suffering2

we talked yesterday about trust. trust is essentially a very easy thing to do when things are going okay. however when things are array how are we at trusting. specifically yesterday we talked about trusting God when things are horrible. when things are at its worst. we ask ourselves, "why did God allow this to happen?" "how can he be a loving God if something like this happens?"

romans 8:28 is almost always brought up in these circumstances. "and we know that in all things God work for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." it brings hope and comfort for those who love God. but what about those who do not have a relationship with him. what if someone decided to become a christian because of this verse knowing that God will work out the good for him, but then tragically loses a child or a spouse, maybe becomes paralyzed or loses their home to a fire.

i ask myself these questions everytime i pray for naomi, a fifteen year old in our community that is a christian who has been in a bed for atleast a year due to leukemia, and now has to go through excruciating physical therapy to gain back use of her legs and arms.

i think of it everytime i think of jason and julie gasorowski. a youth pastor and wife from michigan who lost there baby in a car accident in which the majority of julie's body was burned.

unfortunately there is suffering in this world. suffering for those who are believers and unbelievers alike. sometimes people die before their time. sometimes the greatest person in the world who has devoted his life to helping out the needy in the inner city is beaten. but people still continue to ask God why.

God has obviously given us the gift of free will. this allows us to have personality. to wear the type of clothes that we like and listen to the type of music we enjoy. it is this same free will that allows us to choose to follow or forget Christ. the same free will that allows us to choose to take two handguns and kill 32 people on the virginia tech campus and then take your own life. the same free will that allows you to drive your vehicle to the store to purchase some groceries and that same free will that allows someone else to get in another vehicle while intoxicate. unfortunately horrendous accidents and choices are a part of life.

someone is sexually molested by a pastor or mistreated by a youth sponsor. board members can be there for recognition or to because they like the power. unfortuantely the church is not void of suffering, and this for people inside and out of the church can use this as a reflection of who God is and who He is not.

fortunately these things dont have to be seen as a punishment from God or that God allows these things to happen because he likes to see his people suffer. that is not the God i serve. God wants his people to cohabitate in peace and love his neighbor. he wants us to get along and serve each other. and even if 100% of the people on earth did this there would still be cancer, accidents, depression and injustice.

but in the end, eventually, all things do work together for the good of those who love him. we just need to learn to trust.

suffering

i try and grasp my mind around the concept of suffering. that is correct i said concept. because in reality i have no idea or could ever grasp my mind around suffering. you see, my life, like the majority of people that read this blog have no idea what suffering really is about. i have been reading "this beatiful mess" by rick mckinley who has devoted a chapter of helping his readers understand a little bit more about what is going on around them.

we are aware of darfur. but how much have we actually acted on? maybe it is because that we have no clue what on earth is actually happening half a world away. we read about paul and all the beatings that he took and how his appearance probably wasnt what we expect. he was beaten and stoned. he probably did not look like you and i.

maybe we can not understand suffering because we think of suffering as such a horrible thing. paul was arrested a few times throughout scripture. but today "we" live in a world that is tolerant of us sharing our faith. but yet we do not think about how in many closed countries today people have suffered for the kingdom of God. maybe it is because we cannot comprehend the idea of it or just do not want to take chances. how many of us have actually been persecuted for what we believe.

today we have grown up in a place that looks for pleasure. we need the good feeling of life treating us well. that might be the comfort of living in a nice home or driving a nice vehicle. but we live in a culture of sensuality and excess. if it feels good, do it. if you like it do it more.

i sit in my office today and realize it is april 17 but as i look out my window i see snow falling from the sky. so i complain because i have to wear a jacket rather than being able to go golfing. i live a pretty comfortable life and have no idea what suffering is but i wish i did. i might have more empathy of others who are going through lifes disasters. this being the day that followed the biggest shooting ever in the history of the united states on a college campus. those students, professors, their families and others are suffering. and i wish i could do something.

