I was introduced to Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren, and church planting about ten years ago while on a mission trip in Brazil.  I spent a summer working with some different missionaries in Rid de Janeiro doing whatever was needed.  One of the guys I worked with was in charge of the Purpose Driven Church planting movement in Brazil.  During that summer, God planted in my heart a love for church planting and making the gospel accessible to those that don’t know Jesus.

I’ve always thought that Rick Warren has been misunderstood and misinterpreted.  It is awesome seeing two men that have had an influence in my life together in the same room.  It’s awesome seeing Rick Warren’s heart and deep doctrinal basis for what he does.  I would highly recommend carving out 98 minutes and see watch two men who love Jesus and have been used greatly by Jesus.

Just got done reading the following article.  If you’re single or don’t have kids or both, read it and then I have a few thoughts for you.

Most people without kids don’t realize the stress and time that is envolved with raising children.  I don’t know how many times I’ve talked to a single person and wanted to smack them when they say, “I’m so busy!  I just don’t have time to __________.”  Normally their excuse is that they are working a part-time job and taking the bare minimum of credit hours at school.  Then for some reason they feel they have the right to look down on their married friends who only have a job and a kid to raise.

The reality that this article presents is that raising children (especially a stay at home mom) is probably one of the hardest “jobs” out there.  It is a strenuous joy that you can never truly understand until you get to undertake it yourself.

So here is my challenge.  Instead of living in your bubble, step back and evaluate how you could serve and sacrifice for your friends who have kids.  When the next great movie comes out, watch your friends kids so they can see it instead of seeing it yourself (it’s called sacrifice).  Show up randomly and do some household work (cleaning, dishes, dusting, laundry, etc.).  Take their kids out and let them have a quiet night at home.  Hang out with mom and give her some adult conversation during the day.

I can tell you from experience, these are some of the greatest blessing you can give to parents.

For those of you that don’t know, I started working on my masters degree a few months ago through the Resurgence Training Center (Re:Train).  Due to the heavy work load, I haven’t had much of a chance to update you on my progress (except through Twitter).  I thought I would give you a short update, and then start sharing with you more about what I’ve been learning through some blog posts (I’m writing a lot for school, so it doesn’t hurt to share it with you here).  I hope that it will be helpful to you as much as it has been to me.

The easiest way I’ve been able to explain my experience at Re:Train is like going from Pre-Algebra to Algebra II.  While the basic concepts are the same (Jesus is God, Jesus is human, humans suck, worship God only, etc.), I have to think about them in ways that I didn’t even know existed before this class.  I feel like I have grown more in the last two months in my knowledge of Jesus and how I interact with Him than I have in the past three years.  It has been amazing.

The classes have been (and are going to be) taught by the best of the best in their fields.  You know you’re dealing with someone really smart when the text book for the class is written by them and they have more degrees than a small Mormon family has children.  I have consistently been in awe these men…but more importantly I have been in awe of Jesus’ work in their lives.  I’m truly blest to sit under their teaching.

Like I said, I hope to share with you what I have learned over the next few weeks what I have been learning in my classes.  My first class I took was Spiritual Formations by Bill Clem.  As part of the homework we had to write a discipleship curriculum for a new believer.  I’ll share this with you through several posts over the next few weeks.  I hope you enjoy them.

Lastly, I want to thank you for your prayers as I’ve been going through Re:Train.  I have had many late nights, drank several gallons of coffee, and typed and read more words than I would like to admit.  It is through your prayers that I have been sustained by the Holy Spirt, and I thank you.

I’m going to come out and say this…I have a man crush on Moses.  Of all the men in the Bible, I have always found myself drawn to Moses.  I truly think this is a God thing.  Because of all the men in the Bible, I relate to Moses the most.

We’re both miracle babies (my mom wasn’t suppose to physically be able to have children).  We’re both overly ambitious (although I haven’t killed anybody…yet).  We’re not the “bestest” of speakers.  God has used trials, tribulations, and time to prepare us for our callings.  Most importantly, I feel like God has given me the same clarification on my calling that He gave Moses.

