Journey of Shawn Peoples' Walk in Grace!

It is no secret that we are looking for people to join us in Hawaii to start this church in Kapolei. I am still stuck on the struggle of people saying yes. For many years I would tell God yes, but then wait for Him to do certain things before I obeyed. Many times, I did not even check with Him before doing ministry. I now realize how easy it is not to be intimate with Christ and still do ministry. For many years I lived this way, not relying on what He was doing in me, but relying on what I knew to minister. At first, it was hard to go back to intimacy with Christ. I had become so reliant on me that I forgot what it was to rely on Him. Now, I cannot go a day without His work in my life. Many times I have realized that I have not enjoyed God's provision when I was not where God wanted me. How could I rely on Him, when I was not being obedient? I did not rely on Him because I was not where He wanted me to be. Intimacy brings us to that place where He pours out His Spirit and shows

As I sit here in Memphis, I realized that it has been a month and a half since I had written. Tons of things have happened since my last writing. First, we have decided to move our area in which we are planting. We are moving to a town called Kapolei. Kapolei did not exist 10 years ago. Today, well over 30,000 people live in this area. In the next 10 years, 12,000 more houses will go in and the University of Hawaii is moving half of their current campus to this area. The state and local governments are also moving their offices to Kapolei. Because of all the movement, they call Kapolei "The Second City". This area is growing with all ethnicities and is growing rapidly. We are going to plant a church right in the middle of it. We feel very confident about this being the area where God wants us. We had felt a wall in Kaneohe and could never find peace about going there. But now that we have turned to this area, a greater excitement has come into our lives. We are currently wa

It has been 7 months since Michelle and I surrendered to the Lord's invitation to Hawaii. Wow, time has flown and we see more and more how God is stretching us. Right now it feels like the quiet before the storm. I feel twice as busy, with tons of things to do. However, it still feels like we are not into the big things yet. Before I know it, I will be packing this house up (when it sells), taking my children to Memphis for the last time in a long time and putting my family on a plane to begin our lives in Hawaii. Although the time is flying, there have been times where I have been tempted to be discouraged. There is so much uncertainty around us and it seems that our move is still far off. This can be discouraging, especially since my role at the church is lessen incredibly since Judgement House is over. It is tempting to get in a lull and mope about waiting on the Lord to move in mighty ways to sell our house, raise our funding and get us debt free. But I also see that this is a

Thank you for everyone who has been praying for us. The last few weeks have been incredibly busy. We have just finished with Judgement House at Urbancrest and saw 114 people turn to Jesus for the first time. Michelle and I are working through Launch to get ready. This week and next we will begin to send out letters to those we are connected with to raise prayer support and financial support. Michelle and I head to Lynchburg Va in November to hopefully be approved for funding through Liberty Baptist Church Planting Network. We seemed to be approved through NAMB and are waiting on the figure they are going to support us with. We are also waiting for Urbancrest to work through their 2012 budget. In the next few weeks I will be meeting with Pastors that might lead their churches to support us financially. I have been praying for 10 churches giving an average of $400 each. I have had some great opportunities to share our vision with several different churches and have seen several of these

As of this evening, everyone has probably heard that Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. and an incredible inventor has passed into eternity. Though most of us do not know where Steve Jobs is spending eternity, this is not the reason for this writing. In Steve Jobs I have seen the finger print of Our Creator which is in everyone. I admire Steve Jobs not only for the incredible technology and products that have been a help to have, but for one statement he made several years ago. In addressing Apple Inc., Mr Jobs made it very clear that he did not want his product used for pornography. In response, Apple has limited app creators from making XXX apps and has limited the sale of those type of apps. Though there is some apps that are porn in the Apple line up, it amazes me that a man that did not openly declare Christ as his savior but fights against one of the biggest destroyers of men and families. I have had an admiration for Mr. Jobs since he said what he did. Like many of you, I did