Rick McKinley wrote that it is hard to believe that you need God on a daily basis. and i tend to agree with him. my life is comfortable. i have everything i need and more. why is it that when we are in places like this it almost makes us forget that we need and rely on who God is.

multi-staff church

i have been thinking a lot about how lucky i am to be on a multiple staff. we have three full time pastors and a full time office manager to help run the show. we are all able to balance each other pretty well. bud (the senior pastor) is the ultimate people person. he would rather be hanging out with others then planning the sermon although he preaches really well too. but relationally he is top notch. he can relate with everyone at every different level. everyone loves him. greg(assistant) was officially hired to do everything that bud didnt have time to do. greg oversees and organizes all the ministries of the church lifestudies (sunday school), minichurch (sermon based small groups in multiple homes), music (he leads the worship team) he is basically the organized pastor. i am then left to manage youth ministries which is nice because i have a focus.

we all do visitation, premarital counseling, host dinners, host our own minichurch.

where one of us might be week the other is there to fill in the gaps. when one of us doesnt have time to do something we help each other to achieve the job possible. then wanda is their to keep us all in order so we are able to get it done efficiciently. it is great. but the four of us do not finish the multiple staff.

i have also been wondering how it would work in a church where there is only a solo pastor. he cant be a jack-of- all trades but in a sense he has to. but then i considered that we do not do everything ourselves. for that i am thankful. i would be a lot more tired. i would be burnt out. when i considered that every church if done right is a multi-staff church.

here are the staff positions that i came up with for our church. imagine if we had to do it all.

we have 9 board members
we have multiple life studies (nursery--adults) teachers
we have "women in ministry" who leads dinners for shut ins, prayer chain, puts together dinners and more
we have multiple mini church leaders
we have people who lead discipleship groups
we have others that are involved in the evangelism ministry
+ music team
+ sound techs
+ visual team
+ moms group
+ garden club
+ tellers
+ treasurer
+ trustees
+ kids club workers
+ youth sponsors
+ trash collection
+ custodians
+ counselors

i think i could go on and add a few more. but it is obvious that we are not a 4 person staff. we have at least a hundred people that are involved in some form of ministry. they are unpaid but as much needed as the paid staff that we do have. so i am thankful for all of those involved. and remember those who are "solo pastors" you always have someone else helping you.

what legalism can do

warning! please read the whole article before making any opinions. these are some of my experiences throughout my lifetime. they may not be the most correct view at times but i have always seen growth to get to where i am now in my beliefs.

in high school i had many catholic friends. they were some of the greatest friends. however i saw things in some of their lives that didnt seem right. even though they proclaimed a faith in the same God i followed it did not seem to change their lives. not that i can really talk because in high school i really did live out my faith like i should have either.

in college i took a class which we talked about roman catholicism. it was a great class that opened my eyes a little to my legalist view on the catholic church. prof. horst opened my eyes to be a little bit more accepting of the catholic faith then just what i had learned and accepted of them from my experiences with a few of them in high school.

in ministry i have met many former catholics that now attend our church. they talk about the lack of the gospel talked about in church and how they never experienced the love of Christ until after they had left the catholic church. i am still trying to understand the catholic church. in many ways i can see the goodness and hope that it provides. but if so many former catholics havent found out about the gospel then how can this be? were they catholic by name only? or did their parish only teach from the "other books."

until the other day i never thought of how roman catholics view us (protestants). i was out to lunch with a someone who used to go to our church now turned catholic. i have come to the point where this is okay. if that is where he needs to be then more power to him. i did ask him during the time that we were together why he left the church.

we then went on to discuss the four pillars of the church, martin luther, freedom, baptism and more. he then went off on me because i continue to be wesleyan. he said that he accepted i was a follower of Christ but then went on to tell me that i would never be able to live my faith out to the full. he told me i was in rebellion to God because i was not part of the "one church."

i went on not to condemn him but how i worried that this legalistic view could hurt his realtionships with his friends and his wife (who still attends our church). i told him that i didnt worry about him leaving our church to become catholic but that i worried he would shut everyone out of his life that did not have the same beliefs he did.

i went on to tell him that he and i would have to learn to focus on the majors of christianity rather then the minor stuff that we didnt agree on. he continued to tell me that there were only majors in christianity and if i didnt see that then.

i then asked him how his back was doing as he is on disability because he just had back surgery a month or two ago. unfortunately he missed the point. and i definately do not want to put any other catholic in the same boat as he is in. but at the same time there must be others who believe the same as this man. and my heart hurts.

please help me pray for this man.

