Chapter 2 begins soon...

It's just a few days from a new year. Every year around this time, I tend to go back and evaluate the year. I look at the wins, loses, adventures, battles, and the Hand of God. 2009 will go down in my own history book as one of the most incredible years of my life. I still have to pinch myself often to see if this is just a dream. It has been an incredible journey this past year. I have watched God grow The Commons leaps and bounds both numerically and spiritually. I have watched students get on board with God. I have seen lives restored, freed, and given purpose. I have made some many new friends, experienced so many new things, and witnessed some many new areas of who God is. It has been an amazing year.

Next week will mark the 1 year anniversary of when I took a step of faith, packed all my things in a penkse truck, and moved to the Pacific Northwest. I have been looking over the pictures and tear up every time in amazement of God's calling, provision, and love. I also sit in amazement of those who have faithfully supported me this year. I feel that I can say with integrity that I have been a great steward of the resources that you have entrusted me with. I want to say "THANK YOU!" from the bottom of my heart.

2010 is quickly approaching and a new chapter is about to begin. I am super excited to see what God is going to do this year in the Commons, the Commons Student Ministry, and with me. I am expecting even great things this year. Please keep me in prayer as I begin to seek out God's guidance in this new chapter. I don't want to miss out on a thing.

As this chapter begins, I would like for you to consider being in the pages of this story. For me to continue to minister effectively (100%), then I have to raise support. It is my desire for you to connect with God on this and see if He has you involved with His story here at the Commons. Maybe it is through prayer, financial support, a mission trip, or just words of encouragement. THEY ALL ARE GOLD IN THE KINGDOM. I ask for you to just pray and ask God what would He have you to do and then be obedient. That is it. I would encourage you though to involve your family. Maybe it is praying for me together or fasting one day a week or taking what it would cost for a family outing and use it as financial support. There are so many creative and meaningful ways to support me. Just ask God and be on board with what He says.

Thank you for visiting this sight. I look to revamping it for the 2010 year and adding some new elements. I love you and thank you for supporting me. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at cham.i.am@gmail.com.

~cham

End of the Year Contribution

This has been an incredible year. E-news going out in the morning.

If you would like to make an END-of-the-YEAR contribution, then you can go to my online giving website (which goes through our association) http://tinyurl.com/chamonlinegiving or you can mail a check to:

2020 Maltby Rd. #7147Bothell,
Washington 98021
check memo: Cham McCutchen

Thank you for your continual support and prayers. This year has been incredible and kingdom advancing through our God & your faithful support.

-cham

On the road for the Holidays...

I hope everybody has had an incredible Thanksgiving. I have been in the south for a week now visiting family. I just wanted to give a heads up to my blog readers that I will return updating this blog when I get back to Seattle on Dec. 7th. Thank you for your support and prayers. - cham



-- Post From Cham's Phone

Monday Night Football is a blessing.

It has been incredibly cool seeing how Monday Night Football can do some much greatness in a guy's life. What do you mean? About a month or so ago, we (leadership) decided that we wanted to get all the men of the church connected to each other. So we figured the best way to do it is through something that speaks to men...(lightbulb) NFL Football. NFL is a big deal here. We have the Seahawks that play in Seattle, so it makes sense.

The idea is to gather all the guys by meeting at somebody's house each Monday night to watch football. There guys can talk, eat, cheer, and laugh around the game of football. For weeks, it grew into a success, then we starting thinking. Why not go a step further? Why not have a Bible study before we get started. With the incredible discovery of DVR (aka Tivo), we had the ability catch up with the the game when the study time is over. Tim (pastor) suggested going through "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. So we began.

Over the course of 5 weeks now, I have seen a group of men develop into a Band of Brothers. In past two weeks, I have seen our men really open up, challenge one another, encourage each other, and realize that we are all in this together when it comes to being a man of Christ. I think the interesting thing now is that our discussions are getting longer, deeper, and more important to the point that we almost forget about the game. It is just amazing seeing all of the men grow. It is exciting to see male leadership in our church begin to develop. Who knew that MNF (Monday Night Football) could be such a tool.

-Cham

The area that I live in...

I bold/italicized the part that describe the culture I am in.

Article from christianpost.com:

The top ten most religious states in America are all located in the south or southern Midwest, according to a new Gallup report.All ten states are part of the so-called “Bible Belt,” or the area in the United States with a heavy socially conservative evangelical Protestant population. They are, starting with the most religious: Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Kentucky and Texas, which are tied.

The Gallup report ranked each state’s religiousness by asking respondents if religion is an important part of their daily life.

