It's New Years....So it must be time for resolutions....

I resolve to attempt to blog more often (please, pick yourself off the floor and stop laughing...Sorry Jen if I scared Lucca).

No, seriously, I want to try and do this a little more often. It is my hope that in the upcoming year, this spot will be a place for my general ranting's, mumbling's and other odd thoughts. I want to write about ideas that are more then just spiritual or church related, but also may be political and social. With that said, please remember that I too am only human (I know Cindy, hard to believe), and that some of my ideas (ok, most of my ideas) may be off kilter just a bit. All I ask for is a little grace now and then.

I have finally updated most of my links (so that they go to the right place!) Here is a quick rundown of who everyone is:

Cindy Holda - That's my wife...Interesting thoughts about life as a pastors wife.
Jen Fleming - Cindy's Sister...Interesting thoughts of someone living in the middle of the post modern world...Fair warning, this site could be raw!
Jordon Cooper - Pastor in Saskatchewan - great post modern thinker...Probably one of the greatest blogs in the entire blog universe.
Mark Priddy - Good thinker on what Christian community is about. He started, and is currently involved with an organization called Allelon.
Mark Riddle - Radical thinker on what the church, especially youth, should look like. Can be raw, but he will really make you think (and laugh).
Todd Hunter - Old AVC head, now on staff at Allelon. He has had some of the greatest influence on my thinking on what it means to be a follower of the Way.
Winn Girffin - Dr Winn...Old Vineyard theologian...Now with Allelon. He will make you think.
The Ooze - Great website for post modern Christian thought.
Vineyard - DeKalb Blog - This is new...An area for discussion and thought within the Vineyard DeKalb community.
Vineyard - DeKalb - The church's website.
VCF - NW Georgia - My sending church...It's always good to stay close to family.
Vineyard USA - Ma Vineyard

Look for more stuff to be added in the future.

If I don't blog before then, have a Happy New Year!

Ok, Ok, so it's been awhile since my last blog (thanks for the friendly reminders Jen!). You know, I find it utterly incredible that I seemed to have more time to blog when I had a 9 to 5 job. I'm not sure if that means that I was better at time management while working or that I just was a slacker...Go figure.

Not too much new going on these days. Still trying to get into a new building...still trying to learn how to be a pastor...still trying to keep sane! I'm planning to post a little more often then before but.....no promises!! :)

It’s 9:00 at night. I’m sitting in the student center at NIU. I’m supposed to be working on my sermon for Sunday. Instead I’m blogging. I think my priorities are screwed up.

I was flipping through the stations on my radio on the way here and I started listening to a Christian call in show. I usually hate these Q&A shows. The hosts normally have some type of agenda…and normally you can figure it out within a few minutes. This show was no different.

This guy (sorry, I never did get his name) was telling everyone that the “church age” was over. He was claiming that all the churches were in sin (not just the denominations, but the local congregations). They were spending too much time creating their own theology to fit their specific needs and desires. These theologies, in his mind, went totally against the word of God. He felt that because of this the church was run by the devil, and that the reference to Babylon in Revelations was in reality speaking of the church. The only solution was to leave the church (or the local congregation as he put it.) Only true “born-again believers” would see the blatant error the local congregations were walking in and therefore should they should leave, as soon as possible.

Here is the funny part. Once you left, he felt that you should not try to create a fellowship (like a house church); instead you should just stay by yourself. He claimed that Hebrews 10:25 supported this theory. Go ahead, look it up, I’ll wait…

I didn’t see that there either…I think he is making his own theology up! The sad part is that people were calling them, telling him what a great idea it is to be a believer all alone. What a sad thing. Everything that I have studied lately points to the congregation, not away from it. My thoughts are that Christianity is about community, not about a solo thing. Acts makes that totally clear. They were in one heart and mind, they met at the temple, and they met in their houses. I would entertain the idea that the big church thing we have in the west may not be biblical, but the fellowship definitely is. I think we, as evangelicals, have really got this personal salvation thing all messed up. Yes, the decision to follow Christ is ours alone, but once that decision is made, we move from the world of the individual to the world of community. “Love one another”…how can we do that if we are alone. Even the desert fathers in the early church lived in community. Granted, they spent a lot of time in solitude, but they also spent a good amount of time in community. So much so that if one of them was missing from a community meeting, the community went out to them to see if they were ok. That doesn’t sound like a lone gun to me.

