as commonplace as fast-food restaurants. I know that many of these ‘protests’ are blamed on police abuse, and there may be some of that for sure, as authority unchecked is often authority abused. But, humanity as a whole has an unbelievable propensity for evil against other human beings. Just look at the amount of physically abused women, children, and elderly that we see all of the time. How about the rampant sexual abuse, don’t believe it? Ask yourself when was the last time you were ‘shocked’ to hear that a teacher had sex with one of her students. Exactly, something that was preposterous just a decade or so ago has become so common that when we hear it we shake our heads and roll our eyes, but that is about it. When the value of another human being is weighted only by the usefulness they provide to another we are in a dangerous place.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves – Phi 2:3 NIV

Familial Decay: When I saw this video today http://abc7news.com/video/embed/?pid=684859 (warning: it does have some ‘bleeped’ out language) I was both thankful and dismayed. Thankful because a mom cared for her son so much that she would go to any lengths to keep him from making a potentially life shattering decision. Dismayed because I saw no father alongside her. Now, it may have been that the dad was at work, but more often than not we see that adult males (I refuse to call them Men) simply refuse to live up to their responsibilities of being a husband and father, abandoning the mother of their children and their children. The only male role models they have are the adult males in their neighborhood who live off of others, profit from others addictions, or are held captive by their own demons. Fathers are just as essential as Mothers!

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. – Prov 1:8 NIV

Maybe your initial reaction to all of this is anger, can I challenge you on that? Maybe instead of anger or disgust, you take a minute and ask God to give you some perspective. Now, don’t for a moment think that I condone or in some twisted way believe that the violence is in any way justified, it’s not. In fact, it’s sin. But as Paul says;

God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. – Rom 5:20

Instead let’s ask ourselves some hard questions. How can we lead better, what can we do to give vision/hope, how can we help the abused heal and the abusers reform, and what can we do to rebuild the family? You see I believe that it’s easy to criticize, but it’s far harder to critically think about how you can make a difference.

Just my two cents,

Dave

So, I have a confession to make, I love superhero movies! In fact, I have passed on my love of tough guys/gals and the battle against evil to both of my daughters (and I am slowly pulling my wife in as well)! Part of my love for superheroes began when I was only a child visiting my grandparents lake house, and I discovered a cash of comic books that my uncle’s had left decades earlier. On rainy days I would read through the adventures of Captain America, Sgt. Fury, The Green Berets, Superman, Spider Man, The Flash…well you get the picture. There were probably over 100 old comics and I read each of them many, many times. As a young boy with three sisters, these stories ‘spoke’ to my inner adventurer, they stoked the flames of bold decisive action, fights against overwhelming odds, and victory even when defeat seemed imminent! They served as my escape from the dolls, dresses, and drama.

Several years ago when Marvel began the rebirth of superhero flicks, I became, well ecstatic! With the advances in CGI and video I knew that this new generation of films would bring some of my old favorites to life like never before, and along with millions of others, I wasn’t disappointed. These movies have made billions of dollars and literally create a feeding frenzy whenever the newest one is set to come out…WHY? I mean, really ask yourself why? Besides the cool graphics, what really draws people to the movies. If you think about it, only a handful of the actors are really well known, often times the story lines are somewhat predictable (evil has big victory, good seems almost defeated, miraculous effort by one good inspires other good, good wins the day, evil gets what’s coming to them), but people still flock to watch every installment…why?

The answer is certainly multi-faceted, and if I were a psychologist I could probably write a book or two on it diving deeply into the psyche of the human mind (many have btw…yawn), but I like to keep things simple! I believe that we love superheroes because they represent things and do things that we wish we could do and get away with. Such as, confront evil head on and take it out. We long to be able to ‘tell off’ the person who is causing us and those we love problems, but we are either too scared to do so or we fear what the repercussions may be. We long to be able to have abilities that overcome our problems instead of feeling trapped by them. We wish we could have a secret identity to do what needs to be done without it all coming back on us, and we long for adventure, even danger in our daily routine.