Well, this week has been a tough week. We enjoyed our time in PA with the Henz's and Community Fellowship during their Global Awakening weekend. Unfortunately, Haleigh lost her favorite stuffed animal named Ernie when we left. Fortunately, Ray went to the hotel and found it. Wheeewwww. We had exactly 12 hours to relax when we got home before Michelle and I traveled to Kettering Hospital for my surgery. Now after 3 days, I am still sore and a little tired. It has been hard to get motivated these past few days. I have been in and out of sleeping on the couch in the basement and did not get anything done that I wanted to get done. This weekend, we will begin working on letters to send out for support. We need to get some printing done this next week to get those letters out and need to begin to work on our website to give people a glimpse of what we will be doing while starting up the church in Hawaii. So this next week will be incredibly busy. On a different note, pray for Harlan a

Well, it has been an interesting couple of days here in Hawaii. The enemy put on a full court pressure to get me to tell God no to Hawaii. However, we have fought thru and believe that the invitation is still there. I am amazed at how God is working and what He might do this our church plant. There is a young lady named Ariana that has lead most of her family to Jesus and shared with me that her family wants a church closer to Kaneohe. We are still praying whether to start in Kaneohe or Kailua. So we will put this to God and see what happens. We head home tonight and are looking forward to seeing our kids. I am not looking forward to the drive from Little Rock to Memphis when we land and then Memphis to Ohio on Wednesday. I hope jet-lag doesn't set in until Thursday for me. Then we head to Pennsylvania either Friday or Saturday for a Global impact Celebration. Then home Monday and surgery on Tuesday. I'm ready for October to be here. Thanks for praying for us, keep praying as

Last night we had an opportunity to join Harlan in his Friday night tutoring and bible study. I got to share from John 17:3 about eternal life being defined by our knowing God. At the end of the study, 6 Chuukese students turned from their sin and turned to Jesus. After eating with the rest of the group, two gang members approached me with the question how do I go to heaven. One said that he knew he needed to become a Christian but didn't know how. After about 30 minutes of questions and answers, they both surrendered to Jesus. I remember just before they prayed, I asked both of them what is worth going to hell for? What they did not want God to take away from them? One answered "his boys". I think we see gangs as this dangerous group of young men who will bust a cap in you the moment you come around their turf. However, it is really a group of boys who are needing community. There is strength in numbers and these boys find strength in being together. After both of the bo

For most of you when you read this it is still morning here in Hawaii. The Father has been so good to me this morning. Several people have sent us encouragement and given us scriptures that have thrilled my heart. Isaiah 26:3 has been on my heart since Tim Wheat shared it with me through Twitter last night. This morning a song is my theme. Tedashii's "Make War" is where I am this AM. Continue to pray for us today as we war against selfishness, sin and Satan. Here are the lyrics: [Intro: John Piper] I hear so many Christians, murmuring about their imperfections, And their failures, and their addiction, and their shortcomings. And I see so little war! Murmur, murmur, murmur. Why am I this way? Make war! [Verse 1: Tedashii] Bang with me, ba-bang bang, ba-bang with me No more playing games mane Cause this thang can get risky So mane if you into Christ, Take up!! your cross quickly Stand fearless on the front-line Time to come with it, do the right thing Wake up!! And let

Michelle and I are currently in Hawaii. As we have driving around today, I have been reminded by the enemy how impossible it is for me to insert my life back into Hawaii and reach people bringing them to a relationship with Christ. I have been fighting all night and day with being overwhelmed with how much I cannot do. As we drive around Kaneohe ad Kailua, I see that I don't know this place much anymore. Things have changed and I am not a local kid. The enemy used a good friend to discourage me today. He asked the question whether anyone coming with us had a seminary degree. This always reminds me that I don't have a degree and that I am not qualified (by man's terms) to lead a church. It has been a rough day. I have never felt so out of place here in Hawaii. So as I write, I want to let you know what the enemy has done to me today, not to question what God has invited us to, but to get desperate with me and beg God for some clarity and for us to see where in these towns He

It has been a little while since I last wrote. I spent my last week as the Youth Pastor at Urbancrest Baptist Church last week. I thought I would be a little emotional when finishing my last week, but I found myself calm and reserved (maybe that was the emotional, for most of you that know me I am not reserved). I have a great excitement for our students and Aaron Taylor, their new leader. I have come to admire him and do feel he will be a much better leader than I was, which is exactly what is needed right now for our students. But enough about that, here is what is going on in our world. Michelle and I are headed to Hawaii wednesday with a couple of friends. One of those, Allie Kappes, is giving up a year of her life to work with Harlan Nakasome and the Chuukese people on Oahu. Allie decided right after our last trip there to spend a year as a missionary. While there, Michelle and I will be looking for opportunities to meet people and see where God is working. We are praying that G