In Exodus 3, God tells Moses that He is going to use him to deliver His people out of Egypt.  Moses’ response is the same as any person who has a great calling put before them,  “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”   Moses is scared, perplexed, shaken and lacking confidence.  How could a screwed up man like him complete such a large task after he had failed so many years before?  He has been hiding in the desert for 40 years, and he is looking to God for a sign to give him confidence in his calling.

God’s response is classic.  He doesn’t give him some pep talk about how awesome Moses is and how God has been preparing him 40 years for this very moment.  Instead God tells him, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

This one verse has been the summation of my entire calling.  October 27 of this last year marked the 10 year anniversary of God calling me to vocational ministry.  I have known since then that God is calling me to serve Him as my full-time job.  And as I have sought Him for clarification of the years, His sign has always been the same.  It’s not a pillar of smoke or fire, or a damp towel on my front porch, or a star in the east.  Instead God has quietly told me He will be with me, and I’ll know I’ve fulfilled my calling when I look back and see that I’ve fulfilled my calling.

For this reason, I have never really looked forward to try and figure out what God wants me to do.  Instead I’ve looked backwards to see what Jesus has done in my life to determine where He wants me to go next.

By looking at the last 10 years of my life, I can see that Jesus has been moving me towards pinnacle moment in my life.  In college, I went on a mission trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for two-and-a-half months.  My main point of contact there was the head of the Purpose Driven Church Planting movement in Rio.  Him and others spoke into my life saying they saw in me great potential to plant churches in my future.  I filed the information deep in the recesses of my brain and went on with my life.

I came back to Eastern New Mexico University, started a interdenominational Bible study with my best friend, married the most beautiful woman in the world, graduated, and got a job as a youth minister in a small town in the panhandle of Texas.  It was during my time as a youth minister that God stirred the memories of Brazil in my head and moved in my heart.

I don’t remember the day or the time, but I remember the intense emotions and distinct clarity.  I knew that God wanted me to plant a church.  So I did what any young ambitious newly married kid does only a year-and-a-half out of college, I turned in my two week notice and made plans to move to Portland, OR (motivated by the book Blue Like Jazz).

When reality snapped to, we figured out that we had no jobs, no place to live, and no friends in Portland.  Therefore we did what every young ambitious church planter does, we packed up all our stuff and temporarily moved into my mother-in-law’s house in Albuquerque, NM.  It was going to be our half-way point on the way to Portland

We tried our best to find a way to get to Portland, but God kept shutting the doors.  And the longer that we stayed in Albuquerque, the more Jesus opened my eyes to the beauty of this city and broke my heart with the sin of its people.  In the quiet of our hearts, God showed us that He had other men for Portland, but He wanted us to stay here in Albuquerque.

As Shannon and I began to settle into Albuquerque, getting jobs and a home of our own, we started looking for a church that we call home while we prepared to plant.  We scoured hundreds of church websites and visited numerous in person.  We began to get so discouraged by what we found.  And as time went on, we began to see why God wanted us to plant a church in Albuquerque.

But like a diamond in the rough, we came across a small church that was meeting in a run down theater on Central Ave, City on a Hill (now Mars Hill Church Albuquerque). The church was a place of love, grace, and mercy as you would see the rich rub elbows with homeless and the messed up mingle with the self-righteous.  The pastor, Dave Bruskas, had planted the church only a few years earlier and had a heart to help young men plant churches in Albuquerque.  He had a deep love for the city and an even deeper love for Jesus.  His passion was infectious (and still is to this day).

It was during this time that a few things happened.  First, I felt like God told me to wait.  I had some growing up to do, and like the disciples, I needed to go up to my room and wait for the Holy Spirit to come.  Second, I learned about Acts 29, Mars Hill, and Mark Driscoll.  Through them I learned what it means to be a church planter and more importantly a husband and father.  Third, I got a job with UPS doing sales.  By working for UPS, I have traveled all over Albuquerque (and half the state of NM).  I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of this city.