Overall, analysis shows that a solid majority of Americans said religion is important in their daily lives. A full 65 percent of Americans across the entire U.S. population gave this response.

On the other hand, about one in three American adults said religion is not important in their lives, while one percent either responded they don’t know or refused to answer.

Breaking down the data by states, 60 to 70 percent of the population in 23 states said religion is important.

Religion seems to be less important to those living in the New England area and the far West.

The top ten least religious states, starting from the least religious are: Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Rhode Island, Nevada, and Connecticut.

The results are based on telephone interviews with 355,334 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted in 2008 as part of the Gallup Poll Daily tracking. The report is the second of a four-part series on the “State of the States.”

Commons Ladies Retreat

(Phone Pic from the retreat center)

Keep The Commons Ladies in your prayers this weekend. Yesterday, 20+ ladies headed for the mountains for an overnight retreat with speaking, worship, and "gal" time. The ladies will be suffering in a winter wonderland as you can see from the blackberry picture taken from one of them. This is an exciting time for The Commons because of all the new ladies joining in on the retreat as well as just 1st time visitors. Please be praying for the God will really impact this retreat with Himself, impact the ladies' lives, and to provide safe travels home tonight. Every year this event brings back some awesome "God stories". So we are definitely excited.

-cham

A fan page

I have recently created a fan page on Facebook to help all of my FB friends/supporters get the info that is posted on here. Sometimes blogs can be forgotten, so I am taking the God stories to the social networks. So if you have a Facebook account, then look me up. The address is:

http://tinyurl.com/FBCHAMFAN

The idea is to get more and more people involved with the ministry that is taking place up here.

-cham

November's E-Letter

Below are two forms of the November E-Letter that I have sent out. I am still trying to figure out how to capture the full html (pictures/color/etc) of the email and put it in to PDF form. So I am experimenting a little. One file below is the PDF version with no pics or color. The other file is an actually apple email that I saved off line (maybe it will work) that has everything on it.

Plain PDF -----> Cham's Nov. E-letter

Actually E-mail ----- Cham's Nov. E-letter

**This file may or may not work. Any feedback on this file, if it does or

does not would be appreciated.

Please keep me in your prayers. I am financially to a point where I have to make a hard decision. I have to either raise a substantial amount of money to continue to serve full time or pursue a full time job which could possibly limit my time to minister.

If you would like to support me financially, then check out in the upper right corner of this blog or e-mail at cham.i.am@gmail.com. Thank you for taking the time to check out what God is doing in the Pacific Northwest. I also want to thank you for all of your prayers, support, and contributions.

-cham

And the growth continues...

We had 113 people today (including adults & children/preschool). Incredible!!!

We keep growing and growing in Pioneer. Our move alone has increased students participating in worship and serving. We have had more and more new families visit and connect. It's amazing how God keeps using The Commons.

-- Post From Cham's Phone

Commons Students: 1st Annual Girls Sleepover

Tonight will be the first of many Commons Students: Annual Girls Sleepover. Prayerfully about 15-20 girls will head over to Amy Corbins house for a night of laughs, fun, & most of all COMMUNITY. My prayer is that this event will be one of many that draw the girls in the student ministry closer together. Wednesdays and Sundays are hard to get students connected because of all the hustle and bustle, so lets be intentional. Keep Amy & a few other ladies in your prayers as they endure an all nighter tonight. Thank you for all your prayers and suppport! We are in this together.

-Cham

Ministry is eveywhere...

Ministry Monday morning. Serving at large established churches over the past 10 years, I am very familiar with Mondays being staff meeting days. At The Commons, we take the Monday mornings to reach out and serve. We have a women's bible study every Monday morning. As you know with a majority of women, they usually have a few children. That provides an opportunity for serving in the area of childcare. For the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to help with childcare so that the moms can spend an uninterrupted 2 hours of connecting to God and other ladies. It's just a cool time to help with a bigger picture.

"everybody wants a revolution but nobody wants to do the dishes." - Claiborne



-- Post From Cham's Phone

Great Turn Out!!!

Even with a lot of people out due to the flu, we still had an awesome turn out on our first day in Pioneer Elem.



-- Post From Cham's Phone

OH, Pioneer!!!