Hello readers of this blog. I wanted to give you a quick update on the church plant and our journey. We are beginning the fund raising process. I will be sending out letters in the next two weeks to friends, family and churches I have been connected with. We have been incredibly busy trying to get the house sold. There is a ton of painting left and hopefully it will be done this weekend. I have had to make some hard decisions about what I am going to do with my time. Since the church start is where we are going, I decided (through God's prompting) to stop schooling for a while. This will allow me to finish tasks on time and not feel so overwhelmed. Michelle and I are headed to Hawaii for a week in September to look at housing, meet partners, pray over the two towns that will be affected and show some friends Hawaii as they pray about joining this journey. Michelle and I then head to PA for a missions conference. September is going to be a busy month. Please pray for support partner

I know you are wondering why I titled this Marinate ... not Microwave. For the past three weeks this is what I am hearing in my soul. God is doing some incredible surgery on my heart and is revealing the selfishness I have lived in for so many years. I do love to see the Lord work, I just want Him to do it now! That is the issue of sin that is being removed out of my life. At our Launch Network assessment, we were told to enjoy the journey. Well, anyone that knows me knows that I hate driving, I would rather have a machine that zaps me to the place of destination. Time Machines need to hurry up and get here ...  sorry, just my microwave heart showing up. The only thing I marinate is a steak and most of the time I have the heat too high to cook it so that the best flavor comes out. If I could, I would microwave that sucker. However, this is not the journey that God has me on. I have been reminded that I cannot take anyone where I have not been as their pastor. So the Lord's process

Desperation ... it is a place I don't like to be a lot. It usually means that I have failed or can't figure it out. Overwhelmed ... the word that I am using a lot these days. Inadequate ...  what I feel about myself in this journey with God. If I were not a King's kid, I would be in big trouble. However, I am reluctantly realizing these are great places to be in this journey with God. If I could accomplish what God is going to accomplish, I would not need Him and He would not get the glory or people drawn to Him. I have been reminded that I am in the middle of a God sized task and I can't do any of it. Desperation has begun to surface. This is when I see my need for Him the most. I am beginning to be desperate in some areas I need answers. I see that when others in the history of God's people were desperate, they would do anything to see God work. I am getting there! I am overwhelmed. I have way too much to do and to little time to do it. I also am feeling overwhe

Well I believe we have suffered the first major blow in this journey. I was on a call of encouragement yesterday to one of my friends who leads a church and he was telling me how they are hurting financially. I tried to encourage him and remind him of who we serve. Then it hit me, his church was going to sponsor us $1000 a month. As we talked more, I realized that they would not be able to join us in this journey as a sponsor church. God was gracious to both of us and we had a sweet time in prayer over the phone. However, I left that conversation heavy hearted because of his discouragement and now the lack of funding. This is a big blow for us, but not one that I worry about this morning as I write. Last night was a different story, but God has been so good to us in this journey. Last week, we were given a promised gift of $5000 to go against our debt. That same week, we sold a bunch of big items which allowed us to pay the credit card bill on our assessment trip to Vegas. We also were

Well, it has been two weeks since I last updated and life has been extremely busy since then. Yesterday some of our youth ministry team got back from an incredible week of Emerge, our missions camp that we have joined First Baptist Kettering in. It was probably the last youth camp I will do with Urbancrest and was probably the last time I lead worship with the band that the Lord has allowed me to be friends with for the last four years. God was and is so good to us. I thought I would never be able to experience a Passion Conference style worship service as a worship leader (they are intense and the Spirit of our Lord is so present), but I was wrong. God did the most incredible things during our time of singing and response to His Word. Over twenty students put their YES on the table to go wherever Jesus sent them. Our students lead 22 people to Christ and the singing was so loud on our last night together that I could hear them over my monitors and me; that's saying a lot since I a