But one area has always stood out to me as I make my daily visits to customers.  Uptown has to be one of the more unique areas of Albuquerque.  If Nob Hill is the cultural hub of  Albuquerque, I would say that Uptown is the socio-economic center. You have the wealthy and affluent who come to work in the high rises and play at Q Mall, but there are also the gang-bangers who come from the War Zone to roam the Coronado Mall.  You won’t find another place in Albquerque where more diverse group of people live, work, and play.  It has captured my heart (but more on this later).

The last thing that happened was I listened to a podcast that would change my thoughts on church planting for the rest of my life.  Up until this point I had planned on flying solo.  I was going to gather a small group of people and start our own church named after a weird latin term or vague Harry Potter incantation.  But God had other plans. As I listened to Doug Swagerty from Harbor Church in San Diego talk about why and how they do multi-site churches, God made it clear to me that this was His plan for me.

The organization, efficiency, and team-work that went into planting a campus as opposed to a new church spoke to the core of who God made me as a person.  It was then that I had determined that God didn’t want me to plant a church, but to plant another campus for City on a Hill in the Uptown area.  He wanted me to carry the vision and mission to another part of our beautiful city.

This brings us to this moment in time.  For the past three years, I feel like have been metaphorically sitting on the bench waiting for God to call me into the game.  Like Moses wandered in the dessert shepherding sheep for 40 years, God has been having me wander in the dessert waiting for His timing.  But as City on a Hill has made the transition to becoming Mars Hill Church Albuquerque, I feel like God has been calling my number.  The Holy Spirit has began to move fresh my heart, and I hear God saying, “Qualls…get in the game.”  I feel like God is calling me to be on mission with Jesus in Albuquerque as He reaches our city to impact a region to influence the world.

Working along side Dave Bruskas, we are looking to start a Mars Hill Church campus in the Albuquerque Uptown area.  Through Mars Hill’s campus model we hope to reach hundreds of thousands of people through preaching the gospel, planting Acts 29 Churches, and hosting Resurgence and Acts 29 events.

In preparation for this, I will be going to Re:Train starting on August 16th of this year.  Re:Train is a one year training center that trains “missional leaders to live for Jesus and lead their churches to effectively reach their cultures with the gospel by staying culturally accessible and biblically faithful.”  I see God using this training as a final step to prepare me for the mission put before me.

Looking back on the past ten years of my life, I can see how Jesus has been leading to this moment.  Each trial and tribulation has been there to bring me to this point in time.  He has led me here, and now He is telling me once again, “I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”  I don’t know exactly what the next few years entail.   But I know this, years from know there will be a Mars Hill Church in Uptown Albuquerque, and we will worship and serve our Lord Jesus on that mountain.

Here’s the deal though, I know I can’t do this alone.  And I know that I’m not the only person that God has called to do this.  I need all the help I can get.  More importantly, I need your help.  I completely believe in the sovereignty of God.  So if you have gotten through the 1841 words of this post to this point, I believe that God has a part for you in this.  I ultimately don’t know what that is for you (that’s between you and God), but I have a few suggestions.

1. Pray

I have seen God move in amazing ways through prayer.  I know that God chooses to work through the prayers of His people.  Therefore, I desperately ask for your prayers as I move forward with this endeavor.  Pray for me as I go through Re:Train.  Pray for God to bring laborers.  Pray for my family.  Pray for provision (finances, locations, volunteers, ect.).  Pray for a pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Albuquerque.

2. Join

Join in on the mission in Albuquerque.  As we get closer towards starting this, I will be getting out more information. For now this would simply mean joining the Mars Hill Church campus in Albuquerque.  Join a community group and start serving.  If you are interested in joining, email me, and we can start a conversation.