NOVEMBER 1st (Tomorrow for some, Today for others), we start having The Commons Worship Gathering at Pioneer Elementary. This is really huge for the church. God opened the door a few months ago and worked out all the details for us. This move is extremely significant in our pursuit to reach our community. We went from gathering in a middle school on the backside of Arlington to gathering at this elementary right next to the biggest subdivision within the area and right off a major local highway. The facilities are new and the school administration is very welcoming to The Commons moving in. We close a chapter by leaving Post-Middle school and open a new one at Pioneer. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to grow and reach out to our community with the Love of Christ. --- Cham

Here is a link to just the basic info on our website --- click me

Say Hello To Our New Home

We are gearing up for our move!!! The Commons will now be at Pioneer Elementary. This is huge!!! It has new facilities and is right next to the biggest housing division in the area.

-- Post From Cham's Phone

Recap for Support

Below is a recap video I whipped up for The Corbins to take back to Texas to relay what God is doing here in the Commons. I took all the footage shot in the past year and put it in a quick video. The idea was to show where we were a year ago, and how much God has rocked it out since. It has been an incredible journey just over the 10 months that I have been here. Thank you for making what I do happen through your prayer, support, and encouragement. Enjoy! - Cham

Worship started early...

Today was really cool. I got to experience a worship service at The Commons early. I watched so many people of The Commons show up at 830am (in the rain) to help setup for service. The unique thing is we really needed the help. 75% of the leadership team including Tim(pastor) were out of state, which left the Coles and me to continue on. Through spreading the word around about needing some help, we had probably 20 people show up. We knocked out the setup in record time. It was truly a worshipful moment watching people worship through serving. It was an honor. I love what God is doing here.



-- From Cham's Phone

Small groups started back!!

We had 75 people in all with 22 being students. I think God is up to something. I'm excited about Wednesday nights this Fall!!


-- Cham's Phone

Growing...

And God keeps growing us. 124 is with some of our regular attendees out.



-- Cham

Block Party..

Its a BLOCK PARTY!!!!

I really can't explain the excitement we had yesterday. 130 people attended the service at The Commons & the Block Party afterwards. The awesome thing is all of the new faces we saw. It's still just a jaw dropper to think that this time last year we had the attendance of around 30 something people. I was thinking and recapping the whole day in my head last night. It was cool seeing people looking to connect, get connected, and becoming a Commons family member. Our block party consisted of pulled pork sandwiches, inflatables, snow cones, cotton candy, some agape love, and some authentic community. It was great seeing people serve in different areas and others just seeing what we as a church are all about. I'm pretty stoked about the Fall. God is rocking it out!

-Cham

A year ago...

A year ago, The Commons ran about 30+ people this time last year including leadership. Today we hit 128 and that is with a few families out. God is up to something in this unchurched area.




-- Cham

Jesus likes Monday Night Football...

I think it's really cool how God works in so many different ways. Last night, the men of the Commons came together at Tim Corbin's house to watch a little Monday Night Football. Yeah, I think Jesus is down with a little MNF, but not so much the game as He is a bunch of guys creating community. That was the whole purpose. We, as leadership, are passionate about creating community among the guys in our church and one way we can accomplish this is through burgers, hot wings, cokes, and some football. Loved last night, though my Fantasy Football team lacked a little in the scoring department. It was cool seeing all the guys come together and just have a great time and connect. Football, cars, life, and funny stories seem to be the thread to stitch guys together. I would say last night was a successful step to greater things to come with the men of our church.

-Cham

The Commons 2.0 kicks off tomorrow..

Commons 2.0 kicks off tomorrow morning (Sept. 13). It is an exciting time for the church and leadership as we help The Commons family connect with God through serving in different capacities. We are excited in seeing the Commons church family "become" by discovering God's gifting in them, their role in the body of Christ, and taking the next step in their journey in Christ through serving inside and outside of the church. I will have a follow-up blog with more details. Please keep us in your prayers. Much love - Cham

PS- You can get a more detailed version of "Commons 2.0" by scrolling down to the video I posted a few weeks ago.

Full Effect

High School Football is in full effect. My first of many games. The Arlington Eagles dominated 61-0. A few different customs than the South, but I had a ton of fun.

-- Cham

Labor Day

End of the Summer Flag Football...

This past Wednesday was the end of our summer routine at The Commons. The idea behind the last 3 months was to build community among the people who attend The Commons and also provide a very easy way for new visitors to show up and check out who we are and what we are about. It has definitely been very successful. We have offered nights out at the parks, camping, bunko, bowling, etc...

Wednesday, we ended the summer with a little Flag Football at Wedgewood Park. We had a large number of people show up but in the midst of that a lot of new faces. Totally exciting!!! Sometimes it is just a baffling thing to see God use something so simple to connect new people to The Commons Family. The results of this summer schedule has definitely shown in our Sunday service (again, a lot of new faces in Worship). I'm pretty stoked about the fall. I leave you with one rule of thumb concerning Flag Football. Always stretch. 2 days later and I am very sore.

