Why Las Vegas?

When I left Las Vegas to go to college I was ready for God to use me for anything as long as it didn't involve church planting or ever returning to Vegas, and here I am almost eight years later leading a church plant in Vegas. Figures, doesn't it? I needed the time away to realize that this place is my home and it's where I belong. If God needs people planting churches here then why not someone who grew up playing in its deserts and walking its streets?

The one thing that does amaze me though is the number of people I talk to at out of town conventions or meetings that are taken back by the fact that I'm ministering in Las Vegas and want to know why I chose this city. It's as if the majority of the Christian community has decided that God is going to reign down fire on this place much like the wicked cities of old and any respectable man of God should pitch his tent elsewhere lest he be consumed with it. What they fail to realize is I'm not that respectable.

For everybody that doesn't get it here are a few of the reasons why I love pastoring in Vegas:

1. Fastest growing metro area in the country - 4,000 to 6,000 people move here every month. Think about that, we would need to start one mega church every month to keep up with the growth in this city if we wanted to reach everyone. Think about all the new residents that are in a new place without any people to connect to or a place where they can have a sense of community.

2. $1.99 midnight breakfast at Red Rock Casino - Now that's how I like to end a team meeting! I used to hate when in California I would get hungry late at night and have nowhere to go sit down and eat other than Denny's. Here I can go wherever I want, but it's hard to beat a whole meal for less then two bucks. Some of you might feel it's unethical to eat in a gambling establishment, but where else am I going to get food? They have slot machines in the grocery stores here!

3. These people need Jesus - We have 10% more atheists and agnostics than the national average. We have every kind of vice you can think of on easy access here. We have tons of young people moving here every month for the high paying jobs just to find out that money doesn't solve their problems. We have major problems in this city and Jesus is the only one who can fix them. So to anyone who thinks this place is beyond saving or has made some comment about how the judgement of God is going to fall on this city without taking the time to pray for it, I would refer you to Luke 19:10 or possibly Jonah 4:11.

4. Weddings - We do over 100,000 weddings a year in Vegas. In the almost four years I've been back I've done about 300 myself. These have allowed me to plant The Venue without needing to take a salary until the church is more financially stable. I know some of you might have a problem about marring an unbelieving couple and I can respect that, but think about this, it's the first time an unbeliever asks the church for anything. I can't see how telling them no and sending them to a justice of the peace or some guy who got his minister's license off the Internet is what Jesus would want. I can't tell you how many times I've had brides and grooms meet with me before their weddings and ask me questions about God just because it was their first time ever talking to a minister.

5. I like my weather hot like my women - I hate cold, 30 degrees is about as cold as it gets here and that's still too cold. Snow is nice to visit but I don't need it laying about waiting to be shoveled. Humidity of any sort is awful. I once lived in Northern Missouri, I still have nightmares. I'll take the 120 degree summers thank you very much.

That's enough for now, maybe I'll do reasons six through ten later.