Tentmaker Redux

Since I'm a winner now and S-Dub from the N-Dub is pimping my blog for a week, I figured I might get a few new readers. With that in mind, I'd like to re-post my first post to introduce my passion and purpose to all of you. Hope you find some commonality and inspiration.

From Nov. 7, 2007:

First off, welcome to my blog. I'm truly honored you have shared a few moments of your time with me.

So, what exactly is a "tentmaker?"

Acts 18:3 reveals a little snippet about the Apostle Paul's life that I find extremely fascinating. The Message says it like this:

"Paul moved in with them (Aquilla & Priscilla) and they worked together at their common trade of tentmaking." (emphasis mine)

Yep. Paul, at one point in his life, had a day job. A regular 9 to 5'er. However, he didn't merely toil at making tents for no reason. Rather, he leveraged his profession to advance the Gospel.

So, to answer the question, a "tentmaker" is someone who has a career and a passion to let God use them in their career to further the Gospel. Like Paul, God may call them to vocational ministry, or not. The point is, a "tentmaker" uses their career as a propellant for ministry.

What about you? What is your career, and how do you see God using you as a "tentmaker?"

How we helped plant a church - Part 2

March 2000: I was in my last semester of pharmacy school and it became apparent we were going to be moving from OKC to Tulsa, OK due to my new job. Needless to say we weren't particularly thrilled about leaving our church and friends behind. It was about that time, with the urging of a friend of mine named Sean Vollendorf, we began to earnestly pray God would lay it on the hearts of our church leaders to plant a campus of Lifechurch.tv in Tulsa.


Fast-forward to September 2001: We had been in Tulsa almost a year-and-a-half now. Despite visiting multiple churches we couldn't help but feel like God had something more in store for us. Throughout this whole time, we had kept praying "God turn the attention of Lifechurch.tv's leaders towards Tulsa."


And then, one night it happened. As we were filling out paperwork to join a local church, a pastor from Lifechurch.tv called and asked if we would be willing to help plant a campus in Tulsa. We said "yes!" and immediately threw the paperwork in the trash. God had heard our prayers.


I'm convinced God wanted us in Tulsa for a purpose. I'm also convinced the ONLY way this plant happened was because of prayer. Do you believe the local church is the hope of the world? Could you be facing a relocation in the near future? Do you feel called to help your current church plant a new campus where you're going? START PRAYING!


Have you considered being a church planter? Where?