I would like to formerly thank and introduce Tanya and Eric Landess to our team. Tanya is going to help me get the word out here in Ohio. I am still trying to convince her and then Eric to move to Hawaii with us, but don't tell them yet. Tanya is going to help me fundraise and also be a communication piece. She has set up an email for anyone to contact the church plant. It is gracecommunityhawaii@gmail.com. If any of you have questions concerning the church or are praying about supporting this work, this will be the best way of getting ahold of us. Also, if you want to be communicated with about prayer requests, this will be the email we use on our prayer list. Tanya and I will be checking the email and will respond. So an answer to my personal prayer has been answered. Someone that is very organized and very connected with the world has joined our team and is coming alongside of us and sending us off well. Thanks Tanya and Eric. Oh, you may ask how Eric is part of the team. Well,

Okay, I said you would know the color, however I am stuck in a place not to lord it over those couples that I have become aquianted with that might not be approved through Launch. So I will just say that the Lord has greatly affirmed through Launch that we are planting a church in Hawaii. If you need to know the color, you can: email me, call me, text me, facebook me, message me on twitter or just send me a note through the mail. Other than that, I am off to teach Galatians 2 to a bunch of hungry students (probably for taco night and the word together). I will try and update this weekend. Shawn

One reminder we had last week that I have had a hard time grasping is "I am called to intimacy with Christ, not ministry. Ministry is the overflow of my intimacy with Him". Vance Pitman spoke so clearly on this subject. I often forget this and get ministry ahead of my intimacy. Today was about to be one of those days until God's Spirit intervened. I am thankful for a God who loves me so much that I can call Him Daddy, because He is my Daddy. I think this is an aspect of God we forget to concentrate on, His fatherhood on our lives. We talk about God being Lord, but we forget the intimacy that we have with our Daddy. I hope that does not offend you, calling Him Daddy. My children call me this often and I get to receive this name because our Father wears it well over me. I am honored to be called daddy because of the joy of being their father. I see God's love for me in such intimacy, that He is my Daddy and that He finds joy in being my Daddy (not that I have done anyth

Here is a quick update. I am sorry I am not able to expound on some of these, but I will when I know more details one certain item. 1. Made over $750 at our yard sale. I have decided to pay a medical bill off with this money. We actually have $1500 of large items left that I believe we will sell quickly over Craigslist. 2. Painting the our bedroom tonight and taking off wall paper in the kitchen this week. Will have an inspection done on the house mid-July to see if it is ready to put on the market. 3. One of the couples praying about going with us has decided that the Lord is not inviting them to Hawaii right now. We still find joy that the Lord has an awesome plan for them and that He is leading team members to come along side His work with us. 4. I start my second term of Summer classes at Liberty today. I have a paper from the last term due at the end of this week which will allow me to be done with the last term a week early. Pray I end well and start well at the same time

Michelle and I have been assessed by the Launch Network. For those of you chiming in, Michelle and I spent a few days in Las Vegas with Hope Baptist Church and the Launch Network. The Launch Network's goal is to start strong churches by raising the leadership levels in the church plant's leadership. We spent 2 days with Mac Lake (the director and owner of a really cool name), Vance Pitman (Lead Pastor at Hope Baptist Vegas) and the assessment team. If you didn't know, I got a little nervous just before we left for Vegas  but the Lord was so good. Before we left, I had prayed that the Lord would not allow me to be impressive on my merits and that He would keep me honest, without making things bigger than they are (a pastor's trait I have accomplished, you know with numbers). As Mac began the assessment, a lump rose up in my throat. He began talking about their color coding (Green = go with their blessing and no reservations / Yellow = go with reservations and a plan to h

Okay, after a couple of days of pulling things out of drawers, closets and storage, we finally have an idea of what we are selling. You can click on the name of this listing (Moving Sale List above) for items we are selling or you can email me for a list with pricing. Unfortunately, we don't have $2000 worth of stuff but have over $1200 in things we are selling. This will go toward debt so we can move as soon as possible. Please pray we sell it all and for the prices we are asking for. We are asking low prices to get it sold. Pastor Shawn Peoples keonepeoples@gmail.com

