In preparation for ARC 3.0 (Assessment) being held in Villa Rica, Georgia, we had asked my parents to come up and keep our two older children. The night before we were to leave for Georgia, Hurricane Irene greeted us with her presence, knocking out our power. I felt so bad leaving my parents without power and no water that I almost decided not to go. My dad wouldn’t hear of it. He said they would be fine, and told us that we had to go.

I hesitantly relented and on Sunday afternoon, we were off to face our jury. Jacqueline and I really had no idea what to expect from the experience. The leadership of ARC sent us a few e-mails telling us where to show up and when to get there; outside of that, they were pretty “Cloak and Dagger.” Being on the other side of it, I’m glad… it was sort of like an initiation into the fraternity!Jacqueline and I had such an amazing experience at 3.0. We were humbled, encouraged, and challenged in ways that I can say, quite honestly, I had never experienced at any other point in my ministry. We left feeling so confident of our calling that on the way home we decided no matter what ARC’s decision was about us… we were going to plant a church!

Perhaps one of the coolest God moments in our story came while at 3.0.  During one of the sessions,  I was looking over my newly formulated Vision outline, reading it over in my mind.  “Awaken Church… It’s All about Grace.” Our Core Values are, “Generosity, Relevance, Authenticity, Compassion, Exuberance.”  “We exist to awaken people to God’s grace.”  As I was reading silently, I felt the Holy Spirit direct me to read my Life Verse.  This was a verse that I strongly felt like the Lord gave to me in college.  I tried to incorporate it into previous ministries… but it never made sense.  As I read the words of Habakkuk 2:2-3… I began weeping.  “Make it plain”, it said, “So that even those running by can read it.”  God had directed us to make our vision so succinct, so simple, that everyone who sees our name and tagline, will actually see the vision.  He had given me a verse in college 10 years earlier for a ministry that still to come… AWAKEN!

Brian