up to speed

(posted by josh)

well, kristine and i have just been flat out busy. can't you tell since we have not blogged in almost a month? all in all, god continues to show his faithfulness and goodness. he has met our needs personally and the needs of livewire (our new church).

i have since taken a new job on and left publix. i enjoyed publix, loved my co-workers, the job, and the atmosphere, but i was working mostly nights and usually getting home after midnight. i am a morning person so once 7 a.m. rolls around i am up. the problem is, when i get home so late, then wake up early that by 10 or 11 a.m. i am just tired and sleepy especially since a lot of work i am doing for the church is on computer. i end up nodding. lol! so, i was offered a part time job with chick-fil-a. this week is my first week and i love it. i am the dining room host. i take care of the needs of the folks while they are dining with us. i refresh their beverage, remove any trash, and talk with them. i enjoy it!

concerning the church, livewire has recently been moved to lake park elementary school. we meet in the cafeteria which is a good size room which has a wall that separates 3/4 of the cafeteria from the other 1/4. so, the kids get the 1/4 and the adults get the 3/4. there is plenty of room for growth, it has a stage, and the school is an excellent venue. we are now just one block south of the coastland mall on goodlette road. presently, we average 30 people attending livewire.

jade, our pit bull puppy has tripled her original size in just a month. she has been doing really good and we love her to death.

kristine is enjoying her job at rockstar waterfalls like i am at chick-fil-a. however, we both cannot wait to work full time at livewire. the lord will make it possible soon enough and we look forward to it.

if you did not know, we also moved the church website to www.wiredalive.com. come check us out!

well, that's where we are right now and we are loving it!

first week @ publix

(posted by josh)

my first official work week at publix was last week. the week went very well. i actually use to work for publix years back when i was a teenager. it would be nice if i could work the day shift, but i am willing to do what i need to do. it is a good job and i am thankful for it. my position as a bagger gives me opportunity after opportunity to strike up conversation with folks while taking out their groceries. i take a vested interest in their life and in turn they do the same and it gives me the opportunity to share with them about livewire and the lord. i have invited a handful of people to come check out livewire. its been fun!

the position also works well from the standpoint of being more physical labor than mental labor. right now, my mental focus and energies need to be given to livewire. so, all in all i do enjoy my job at publix.

new addition to our family

(entry posted by josh)

last friday kristine went to the friday night worship service at new hope ministries. afterwords, a couple guys found a crate with a lid on it outside the church and lo and behold, 7 pit bull puppies were in the crate. pretty crazy huh? well, kristine brings one of the seven home and the first thing i thought was that we are not keeping her and the second thing i thought was this is the last thing we need right now is a puppy. well, that all went down the drain within a couple days. jade, our new pitbull puppy is in the perez family to stay. we love you little girl!

publix, here i come

(post typed up by josh)

well, i have gone through the interview process and i am officially working part time for publix starting this saturday. this job will work better with my schedule. they will give me weekends and wednesday nights off. i am hired on as a bagger. woohoo! i am excited and i am not joking. being a bagger will help me keep my focus where it needs to be and that is on livewire. hollywood video is a great job, but all in all publix will work out better for me until i start taking a salary at the church. may i help you with your groceries?

wow

(entry typed up by josh)

wow (and i don't mean world of warcraft)! that is the word i think of for this past month and a half. wow, it has been busy! wow, god has been moving on our behalf personally! wow, the lord has been opening doors regarding the church! wow, we are actually planting a church!

kristine and i have been extremely busy. last week was the first week we have been able to breathe a breath of slowing down a little. we have been non-stop organizing, typing, creating, thinking, discussing, shopping, working, etc. for the church. when i say that i am not complaining, because we have been enjoying every minute of it. not to mention, we are working also. kristine is working full time at rockstar waterfalls and I am working part time at hollywood video. she is the bread winner right now. lol! you go girl!

i look forward to more wows the lord has in store for kristine, myself, and livewire.

