church planting

We don’t even know where to start!  God has been so gracious to us these past few months.

We had our baby girl Mercy Elia Potter on August 8th.  She weighed 7.7 and is so precious.  We love her so much!

These photos were taken by the Elia’s pictured above.  They are also the reason Mercy’s middle name is ‘Elia’.  We love them.

We will continue to keep you updated on our lives.  This week we have our last preview service with Crosspointe Waterford Lakes before we go public in the Radisson Hotel!

I hope you begin to see the trend that I (Josiah) spend most of my time each day serving at Chili’s.  Here’s another story of how God’s working in our lives in Orlando.

At the end of my shift I had a table sit down and order Chicken Fried Chicken.  I rang in Country Fried Steak b/c I’m human and I make mistakes.  The food comes out and the three ladies look at it and say, “This isn’t what we ordered.”

No harm so far.  We weren’t busy.  Their food came out literally five minutes after they ordered.  I had my manager swing by and talk to them and we got them their correct order in a matter of 5-10 minutes.  They were still working on their salad and black beans so they weren’t without food at any point.

I bring out their correct order and magically there aren’t any mashed potatoes on the plate.  The lady to my right says, “You got it wrong again, there aren’t any mp’s.”  The lady to my left says, “Stupid.”  (Under her breath but loud enough for me to hear)

I’m furious.  I don’t show it.  I smile and say I’ll be right back with that.  They had mp’s in a matter of 40 seconds.

I continue to wait on them, anticipating their needs with refills and boxes and the whole nine yards.  I figure, I’m not going to let a grumpy old lady steal my joy for the day.

I bring the check and they pay with 100$ bill.  NOTE*  If you go out to eat and your bill is less than 50$  do NOT pay with 100$ bill.  We’re not a bank, we don’t have that kind of cash in our server books at 1pm, especially when everyone else is paying with debit cards.  It’s a huge hassle.

Anyway, I finally scrounge up their change and bring it to them with To-Go drinks.

They leave.

I go to the table to collect the tip but………………there is no tip.  There’s no tip.  They ran up a 50$ check and stiffed me.

I’m fuming.

I look out and see the ladies walking to their van.  On this van, neatly placed on the right side is a Jesus Fish.  Just like this car.

You can only imagine what’s running through my head now.  As I begin to sift through my thoughts to pick an appropriate one to attach to these ladies I look down and see this.

That’s right.  They left their take out boxes full of their left over food.  (There was a lot of it.)

I look out the window and see the ladies having a nervous conversation looking back towards the restaurant wondering if they can sneak back in knowing full well what they just did.

Then it hits me.

I grab the box and run out to their car and say, “Hey ladies!  You forgot your take out food!”  They say anxiously, “yes……yes we did, didn’t we?”  I reply, “I like your Jesus fish.”  ”You do?”  ”Yes ma’am, I’m a Pastor.”

Silence.

“Oh really?”  ”Yes ma’am, well you all have a great day!”

I watched those women talk to each other in bewilderment for the next five minutes as I cleaned their table.  They never came back in and tipped me, I didn’t even really care about the tip that much.  What I did care about was the example I got to set for my co-workers.  I spent the next ten minutes telling and retelling my story to my teammates and they laughed hysterically!  They couldn’t believe, first of all, that I would take those ladies their food after they had stiffed me and then they couldn’t believe how foolish those women must have felt after they received the knowledge that they had just stiffed a local Pastor waiting tables to scrape by.

I had a choice.  I could have cussed those women and bad mouthed them to my teammates and just been another disgruntled server, or I could swallow my pride, take those women their take out food and set an example for my friends at Chili’s that even when people treat you unfairly, you can still love them while exposing their wrong doing without hurting them.

I hope those women learned a valuable lesson today.  As Christians, how can we go to a restaurant, run up a 50$ bill and then not be gracious to the person who served us that meal?  You don’t have to tip 30% to show how awesome Christians are when they go out to eat.  Just be patient, kind, gentle, and generous and maybe people will recognize you by your love.