withdrawal

i dont think you can realize how much you will miss something until it is already gone. i needed it. i was addicted. i loved it with all my heart. when i said good bye i thought i was going to cry. i felt like i had lost all my super powers.

almost six years i bought my first car. it wasnt anything flashy or sporty. it wasnt the nicest car but it ended up being the most dependable car. i spent $4400 on it. it was a white honda civic. during the six years i traveled quite a bit. i am originally from maine and went to college in indiana. so i am not sure how many times i made that drive. i had an internship in delaware for a summer and drove back and forth twice with a trip to maine in the middle. i lived in south carolina and drove to indiana a few times from there.

overall i put about 80,000 miles on the car. i bought it with about 115,000 miles on it and when i sold it for $1500 this past friday. my only regret was that i wont be the one drive 200,000 mile. it is kind of ironic really that i sold it to a college student who will also be driving back and forth to iwu and is also a ministry major.

some of the memorable moments:
driving through multiple snow storms
my first accident happened when i was driving jenny (now my wife) home to meet the parents.
road trips with friends to concerts, spring break and a last minute drive to michigan
it has been pranked with oreos and toilet paper
blown tire on the way to myrtle beach
stopping at a truck stop to catch a quick nap on the way back from a wedding

i ended up buying a caravan to replace it. i figure i would need it to tote around all the kids. i should say teens from my youth group. hopefully non of you thought jenny was pregnant.

the var gave me everything and more i could have ever asked of it. and averaging 40 miles a gallon it saved me a lot of money. good but old friend.

speaking and the heart

last week i was approached by a friend after playing basketball at the local high school. he attends our "band of brothers" (tuesday bible study for men.) he asked about some comments that were said in the previous weeks study. i cringed before he said it because i knew exactly what he was going to mention. the week before some how we were on the topic of iraq and other muslims. in life a lot of time we make general statements that can be offensive. how we bring together and bash that group of people. for example, all muslims are bad.

obviously that is not true. i think we all know we can not say general statments like that. 1. it isnt true and 2. it seems hateful and spiteful to group all muslims in the same group as those who flew into the world trade towers. 3. we are christian who need to show love rather then hate.

it is all dangerous. because it shows what is "overflowing from our heart." sin is obviously a dangerous thing that in times in our life seems out of control. but it is these sins that show our true character and integrity.
we all deal with different types of sin and none of it being good. in my life i have conquered sin of wanting to pick up a porn magazine, the potential of drunkeness as well as others. but does that specifically mean i no longer sin. no, i just deal with other types of it.

before i was married i thought i was a great christian. then i realized after a few months of it that i was a very prideful person that needed to learn to be more compassionate and loving. things we say are an overflow from our heart. if i say something hurtful to jenny, it can be traced right back to my heart.

we all know people that struggle with things in their life. while it may be drunkeness, self control, homosexuality or are just lost because they do not know Christ. the example brought up this morning was, maybe we are joking around about being gay. but in that same group there is someone who struggles with the attraction to the same sex. will we ever be approachable by that person to tell us that they are struuggling in that issue.

we talk about loving Christ and our neighbor, but sometimes with one joke we can lose all credibility that we had. we need to learn to love through "all" we say and do as it is an overflowing of our heart.

30 hours without food

this past weekend. our youth group hosted 30 hr famine. this is a very popular event that many youth group have. instead of giving this year to world vision and really never able to see a change from it, i decided to pick a local food bank that the youth group has helped out a couple of times in the last few months. this food pantry although located in a small town of maybe 1500 people serves an average of 50 families per month.
so we wanted to do something that would affect our community as a large.

on friday we had a benefit concert where admission was $2 or a canned good. through that we raise about $200 and received approximately 200 canned goods. it was an amazing concert and we had a lot of fun doing it. on top of the concert teens raised support which amounted to another $300 give or take a few dollars. i can not wait to deliver all of this to sandy creek food pantry. so not only did we raise money for a good cause we had a great outreach to teens. we had about 130 people at the concert. i gave a short talk on how we need to help save lives not just temporarily by giving money and food but how we need to alsso think about saving lives eternally. i know a lot of seeds were planted so please pray for this.

did that just happen?

