Guest Blog: J.R. Lee

I have had the privilege of serving in churches with many great people. J.R. Lee and Todd Lollis are two of them and they are following the call to plant a church in Acworth, GA. J.R. is serving as Lead Pastor, and I am so excited about what God is going to do through their ministry. I've asked J.R. to write a guest blog today just to give you a little insight into the vision that God has given them to reach Acworth and the surrounding area for Christ. I'm hoping that God will use this to put your heart and mind into a prayerful mode for FREEDOM CHURCH and help us to focus on our need to reach people where we are.

Writing on my own blog seems strange at times. Writing on someone else's seems even stranger.

I have always heard that church planting is the "extreme sport" of ministry. Now that we are fully engaged in the process - I agree! There are a million things I could write, but for now I will just simply try and communicate this...

A lot of people are "far" from God. In our city there are 108,000 people within a few miles of our house. 95,000 of them NEVER walk through the doors of a church. It is going to take all kinds of people and all kinds of churches to reach them. Whether you are at a "traditional" church or a "contemporary" church does not concern me. What concerns me are the churches that are not passionate about doing whatever it takes to reach the people who are disengaged.

Rather than isolating ourselves - let's consider it an incredible opportunity to live, work, and/or go to school with people who are far from God. God has us where we are for a reason. Whether a church planter, worship pastor, business person, construction worker, stay at home mom, or student - let's partner together to reach our communities.

Effectively reaching people is a messy process. Jesus gave his life to reach people. So should we...

J.R. Lee
Lead Pastor
www.freedomlive.net