One thing you all should know about servers at restaurants is this……it’s going to sting…..are you ready?

If you’re not a regular (someone who comes in the same time ever week and sits in the same section and orders the same thing)……if you’re not a regular, your server doesn’t care about you.  It’s nothing personal, actually that’s sort of the gist of it.  Guests are merely dollar signs to servers.  Sure they’ll treat you like kings and queens but as soon as that credit card receipt is signed you’re simply taking up precious space until the next party of four dollars sits down.  Is this taught by the companies/restaurants in training?  No.  This is an unspoken norm that I see played out every day.  I’m ashamed to say that I get caught up in it.

One night, a week or so ago I had two people sit in my section.  It was close to closing time, I was tired, I wanted to go home and be with my wife….needless to say, I didn’t care about these people.  I walked up to greet them, put on my fake server smile and asked if I could get them something to drink.  The guy informed me that he was an employee of Chilis.  That changed everything.  Employees get 50% off their bill and usually tip really good so my demeanor shifted a little.  I was refilling drinks, chips and working my tail off for that one table because the little dollars just turned into bigger dollars.

Later in the meal I stopped by to see if they needed anything.  The girl had gone to the restroom and the guy looks up at me and says, “Hey man, sorry I’ve had such a bad attitude this entire meal.  I got some really bad news today.”  Oh no.  This isn’t good.  My dollars were turning back into people.  People with real problems, real families and real souls.  I had a choice.  I could blow it off and say, “sorry bro, more sweet tea?” or I could truly serve “the least of these.”

I said, “I’m so sorry man, what happened?”  He said that he just found out that he got rejected by the law school he’s been dreaming of going to since he was a little boy.  I replied, “Wow.  That’s awful man.  Well, I know some people with connections to some great schools in Georgia.  I’m a pastor, here’s my card.  Call me and we’ll grab coffee or something and talk about what’s next for you.”  He looks up at me, “You’re a pastor?  Me and my girlfriend have been looking for a church to go to around here.”  From there on I told him about Crosspointe and where we meet.

I’m not sure if that guy will come to church, or even call to talk about what’s next in life for him.  I’m not sure if that was even the reason for the lesson I learned that evening.  I am convinced of one thing though, we all get caught up in whatever it is that we do and devalue people.  Pastors devalue people to numbers.  Serves devalue people to dollars.  Politicians devalue people to votes.  So how do we change that?  How do we see the value in people?

We serve them.  Whether it be with time, money, work or refills of sweet tea, we serve them.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Matthew 25:35-40

Love,

Josiah and Jordan

In Exodus 17:8-13 there’s a story of perseverance in which the armies of Amalek and Israel fought with one another.  Moses instructed Joshua to choose men personally to go and fight with  him.  The deal was that Moses had to lift his hands (in which he held his staff) above his head, raised and the Israelites would win.  If he lowered them, the Israelites would lose.  Short version of the story-Moses raised hands, he grew weary, Aaron and Hur each held one arm up, Joshua cleaned house with his sword and God facilitated the win.

Last week I was working a shift at Chili’s and the night came to a close.  If you’ve never worked at a restaurant, here’s a look into what happens at the end of the night.  It’s insane.  The servers are taking care of their last tables while doing sidework (i.e. cleaning drink stations, salsa cooler, chip machine, trays, trivets, soup station, dessert station) and trying to clean their tables, all so they can roll two buckets of silverware before they can go home to their families or cats.  All the while, the bartender is cleaning the bar, the bussers are taking out the trash, cleaning the bathrooms and bussing tables, and the kitchen is cleaning all the grills, fryers, bowls, utensils and well……it’s chaos.

I walked back to my manager’s office to cash out for the night and we begin talking about Jesus, life, Christianity, and the church.  This is all fairly normal as the relationship I’ve developed with my boss has basically become a really great Q&A concerning the Gospel.  My boss begins to tell me about his life and the things he’s going through with his family and work and basically let’s me know he’s broken.  I assured him that we’re all broken and in need of Christ.  I explained God’s sovereignty and how He’s way ahead of us and is already putting into place things in our lives to draw us closer to him.  I shared 1 Peter 5:5 with him and explained the difficult process of how getting walked on glorifies God.

