Powerful words
Immanuel, God with us.. Very powerful words. It hit me this morning while doing my quiet time, I was reading the Christmas story in Matthew. And there it was, the words just jumped out at me ” Immanuel, God with us “now I have read those words a hundred
times but it hit me this morning, it made me realise how often in my 25 years of ministry I have felt alone. I am just being honest here, but full time ministry can be a very lonely life at times. As a matter of fact, there were so many times when I felt like just giving up and go to work at Costco ( yep you heard me, Costco ) but in reality, ministry is a calling, and it is a calling that we were never meant to be alone in. Yes I will get tired at times, I will get frustrated at times, and yes, I will feel lonely at times. But God reminded me today, I am not in this alone, and if I was, well I would have been gone a long time ago. Immanuel, God with us! We are not alone!
Great…Another New Church in Town…
The other day I heard a phrase that I have heard many many times…’ just what this town needs..another new church’ come to think of it, I am sure I have made that comment myself over the years. When I heard it the other day, it struck me differently for some reason. Maybe this town does need a new church! Now the town that I live in has many many churches, and in some parts there truly is one on every corner. I use to view new church start-ups as disgruntle church folks, you know, I don’t like this or I don’t like that, so I am going to take my toys and go home or in this case I am going to start a new church that does things my way…. Well, maybe that is not so bad. In the church that I work for at, we have many small groups, and we would like to see more small groups, WHY.. because it gives our folks a chance to connect with other people and Jesus. I know that in some small groups, it is theme based, or a certain study that interest them, or a singles group or divorce group. We call that healthy, I call that healthy. I view small groups as more of the original church. So who is to say that only a couple of churches can be good. My wife Julies always used this phrase when it came to our children personalities ‘ everyone is born with a song to sing and a dance to dance’ well that holds true of all of us. Some like there church small, some like them BIG, some like loud music, some like quiet. But all said and done, I don’t care how many churches we have in town, just as long as they are pointing them to Jesus. Loud or quiet, small or big, lets just get our communities turned on to Christ love! Maybe it;s time for a new church in town.
Youth Pastors!
To all you worn out ,under paid, under appreciated, taken for granted, glorified babysitters, and please make sure you bring the van back with a full tank of gas, all my sleeping bags come from the camp lost & found and why do I keep having the same dream about a mega pizza. ( Youth Pastors ) This video is for you. I think it pretty much sums it all up. You guys ROCK! watch?v=HPI2xYtso-s
Youth for Christ Military Youth Ministries US Coordinator. Eastern Coordinator for MCYM Youth Ministries. Speaker, Trainer, Husband, Dad, Woodcarver, Bad golfer, Parrot Head who loves the Ocean.
