You may be thinking, “Why start a new church in Tahoka, Texas?” Well, that’s what I thought when God put the idea in my head and heart. I figured I’d take a sec to walk readers thru the crazy process God brought me thru to get to this point. If it resonates and makes sense, then maybe you’d consider checking us out. We’ll even save you a seat!
Cross-Work Church officially started with six families in my living room in 2018, but the idea of Cross-Work began years before that. As I studied and sought Jesus about church planting, there were hundreds of little "God promptings," subtle hints, and quiet confirmations along the way. That being said, there were three significant catalysts for Cross-Work Church. I lump those 3 into the following list:
1. Pro-wrestling hurts
2. Puerto Rico wasn’t for me
3. Church Planter book
This Blog will open up with the first, and we can dive into the others in the weeks to come.
Pro-wrestling hurts!
For the past 17 years, I have been a part of a parachurch ministry called the Christian Wrestling Federation (save your questions till the end). Three years ago I started a branch of the ministry where I live in West Texas. The CWF is a pro-wrestling outreach ministry. We put on pro-wrestling shows with the intent of capturing the audience’s attention and then sharing the Gospel. I know it sounds strange, but even more bizarre is how effective it is! Through this ministry, I’ve seen biker gang members in California repent of their sin and turn to Jesus! In Dallas, I witnessed dad’s who would never go to church, come to watch pro-wrestling and commit their lives to follow Jesus! In Egypt, I had a Muslim man come up to me after a wrestling show with tears in his eyes as he declared, “I met your Jesus today!” In the last three years, my team of wrestlers in West Texas has led over 500 people “out of darkness into His marvelous light”!
For the last 17 years, pro-wrestling has been the most effective form of evangelism in my life, but then I turned 36. Lots of things changed that year. Somewhere in that year that my metabolism quit slowed to a crawl. No two week's notice, no letter of intent… It just gave up, as did a lot of the standard functions of a young man. The doctor’s official diagnosis was not good. He said, “You’re getting old.” How could this be! It happened so suddenly. I never thought it would happen to me. I know it beats dying, but I just was not ready. One of the crazy things about getting old is that it takes longer to recover from any strenuous activity than it did when I was young. Nowadays after a wrestling match, it takes me about a week before all the little aches and pains go away.
17 years of bumps, bruises, and bodyslams takes a toll. I knew I could not plan on wrestling for the rest of my life but also knew Jesus told me to “go and tell” as long as I was on this Earth, even if I could not wrestle. So I began researching alternative evangelism techniques. Incidentally, did you know that the most effective form of evangelism is church planting? The data is out there, and it cannot be ignored, and that verifiable fact had my attention.
And so the new journey begins. Cross-Work started with a realization that pro-wrestling hurts and can take its toll on my body, and it has reinvigorated my faith that church planting is a more effective means of sharing Jesus Christ.
So, what do you think? Does this blog post peak your curiosity? Have you ever been a part of a start-up church? I’d love to hear from you and continue the conversation.
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