Enjoy Jesus

When did you last spend time with Jesus just for the sake of spending time with Jesus? Really ask yourself that question for a moment. Have you been reading scripture, praying, singing, worshipping Jesus for any other reason than the joy of being in His Presence? If we are honest with ourselves, we will have to admit that we often fall short in this area.

It is so vital to our walk with Jesus that we actually enjoy being with Him. We have to get to a point where we can honestly say "the joy of the Lord is my strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). To know Jesus intimately is to actually spend time with Him. Too many of us sacrifice our relationship with Jesus in order to do ministry for Him.

I struggle with this SO often. As a youth pastor, much of my day is spent focusing on helping teenagers grow in their relationship with Jesus. I plan sermons, pray, organize games, and so much more all with the goal of ministering to students. Those things are awesome, but if they are not the overflow of my time spent with Jesus, I will not be very effective. How can I get someone to be passionate about Jesus when I am not experiencing that passion I keep talking about?

So how do we fix this? How do we get to a point where we enjoy Jesus again?


1. Spend Time with Him

This is sort of a 'duh' statement. But so often we wait around for passion to slap us in the face and enter our hearts. Cultivating a true love for our Savior is much like a marriage; it takes work. There will be days that you have no desire to pray or spend any time with Him; do it anyway! This is not mindless obedience, it is working to stir up in yourself the passion you once had.

2. Find the Right Setting

Some of you could think of nothing more spiritually refreshing than praying for hours on end about everything you can possibly think of. Some of you (like myself) find your best moments with Jesus are spend pouring over His Word, yearning to hear from Him.

For me, to be alone, with my Bible, a good cup of coffee and a journal could not get any better. These are the moments I am able to enjoy being with Him the most. It is so important to find the right setting to be with Him in.

3. Make These Times About you and Him

Don't try to think of who else needs to hear this. Don't spend these precious moments coming up with a creative way to tell your friends about it. Don't tweet it right away, don't post a long Facebook post about how much you're enjoying this time. Why? Because you need to be with Jesus. You don't need to break away from Him so that everyone knows how good your quiet time is going. There will be time to share what God is teaching you with your friends and family later. Be with Him in those moments and don't let anything get in the way of that.

4. Share it With Others

This sounds contradictory, but you should share what God is teaching you with your friends, family and small group. Don't do it during your quiet time, but later, make sure you talk about what God is teaching you. Others can offer even deeper insight and encouragement to you at this time. This helps to reinforce what you're learning and it is an uplifting time for you and them.

5. Enjoy Jesus

Please, please, please do not do as I did and turn God into an intellectual pursuit or a puzzle to be solved. God desires that we desire Him. As John Piper said "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." Be sure that the most important part of your quiet time is not what you learned, but Who you learned it from. Be sure that you draw your "grace in times of need" (Hebrews 4:16) from the God from whom all blessings flow.

Be sure that above all else, you enjoy being with Him. Let His Spirit comfort, encourage, teach and strengthen you for the day ahead. This is not just 30 minutes to check off your to-do list. This time spent with the creator of the Universe, the God who died so you could live; cherish every moment.

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Did you spend more time reading this post than you did with the Father today? He wants to commune with you. He wants to pour grace, mercy and love into you so that you may be fully satisfied in Him. He wants you to enjoy Him. He is not nearly as interested in what your ministry as He is in you. Once you find out how good He is, you won't want anything else, and you'll want the world to know this God that you have found to be altogether lovely and satisfying.

Questioning The Answers

Have you ever questioned your faith? No, I'm not talking about doubting your salvation. I'm talking about asking yourself if Christianity is real. Have you ever thought to yourself: "am I just wasting my time?" I'm no expert, but I'd be willing to guess that at least half (or more) of us have thought this way more than once even.

I had a time in my life when I asked those questions. I wondered if I was believing all this stuff in vain. Is there enough evidence to support my beliefs? Have I told myself a lie for so long that now I believe it? Have we all missed the true meaning of life? IS there any meaning to life?

The problem is not asking the questions; the problem is preventing other people from asking those same questions. I have a feeling that we would rather brainwash the next generation than see them hash out their beliefs for themselves. We want to see teenagers trained in their beliefs. We answer their questions with answers that follow the thought process of "the Bible says it so I believe it." We don't share the questions we ask ourselves in our inner dialogues because we are afraid of other people asking those same questions.

Youth groups particularly are filled with great teaching, solid theology and engaging services; but lack the asking of raw, unfiltered questions. We invite teenagers to ask why things happen to them so we can comfort them with the truth that God is in control and He loves them. But what if they are questioning if God really does exist? What if they don't really buy the fact that the Bible is our source for absolute truth?

We must begin to engage teenagers (and everyone else for that matter) in a way that confronts the questions they are asking in the quietness of their hearts. We have to stop feeding them answers without ever allowing them to ask the questions.

