The Sunset

If I were to ask you to close your eyes and picture a sunset, you would probably picture a beautiful sunset full of all sorts of colors setting over the ocean or the mountains or whatever that place is that you see in your mind’s eye.

The truth is everybody has a different picture of a sunset. Mine is forever etched in my thoughts. I was 12 years old and at my grandparent’s house one summer. She lives on a farm in central Oklahoma. I was bored one night (not a lot to do for a 12 year old city boy) and I ran out the back door of that old farm house and began to look across the pasture at what was my first ever sunset (that I actually remember). It was the most beautiful thing my 12 year old little eyes had seen. The different colors of yellows, oranges, and reds seemed to reach all the way across the sky. If I were a painter, I could still paint a picture of it today. The colors, the way it settled over the horizon, the quietness in the air, was truly breathtaking.

Well, much like the Sunset we all have in our hearts, God has placed in our heart a picture of a sunset of what YOURplaceCHURCH is supposed to look like. I can see it just as vividly as that sunset over my grandma's farm. The only thing is, I don't have any paint brushes to paint what I see. Those are in the hands of the awesome men and women who have chosen to give their next few months to help launch YPC big! They are the ones God has called alongside us to help creatively reach people and introduce them to a passionate and REAL relationship with Jesus Christ.

Ask yourself: are you supposed to be a part of our sunset? We think so, and you are holding the brush to help us paint it just exactly has God has shown us.

Come find your place

God Bless

Darian

Cause Driven

Recently, I had an opportunity to spend some time with a pastor friend of mine. He enlightened me on a few thoughts when it comes to planting a church.

Historically there have been two kinds of churches in the world. Evangelistic churches and equipping churches. What's the difference you ask? Some churches have a vision to reach the lost and really nothing else. Other churches feel called to equip the believers to live a successful life—these are equipping churches.

YPC has been called to be a “Cause Driven Church.” Yes, we will reach the lost and we will equip the believers, but there has to be something worth living for out there. Something bigger than just me, something bigger than just my house, my job, my life! Something meaningful, a cause worth fighting for.

Everyday we trade a day of our lives for what? A job—it’s necessary to provide a living for your family, I understand—but what eternal values are trading your life for?
There was a scene in a movie called “About Schmidt” staring Jack Nicholson where his character realizes that everything he worked so hard for over the years was dumped and replaced the minute he retired. It’s a sad thought, but so many of us are trying so hard just to get ahead we forget who we are leaving behind.

Everyday of our life is precious, and though it may seem like we have endured several long storms in life, it is still worth living.

What are you trading every day of your life for? Is it having eternal effects?

Come find your place

God Bless
Darian

Why

Since my trip to sunny south Florida last November, we have really dialed it in as a church. I had the opportunity to go see a rocking church in Ft. Myers, Florida who has been reaching south Florida for about 7 years now.

After hanging out with Matt Keller and the team of Next Level Church, they inspired me to ask three major questions about YPC:

• What is the issue or problem God has called us to solve in Pryor, Oklahoma?
• Why now?
• Why us?

1. The problem is simple. I believe for the most part people we keep running into haven't given up on God, they have just given up on the Church! Sad, but true. I once read a statement from an old time man of God that said “Our theaters are packed today because the world can lie well—but our churches are empty because we tell the truth poorly.” ~Charles Finey
   YPC is going to tell the truth in a relevant, easy to understand way. It’s all about life change in people, and where it happens most effectively for us. We recognize that there is a generation out there that lies untapped and is crying out for a place to fit, a place to be tapped in to, and a place to experience God in a real way. YPC is just that.
2. Why Now? Simple....Because if current evangelism trends succeed only 4% of this generation will be reached for God....and that is if the trends SUCCEED!! We are simply unwilling to let that happen. By telling the truth of God’s word in a language that this generation understands, we hope to reach the audience God has placed before us.
3. Why us? Because we are willing to stand up and do something about it. I can tell you this; it hasn't been an easy path to take, but it has been completely fulfilling. And many more are joining the cause daily.

Everybody reading this blog can either identify as being a person who needs this kind of creative life change or one who is called to help us do it.

We are not building a church through people—we are building people through a church.

Come find your place
God Bless

Darian