i keep trying to tell myself this must be a dream. did that just really happen? to start out i must tell you that i am the only pastor at the church this week. bud is in maine dealing with family matters and greg is in pennsylvannia on a short break with his family.

this morning started as a all tuesdays do. i woke up for band of brothers (mens bible study) at 6am. and then headed to breakfast with a few of the guys from there. my meal had just arrived. i salted the eggs and took a bit of bacon as my cell phone rang. steve (our church treasure) was on the line to tell me charlie bates had passed away. remember i am the only pastor in town. so i hang up and break the news to the guys around the table.

charlie is a great individual. he is in his late 70's. he is one of those guys that will always have a smile on his face.

so i scarf down some of my breakfast. chuck and i head over to charlies and doris to consol doris. on the way their i call bud to tell him. we arrive at the house. well she is not there. we figure she is with the body making arrangments for everything. so i track down charlies son and ask them about the situation. he doesnt know anything.

i receive another call from the church secretary (wanda). she tells me that charlie did not die but yet only through out his back. so i am relieved but very perplexed trying to figure out how someone came to the conclusion that charlie had passed away.

steve, had heard it on his police scanner. ladies and gentlemen this leaves me to my last point. take a baseball bat andn beat the scanner to pieces.

back on the wagon

i wanted to dive a little more into the issue of drinking. we discussed it a little a couple posts back. i think we can all agree that drinking alcohol is not a sin. i know plenty of good solid christians who have controll over there drinking and it does not affect their spiritual lives the least bit. however many lives are destroyed by drinking, and how these lives become destroyed are very much sinful acts.

a couple days ago i sat and talked to a guy in his early fifties about his father. his father was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet until he was drunk. he was mean and abusive. this is a sin. the same drunk would not pay any of the bills with his paycheck. he would spend it all on alcohol forcing the family to get by on the mothers wages as a waitress. this is a sin.

i have also known a few families who have lost love ones because they have been in accidents caused by a drunk driver. this is a sin.

i struggle with the idea of drinking alcohol because it seems like everybody's personality changes when they drink. maybe they lose reign of their tongue, which is a sin. they can lose self control, which is a sin.

i will never look down on someone because they decide to have a drink of alcohol. but i still do not understand any good thing that comes from alcohol. a lot of people drink wine because in moderation is good for your heart. but i have also heard that the same effect is seen in taking an asprin.

as for being a wesleyan, in a denomination that believes in the idea of holiness as being set apart from the "worldly ways" i believe there are two good ways that are not sins but the world can see as a good witness from our actions. one is drinking which i have just discussed. people will respect you for your choice of not drinking. the other is swearing, putting4 letter adjectives into a sentence to emphasize you stance on something. if the wesleyan church is going to be set apart then there should be some actions behind it.

members only

it has come to my attention in the past few weeks that we in the wesleyan church are possibly in a bigger crisis then i thought. it has a lot to do with the idea of drinking and membership. before i go further let me tell you a story of some of the things that have gone on at pulaski wesleyan in the last 6 months or so.

we have 11 adult groups that meat in homes weekly to discuss sermons, have bible studies and create community, which we call mini-church. during one of the minichurchs membership was discussed and some in the group found out that the wesleyan stance on drinking.

one of these couples left the church over the idea. another couple decided to continue attending but at least for now not consider being a member. we like many other churches have tons of people within the church that partakes in the occasional beer or glass of wine. which i have no problem with.

we also have a couple in the church. the husband a covenant member and the wife a community member. reasons of which you might be able to figure out. not that the wife is a lush or that she even drinks, but she does want to necessarily feel covicted about the concept of having a drink.

i do not want to address the idea of member being able to drink. what i want to address is the concept of why do we have the covenant and community member. the couple that left the church did not leave the church because we say to be a member you must give up drinking. they had a problem with the idea of being second class members. what is the purpose for community membership. you still cannot vote or be involved on the board.

so what happens with all those in the church that do have an occasional beer?

more to be posted on this idea later. what do you think?

so others may live

this weekend i watched "the guardian" with kevin costner and ashton kutcher. other then the fact it was a top gun rip off i really enjoyed the movie.