Now, I know that at this point you are expecting me to throw some Bible verses at you telling you how Jesus is far more than a superhero, which is WAY beyond truth, but I think you already know that. And, I’m going to assume that if you know that, you more than likely also ‘KNOW’ Him, so let me tell you something about yourself, or rather let God tell you something about yourself:

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? …No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. – Romans 8:28-31,37 NLT

You may not be a superhero, but here is what God says you are:

• Loved
• Called
• Known
• Chosen
• Son/Daughter
• Positioned
• Glorified
• Victorious

Personally, I think that’s way better than being a superhero! But, I’m still pretty pumped about the next one coming out on May 1st, what can I say, I’m hooked.

Live strong today,

Dave

This is a question that I have been asked a few times recently, so I thought it would be good to put my answer down here so that those of you who have thought of asking it, but just haven’t had the chance can here it first hand as well.

First, as you all know we have accomplished several things so far:

• A complete survey, sampling, and analysis of the property to prove that the site is safe and buildable
• The complete reconstruction of the drive through
• The exterior work on our current building
• Repaving and widening of Emerson Rd (this was in cooperation with the Arbor Homes subdivision across the street), yes we did that, the City of Greenwood required it as a stipulation to building
• Reconstruct all of the drainage ditches and water runoff areas
• Expansion of the Infant Nursery
• Began the expansion and moving of the pond
  • This part has been sporadic because of the rainfall and the wetness of the ground. Part of the process is building up the pad for the building with the dirt that will be removed, and wet dirt does not lead to solid compaction. So, pray for a dry spell so that this work can be finished.

All of this has been paid for with cash on hand, and has not required us to get any type of loan. However, we have been working diligently over the last 12+ months in getting ready for this next phase where a substantial loan would be necessary.

In fact, before we even began the MOMENTUM process we sat down with several financial people and presented our numbers (attendance, giving, childcare income) and we were told that our finances looked great, and that getting a loan for the size we were talking would not be difficult at all, especially given all the growth opportunities around us. So, our plan was to get the loan at the outset and then do everything at once, but as we began that process we were made aware that our financial books needed some significant work so that they were ‘bank ready’. At that point we hired an accounting firm to come in and work with us on getting everything set up, and actually go back a couple of years to make sure everything was up to speed.

This process started last Spring and just wrapped up in late 2014. We certainly did not want to move forward with any major financial obligations without making sure that everything was accounted for down to the last nickel. We now have pristine looking, bank approved financial books that will help us do an even better job of stewarding all of the resources that God so generously blesses us with through your faithful giving.

As 2014 was wrapping up we felt confident to allow the firm, who was working with the banks on our behalf, to re-engage the banks with our loan package. We began to receive responses from the banks in February, and continued until late March. Although their responses were enthusiastic, and positive regarding our financial position, they all want to see another 9-12 months of this trend before they are willing to consider it. In laymen’s terms, the banks want to see 24-36 months of what we have experienced over the last 18 months financially before they are willing to even consider giving us the full loan amount.

This of course puts us in a difficult position. If we wait another 9-12 months and then re-engage the banks there is no guarantee that even at that point they will approve the loan, but if they did, that would mean it will be almost 2 years from now before we could get into the building. At the rate of growth we are currently experiencing we just don’t have that much time. Not to mention what will happen once Worthsville Rd is opened back up…whenever that may be! So, needless to say the Elders and I have been praying, talking with people who know more than we do, and meeting together to try and determine what our best course of action will be.

Here is what I can tell you with absolute certainty; this whole process began because we wanted to see more people and families experience the life changing reality of Jesus Christ; because we believe that God is far from done using Friendship as an effective and influential church; and we don’t want a building, or lack of one, to hinder the MOMENTUM that God is building. All of those things are still true today, and I’m still committed to seeing God do great things through us, the only question is how that will look given some of the hurdles that we are currently experiencing.

So, two things: First, as we get more information we will set up a time to bring the entire body into the conversation for what we should do next. Second, be praying for God to give all of us an intensely clear direction and protect us from moving out of His plan.

I’m not exactly sure what God has up his sleeve…but I’m pretty excited about it!!!