livewire website

(entry typed by josh)

this blog will now be used primarily for kristine and i to share things from our personal lives. check out the temporary livewire website located at wiredalive.com to find out the latest about livewire.

i'm glad my toenails are painted cuz god is rocking my socks off

(entry written by kristine)

god is totally rocking our socks off at livewire these days. we have been so utterly amazed by how he is opening doors & providing for us day after day, week after week. recently we found a trailer to haul all of our church equipment (at no charge) and use of a FREE airconditioned warehouse (both the courtesy of frank aleman of new hope ministries). god is also sending us people to help with ministry areas... and we're so excited about it because we've been so busy as livewire is growing!
we believe with all of our hearts that amazing things are to come not only at the church, but as god uses us to reach our community.
we love you.... and if you've never visited livewire before, let me be the first to invite you this sunday. please, be our guest. god has an amazing plan for your life and something to speak into your heart this week.

until next time!

who me?

"who me?" that's what we say sometimes when god asks us to do something great. josh preached on this last week, and it was awesome. why don't you come on out & visit us at livewire! i guarantee you won't leave the building the same. hope to see you soon! it's time to get wired!

getting wired!

pictures from our first service at our new location! Come and join us sunday....

our last sunday at starbucks! we're moving!

(entry written by kristine)

from 12 at our first meeting... to 14... and today 23. We have officially outgrown starbucks! we were packed in like sardines.
today's service was awesome. one of our member's, joe pla, had an awesome idea. last week he suggested "instead of livewire blessing our church members with coffee, why don't we use that money to bless the day-to-day customers that walk through the doors while we're there!" so, that's what we did and it was amazing. people were intrigued by the generosity, grateful, some even donated money to livewire, and some even just stood around to listen to josh preach. it was very moving.
next week we will meet at a new location (click on flyer with plug) where we will have more space and room for childcare. we plan to continue our relationship with starbucks... they have been so welcoming and accomodating. they truly went above and beoynd; we couldn't have asked for more. thank you lord for your provision as we have put our trust in you. you are amazing!

time change

this sunday service moves from 9:12 a.m. to 10:12 a.m. - if you've never visited, then stop by and get wired with us! (location & info to the left under our pic.) Lots of cool stuff happening. and please note, this will be our LAST sunday at starbucks. we have a new meeting place lined up with child care. info to come!
-God Bless

good stuff

(entry written by kristine)

it was a little chilly on sunday morning as the folks of ::livewire:: began filing into starbucks. josh greeted everyone in the parking lot as i stayed warm inside (lol) sipping starbucks & chatting as everyone found a comfy seat on the couch or a soft chair. we kicked off at 9:12 with prayer and a few exciting announcements... one of which is that the articles of incorporation are officially approved. We are legaly livewire church, inc! AND... josh has started working part time. woo hoo! no more ramen noodles for us, lol! (j/k). next josh opened his bible and began sharing an encouraging and challenging message. i saw some tears as he was teaching...in his eyes and in the eyes of others as god moved on all of our hearts. monday we as a church fasted from lunch and prayed that god would provide the perfect meeting place: we are definitely going to outgrow starbucks soon! so, today we fasted... and TODAY we received a phone call with what could be the perfect meeting place! keep it in prayer. it's very exciting! we'll be visiting the facility tomorrow. it's just so exciting to surrender our lives completely to god and to watch him work out his perfect will as we give our lives totally to him. lord thank you for blessing us. thank you for your provision. may ::livewire:: be a representation of your beauty and may we glorify you in everything we do.

little wires

one of our "little wires!" keep an eye out for some new church pics coming soon!

in the beginning...