kevin is an old swimmer from the coast guard who loses his whole crew in alaska. he tends to have a lot of flash backs about losing his friends. ( sound familiar maverick and goose). they send him to teach at the a-school. (enter ashton) the young punk kid who excels at everything. kevin spends the movie teaching ashton it is not about himself.

during the movie they flashed this line across the screen. "so others might live." it reminded me of the christian purpose. dont we live our lives so others will see truth in us. dont we live our lives focused on the other in order so they might live. of course you can not really compare us to the coast guard because they just temporarily save people. i am definately not wanting to take away from the coast guard. i am very thankful that they risk their lives to save others.

but it just makes me wonder. if the coast guard is willing to risk their lives for saving someones life temporarily. then what should we do as christians be willing to do to save lives eternally?

did i make the right decision?

there are times in each of our lives when we ask ourselves, "did i make the right decision?" we look into the past of our lives whether immediate or years ago and wonder, should i have done that? did it benefit anypart of me? or would i be where i am today if i had not made that decision so long ago. some decisions we make effect us long term or maybe for just the next twenty minutes.

for example many times in college, my friends and i would drive the 2 miles or so to taco bell for a our "fourth meal." and while i enjoyed the many chili cheese burritos and nacho cheese chalupas everytime, about twenty minutes later the term taco bell run had a new meaning. and i asked myself "did i make the right decision about going to taco bell?" while that decision only stuck with me for a night, other decision stick with us even longer, possibly even a lifetime.

for example.

when i was a senior in high school, i made the decision to attend indiana wesleyan even though it was 1300 miles away from home. at times after i made the choice i wondered, "did i make the right decision?" it has now been 8 years since i made the choice to go to iwu and i can tell you it was the right decision. it was at iwu where i received my call to the ministry. it was also where i met jenny, who i have been married to 2 1/2 years. this decision has obviously effected the greater scheme of my life for the better.

although i have made other decisions in my life that i regret. and could make life altering decisions in the future i have learned that i need to take responsibility for my decisions. whether good not bad. although i continue to go to taco bell.

gathering

i know a lot of other people will be blogging on the gathering so i do plan to make this brief and give you my favorite parts of of the conference.

it started with a bang. anthony graham started the conference with my favorite message of the conference. he articulated his thoughts on holiness and called all the pastors to a new level in the personal lives. thanks anthony for holding us accountable.

kevin myers the following morning was great. he showed us the meaning of what marriage is all about. and when we focus on Christ how it will shape and mold our marriage in the right direction.

anthony and kevin were the two wesleyan main event speaker and no offense to the other speakers (anne graham lotz, bill hybels and ed stetzer) showed a lot more passion and knew the reason for speaking at the conference in the first place. next time i would like to see all wesleyan speakers.

robin mark was the perfect choice for worship leader. he bridged the gaps of all ages at the conference from some of the youngest to the oldest attending. i was kind of dissapointed that he didnt play more of his original songs. but it showed that he was there to lead worship not plug his name to sell cd's inwhich i never found a booth to buy his cd's anyway. he showed class and you have to love the accent.

tim hawkins was also a highlight for me. one of the funniest men ever. enough said.

during the conference i was able to see people from all kinds of different points in my life. it was great to see my 4th grade teacher (vaughn martin), who has since become a children's pastor. i was able to connect with a good friend (jeremy cummings) from high school and youth group who is also a youth pastor. my senior pastor and youth pastor from high school, who are both still at the same church continuing to pastor my parents and my brother. my college pastor (gale janofski) from brookhaven. friends from college (josh keesling, john and danielle freed, brooks and jill sayer, kevin wright and others.) i also caught up with pastors that i interned with for a summer in deleware. and saw some friends and other pastors from my time in south carolina. (matt and deborah rhodes, heath, buddy rampey and others.)

of course i traveled with the staff that i now work with in pulaski and it was a great time to connect with them and there wives. we were already a pretty close staff before but the times that we grew together during the trip were priceless.

this post really shows me that no matter who is speaking, we will be able to get a lot out of the conference just from who is there. if we have friends to share the experience and to encourage and build each other up people will come to something like this. connecting is huge, especially for pastors. we can have community at our churches, sure. but to come to something like this and be able to reconnect with multiple people who have known you for over 10 years, who have stood up with you in your wedding, it truly is something special.

thanks to all who put this together. next time lets see more wesleyans.