The idea of being a Christian without community is an idea straight from the pit of hell. I believe that Satan promotes this to get to us one on one. Granted, with Christ, we can stand up to him. But alone, we are apt to start believing some of the lies that he tells us. It is through community that we “sharpen each others swords”. It is in community that we keep each other in check. It is by ourselves that we start to believe things that my not be God. Anyways, being by ourselves is just out right lonely…who in their right mind wants to experience the things of God all by themselves…it is a whole lot more fun sharing with other what God is doing with you, and observing what God is doing to the people around you.

I’m done ranting…back to sermon writing…

Today was my kids’ first soccer game. Life was interesting! Ben’s game was first. Because he is five, they don’t keep score (dad’s on the other hand do, Ben’s team won). Watching little kids run up and down the field with a reckless abandon, not even caring if they are going towards the correct goal will put a smile on anyone’s face. Nathan’s team won a nail bitter (being seven, they do keep score) 2 to 1. Nathan did pretty good, he actually got to kick the ball once! Emily’s team is a tad more professional, being 10 and all. Her team also won, 5 to 0. My little Emily got to plat goalie. This is the first year playing organized soccer, so when the ball came to her, she stopped it from going in the goal, but then was not sure what to do next. Some guy next to me started yelling at her to throw the ball out quicker, and then went on to tell all the parents there that this team needs a new goalie, one who is more aggressive. He then boastfully went on to tell everyone how when he was a baseball coach of nine year olds, he had his team throw at a fellow teammates head so that he would become more aggressive. Needless to say, I wanted to corner kick him right to the next county (in Christian love, of course).

For those who are counting….the Holda Soccer record is 3-0.

For those of you wondering, I just added my sister-in-law’s blog to my list (jen.fleming). In case you’re wondering, this is not a Christian blog. On the other hand, this is definitely a postmodern blog. You know, we Christian leaders love to put out these great brain farts on how church should look, and what we should do to develop community and relationship. Some of us pride our self on being postmodern and being able to think and create like a postmodern (even though many are not). You want to know what a postmodern outside the church thinks about and how they relate to other people, read this blog. If you want to understand what makes them tick and what ticks them off, read this blog. On the other hand, if you get offended really easily and off colored language makes you uncomfortable, then read Mark Riddle’s blog. At least you can get your undies in a bundle by someone who is a pastor.

Oh well, tomorrows Sunday and I need to get up early. Be back later.

I started a series in Acts this week. I was praying about what I needed to preach, and foundational issues kept coming up. I preached on Sunday out of Acts 2…the unity section at the end of the chapter. It was an amazing time because I felt that my message was completely uninspiring. It felt incredibly dead. Fortunately, God showed up and people got affected during ministry time. The really funny part is that people have been calling me this week to tell me how much they liked my sermon…go figure!

Cindy and I started to change some stuff around during the service. We are trying to do this via little steps. This week, we moved the room around and took a coffee break between worship and the message. The break was funny. I have been in churches for years that do this, but this was their first time. People were a little uneasy at first, but they decided that they really liked it. I hope the same attitude occurs when we do other major changes.

We have been having power problems at the house for the last couple of weeks. It seems like anytime we are running a major appliance (air conditioning, dryer) and the water heater turns on, the mains in the house blow. I didn’t think much about it at first (other then to tell the landlord and hope he fixes it), but now I’m starting to wonder. The black out in the northeast got me wondering if this is prophetic somehow and the Lord is trying to tell me something. Not too sure about that, still praying. (btw…Rick Joiner has some interesting thoughts on that).