Michelle and I leave Sunday night for Las Vegas and the Launch Network assessment. We will be meeting with other Church Planters and coaches that will see if we have what it takes to be a church planter. I have to admit that I am a little nervous about this. We don't know how to prepare and so pray has been our best preparation. We have spent a lot of prayer asking the Lord to keep us humble and not try to impress. I know that whether or not we are approved for training and financial support, God is giving us every indication that Hawaii is where we are going. So, we are trusting God to work through this for us. On another note, Michelle and I have begun going through the house and clearing out items to sell. This will be our biggest yard sale ever! We have added a lawn mower, some tools, and a ton of small items from around the house. Praying for at least $1000, but hoping for $2000. This will allow us to pay for a website and some of our trip to Hawaii in September. June 25th i

We have had some really cool prayers answered recently. First, it looks like we have a logo and have a friend working on the next phase (printing). Second, someone has offered us a temporary house to live in after we sell our house and before we head to Hawaii. Third, Michelle and I celebrated 14 years of marriage last night. We took a riverboat cruise near Cincinnati. It was a mostly romantic night. I say mostly because there was a school of Junior Highers there that would not stay in one area. They walked all over that boat and made sure they were as loud as possible. I guess I'm not done hanging out with students. It was a great reminder the cool things God has done in my life and what He has taught me. We are still getting ready for the Launch Network assessment in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. Pray for us as we travel and for Nick and Suzy Killin as they watch most of our kids for those couple of days we are gone. Speaking of Nick and Suzy, they got married this past weeke

This will be quick. 1. We have been officially informed that our assessment in Las Vegas with Launch Network will be shared with the North American Mission board. What does this mean? It means that we might only need to go through one assessment to be approved by both agencies for funding and accountability. However, this also means that we could be turned down by both agencies in one shot, so I praying that God would let me relax and not try to impress people. 2. Still looks like we are at the $7100 range out of $8900 needed monthly. Praying that God would lead 72 families to give $25 a month for two years to help being this church. 3. We have scheduled our yard sale for June 25th from 8am to 1pm. We will be selling couches, media centers, kitchen gadgets, electronics, queen size bedding, end tables, chairs, a desk, books, dvd's, toys, clothing, snow blower, some Christmas stuff, lawn mower, vcr/dvd player, speakers, trains, sports equipment, some tools, kids bikes, kitchen

For whatever reason that God decided to, He has called believers to be the heralds of the Gospel. As I have been studying the church in Corinth, I am becoming more aware that God has put believers together to strengthen the efforts of the Gospel. Paul, in chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, talks about the importance of the body. That God has put the body together and that parts of the body are different for a reason. Parts have different functions and that those functions in the whole are for the complete work of Christ. So what is the complete work of Christ. Acts 1:8 tells the church that IT WILL be His representatives throughout the world. In Matthew 28, Christ implores His followers to go throughout the world and MAKE DISCIPLES teaching them to follow the teachings of Christ. In Luke 19:10, Jesus tells everyone that He has come for the purpose of Salvation, in that there are those who are perishing and that He has come to save them from their eternal destiny. The church cannot deny this

  This morning I moved my study to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Realizing the person who was writing this letter, it is amazing that Paul was exhorting the church. Remember the work that Paul did before coming to Christ. My Pastor called him the Usama Bin Laden of the Christian church. He once hunted down Christians and approved of their demise. It is amazing to see that God will use anyone for His glory. I count it a joy that the Lord would call Paul to Himself and that I have been called to Jesus also. God will use anyone to bring about His work. Paul speaks into the the church's life about the work of the cross. It is foolishness for those who are perishing. What we do as Christians is absurd to the outside world. It does not make sense to leave Ohio for a land filled with so much plurality and sin. It does not make sense to sell everything to have to purchase used items in Hawaii. It does not make sense to uproot my family for no promised salary and that we have to rely