After talking I asked if I could pray with him.  He said yes.  So amidst the chaos of the restaurant closing, I laid hands on my boss and prayed for him.

God is moving in Orlando to redeem this city.  God is using Crosspointe Church to reorient people to the gospel, and God is using simple servers at Chili’s to pray over their bosses  prayers of healing and grace.  This is all being facilitated by and through your prayers and your giving.  Thank you for trusting God and supporting us.

Love,

The Potters

So over the last few weeks God has shown us how faithful He is over and over and over!

Jordan has been busy nannying and going to school full time and is almost finished with her Bachelor’s degree in Christian Leadership and Josiah has been asked to speak all semester at TNL presents The Anchor at Palm Beach Atlantic University as well as lead worship for the FCA chapels on friday mornings.

God has also been using us at Truth Point Church in West Palm Beach which just had it’s first Sunday in Bear Lakes Middle School a couple weeks ago!  It’s been a wonderful win-win situation where God has provided us a place to serve and be ministered to at the same time!  Here’s a photo from the first Sunday!

The biggest thing that God has been challenging us to do is to surrender everything we want to worry about to Him.

Money—->worry—->surrender—–>God provides

House—->worry—–>surrender—–>God sells it in 3 days

A place to live in waterford lakes—–>currently surrendering that to Him

As full time missionaries now the biggest concern is how we will afford to live in this American society without getting full time jobs on top of our full time calling/job.

Thankfully Jesus has been providing for us and showing us that He will choose who He wants to support us with.

The first thing people tell you when you are about to ask friends & family for support is; ‘Make sure you send letters to people who have a lot of money!‘ and while that is tempting we choose to prayerfully consider who we send letters to and trust that God will take care of the $$.  Here’s a perfect example.

This is Taylor.

She is one of my guitar students and has been taking lessons for about six months now and she’s getting quite good at her instrument!  I had the joy of meeting Taylor and her family at the last church I served at and am so thankful for them as they have been so supportive of Jordan and I in our transitional season.

One day Taylor came for her lesson and when she was about to leave, she handed me two envelopes.

Two envelopes? I  thought.  Hmmm….maybe we missed a week of lessons and I forgot about it. Nope.

This is the envelope.

That’s right.  In parenthesis it reads “My God money”

We were so touched by Taylor’s love and support and this was just another HUGE reminder that God’s going to use the ‘least of these’ to give Him glory.

As we continue to take steps in the direction that God’s leading us in we are constantly reminded of His love and grace and provision as we seek His glory in planting in Orlando.

Thank you to all who have supported us and are continuing to support us in this next season!  We love you and are praying for you!

Love,

The Potters

We know online giving is a new thing in the church realm and we had a lot of questions ourselves about what happens and how to do it.

Here is a step by step instruction guide to giving to the Potters through Crosspointe church online.

FAQ’s

*When do you get the online support? Once payment is received, the accounting office at Crosspointe cuts and mails us a check.

*Is it tax deductible? Yes.  When you login you will see your contribution schedule and a year to date contribution history and total for your records.

Step 1: Go to the Crosspointe Church Website and click on ‘Give’ in the upper right hand corner

Step 2: Click on the ‘click here’ button to give online or simply mail your contribution to the address provided

Step 3: If you are a new user, click on the ‘create account’ button

Step 4: Fill out the information sheet (this is all strictly confidential)

Step 5: This is where you can either give a one time gift or schedule a monthly contribution.  Click ‘Individual Support’ next to ‘Fund’ and then click ‘Josiah Potter’ next to ‘Sub Fund.’ After that you can choose what day you would like to give and then fill out your Billing Info.  Below you will be able to keep track of your schedule and history with a year to date total at the very bottom.

Thank you all so much for your support!  Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

Our immediate requests are

*Sell our home in Boynton Beach Florida

*Find a house to rent in Waterford Lakes that is big enough to have meetings/small groups in

*That God will provide 100% support by November

Blessings,

The Potters

Hello friends and family!

