All of the posts that Eric Sanford creates.

Redeemed Technology

I am a techie.  I love computers, gadgets, smart phones, and electronics of all shapes and sizes.  But I also know the inherent danger of these devices.  Communication is available through an unlimited number of options, yet community is less present than ever. (Even as you read this, we have replaced a conversation with information on a webpage.)  Relationships need to be vital, not virtual; personal, not personless.

On Tuesday night, I saw technology redeemed.  I know computers and smart phones are not mortal beings in need of a Savior, but they can be used for God’s purposes and that is exactly what happened Tuesday.  With a target of 50 prayer partners before we move to Colorado Springs, Amanda and I worked on adding partners through text, Facebook messenger, twitter, phone calls, email and even Facebook posts.  Not only did we reach our target number, but we exceeded it by 15. Of course, we could always use as many partners as will pray for us.  If you are interested in being a prayer partner, we would love for you to join us on our journey. Please send an email to eric@sanfordfamily.org to sign up. We will send out a prayer newsletter at least once a month with praises and answered prayer, as well as up to date prayer needs.

Overwhelmed

It has been my pleasure to serve the students of Alabama for the past five years in Super Summer Alabama. I have met incredible students who are turning their world upside down for Christ, college students who are defying the statistics of young people leaving the church at graduation, and student ministers who see discipleship as a top priority. In the past five years, Super Summer has grown from a small collection of students and leaders from a few churches to several hundred students and a group of youth ministers and college students larger than the whole camp the first year. God is up to something in this generation and I am glad to be a part.

Tonight, I was surprised and overwhelmed to be selected as the recipient of the offering this year from the Super Summer students. Words cannot express my gratitude and thankfulness for such an honor and a gift. These funds will help us share the love of Christ in Colorado in the days ahead. It is truly amazing to be blessed by these wonderful students and adults. All the glory honor and praise goes to God who saved me, called me and equipped me for such a time as this.

Prayer

As I write this, the news is on in the background from our new home, Colorado Springs. There have been thousands of people displaced, many homes lost, and a whole region in emotional distress. I am asking you for prayer for the people who are fighting the fire in Colorado Springs area, those who are displaced and have lost homes and property, and for the churches in the city and area that are ministering now, as they will have a large task in the coming days.

And, staying with the theme of prayer, Amanda and I are asking for 50 people to partner with us in prayer as we step out into church planting. If you are willing to join our prayer partner list, please send an email here.

Blessings

June 12, 2004, I began a journey that has taken me further than I ever thought it would. I cannot believe that I have been blessed to be a part of Fairhaven Baptist Church for eight years. It has truly been a blessing to serve this people. God has shaped me, challenged me, and walked with me at Fairhaven more than any other time in my life.

Thank you Fairhaven for encouraging me and my family, loving us deeply, letting me fail, challenging me where I needed it, and seeking the best for us. You have been a blessing to the Sanford family and I look forward to seeing what God has in store for “this place called Fairhaven”.

Part of the Process

The other day I was walking through a Christian bookstore when this thought came to my mind.  “Among the sea of theology and Christian thought my thoughts would be contained in the foam of one small wave.  And the collection of all thought pales in comparison to all that God knows and the sins He has forgotten.”

Part of this spiritual journey toward church planting has been reading.  I have a goal of 50 books this year, about a book per week.  God has helped me to see my need for knowledge about Him and His creation, man, and what the relationship between the two looks like.  Knowing that I need the information, knowledge, wisdom, and advice of men who have gone before me, I have jumped in head first into books of many types from many sources.  Reading has been a great check on my pride.  The more I read the more I see I have such a limited understanding of all things, especially God.  But He has given men like C.S. Lewis, Mark Driscoll, J.I. Packer, Francis Chan, Phillip Yancey, David Platt, and Norman Giesler to challenge me and to act as my teachers.  I have gleaned much from the pages I have read over the last 3 years.  But all this knowledge has a source and that is God. If I neglected knowing God for knowledge about God from others I would be robbing myself.

So for the past 3 years, my staple in reading has been the Bible.  It is the standard to which all others things are held up, examined or filtered.  God has given me an amazing hunger for the Word over the past 3 years.  I read it daily, am working on hiding it in my heart, and seek to live it out.  I have a friend who once challenged me to read the Bible as much as I read everything else.  It has been refreshing and eyeopening to me to see the plan of God unfold and radically change humanity from Genesis to Revelation from Adam to Jesus from the Old Testament Prophets to the New Testament Apostles.

I know God is using His Word and the words of men to shape me, refine me, and lead me into the next phase of life, while still living in the present.  These, among others, are a part of the process God has been leading me through.

Hurry Up and Wait?

I have never been one for patience.  I want results yesterday when I start exercising.  I want to be done with projects minutes after beginning.  I am ready for opening day of baseball just days after the World Series champions are crowned.  For the past three years, I have been waiting.  It has been hard in so many ways.

It has been hard to decipher exactly what God is calling us to do.  I have spent countless hours in prayer, study, and in the Word.  I have talked to many people who have challenged me, encouraged me, and even pointed out the negative aspects of this journey.  The hardest part of deciphering has been assimilating all the information into understandable and digestible bites.

It has been hard to examine myself.  This has led to many times of crying out to God to purify, change, strengthen, and reveal to Himself to me.  I know my own weaknesses, strengths, spiritual gifts, failures, and triumphs.  The hardest part of examining myself has been being real with myself and seeing myself in light of Christ in me.

