Nov. 13th

Hi Prayer Partners!

Thanks so much for choosing to lock arms with C3 and join us in this incredible adventure for the glory and the fame of our great God, the I AM! What an honor to be able to "...approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16)." It is really kind of amazing when you stop and think about the reality of wide-open communication with the Creator of everything.

As we begin, here are a couple of updates:

• This past weekend, I was able to meet with our trustees, Ed, Charlie, and Ron, and it was fantastic! We got to spend a good deal of time in prayer, and in discussion concerning what is next for C3. Thank you for praying for us- we were able to cover some significant ground that will be very helpful to us as we navigate the next 3-4 months.
• There has been some progress in our search for a place to meet, although any details would still be premature. Please continue to pray that we find a good location at a reasonable cost.
• Our second week of meeting outdoors went very well, with another sunny Sunday! Please continue to pray that we can use this alternative as much as possible over the next few weeks.

As you pray this week, please also remember the following:

• Dorothea (who helped create "Zeke") was in an auto accident earlier this week. Although she was not hurt, their vehicle didn't fair as well. It would be much better for them to get the car repaired, rather than having the insurance company declare it to be "totalled." Please pray that the vehicle with be declared repairable.
• Please also pray for Jessica's nephew. Jessica is a friend of Chris, who is a part of C3. Jessica's nephew is in the hospital being treated for severe dehydration, and seems to be fighting a virus that hasn't yet been identified. Several other members of his family are also sick.
• Finally, please pray for Cliff and Destiny's daughter, Claire. Cliff is a good friend of Ron, one of C3's great servant-leaders. Claire is battling an illness called Aplastic Anemia and will be having a complete bone marrow transplant tonight at 9:00. Please pray that her body will accept the transplant, and that her now completely depleted immune system will be restored over the next few weeks.

Again, thank you! Our God is attentive to the prayers of His children!

In Him We Live,

Jeff

Nov. 4th

Greetings Prayer partners!

This week, I'd like to ask you to pray for some folks who are serving our great God in other parts of the world. These people come to us through Kathy, who is a part of C3's core team:

• Please pray for Beth who is part of a church plant in Terre Haute, Indiana,
• Also for Mare, who is in Nigeria working with Global Christian Ministries teaching AIDS/HIV awareness.

Please join us in praying for these two fellow servants- we don't have the specifics, but we know that God does!

Please also pray for Convergence this week in the following ways:

• I will be joined by our trustees, Ed, Charlie, and Ron this weekend to evaluate the last 3 months and to make some important decisions about C3's official launch and location. These are very exciting, but also big decisions- please pray for God's wisdom in these matters.
• As we search for a more permanent public location, the beautiful Fall weather here has given us the opportunity to meet outside. We have done this once, and it was a tremendous success. The whole group met together for the first part of our worship time, as we sang and celebrated communion. Afterward, our children's workers took the kiddos into the house where they got to use the "big" room just for them- it was great! It feels a little funny asking you to pray that the weather stays nice, but the longer it does, the more opportunities it gives us to maximize our current space- so I'll go ahead and ask you to pray for sunny Sundays!
• On that note, we have some new location possibilities that I am pursuing. Please pray for the right place to be both available and affordable.

I'll end this week's update with the elephant in the room, because there's a donkey there too. Today is election day in the U.S. A quick browse through your "friend updates" on Facebook should easily paint a picture of how important most people feel this election is. I certainly have an opinion about it, and I imagine you do as well, so I hope you voted if you are able.

There is much talk about "God's will" on a day such as this. I find it interesting that, on either side of this decision, there will be people who will say the outcome was "God's will"- usually when their candidate wins. I would just like to point out that, to humanity, God has given the gift of free will, and a day such as this is really an overwhelming example of that.

I am NOT telling you to cease praying for this country, or for the selection of its leaders. Jesus instructed the disciples to pray "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10)

What I am asking, is that you focus a substantial amount of your prayer time on how you and the body of believers that you fellowship with can have the most impact for Christ on your families, and friends, and community, and the world- no matter what happens.

Regardless of who is elected, the King remains on the throne.

In HIM We Live,

Jeff

Oct. 20th

Hi there!

For this post, I'd like to break things into 2 parts. Part one includes ongoing prayer needs that directly affect the physical "launch" of this new church. Part two will be specific notes from members of C3 who are asking for prayer.


Part 1:

1. Please pray for our first leadership retreat, scheduled for November 7-8. I will be joined by the C3 trustees, Ron, Ed, and Charlie, and we will be evaluating the past few months, as well as tackling some very important issues for the future.
2. On that note, please pray that God will show us the very best possible location in which to meet. Our last few months have revealed some very interesting things, both demographically and geographically, and we want to respond to God's leading.