Oh well…more later…

Well, it’s been a long time since I last blogged. I just haven’t found the time to do it (or the energy). The last month has been crazy. Last week, we were formally asked to take over the Vineyard in DeKalb, IL. After praying about it, we finally decided to do it and we have been moving at full speed ever since. I knew that there was a lot of administrative work involved in a church, but the past week has been overwhelming. We have spent the last two days attempting to reconstruct the history of this church. I have had people coming over to our house dropping off more and more paper! Very little was in order, and most of it was extremely confusing. I think we are beginning to get a handle on it all. The funny pat of it all is that I don’t start preaching there until this Sunday! So much for starting slow and getting our feet wet. Sometime between now and Thursday I need to come up with a teaching for small group and between now and Sunday I need a sermon, not to mention a few more meetings and more paper (as well as trying to make some money tent making). Ugh! I know that God is faithful and that it will all come together by then. Unfortunately, now it seems a bit overwhelming!

More later (I promise!)

I hung out last night with the guys at River of Life. Tom (the pastor) pulled me up in front of the church (without advance warning) and had me tell them what we are up to. I gave our basic story over the past few months, and Tom filled in the blanks of the areas that I missed. He has a way of being extremely encouraging. What was cool about the entire thing was his attitude towards us as a new church. Many pastors that I have met seem to feel that new churches are a threat…additional competition. Tom’s attitude was completely different. He told his people that we (Cindy and I) were going to effect people that they could never reach. It seemed like he looked at us more as partners in the same cause then as competitors in the same race.

I bring this up because Cindy went this morning to Christ Community Church in St. Charles (we went to two different services because of Nathan’s foot…see Cindy’s blog). Cindy and I used to be members of CCC many years ago. According to Cindy, the church has grown…really grown. She said that it felt like Willow Creek in size. While there, she ran into an old friend of ours who happens to be on staff (John). We haven’t seen or spoken to him in about three years, so he was curious to hear what we were up to. Cindy mentioned to him that we were working on planting a church in DeKalb. John seemed somewhat surprised and mentioned in passing that they wanted to plant in DeKalb as well. Now, we are in a totally different stream than CCC. But the thought of a well financed church like CCC planting in DeKalb really freaked us out. They would send their people, they would be a lot more professional…and they would have money…. things that most Vineyard church plants do not have. Then it hit me…I was thinking like a businessman, not a follower of Christ. I know this is Jesus’ church that we are planting, not Joe and Cindy’s. And I know that He sent us here…so why should I freak out about another church? There are close to 100,000 people in this area (including the college). Why would I think that all 100,000 would be affected by our message alone? Isn’t there enough room for the Vineyard, CCC and the River of Life (as well as the other churches in the area)?

I realize that not many churches would come out directly and say that they were in competition…but how many are in their hearts (if not the pastors, then the congregation)? What would the church look like if we really believed that we are just a part of the body of Christ instead if thinking that our denomination / church / group / movement is the body of Christ? We teach people that they have certain gifting’s and that gifting makes them part of the body…e.g. foot, head, hand, etc. Wouldn’t that same analogy fit the church as well? The Vineyard seems to know how to do worship and healing…River of Life knows the campus…CCC knows evangelism. If we all waked in the authority that God gave us and blessed the stuff that God gave others, wouldn’t the church be more revenant to people then it is today?

Once again, maybe this is something that God is trying to teach me or heal me of…but I don’t necessarily think that I am alone in this.

Hey...I just signed up for something called Indie Allies Meetup...it's a gathering of local "Independent Christian Thinker's" (Whatever that means)...I think it's a get-together for people who hang out at the ooze or jordoncooper.com. Sounded neat, although I doubt there will be anyone else from DeKalb (other then my wife!). Check it out....http://indieallies.meetup.com

Well, it's official. I just got a call from my company and my job is coming to an end. I was told to have everything ready to transistion back to them by the end of next week. They still want to me to work for them, but on a contract basis (although they are not too sure what that means). It's all a matter of head-counts and budgets. Ain't life grand!

I talked to Rocky about it. He has come to the conclusion that this just means that it's time to get serious about the church plant....gather, gather, gather, then go public. I've always felt that this job was manna, and that the manna would stop as soon as God said go....I'm beliving that is what is happening now. I know that He has provided for us in the past and that He is going to provide for us in the future...my hope has to be in Him alone.