3. Give

Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything. – Ecclesiastes 10:19

Unfortunately, it is going to take money to do this.  Fortunately, I know that God will provide.  He will use His people (you) to provide for the tasks that are ahead.  The biggest financial burden at the moment is Re:Train.  I need to raise $2,000 in the next five weeks.  This will pay for my first month of training, travel, lodging, and a basic laptop.  Please pray if God would have you support this task financially.  If you feel moved by God, you can use the ChipIn Widget below or email me and I will send you my mailing address.

I am excited to see what God is going to do in the next few years.  I look forward to sharing with you what God is doing as we go through this journey together.

Hello,

With only a few days away from running in my first triathlon, I wanted to share some words of encouragement and wisdom with my fellow athletes out there.  I didn’t grow up a very athletic person.  I’m not that coordinated, and I’m not that strong.

I tried playing basketball, but I was to aggressive.  I would generally only get to play for five minutes before I would foul out.  I tried playing football, but I wasn’t big enough, strong enough, fast enough, or aggressive enough to be any good (it didn’t help that the coach wanted me to play center at 6′ and 135 lbs).  There was really only one sport I was good at…track.

It doesn’t take a lot of strength or skill to run.  So I did really well.  I wasn’t fast, so I ran longer distance events.  I wasn’t the best, but I always placed.  I ran on the varsity track team at my school starting in eighth grade until I graduated. (we were a small division school).  I loved pushing my body to it’s limit and then some.  I loved competing.  It’s this history of competition that starts to bring up some long lost feelings inside of me.

Some of my feelings are good and some are bad.  I think sports can bring out the best and the worst in people (and sometimes at the same time).  I know from experience that sports and competition can bring out a laundry list of sins in people…pride, selfishness, arrogance, timidity, course language, unrighteous anger, belittlement, ect.

I have seen people pray before a game and in the same breath speak crude and prideful words against the other team. I have been an arrogant winner and a sore loser.  I have been poor sport.  I have cheated.  I have belittled and demeaned other athletes and teammates.

But I have also seen athletes become even more Christ-like through competition and sports.  I’ve seen teamwork and unity abound.  I’ve seen men with great talent and heart walk humbly in a knowledge of Who gave them their gifts.  I have seen men suffer well in harsh anti-christian environments.  I have seen men point to Jesus as their true prize and not some medal or ribbon.

It is with this in mind that I write this letter.  I am determined that sports and competition will not bring me down.  I am determined to not seek glory for myself.  But I pray that my competing will be done in a way that brings glory to Jesus. I am determined that it is more important to finish the race with integrity proclaiming the good news of Jesus than to win and dishonor his name (not like I have a chance of winning).  I am determined that Jesus is my ultimate prize.  The reason I compete is to draw closer to Jesus and humbly point others to Him.

Whether I win or lose, I am determined to “run the good race.”  I hope you are determined too.

To the glory of God,

Greg Qualls

Every now and then I have to go on business trips for UPS.  I really don’t like going.  Generally their pointless, but mostly it’s because I have to be away from Shannon (and now Asa).  I have to eat alone, watch TV alone, and sleep alone.  It’s really depressing.

But this week Shannon and Asa went with Shannon’s mom to Denver to see some family.  I have determined that I don’t like going on business trips…but I hate having my wife and kid leave me at home alone.  Like a business trip, I have to eat alone (and now I have to make it too), watch TV alone, and sleep alone, but I have to do this at home where everything reminds me of them.

I’ve been cleaning the house today so Shannon can come home and relax, and everything reminds me of the two of them (hince the reason I’m blogging to take my mind off of it…but I’m blogging about them so it’s not working).  Making the bed, folding the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, picking up the house, all reminds me of the two of them.  So I’ve determined that I’m never letting them leave me home alone again…..yeah that’s about it.

So men…if you’re at home with your wives and kids…realize your blessing and tell your wife how much you love her and spend some time playing with your kids.  Sometimes you don’t realize how pitiful you are until you’re all alone again.

P.S. Don’t worry about me…Shannon and Asa come home tomorrow.