(post written by josh)

this past sunday, february 1st livewire's first service was held at starbucks on pine ridge road at 9:12am. for a couple weeks now we had been excited and anticipating this first service. at starbucks that morning there were a total of 12 (10 adults and 2 children) in attendance. a few were simply there to support our first service, a few visited because they are searching for a church, and others connected with us beforehand as they connected with the vision.

it was a great morning as we set up a laptop and material in starbucks. the area we took over was like a living room. we decided beforehand to buy a drink for everyone as they came in, 1) for starbucks, so we could make an impression on them (we didn't just want to use up their space and only buy 1 or 2 drinks) and 2) we wanted to thank our guests for coming out and supporting livewire. on that note, don't go expecting coffee and pastries every week now. LOL

everyone was excited and seemed to anticipate the service with us. i didn't have to throw anyone out for improper attire (the dress was casual) in case you were wondering. we started out by showing an intro video which is posted below. then kristine shared how we got to where we are now and the vision of livewire. the lord tied that in with the message he had me prepare entitled "live wires".

after the service we paid our bill to starbucks and asked for their feedback. they thought the group meeting was great and even tried to listen when they could. they were definitely open to us coming back this sunday. we also picked up a gift card from target beforehand to give to starbucks as a small token to thank them for the use of the facility.

thank you again starbucks, thank you to all our guests at the first livewire service, thank you new hope ministries for sending us out, thank you to all of you who are praying for us, and thank you lord jesus christ for everything.

livewire vision

We played this short slide show at our service Sunday...

The Day Is Finally Here

We are excited to announce that we will be kicking of our very first small group church meeting Sunday, Feb. 1 at 9:12 a.m. Why 9:12? Why not? We want to be different at livewire and we want to start right away!
Click on the flyer to view the details about Sunday. Be ready to receive an encouraging word from Josh, get connected with others and hear the vision of livewire. And by the way, dress is casual... if you wear a suit you will be thrown out of Starbucks, lol!
We do realize that Starbucks is not conducive to the needs of families with small children. This location is only temporary and we will meet childcare needs asap! We will keep you informed. We are currently working with another venue which has childcare facilities... so it is definitely in the works.
We hope to see you Sunday... it's time to get wired!

And The Name Is....

Drumroll please....

After much thought & consideration, we've come up with a name that we believe is just right for us. It reflects our uniqueness and relevance to the culture... and stirs the interest of the unchurched who will hear it around town. Ready? Again.. drumroll!

livewire.

Not livewire church. Not livewire ministries. Just... livewire.

So, if you're ready to get wired, then livewire is where you are going to want to plug in!

the name has been chosen

(entry written by Josh)

Ok, so here is how the name came about. Kristine told me a specific word that she liked. After thinking for maybe 3 seconds at the most, I said "what about..." and I added a second word with hers. Let me just pause here... The reason I did not say her word or what word I put with the word she said which makes it now 2 words (If you are confused right now, step away from the computer for 1 minute and then come back) has to do with the previous post. So, if you have not read it, do so now.

Now, let's play a game. Here is your opportunity to try and guess the name of our church. Let's play Wheel of Fortune, but you will only know if you guessed right when we post it. Sorry. However, I will give you 1 vowel. Ok, ready? Drum roll please.


The name of the church is:

_ i _ _ _ i _ _

Share your guess with all of us by leaving a "comment", so we can see who came the closest. Simply click "comments" at the bottom right of this particular post.

Becoming More Real

(entry written by Josh)

The new church is becoming more real. Today we submitted and mailed the Articles of Incorporation. As much as we want to share with everyone the name we have chosen we cannot just yet until the State of Florida has communicated back with us that the name and church has been registered and filed as a corporation in Florida.

Once we receive this information we can submit the application for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. We must have our Articles stamped, because we must then send them to IRS for the tax exempt status. Like we said, it is becoming more real and more real every day.

Its exciting stuff for sure!

Our New Hope Farewell

(entry written by Kristine)