My system is down again (for work). With all the junk that has happened to my company’s network over the past two weeks, one would be shocked to learn that I work for a network security company!

I got a call from the DeKalb Vineyard yesterday asking me to come on July 6th to preach. My attitude towards that church has really changed over the past week. I have come to the conclusion that Cindy and I have been sent to plant a church, not to take one over. With that said, if the DeKalb Vineyard wants to join what we are doing, great. On the other hand, if they don’t, that’s OK too. I’m over focusing all my attention on “getting a job”. For some reason I want to believe that pastoring is supposed to be more then just a job. When we left Georgia, I never thought that I would look at it as such. But after going through the interview, then the preaching and the other PR stuff, it was starting to feel like one. I really don’t want a job as a pastor. I know from my experiences in the business world that the key to a job is impressing your boss, and his boss, and so on. By turning the pastorate into a job, I think I would attempt to impress my boss – the congregation or the board. I don’t think that’s what God has in mind. I think I’m supposed to listen to Him instead, not to impress, but to obey.

Now perhaps there are pastors out there who are more mature then I and have this all figured out. Unfortunately, the only person I have to look at is me, and I have to take my weakness in to account. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve changed the way I’m praying for that church. In the past, I would pray for them to hear God and make a decision. I now am just praying that God does what he wants there. I would be honored if I was a part of it, but if I’m not, that’s ok. It may not seem like much of a difference, but to me, it has taken a load off my shoulders.

Oh well, they got me up and running again…back to work!

Well, we did our first small group last night…I guess the church plant has begun! We had four people come…Mike & Cathy, Carla and Krista. From what I have been told, more are to follow. The night seemed to go well. Right as Cindy finished worship, we heard one of the kids yell from outside “Ready or not, here I come”. I felt like this was prophetic, like the Lord was telling us ready or not, here He comes…Come Lord!

We also started a blog for the church plant. It’s still under construction somewhat. Hopefully we will be able to clean it up a bit by the end of the weekend.

I'm sitting here, looking out my window, watching the soybeans grow. I should be working, but most of our network just came crashing down. So that gives me plenty of time to sit, think, and watch soybeans.....

Cindy’s sister called last night. She is searching, trying to find God and figure out what it all means. She just read the book of John and called with questions, lots of questions. Most were stuff that I had never thought about…ways that God is unfair or offending. While she was talking to my wife about this, I was surfing through a lot of “post-modern Christian” blogs. I found myself getting really depressed as the night went on. On one hand, I was listening to my wife attempt to answer her sister’s questions. The problem was that her sister was looking at God not as a person to build a relationship with, but as a concept or an organization to join. Cindy spent a lot of time trying to explain that it is about relationships…with God, with Jesus, with others…not just an organization or political party or something like that. At least that’s what I think she wanted to say…I’m not sure if she was successful or not.

On the other hand, I started to look through all these blogs. And what I found out was that they were all asking the same questions…everyone seemed to be searching…looking for the best way, structure, or technique to get closer to God…to be more authentic in this emerging generation. While everyone was doing this, I felt like they were all alone in their searching. Now I know many of them are in churches or communities…some vibrant. But it seemed like they were searching by themselves…I’m not sure how to explain it, it just seemed very depressing.

We seem to have all the questions figured out…we just don’t have any answers. Is that what it is supposed to be about, just asking questions? I know that we only know in part, but is our God supposed to be a mystery at all times…is He supposed to be this great question that we are to continually ponder, like a bunch of Greek philosophers? I always thought that we were supposed to follow after God like little children. My kids don’t take the time to ask these huge questions before they do stuff, they just go and do it. Perhaps that’s what we are supposed to do, just go after God, go after Jesus, go after the Holy Spirit, go after other believers, go after other non-believers and just do it…build relationships, love other people and Love God. Maybe that’s what it is supposed to look like.

