5 Year Anniversary Pt. 3

1. I want to thank Jim McNabb, Senior Pastor of The Bridge Church in Mustang, OK, for his unbelievable support of People's Church in the early days and even today. You have been a true mentor and friend to me. Even when I was in college, you believed in me and my ministry. You are one of the most generous people I know. I'm grateful for your 25 years of faithful and fruitful ministry to the same church. You are a great example and role model to me!

2. The investment of Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor of LifeChurch.tv, and Mark Crow, Senior Pastor of Victory Christian Center, has been invaluable. It is rare for pastors to invest and truly help another pastor in the same city. These two men really believed in me in the early days. Our church was less than a year old, and I took both of these men to lunch separately. They gave me advice and ideas that had never entered my thought process before. My mind was open to a whole new way of thinking about church and ministry. Over the past 5 years God has used both of them to speak into my life over and over again. Craig and Mark, thanks for your partnership with Herbert Cooper and People's Church. MY LIFE AND MINISTRY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME BECAUSE OF YOUR INVESTMENT IN MY LIFE! KEEP IT COMIN'!

3. The decision to buy 50 acres on Britton and Kelly in August 2004 was a major turning point at People's Church. This decision let the community and our regular attenders know that this two year old church wasn't about to close the doors, but we were serious about making an impact in Oklahoma City for the long haul. Many people questioned the location of that piece of property, but it was truly God's hand and leading as we look back. The area is now growing like crazy. New homes and businesses are flying up. We beat everybody in and bought 50 acres less than a mile from 1-235 and a few miles away from 1-35 for $505,000. I CALL THAT GOD :).

4. In the fall of 2004, we kicked off a stewardship campaign to build a new facility. That was a huge leap of faith for me. Our church was growing like crazy but most people had only been attending for 6 months or less. This young pastor was getting ready to ask a group of people who had only been attending the church for 6 months or less to give big time to see the vision of being a soul-winning, multi-cultural church come to pass. Our people listened to God and bought into the vision and pledged over $900,000 for 2 years. It's so fun stepping out on faith and watching God do ONLY WHAT HE CAN DO! GOD YOU ARE FAITHFUL!