Part 2- Please pray for:

1. Shaun's job situation. Also, for a colleague of his who is in prison, as well as this man's family.
2. Healing for Kyle, who is 15 and battling cancer. Also for our great God's strength for his mom Cindy, as she guides him through this as well as the other challenges of being a single parent. We are rejoicing though, that a spot on Kyle's lung was determined to NOT be cancerous!
3. Healing for Natalie, who is coming to the end of basic training, but may have a stress fracture in her hip.
4. A neighbor of one of our C3 families, who has been wrestling with where he is spiritually, as well as with the death of a close friend.

Thank you so very much for praying!

Jeff

Monday, Oct. 6th

Things are moving right along as C3 heads toward an "official" launch in January. Things in Houston are beginning to return to normal (if there really is such a thing), and in our area, you could hardly tell that we had such a horrendous storm.

As we begin the week, I would like to share some exciting news: yesterday C3 had our first two baptisms! Earlier in the week I was able to visit with Jessie and Patrick. Their mom, Judi, is already a Christ follower and it was great to chat with them and hear about why they believe they need Jesus to be their Savior. So, after our morning gathering, most of us headed over to Grace and borrowed their baptistery- special thank to Darren and company for making everything so available to us, and to Eli for staying and making sure it all went smoothly!

As the month progresses, we will be looking in earnest for a place to meet when we launch. We will also begin to make some of our larger one-time purchases, such as sound equipment. Please be in prayer for these important areas as we continue to seek God's will for Convergence Christian Church.

Thank you so very much for being a C3 prayer partner- your contribution cannot be adequately quantified!

In Him We Live,

Jeff

Sept. 16th

Hi!

I'm sorry this post is coming so late- I know some of you are wondering what impact hurricane Ike had on C3 and our area.

For a small group (around thirty of us currently) we are actually a bit spread out, with folks living from Cy-Fair to Stafford, and several points in-between. Despite our various locations, I am very happy to share that no one was hurt, and we as a group sustained very little damage.

On behalf of everyone involved in the Convergence Church plant, thank you for praying!

This week, please join us in praying for the people who have sustained heavy losses from the storm. Please also pray for us as we help our neighbors clean up and make repairs, and as we explore more ways to serve the community.

Again, thanks so much for praying!

Love, Live, Serve,

Jeff

Sept. 12th

Although we only have clouds right now, it looks like our area is going to get hammered in a few hours from hurricane Ike. If you are a part of the C3 community locally and you feel that your home may not be safe, please contact me as soon as possible, and we will find a safer place for you to ride out this storm.

For our prayer partners outside of Houston- our area needs your intercession. It's likely that we will lose power/phone for a while, so don't be alarmed if you can't reach us. I'll update you on the situation as soon as I am able. This is a huge storm, but God is bigger.

In Him We Live,

Jeff

Sept. 11th

The sky is blue and the weather is absolutely beautiful today.

Which makes it that much more surreal as I see a few of my neighbors putting up plywood over their windows as if preparing for a riot. Everyone is getting ready (as best anyone can) for the arrival of hurricane Ike sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. Our part of Houston isn't close enough to the coastline to be in any danger of storm surge, but we may see some fairly strong winds. Everyone here at C3 would very much appreciate you lifting us up in prayer as the storm approaches- we believe that prayer is powerful.

Some other things to pray for this week:

- Our friend Iris has a niece who was bitten on the face and leg by a dog a few days ago. Her name is Calli. Although the injuries are not life threatening, please pray that there is minimal scarring- both on her face and on her emotionally from this event.

- Our friend Susie sent me a note sharing this request: "Can you guys please be praying for the family of the man and 3-1/2 boy who drowned in their backyard pool yesterday afternoon (on our street). They just lived a few houses down, in the cul-de-sac. I hadn’t even met them, cuz they’d only been living there for a couple of weeks. I don’t even know their names. He leaves behind a young wife and two other children, one about a year old and I’m not sure about the other, possibly of preschool age as well. It’s just such a sad, sad deal."

Thanks for being a C3 prayer partner!

In Him We Live,

Jeff

More than a p.s.-

Seven years later, it's still hard to write (or type) the date that went into the title of this post. Please join us in praying for the families of those who lost their lives in the events of September 11th, 2001 and for the families of the soldiers who have given their lives in the years following those events.

If you are an American, today is also a good day to remember how this one event has dramatically re-shaped our culture, as we consider so many people around the world who live in places where terrorism is a regular occurrence.

Today, join us in praying for peace. And a revolution of God's love.