Get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them…  I will give you every place where you set your foot —Joshua

When the Spanish explorer Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon came into the Cape Fear region in 1526, what is now call the Cape Fear River, was christened as the Jordan River.

How appropriate… and prophetic.

I’ve done many things in my life. What is interesting is the circuitous path it has been. I find myself at a curious point in time, in many ways at the same place I was thirty-six years ago. Only now the situation is different and I am more prepared for, and committed to, a task that looms in front of me.

I’m about to cross the Jordan.

I, along with two fellow sojourners (John McIntyre and Travis Currin) and a small band of pilgrims, am going to plant a church in Leland, on the other side of the Jordan (Cape Fear) River.

“Leland” means “protected land,” “land lying fallow.” The idea is a field that has been at rest in order to become more productive when sown. Leland is indeed such a place.

Under the title: “Leland to match Wilmington’s population by 2025,”the Star News states that the population of Leland could reach 100,000 within fifteen years. In 2006, Brunswick County, where Leland is located, was already ranked as the 29th fastest growing county in the U.S.

This, along with other factors, has made Leland our target. The “land lying fallow” is primed for planting.

“River of Leland” will be the name of the church. Many more details will be forthcoming; our first worship and informational meeting will be on December 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Comfort Suites Magnolia Green in Leland.