Christ

the other day i watched talledegga nights. it seems like the new popular movie to watch. i really did not enjoy the movie. i really love will ferrell but was disappointed this time. anyways during the movie bobby would pray the blessing to little baby Jesus.

this made me ask myself how do i picture my Christ. obviously during christmas we picture him as a baby born in a manger. during easter we picture him beaten bloody and hanging on a cross, whose body was laid in a tomb and three days later resurrected. but there are also other ways we can picture Christ. we can picture him as a 12 year old teaching in the temple. we can also see him as a 30 year old rounding up the disciples.

we can also see him with different emotions. we know Jesus cried when he knew his friend lazarus had died. we know he was upset when people turned his Father's house into a market. we can also read that he felt alone and forsaken when he was dying on the cross.

Christ also showed human characteristics. we know he was hungry when he fasted for 40 days.

we know that before he came to this earth he was with his Father. he was there from the beginning and was involved in creating everything. yet gave that up to come to earth as a baby, obviously humble. as a baby he relied on mary to feed and change him, to keep him clean. he depended on her for life.

after life here on earth he went back up to heaven to be on the right side of his Father.

we can see him as a good teacher, prophet, rabbi, mentor. we can also see him as a revolutionary, challenger, and a leader. he was seen as a healer and a friend. we today can see him as Lord and Savior. we can see him as a God who was and still is love. we can see him as all these things and guaranteed more. at all these times there were people who followed and others who walked away. there were pharisees who confronted and disciples whom accepted. Christ was loved, followed, betrayed, denied and yet still forgave, loved and accepted.

bobby saw him as a baby. he probably only went to church on Christmas. how else do you see Jesus?

how things become distorted

st. nicholas was one who used his inheritance to assist the poor and needy. he was one who looked over the interests of himself and gave what he had to those who need it. today santa claus has come into many homes giving gifts of luxury to the already wealthy families. and by wealthy i mean approximately 95% of homes in the united states. we all own things we do not necessarily need or even want. this past november jenny and i went through and donated a lot of things to care and share; a community wide free thrift store that our church holds every year. and yet we still excess.

this year more then any other i wish i were like the kranks (movie--christmas at the kranks) who swore off christmas. they didnt want anybody to buy them gifts and vice versa. they were just going to skip the day all together. this past weekend i went to our church christmas party. it involved maybe 50 participants of the ever infamous game known as white elephant. what it should be is a time for people to come together and have community; which did happen. however what it ended up being was people swapping $5 useless gifts that will probably end up in care and share next year.

but this is what i have found out christmas has become the swapping of gifts with each other. i have a limit on how much i spend for each person whether they are family, a friend or a coworker. but i find that the person that i give a gift to usually ends up spending appoximately the same amount on me. usually on something i dont need or specifically want. what if we used all the money that we would have spent this christmas to act like saint nicholas and give it to a family that is in need. i know i do not need more crap in my house.

what started with good intentions of brightening up someones day has become a day of selfishness and desire. and if we do not get what we want we just box it up and take it back to the store the next day and exchange it for something else we do like. saint nick would be disapointed in all of us in how something out of generosity and love for the poor become so distorted.

oh and did i mention what i want for christmas. i would like a nintendo wii.

top ten christmas movies

there are a lot of great christmas movies out there. just for my entertainment and yours i put together a list of some of my favorite holiday flicks. in no particular order these are the movies that put me in the christmas spirit

a wonderful life-- always makes me reflect, this is one i watch every few years just because it is so long and somber.

the grinch who stole christmas-- (the cartoon) funny movie that puts you in the christmas spirit

the christmas story-- a leg lamp, a bb gun, and chinese singing deck the halls. this is a must every year

a christmas tale-- the muppets take on the popular ebeneezer scrooge story

home alone-- well it did take place over the christmas season

national lampoons christmas vacation--a movie to show me that my family is not that screwed up

charlie browns christmas- one of the few movies that actually tells the original christmas story

polar express- the best animation possible to show you "just believe"

elf- the combination of belief and will ferrel

and my favorite

rudolph the red nosed reindeer- taken from the popular song with rudolph, hermie, and the island of misfit toys, shows we can all have a purpose.