It has been hard to learn enough.  I have spent the better part of the last three years reading and listening to podcasts and seminars.  I have tried to soak up the knowledge of others…people who have been down the same road and are significantly smarter that I am.  Leaders are learners.  I want to be a better leader, father, husband, and Christian.  The hardest part of learning has been reading and reading fast enough and with enough comprehension to effectively transform me into His likeness.

I am not very patient but God is showing me that I need to wait on Him and follow His lead and I am slowly yielding.

Information Overload

What is church planting?  Why do you church plant?  How do you do church plant?  How is church planting different or the same as an established church?

Those are a few of the many questions I asked, was asked and continue to ask.  Some of them are simple to answer; others needed much research by people much smarter than I.  I will try to answer them all to the best of my ability.

What is church planting?  Church planting is not building a building and inviting people to it.  Church planting is not swapping sheep or collecting disgruntled Christians from other churches.  Church planting is, first and foremost, evangelism.  It is starting a church from a small group and working toward a self-sustaining body of Believers.

Why do you church plant?  According to Ed Stetzer in Planting Missional Churches, “Churches under 3 years of age win an average of 10 people to Christ per year for every [one] hundred church members.  Churches 3 to 15 years of age win an average of five people per year for every [one] hundred church members. Churches over 15 years of age win an average of three people per year for every [one] hundred church members.   Church planting reaches more people than the established church.  In addition to those statistics, The North American Mission Board has recently calculated these church-to-population ratios based on the statistics from the US census: in 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans; in 1950, there were 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans; in 2000, there were 12 churches for every 10,000 Americans; in 2004, the latest year available, there were 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans.In that same time period the number of churches has increased just over 50% while the population of the country has almost quadrupled.  The lostness in this country is growing and the Gospel needs to be delivered where it is needed most.  The planting of new churches is the most efficient method of reaching those people.

How do you do church plant?  Not to over exaggerate but there a multitude of church planting models and not everyone is best for all circumstances.  The model has to fit the church planter, the spiritual climate, and the location.  I have read many books that all tout they have the be all end all church planting model. Each situation is different and requires the planter to exegete the culture much like a missionary in a foreign country.

How is church planting different or the same as an established church?   The two are the same in principle.  Both are focused on bringing God glory in all actions, events, and programs.  The biggest difference is church DNA.  The established church has a set of rules and traditions that govern all that is done while the church plant has order but not the tradition.  The church plant starts with a clean slate when setting up tradition.  All churches have tradition, some are creating it while others are governed by it.

I hope this all helps you understand a little bit about what we are doing and going to do in the future.

Everything is Possible

In the days following God speaking to me, I knew that God wanted me to go to Denver, CO but I was not sure how I would get there, when we would go or what I would do when we arrived.  Everything was possible.  I am currently a youth minister and have been involved in youth ministry since I felt called to serve in that area when I was 18.  Over the next few months I contacted churches, associations, individuals who live in the area and even local seminaries.

The options were limitless.  We could move to Denver and get a job and make a living and keep our resume out for the churches there.  I could apply for the youth ministry and senior pastor positions that were available.  I could go back to school work toward a PhD in New Testament and work toward teaching at a seminary in Denver.  But none of those things seemed to pan out.

Over the coming months, we prayed for clarity and for God to open and close doors.  But all we found were closed doors.  Door after door after door was closed.  God was answering our prayer but not in the way we really wanted or thought we wanted.  After many months of closed doors, someone mentioned church planting to me.  Saying that I would make a great church planter.  All I could think was, “That is not me.”  Church planter was not me.  It had to be God.  I would not have signed up for this on my own.  I was not looking for such a task or position, but God had others plans for me.  The infinite possibilities had been whittled down to one by God over the span of about a year through many closed doors to point us to a door we did not think to be an option.

No Joke

Today has been bittersweet to us. We announced at our church the following:

For several years God has been shaping us to follow a call that I can no longer deny or resist. In Jeremiah 20:9, Jeremiah says, “There is a fire in my bones and I grow weary of holding it in.” Throughout the past few years God has refined our call by showing us that He has called us to plant a church in Denver, CO. In order to be prepared to plant this church, we have accepted a residency with Frontline Church Planting Group in Colorado Springs, CO that is part of Vanguard Church, a 15-year-old church that desires to plant churches that plant churches.

We will remain at Fairhaven until the fall of 2012 in full capacity, but will use the coming months to build prayer support, raise support, gather church partnerships and prepare for the transition to Colorado.

Please know that our family loves the people of Fairhaven all very dearly and pray that God will continue to do great things at this place called Fairhaven.

The Genesis

God spoke to me! God spoke to me? I cannot believe He spoke to me. After days of sitting quiet for long periods of time, I heard God speak to me. I am a baptist so I am sure it was not audible. But God spoke to me; like He and I were 2 feet apart. I have never been so sure that God spoke to me outside of that day.

In April of 2009, God began a great work in me, one that I cannot explain outside of divine intervention and motivation. As I sat in an old orange and brown chair in my office, I heard God say, “Denver, Colorado”. And my immediate reaction was, “What?” I sat there a bit longer wanting to hear more and get more explanation, but nothing came. The still small voice had finished talking. I didn’t know what to do. I had to tell someone! So, that night, when my children went to sleep I told my wonderful wife. And I will let her tell you about her reaction.

So there you have it…the genesis of this crazy adventure we have been on now for three years and will continue until God says otherwise.