In the last six months we have been approached by church planters, Jared & Jocelyn Davis, to pray about joining them in planting a church in Orlando, Fl.  After prayerfully listening to God’s call for our lives, it is with great joy to let you know that we have accepted the invitation to go plant with Crosspointe Church in Orlando.

We have joined the CrossPointe Church movement as well as Vision360 . Josiah will be joining the team as worship leader and Jordan will be joining as Children’s ministry director.

We are dedicating this website to share what God’s doing in/through/with/for us as we answer His call for us to plant in Orlando.  We will be living 100% off of financial support which means that our rent, food and resources to begin planting the church will directly come from the blessing that God extends from each of you whether it be prayerfully or financially.

Our prayer is that you would consider supporting us 100$/month or some other amount.  Please pray and ask God to keep us close to His heart and aligned with His will.

We will be sending out support packages to friends and family so if you want to partner with us in ministry or receive a support package please email us at josiahandjordan@gmail.com

It seems as if everyone is looking for employment these days.  If you take a gander at the U.S. Bureau of Labor site you can find all the stats for what’s happening around the nation.   Here’s a snippet from one of the articles, “In December, there were 2,275 mass layoff actions, involving 226,117 workers. Mass layoff events decreased by 58 over the month, while initial claims increased slightly by 478. Over the year, mass layoff events increased by 806, and initial claims increased by 80,201″

I taught the high school and middle school ministries this week at The Journey and we’re in the middle of a series called “Greed and the Me Monster” so I thought it would be pertinent to speak on something pro active and challenge the students with something practical instead of shaking my finger at them for being greedy.  This is the verse I used.

1 Peter 3:8-9  (NIV)

Do you see money anywhere in there?  Do you see new corvette anywhere in there?  A blessing can be anything, really.  But the blessing that Peter is talking about is one that  is “Of God” see #4.  I love it.

Who will you bless this week?  Who has blessed you?

side note: these are not all my original thoughts.  I totally stole them from one of my dad’s sermons and added some stuff here and there….thanks Dad!

In the first chapter of Acts Jesus says something interesting to His disciples when they ask Him when He will restore the kingdom to Israel.  (Silly disciples, always looking for a physical & political kingdom.  Wrote about our modern day obsession with that here)

He says, “…you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

I find it interesting because He didn’t say that we will be His witnesses in all the third world countries once a year after we’ve written support letters to our family and had an amazing bake sale to raise money for the missions trip!  Let me interject immediately for those of you fuming.  My Dad runs a mission organization called B.O.T.A. and I’ve been going on short term missions trips for the past decade.  Short term missions are amazing, life changing experiences and I am going on one this year.  That’s not my point.  My point is that a lot of American churches have their vision blurred when the word “serve” comes to mind.

It’s interesting to me that Jesus used three geographical locations that were in the vicinity of where they were living, working, sharing community with people.  It’s after those three locations do we find “and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

I’m 25 so I’m in that age group that wants to change the world but I think Jesus wanted the disciples to see what was right in front of them before they went traveling by sea to the other side of the world.  What impact have we truly made if we spend one week in Mexico changing the lives of the people but come back and spend fifty one weeks doing nothing in the community where we live.  Believe it or not, there are people who don’t know Jesus that live down the street from you!

At the Journey Church we believe that loving and serving God are our greatest responsibilities as a church so we got out and did something.  This year we continued a Bartlett Love Tradition that involves us going around the roughest parts of our community and handing out Turkey dinners but we don’t just give food.  This is our pitch, “Hello, we’re from a local church (thank you Tim and Jamie for instilling that it’s not about growing the name of an individual church but the Church as one body!) and we’re giving away thanksgiving dinners.  Would you like one?”

After that they say yes or no and after that yes or no comes, “Ok, is there anything you would like us to pray for?”

What happens next can only be described in photographs by Robert Madrid.

How do you serve your community?  Leave a comment and let me know!