As I sit and listen the Ascend The Hill's "Take the World, but give me Jesus" I am reminded of the hope that Christ has given us. This morning in Acts 25-27, I read the boldness of Paul as he used his circumstances to preach the Gospel in hopes to persuade all who listened that they would turn to Jesus. What incredible joy that Paul displays in Jesus, sharing how he was once a killer of Christians, yet through Jesus has been redeemed and his purpose is now fulfilled in Christ. How many times do we see the circumstance we are in as a avenue to share Jesus? I am reminded of the way I was brought into sexual immorality and how our Lord has forever changed others through me and my circumstances. I see hope in my trials that Christ would not only make my joy complete but others that I am brought around by the Spirit of God. Some of you are hurting right now over decisions made by others. Will you waste it and pack it away or will you use it to show others the joy you have in

Today Michelle and I have been invited to the Launch Strong network of church planters assessment retreat. This organization trains and supports church planters. Vance Pitman and his church Hope Baptist in Las Vegas have become the Western US hub for this network. I was praying the past few days that we might be able to join this organization and learn from Vance and his staff. I am deeply honored that the Lord would allow us to go through their assessment process and see if we are doing things correctly. I have to admit that I have no clue what I am doing, but I am having a lot of fun being in this place. God has given me such a great excitement for this work and I know that He knows what He is doing! Please pray that we would be able to pay for the retreat and the plane tickets to get there. We already have a baby sitter(or two) who will stay with our kids while we are gone. We just have to come up with the $199 retreat cost and the plane tickets. If we are accepted into their organi

This is the time that some of my friends that have planted churches told me to beware of. It is a time where Michelle and I fill out every piece of paperwork that church planters must fill out. Some of this is to assess if we will be successful in church planting and some of it is for funding. I could feel myself becoming overwhelmed yesterday after a day of typing and talking about church planting. However, the Lord is good to remind me that it is His plan that I am part of and that I am to be faithful to what He asking us to do. This morning I awoke with a joyful heart toward the work that needs to be done. The cool thing I have seen is that there is absolutely no guarantee that Michelle and I will go through this process without trials and troubles, but it is worth it. That is the thought I have come to this morning, all of this is worth Jesus! I hate admin stuff and would rather just go interview with people and get this over with, however Jesus is worth every bit of paperwork and

I am overwhelmed at the blessings that people shared with us yesterday. I pray that as we now begin to shift toward Hawaii, that my eyes would continue to search for the work of God and that I would run from sin. Thank you to everyone who blessed us and shared the work of God in your life through us. Here are some things for all of us to pray over as our attention begins to focus on Hawaii. Hawaii is consider 95% lost. This means that most of the people in Hawaii are destined for eternal separation from God the Father unless they turn from their sin and place their faith in Jesus Christ. 50% of Chuukese students drop out of school by the age of 14. The education system is hard for these children as they try to adjust to Hawaii. 20% is the poverty rate in Hawaii. Pray for the church to see this and be able to minister to those without. 55,000 is the number of people in Kaneohe, Hawaii where we will be planting the church. 4/12 is the month and year we hope to begin the work in

   I know the title sounds a little arrogant, but really God loves to show Himself to His creation. We have found that to be true in these last few days. Since saying yes and beginning to walk with God on this journey, we believe God has already raised $5000 of monthly support. I am blown away at the works of God. I have just begun to get my paper work in for funding from the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the Lord has raised up support through a few churches and friends. I love when God invites His people to join His work. That's exactly what Grace Community is, His Work.    I have also been challenged by a book (Exponential by Dave and Jon Ferguson) I have been reading to dream big because you cannot out dream God. So I have been in prayer about what God might do with us. Have you braced yourself, here is the ultimate dream. 36,000 believers meeting in 36 different locations in Hawaii. Every location fully supporting 2 church plants and 2 foreign missionaries. That

So what happened?      Fifteen years ago if you would have asked Michelle and I if we would be starting a church in Hawaii, we would have just walked away. Neither of us were responding well to the call to ministry that the Lord was extending to us before we were married. Fourteen years ago when we submitted to the call, church planting and missions were the last things I wanted from God. Praise the Father that He knows our lives better than we do. On March 20, 2011 Michelle and I put our yes on the table. We could no longer live without following God on a journey that is going to be incredible.      About 18 months ago, the Lord put a stirring in my heart to lead a church. I thought we would lead an established church, but the Lord patiently taught and led me though some hard times of growth. In September of 2010, Michelle said "I don't see you leading a work that is already existing, I see you starting something". I blew off that comment because I did not believe I