These Guys Get it: Mike Hopkins, Dave Brunelle, & The Rock Church, Cleveland

Spent the last two days in Cleveland (Garfield), doing an envisioning for a church plant known as the Rock. I'm selfishly pumped about this particular renovation center launch, b/c this is my hometown. And, in my hometown, times are tough and people are fleeing for other opportunity. Except for a few knuckleheads, namely, Mike and Dave and their church.

You see, the urban sprawl of the city of Cleveland brings with it much of the issues that all major cities bring. Crime, drugs, poverty, terrible schools, leading to a statistically significant drop in one's ability to get ahead. When this happens, most folks with the capacity to get out do.

That's what I love about these two guys and their church members. A number of them have that capacity to get out. What they have done, is set culture on its ear, and they've run into the burning building. They're not going anywhere, when many people are. Poverty, drugs, crime, school issues, racial reconciliation.... these issues are fertile soil for the Gospel for these men and for this church. No one said it would be easy, but what has blessed my life so profoundly is this- The Gospel message of Jesus Christ changed Dave's life and it changed Mike's life. That is the reason that they hunker down to take on the challenges presented in Garfield Hts.

It's sexy to plant churches in LA, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, NYC, Boston, Miami, and Chicago. Things are hip, culture is cool, and such cities are growing. I mean this with all sincerity when I say this- It takes a dude to plant a church in a city where no one wants to plant a church. Who thinks Rochester, Buffalo, Scranton, Detroit, Flint, and Cleveland are sexy? Not many. I love the heart of these men. I love the heart of their church. I love the reality that there is a strong likelihood of us partnering together to bring the Gospel and Renovation Principles to Cleveland through the partnership of such men.

Besides, they absolutely hate the Steelers- how could I not love them?

Thanks to Mike and Dave for the past two days. I drove by my family's first home on E90th in Cleveland the other day, and even in the midst of the urban problems in the city, I had a new found hope for the lost of my hometown. Thank you God for raising up men like these and followers in their congregation to run into the plague of Rome when everyone else is running out.