any body have any to add. or to just express your favorite

call for a season

this is something that i have been wondering about for quite a while. and i hope to get some feedback from you the reader. i am wondering if it is possible if God might call someone to the ministry for a season? i have talked to a few people with mixed views on the idea.

andy stanley wrote in his last book "communicating for a change" that he was not to sure if he was ever called to the ministry. but one day in his youth went to his father charles and asked if someone could just volunteer for a life in the ministry. so from that day forward andy volunteered to the ministry.

i have been in full time pastoral ministry for three years now in the form of a youth pastor. i love my job. i like doing God's work but am not quite positive that i will be a pastor the rest of my life. but if i felt the call back in the summer of 2000 after my freshman year of college, would i be doing a disservice to God and his call. that is why i am wondering if the call is possible for a season in life.

i do know that i will never walk away from church or my relationship with Christ. but if one day i decide not to be a pastor then am i walking away from Christ by leaving the ministry. would love to hear your thoughts.

how much further

many times during my childhood we would go on road trips in either the family station wagon or minivan. we would go drive hours to go see my grandparents, aunts, uncles or just to get away from the routine. when i was young or did not exactly know the route very well i would ask "how much longer." of course the answer from my parents would come with a measure of time (an hour) or length (a mile). that would shut me up until i was impatient again and asked the same question.

so many times now i ask the same question. i wonder how much further i need to go in the journey. only now i am talking about my relationship with Christ. but i am still asking the same impatient question that i did as a child?

i have been a christian for a number of years and grew up in a christian home, so i knew Christ expected me to live out my faith through works. i knew he wanted me to help the homeless and be concerned with his children dying in africa because of aids, starvation and genocide. i have observed many of my friends give of their lives to different ministries all around the world. i guess this is one reason i became a youth pastor, to live out what God was calling me to do.

but i guess i am wondering how much further still can i go? what have i not done that Christ could want from me. maybe it is because i grew up in a holiness denomination (wesleyan) that i feel this way. it is always more focused on what there is left for me to do in my life and affecting the lives around me. i have always tried to live as authentic as possible and at times that shows my failures and how much further i have left to go.

i try not put myself higher then any other christian, because we are all in different places in our journey. i just want to ask will we even know if we do arrive. i guess people in my denomination would call "arriving, " entire sanctification. but it seems like the deeper i go with Christ there is always some more that i need to give, and i just do not know how or when or if i will ever get there.

more then six years ago, the summer after my freshmen year of college i abandoned what i wanted in life (business management degree) to tell God that i was serious about giving to him what he wanted from me. i continue my life as someone trying to live out God's will rather then my own. but i still have not arrived to conclusion of my journey. is there something i am missing. i know i am headed in the right direction but it seems like i keep passing by the same place.

communicating for a change

the new book by andy stanley and lane jones is a must read for any pastor or public speaker. it is brought together by a narrative and then how to put everything that you learned from the story in a simple way. i am one who has a short attention span and almost always found it hard to follow some sermons because of all the points. the purpose of this book is for encouraging pastors to go with one point sermons. they are easier to follow and see the the connecting points of the sermon.

our staff just went through this book together. my senior pastor who has been in the ministry 35 years finds it difficult but really wanted to go with this system of preaching. i am not advocating that this will work for everybody. but his sermons are more focused and we are seeing peoples lives changed because of some of the advice that was taken from this book. so go and check it out.

pastor appreciation (oct 29th)

it started with an extra hour of sleep due to daylight savings, which is a blessing in itself. i really appreciated that extra hour, especially since we had huge wind gust all satuday night that kept waking me up. our 8:15 service was even affected by the wind as it knocked out our power within five minutes of the service starting. it was a great service without power as our worship team went unplugged and our pastor spoke without a mike. it is amazing how we rely on electricity and technology today. however when it comes right down to it the presence of God was there.

but to move along since what i wanted to addres was pastor appreciation. they surprised us with paying for the three staff and spouses to go to the gathering in florida the first week of january. on top of this we were showered with cards, gifts and baked goods. i am really impressed by the churches thoughtfulness. this gift of the gathering was not something they worked into the annual budget but was payed for by a love offering. it is really amazing that the board and the congregation saw this as a need.

just wondering what some of your churches did for pastor appreciation?