Clint Bieri

living the call together

Dear Prayer Partners and Friends,

The first month of the church planting residency has been wonderful.  I have been learning a ton and I have many things to tell you that are very cool. Christina’s job continues to go well and she is enjoying her jigsaw puzzles and cross-stitching very much! So far, I would say that lead pastor Josh Franks and I are a good fit in ministry and I am taking a lot away from our staff meetings and prayer times.  Christina and I are truly blessed to have you praying for us and we are praying for you – that you would see God do mighty and wonderful things in the days to come. Continue Reading…

I have a brief prayer request to give you as well as an opportunity to worship Jesus with some fun news!

Request:

• I am preaching this weekend at Center Pointe for the first time from Psalm 136 about God’s steadfast love for people.  Please join Christina and I in praying that God would illuminate the hearts of many who are still outside of God’s family and that He would draw people to himself this weekend and that people would know with their head and their heart that God loves them.

Praises:

• This past weekend was a wonderful time with the Jr High Students at Winter Blast where I had the opportunity to speak.  It was a ton of fun and I wanted you all to know that 5 students came to know Christ over the weekend making first time decisions to know Him!  It was a thrill to be a part of what God was doing in the kids.  Thank you for praying and know that God answered out prayers in a cool way!
• We are currently at 32.5% of our monthly support raised for 2010!  I am so very excited!  Please help us thank God for His provision.  Also, because of one time gifts and such, we have met our income goal for February!  I can’t even believe it!  God is great and worthy of praise!  We still have a ways to go to achieve 100% funding but I am confident that God will provide!

If you would like to know more about becoming a financial partner please click here for more information!

Thanks again friends for praying for us and encouraging us!  We will be in touch with more news about how God is working in us and through us!

p.s. take 30 seconds and pray this scripture with me:

Luke 10:2 “The harvest in plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Winter Blast has been a blast.  It has been great connecting with my friends Mark Butler, Phil Woodman, Chris Hansen, & Michael Cuellar.  I have met many other wonderful folks and the students have been a ton of fun.  I really don’t have much to say accept – Praise the Lord for the wonderful things He has done in the lives of the kids.  Last night during our session 5 students crossed the line of faith and began a eternal relationship with Jesus the Son of God.  It is overwhelming to be a part of God drawing people to himself!

I wanted to give you a couple of highlights and so I have posted a few photos! Continue Reading…

Many of you have asked, “what is the C&MA?”  Christian and Missionary Alliance is what this is short for.  They are a worldwide denomination that is seeking to make Christ known as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King to every man, woman and Child on earth!  Pretty cool huh!  Christina and I had our accreditation interview yesterday to be a pastor in the Central District and we PASSED!  Yesterday was a great day to hear – “Welcome to the C&MA Central District Family!”  We are so blessed to serve Jesus with this group of people!

Thank you very much to all those who prayed for us yesterday.  We both did very well answering questions and the men who were asking questions were wonderful!  Please continue to pray for us.  We have our home on the market and need to have it sell so that we might move to Centerburg and begin to serve the people in that community 24/7 and limit our travel time. Thank you again for bringing our requests boldly before the father.

Well tomorrow morning Christina and I will meet with the LOCC (Licencing, Ordination, Consecration Committee) to become a member of the Christian & Missionary Alliance in the Central District!! Our interview is at 11 am with several men who are pastors in the district! This is the new beginning that we have been praying about over the last several months and we are praising God for all that HE is doing in us and for us!! Thank you for your prayers. We will post our results with you at some point late in the afternoon!!

So the last week or so has been busy but really cool.  I have a quick story about my Trailblazer which I have found quite funny.  So I was coming home from Ashland, Ohio on Wednesday of this week after teaching a class at Center Pointe Church and then being prepared for an C&MA interview by my Church Planting Coach. I decided to stop in to see  my wife at work which was going to be cool!  I was showing her a painting that my mother had done and then I took it back out to my Trailblazer.  I opened up the back gate, placed the painting inside and then closed the gate – you know how you slam the back of a Dodge Caravan closed – with a little gusto?!  Anyway, not even thinking I slammed the gate closed and when I did I heard a weird pop and the sound of water!  I looked around the driver side and the window of the Trailblazer had BLOWN OUT!!

Blown Out Blazer Window

So needless to say that I was like – WHAT?!?!  So I started to clean up the glass after calling the glass company to come out and replace the window and I met a guy from Pickerington, Ohio (where Christina and I will be church planting in 2 years!).  He told me a lot about the area and so I figured that my window blew out so that I might become a better missionary…. hhhmmmmm!

Happy NEW Year!

Are you hopeful for 2010?  I know that for Christina and I the end of this last decade ended differently than we had planned 6 months ago, but I am so thankful that God’s ways are not our ways. For the last few months I have been writing updates about our journey of church planting.  I have been posting these things because I know that you have meant so very much to Christina and I, as well I know that when presented with a prayer request you all pray!  I am thankful that all of you do take these requests to the Lord on our behalf.  Thank you!!

If you wouldn’t mind praying with Christina and I about the following things we will be blessed! Continue Reading…

Over the last 6 months life has dramatically SLOWED down for me!  There have been many days where I have been at home all day just hanging out with the dog.  I have slowed down, but life is about to kick into another gear and I am hoping that I don’t get left behind.

I wanted to share a little of my schedule over the next few weeks so that you would be praying for Christina and I as I get back up to speed. As well, I would covet your prayers that I would have the wisdom to say no at the right times so that I don’t commit the sin of busyness.  That I would have margin in my life so I can be the best follower of Jesus, husband, friend and man that I can be for God’s glory. Continue Reading…

Merry Christmas!!

It has been just over a month since my last full post.  It has been great to keep up on all of you through Facebook and Twitter.  I wanted to again give an update on what God is doing in our lives. And show you what our Christmas list looks like!

We are now seeing pretty clearly that God is moving us in a direction of Church planting!  We will be doing a “Church Planting Residency” at a church that is 2 years old in Centerburg, Ohio called Center Point Church. Here is the location of Center Pointe for you to get an idea of the area. Continue Reading…

So yesterday and today have been really great here at SXT (Strategic Multiplication Training)!  We are learning so much in terms of church planting and being around other people who are starting churches makes my heart beat fast!  There is so much to share and I am so tired that I will not write very much tonight.  I thank you all for your diligent prayers for Christina and me.

One of the major events for us in our journey to serve in ministry with the C&MA is a pre-accreditation interview that I had this evening.  It was only about 30 minutes long but it tells the district representative whether or not I am ready (with knowledge of scripture, personal walk with Christ, Marriage, and other things) to be formally accredited in the C&MA.  I did pass this initial interview (which is awesome!!!) so that I can go before an accreditation board in January!  I am so thankful that God is continually opening doors for us!  Thank you for your prayers!

Prayer Requests for tonight:

• Sleep well – us and the other church planters
• Sharp minds throughout the day tomorrow
• I am feeling 100% so that is great
• God would continue to provide clarity for our future in church planting
• We are drinking from a fire hose, please pray that when we feel weary that God will lift us up (Isaiah 40:29) so that we would not be overwhelmed.  We are processing a ton of info we and we want to make the most of all of it!

Thank you again for serving us by praying for us!