Prayer Request for 3 days out – Vision and fruition of that Vision – Wow the countdown can’t get much smaller! The next couple of days’ countdowns should be interesting… Anyway, today’s prayer request is for continued unpacking of a larger vision I feel God placing on my heart and then to see it come to fruition in the next few years. I haven’t been able to share it on the blog yet and if you have heard me speak this summer you might have heard what is making me come alive, but I will give you a little tasting of it today!

For those of you that know me, I’m a “church guy”. That is a guy that loves the Bride of Christ and its many local expressions throughout the world. As I read the New Testament, I see the local church being the agent God is going to use to advance His Kingdom in this world. Thus, I’m a “church guy.” With that being said, I’ve wanted to be a pastor and church planter for some time, but I know that God is calling me to Prague with Athletes in Action for the next season of my life. And I’m so excited about that ! I’m committed to AIA and what we are doing. One of the things that excites me most about AIA in Czech is that we are about building the Czech church. That is part of our mission, that we would be a tool in the hand of God to see the Church increase and thrive in Czech and all of Europe.

With this being said, the vision God has been putting on my heart, mind, and soul in the last year is a church plant in Prague. A Czech speaking church plant (This is one of the reasons why this POST is so big for me. Preaching in Czech is a bit of a crazy thought!). A church that is “orthodox in theology but progressive in methodology.” The name of the church I’ve been toying with is Tram 51, which is a night tram that I have to take when the metro shuts down at midnight. Let’s just say the people that ride the night trams are very different than the people you see during the day. That is why this would be a church for the fringe, the marginalized, those who the world doesn’t give a chance to, and the broken! As I spent time on the night trams I thought, “This is where Jesus would be. He would be with these people.” That is where the Church needs to be! So ultimately, I feel I am returning to Prague with AIA to lay the foundations of this church plant within the facets of work I do (university students, American football players, and athletes), because the average Evangelical church in Czech doesn’t help these people thrive in the worlds they are in. I long to see them thrive and live missionally right where they are to see God advance the Kingdom in their spheres of influence.

I dream of this church being a missional community that exists for the glory of God and the good of their countrymen. Thus, as the main church hub is planted my dream is to plant many, many more churches in Prague that will create a network of missional churches that are seeking the transformation of Prague and Czech at large! A cool way of envisioning this is to use the night tram lines as a strategic grid of reaching the city. So we could have Tram 51||Dejvicka and then several stops down have Tram 51||Letenske Namesti and from there use it to plant this network of missional churches. (see map below) Because I believe if you reach Prague, you reach Czech, then you reach Slovakia, and if that is happening in the middle of Europe the sky is the limit as far as what God could do in reclaiming falling Europe (the number of Evangelical Christians in Europe is a staggering low 1.42%, according to the European Believers Report).

Beyond the Gospel being proclaimed audibly I dream of the Gospel being proclaimed by action and deed as well. This means I dream of the church reaching out to the homeless, the marginalized, the prostitutes, and the like through practical holistic ministries. Recently, I’ve had some really good conversations with men and women who have been excited about some of this. One of the biggest things that I would love to see, that is beyond the Church (that is the people of Christ) responding and getting passionate about this, is seeing space to do this ministry and God could be placing men and women around that could be major players in seeing this happen!

The last little bit of tasting I will give you is that I would love to see a Church Planting and Leadership Development Training Center to resource and train Europeans in Prague that would be a natural outflow of what God could be doing in Prague. Prague geographically is the ideal city to use as a hub to help the Church resurge in Europe.

So that is what I’m dreaming about. Like I said it is only a tasting. Some of you have been fortunate (or maybe unfortunate) to hear a bit more, but join me in praying that God would show up in this. It is far bigger than me. Much, much bigger than even a growing community of people. If God doesn’t show up in this it will surely fail. Thus I say, with Mark Batterson,

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.

I’m excited to see what God will do! It is God that will do this. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and also pray! Be a revolution today!

Prayer Request for 4 days out – Transition – It’s funny the last two years I’ve been back in the States I really have looked at what I am currently going through as old hat. I figured this move and transition would be just like my move and transition for STINT back in 2004. Wow was I wrong! This has been totally different from anything I know. Whether it was the movers coming last week to take my books and commentaries (amongst much more) or the fact that come next Tuesday I will sign a 3 year lease on a flat (apartment)! Very, very different… So today prayer request is for this transition. A Psalm that is hitting home right now in the midst of all of this is Psalm 63:8,

My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

I have been praying that as much of this is uncharted waters for me that my soul would cling to the Lord and that I would continually fall into His grace. Please join me in praying for this… Thank you for being in the fight with me! Your prayers are precious to me!