-Cham

September's E-Letter

Here is a link to download September's E-Letter
that I sent out -------> Download


The pdf is a little primitive, but I am working on a full color page for the future. If you would like to receive this as an email, please send me an e-mail requesting to be added ----> my email: cham.i.am@gmail.com

Cham

The Commons 2.0

Below is a video that Tim (pastor) and I put together for our congregation to communicate what's in store for this Fall at The Commons. We have had 50+ visitors consistently visit and we wanted to communicate to them as well as our core group of how they can jump on board at The Commons.

-Cham

The unexpected call...

Yesterday, I had a call out of the blue from one of my students that was first here at The Commons when I stepped on board back in January. You may remember the story about him. He was the student who was "atheist" and was given his very first Bible by me because of some generous donors who helped me purchase some Bibles. To catch you up, he had to move to a town north of Arlington, so he was unable to attend any more student Bible studies.

He called me to just catch up with me and see how The Commons was doing. We talked about life and his next steps on finishing high school. The part I really want to mention is when I asked him if he still had the Bible that I gave him. He said, "yeah man, I have read about half of it now." This is huge! A student that is still looking for answers is still reading the ANSWER. In my experience, most people in that situation would allow life and circumstances to distract them from following through with reading the Bible. It is an understatement when I say that I was pumped.

-Cham

Busy busy busy.

Typing from my phone. It has been a busy summer, but God has been rocking it out at The Commons. In the midst of fall preparation for The Commons, I'm going to try and catch everybody up with everything God is doing with me here. Love you all.
Just got through shooting some footage, on to editing.





-- Cham

If you happen to miss it...

If you happen to miss the Sports Camp video or if you want to see all the pictures from all 5 days, then head on over to discoverthecommons.com to catch up with the recap.

~Cham

The Commons Lake-Out

This past Wednesday was our "Lake-out". We really didn't know how many to expect, and boy were we surprised! Below is The Commons e-letter that Tim sent out to describe the event.

Unexpected but Awesome!

This summer we have been meeting in different parks around Arlington to create the opportunity to invite friends to come and get acquainted with us before coming to our Worship Gathering or a Community Group. It has been a success as we have brought in several new people and have been averaging 70-80 people in the park.

Yesterday, however, was very unexpected, but awesome! From our connections generated through sports camp, block parties, and flyers, we invited everyone to meet us at a park on a lake. WE HAD OVER 120 PEOPLE COME!!! This is the most by far we have ever had come to one of our gatherings. We have had several at Sports Camp, but to have them come to an "official church gathering" was remarkable!

It was like a wave of excitement and overwhelmingness all at the same time. We worked frantically to get around and talk with everyone since there were so many new faces and families! It was amazing to hear how one mother had heard about our church from so many of her unchurched friends, so she met us at sports camp and a block party last week. She felt strongly to visit church on Sunday, and shared with us that she loved it so much that she invited two completely new families to come with her to our Wednesday Gathering yesterday! Visitors inviting visitors!

I wanted to quickly share this excitement with you, and ask that you pray fervently for us as we figure out what in the world God wants us to do specifically with these people.

Rockin' it out at the Commons!

Cham

Sports Camp Recap...

Below was taking from the Commons monthly E-Letter (written by Tim Cobrin ::pastor::)

Sports Camp Was Awesome!
This past week was an incredible time to reach out to our community with our 3rd annual ALL STARS SPORTS CAMP. What a success!

This year we had 213 kids for the week, and 430 people at our Friday Night Family Celebration. That is up from 160 kids last year, and 70 kids the year before.

We are truly grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many families in our community. We are amazed at how many unchurched people attend our sports camp. I would say less than 15% of the kids come from a Christian home, and yet it blows my mind to watch them jump up and down and sing songs about being on "God's Team" and learn how God wants us to live life. It is likely that this is the only event where they will hear the truth about God through out the year.

Sunday Morning Guests
Sunday morning was exciting to see many new people visit our Worship Gathering. We had 6 new families totaling 17 new people on Sunday. That is over a fifth of the people who came Sunday. Again what makes this remarkable is the percentage of unchurched people visiting church for the first time.

Thank You Mission Teams
I would certainly like to thank the following for helping with this year's sports camp:
FBC Carrollton, TX
Colonial Hills, Southaven, MS
Broadway Baptist Church, Southaven, MS
And friends from Gardendale, AL

I give you....Sports Camp:: Highlights

Sports Camp Day #5