Sunday evening was bittersweet. We said our final good-byes to the church family we have known and loved for 18 years. The church surprised us with a power point of Josh and I... including pictures of Josh's Sophomore year homecoming dance! Just imagine John Travolta with feathery black hair! It was a great service of memories and laughter and even some tears. They surprised us by asking Don and Toni Tomei to attend (our youth pastors when we were teenagers at New Hope). Don said a few words on stage about Josh's years as a teenager and how he grew as a young adult and now the man he is today. Pastor Grant spoke next, and of course, he made us cry. We were holding it together pretty well until we heard him say, "You know, we just thought that "Joshie" would be with us at New Hope forever... " I think that's one of the hardest parts for Josh and I... to feel as if we are hurting anyone. But we know, and Grant knows, and so many others also know that this is something God is doing. If it were up to us, we'd probably stay at New Hope forever. But life is about God and fulfilling His call no matter how emotional and difficult it is to leave what you know and love.
We had hot dogs & chili outside with everyone, gave lots of hugs, and received so many sweet cards and letters. We are so appreciative of every single one. We are so thankful for the people who are giving into this new ministry by offering prayers, financial help, and their time and talent... God is clearly blessing us and it is so evident that his hand is on our every step.
We love you New Hope Ministries... and as I stated in a letter I wrote to Grant a couple of weeks ago, the church we are beginning is just an extension of New Hope. New Hope Ministries has been the very foundation for what we are about to do. Our hearts will always be as one. Blessings on you now and forever!

Good Stuff

We had the opportunity to visit Summit Church (www.summitlife.com) in Estero near FGCU. They have a great ministry taking place over there. Once again, they did some pretty cool things over there that we liked. Orlando Cabrera, the teaching Pastor and I (Josh) are friends and have known each other for 5 or so years, but I have not seen him in a while. It was great to catch up and talk about what God is stirring in us and the Body of Christ.

Some other news includes, the proposal for the Hollywood 20 movie theater has been submitted to Regal Cinemas, the organization, to see if they would allow us in there and what the lease would be weekly. Also, ARC, (www.relatedchurches.com) the organization we are working with who helps plants churches all across the United States, called us for the initial phone interview. We shared the vision the Lord has given us with them. The next step now is that we must fly out to Virginia in February for their next Church Planting Roundtable where we will learn more about them, their vision, and see what exactly they do to help us plant the new church. We know this, one of the things they do is help financially. Well, these are two exciting things taking place to continue things moving forward.

New Year - New Challenge

(entry written by Josh)

Last Wednesday, December 31 was officially our last day at New Hope Ministries. It was a day we never saw coming, but God knowing the beginning and the end and His desire for our lives had organized and orchestrated it all along. As we stated to the congregation and many others individually, we have left our father, mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This was not an easy choice at all, but we must follow God's direction and desire for our lives.

This past Sunday we began moving into this new year, this new phase, and this new challenge. We are taking January and possibly a few Sundays in February to visit churches that are doing some of the same things we desire to do in our church. We want to see it in action, generate other ideas, and talk with the pastor and staff. This past Sunday we visited Next Level Church in Ft. Myers. You can check out their website at www.nextlevelchurch.com. This church started in the same way our church will. They started as a small group of 12 that began meeting in a coffeehouse. Then, they launched their service at Bell Tower 20 Theater and 35 were in attendance. Presently, they meet at South Ft. Myers High School which is where we went this past Sunday.

Again, our church will start much the same as they did. We will start meeting in either Starbucks or Panera Bread, but our sights are set on the Hollywood 20 Theater. We will be calling the Pastor at Next Level Church to meet up for lunch to talk over where they are and where they have come from. We want to know from them the challenges, pros, and cons to meeting in a movie theater. They are willing to give us any resources and ideas we may need which is awesome. It was cool even though they are no longer meeting in the movie theater, they are still a portable church since they meet at a high school. It was cool to see it and get a bunch of ideas of what we want to do.

This Sunday we plan to visit Summit Church in Estero. Then, Sunday night we will see all of you at New Hope for our final goodbye. We are looking forward to it!

Thank you for your prayers! Please pray regarding Hollywood 20. We will have a site visit scheduled soon, so they can let us know what we can and cannot do in the auditoriums. How soon we get in the movie theater depends on how soon God wants us there. We are also working with an organization called ARC who helps plant churches in the United States. We should be receiving a call from them in the next couple days for a phone interview to get that ball rolling. You can pray for us regarding these things and that we do not get ahead of the Lord, but walk in step with Him.

Happy New Year and much love to all of you!