You found this blog or I sent/spammed you with it...keep reading!  It is official.  I am now the Pastor of Journey Church, here in South Austin.  My family and I are very excited and humbled at this opportunity.  It is a dream come true.  You have no idea!

Some of you may be wondering, "Who the heck, and what are we doing?"  You have come to the right place to find out.  My name is Mike, or Chappy (to all my military buddies), Michael (to my wife of 18 years), Daddy (to my four beautiful children) and now, Pastor Mike.  Really I am just a guy who loves Jesus.  I have pretty much my whole life.  My family has a legacy of serving God and people.   I tell you this so you know that the faith and the Word is deep rooted in my spirit and my genes.  No, that does not mean I am perfect. I’m messy…but I am authentic.  It also means I am confident in His Grace and I know am able to call on the name of Jesus and know what the Word says, without hesitation.   

So, what are my family and I doing here?  Simply put, we are planting a church ---- Journey Church.  The amazing God part of the story is that we already have a building and 7.5 acres of land right in Austin!  God showed Himself strong right there, in incredible ways.  Really, it is a total blessing for a church plant to have that part taken care of and not have that burden or a stress factor.  We are so excited; I can not even begin to describe it.  I would love to show you around the campus personally.

Why Austin?  My wife and I have a heart for this area.  We even gave our oldest son the name Austin as one of his middle names.  I have family in the Hill Country, I have lived in Texas as a child and young adult and well, Texas is home to me! It is most definitely God’s Country!   After spending the past 19 years in the Air Force, traveling all over the world, God has called me back.  We know we were called to #LoveGod, #LovePeople, and #ServeTheCity.  We plan to do just that in Austin, Texas!

So now what? 

We will spend the next year building the Journey Church launch team, with the help of a few close friends, some connections we are making along the way and possibly YOU.  That’s right YOU…if any of what you just read stirs your spirit then we want to meet you. We will spend the next year with our new family and team to start growing, praying, dreaming and planning together.  I do believe we can take over the world <insert creepy laugh>, for Jesus!

Seriously!

How? 

This will be done through community events, life groups, (Sofa Saturdays), word of mouth and making our presence known throughout the community.  I’m game to do that in any way, short of sin, we will share the love of Jesus to the City of Austin. 

When do we plan to start service?

My personal goal is next September.  That seems like a long time…but it is not really that long.  In the meantime, I need a whole bunch of friends/family with the same heart for God, to come along side of us and do this thing.  We will start meeting on Saturday afternoons to DO LIFE TOGETHER with those who want to join in and see what this is all about.  Come and get to know us and let’s see what God has planned for Austin, Journey and us.

This is basically it in a nut shell.  I am just a dude God called, who has had major favor and blessings thrown his way.  God is opening doors and I pray for those of you who may feel the call to join us, contact me! mike@journeychurchatx.org