Prayer request for 5 days out from departure – Learning the Language. It is said that Czech is one of the most difficult languages in the world for American English speakers to learn, they are right! Please pray that as I get back and begin an intensive language school (I start the 10th, just six days after I get there) that God would show much favor and allow me to get the most out of this school. I’m not asking for an easy time, actually I know it will help in my sanctification process if its tough and I welcome that. I can’t help but think of Jesus’ disciples at Pentecost:

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?”

God allowed them and gave them the ability to speak the tongues (languages) of foreigners so that they could communicate the truth of the Gospel in the people’s heart language. With my heart being to plant churches in the Czech Language these words in Acts 2 move me. I long to be able to preach in the heart language of Czechs. Please pray that God would show me favor and maybe just maybe for an Acts 2 experience! Thanks for being in the fight with me!

Don’t forget about tonight if you are in Southern Wisconsin or Northern Illinois. We are having a Going Away Party tonight, Wednesday the 29th, from 6-8:30 pm at Sunset Park in Elkhorn, WI. Click HERE to get directions to the Park, we will be in the Lion’s Den pavilion. Come on out, eat some food (brats, burgers & cake), say “HI”, say “Bye” and bring some friends who might be interested in partnering with US to reach Prague, the Czech Rep. and Europe!

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Prayer Request of the day for 6 days left: Please pray that the seeds that were sown two years ago in guys’ hearts would bear fruit; even the seeds that have sat dormant in soil over the last two years! As I get ready to go back I have great expectations to see what God has done in my absence and what He will do with my return. My dream as of late has been that God would cause at least 10 of these seeds that were sown to bear fruit and that I would have 10 guys on my hands to disciple within a year. It’s a big dream and a big prayer but He can surely do it! Be a revolution today!

That’s right, just one more week left before I leave America and call Prague my home for what looks to be a long time! Please pray that God would bless this transition and move, that my remaining good byes would be sweet, that God would provide the rest of the finances needed (help out now click HERE for details) and that He would be going before me to make His name great through my life! Thanks for stopping by! Blessings…

My mother, took a huge step of faith and went to Africa on a medical mission trip recently and on her way through Amsterdam she picked up a copy of the USA Today and saved it for me because of an article on the front page entitled Euro-babies go from bust to boom. It immediately caught my because of the graph you see below.


Czech is on top! I don’t know what an 8.5% increase brings the rate to; it’s probably still low, but let’s be optimistic here! I was actually really excited to see this because the birth rates in Europe have been very scary in the last twenty years or so. The interesting thing in the article is that the main reason they site for this being alarming is that there are an extreme amount of Europeans nearing retirement and they don’t know how their pensions will be taken care of. Now this is important don’t get me wrong, but it is playing second fiddle to the bigger problem – the demise of European Culture. That sounds strong doesn’t it? It should. The birth rate for Europeans is so alarmingly low and the birth rates for Islamic immigrants is so high that the demise of the European culture seems as if it could be eminent.

Awhile back a friend posted an article from the Jerusalem Post entitled, Right on!: Say Goodbye to Europe. Here is an observation from the article,

If you ever wanted to see Paris or Rome before you die, but haven’t had a chance to do so, you might want to hurry. Soon enough, most of what we now think of as Western Europe will be transformed into a branch of the Muslim world, which is sure to make it an even less welcoming place for Americans, Israelis and for Jews.

Now that might be a bit strong as well, but it is a reality unless we continue to see birth rates increase amongst Europeans. Enter the Church. I really believe the local church needs to be revitalized in Europe to see the birth rates increase. Governments can try to offer as much incentives as possible, but let’s face it, having kids isn’t a priority to the average European. Heck marriage isn’t a priority for most younger Europeans. Why would it be? Thus the Church living missionally and living out a strong lifestyle of marriage and kids being on the heart of God and a blessing from Him is of the utmost of importance. I pray to the Lord that when the time comes for me to plant a church, get married and have kids (not necessarily in that order, well, kind of) over in Europe that my wife and I will take the lead and show the Czechs and Europeans we live amongst how great the Creation Mandate is!

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Is there any longer any question? Haha… I love it. I just had to. If you don’t know who Jack Bauer is you can begin your education HERE. 😉 UPDATE: Click HERE to see the Official Jack Bauer for President in 2008 “paid for by Bauer for President exploratory committee”. Too funny….