Perhaps I need to think about that a bit more…

Cindy and I had dinner with Rand and Amy Tucker yesterday at Giordano's on Rush Street. I forgot how much I missed Chicago Style Pizza while we lived in Georgia! Rand is the pastor of the Hyde Park VCF in Chicago. Talk about a neat guy. He is someone I really want to get to know better. His Vineyard is smack in the middle of the University of Chicago, so he is doing a lot of what we are hoping to do. I think we are going to visit his church on Sunday. From his descriptions, they are a little different. Should be a lot of fun.

I often wonder how people like Jordon Cooper do it, posting to their blog daily. I can never find the time.

It has been extremely busy since my last blog! First, Cindy and I were asked to interview for the Senior Pastor position at a local Vineyard. We went through the interview process, and were then asked to preach on Sunday. Surprisingly, Sunday went well (especially since this was the first time I had ever preached on a Sunday morning. I’m more used to teaching classes then preaching). The church that invited us is in the same town we are going to plant in. The pastor decided recently that he wanted to move to Florida, so he resigned. His last day there will be this Sunday. Everyone seemed to be excited that we were there on Sunday and some even made comments that they hoped we would take the church over.

I got a call yesterday from that Pastor. He said that we made a great impression with everyone there. Someone on the Pastor search team read an article somewhere that stated that churches do better if they wait a few months between pastors so that they can develop their own identity. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but they are not going to make a decision on what to do for a couple of months. I wish them well in this decision, but I find myself concerned for them. The church is at about 30 people. They do not have any type of home group / small group in place, everything is Sunday morning. They think that if they bring in some preachers over the next few months, everything will be ok, but I don’t know if they can make it like that…without some form of leadership or vision.

I know that there is a strong move amongst the “emerging church” for a leaderless environment, or a Holy Sprit lead environment, but I think that the body needs to be in agreement for that and there needs to be vision for that. Perhaps that is what the Lord is trying to do for them. I fear that without vision (especially if this model for this church is not from the Lord), how will they survive?

Cindy and I are praying for them, and we will support them any way we can, but we are not going to wait for them to make a decision before we do what God is leading us to do. More to follow…

I found this on Mark Riddle's blog. I find myself asking many of the same questions....

Questions I'm asking myself today:
Is it possible to be a pastor And also be a follower of Jesus?
Is it possible to be a pastor And know people outside the church?
Is it possible that Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream maybe the greatest Ice Cream on the planet?
Is it possible that we fundamentally misunderstand and abuse the word leadership?
Is it possible that we post-modern pastors have more in common with a young adolescent than an adult?
Is it possible that God is doing something new and exciting outside my world view?
Is it possible that God could laughs at us often?
Is it possible that we take ourselves way to seriously?
Is it possible that we take God way to seriously?
Is it possible that the church leaders of tomorrow will be a bunch of bitchy people who demonstrate a bitchy God?
Is it possible that I am the cheif sinner in this regard?
Is it possible that we need more biblically bitchy people?
Where are the young pastors who seek humility?
Where are the emerging leadership who are honoring to more than God and pretty pictures?
Where are the pastors who will sacrifice their only son to serve this wild God?
Where are the pastors who are willing to submit to those with different worldviews?
Where are the pastors who are willing to stand against the things that greive God?
Where are the pastors who are willing to give up control?
Where are the pastors willing to give their assumptions to God and then follow him on his terms?
Where is the humility?
Where is the sacrifice?
Where is the Faith, hope and love?
I know it is out there. I know it is in here.
Right now I just need to be asking questions I guess.

Hi, my name is Joe Holda and this is my blog! My wife Cindy and I are simple church planters here in DeKalb, Illinois (actually, we live in Sycamore, but that’s another story). I thought I would start this blog to attempt to keep track of the trials and tribulations in the planting of a church. I hope that in time, this little bog will turn into God’s story of what he is doing with us, as well as miscellaneous thoughts and ramblings on what it means to be a Christ follower in the 21st century. Idle thoughts about community, leadership, church and relationships are sure to be plentiful.

So as the title of the blog goes, feel free to sit back and enjoy a cup a joe with me while, with the help of the Holy Sprit, we stumble through this thing called life. Enjoy!

So here it begins.......