I believe we are more interested in seeing them converted than discipled. Discipleship is a messy, difficult process; one where hearts, motives and deep rooted issues are exposed. Often, in the discipleship process, no answers from our mouths are sufficient. Sometimes, we will have no idea what to say. That should not frighten us like it too often does. We should welcome questions that we have no answer to, so that we may sit at the feet of the One Who does!

What if we began to prompt teenagers to ask these questions out loud? What if they did? Would it get uncomfortable? Sure. Would it scare some parents and youth leaders to death? Absolutely. Would it be worth it? I have no doubt that it would! If we don't let them ask these questions, their peers and colleagues will at some point. Would we rather them hash these things out in the world or with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ?

Are we willing to not only address the elephant in the room but to escort him there in the first place? It's almost as if we believe if we don't address these questions, they won't ever think about them. I have news for you: they already are thinking about it. Let's be there to help them find Jesus in the middle of it all!

I am no advocate for prompting teenagers to question their faith for no reason, but I am all for bringing to the surface the things they ask deep within their hearts. If as a youth pastor I can lead them to an authentic encounter with and belief in Jesus before they graduate high school, then I've done my job. But if all I do is feed them answers and show them how to love Jesus without ever letting them ask their questions, their faith will be nothing more than a masquerade; a terrible one at that.

So how about you? Are you willing to share your story of how you pursued Jesus in the midst of serious doubt that He even existed? Are you willing to let others ask the questions you did? Will you be there to authentically point them to Jesus when they do?

Why?

On November 19th, I will be beginning a new series on Wednesday nights at Alive with the teenagers called "Why?". I am both burdened and excited to start this series: burdened because of the weight of the difficulties they are currently experiencing; excited because I will have the opportunity to point them to Jesus in the process.

In the meantime, as I am preparing to deliver this series, I will probably write several blog posts for you all to share in what God is teaching me throughout this time. I have never been one to sit at the feet of Jesus to learn and keep it to myself; by God's grace I'm just not wired that way!

If you haven't caught it yet, this series will be all about the difficult times that we all go through and how we can deal with them. We will tackle tough questions and circumstances, not only in our own lives, but also issues that are going on in the world around us. Most, if not all of us have at one point asked God why something is happening to us or someone we love.

That question flows out of several different motives. Some of the emotions that flood our hearts are anger, confusion, frustration, sorrow, etc. We go to God knowing that He is in control and that He loves us, but at that time, we are having trouble really believing it. My hope is that we all understand one simple truth through those times...

God answers our "why" with a "Who."

We would do our students a great disservice to teach them that everything has an explanation in this life; that if we wait long enough, God will tell us why things happened to us. That belief is just simply not supported in Scripture. Instead, God always points us back to His character and attributes during the times that we don't understand what is going on.

Just look at the life of Job. He experienced sorrow that most of us will never understand even in part. We know what went on behind the scenes as Satan was attacking, but there is nothing in the Bible that suggests Job ever found out why it all happened. All he knew was that God was still God and that his responsibility was to trust God through it all; even if he never found out why it all happened.

If we will just learn to fix our eyes on Jesus during the hard times in our lives instead of looking at the circumstances, then we will begin to gain grace in our time of need. How do we expect to find strength and grace to journey through a difficult time when all we are looking for is answers? We act as if we would feel better if we knew why. But finding out the answer does not bring healing; we must look to The Healer for that!

God's answer to Job is evidence that He is not all that interested in us finding out why all the time. There are times where we will know and times where we will not. In all circumstances, God is interested in us knowing Him, not knowing why.

That's the premise of this series and it is my prayer that students will hunger for the God who gives grace in times of need. My prayer is that they stop looking for answers and start looking for Jesus; that they would know that finding answers will not satisfy, but finding Jesus will!

Pray with me during this time.

'Sound' Doctrine

1 Corinthians 4:20 - "For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power."

I am noticing a trend with my generation of believers (and some others as well): we are really good with our words. We have read enough books and listened to enough podcasts/sermons to sound like seasoned theologians. We can talk for hours on end about Jesus and how Christians should be willing to surrender their lives to Him. We read blog posts and are able to dissect them using Scripture to tell everyone whether we agree or disagree and why. We sound like we have given everything to Jesus.

We have 'sound' doctrine; we believe that our words prove our love for Jesus rather than our actions.

We look for a church that will satisfy our longing for 'solid biblical teaching' but never really find one because we're so good at being critical toward every one that we find. Our conversations consist often of being Gospel centered and missions minded and often times people mistake us for actually practicing what we preach. We think we are proving that we love Jesus by telling everyone why they are doing it wrong (yes I understand the irony in this post).

But when it comes down to it, it's all talk.

I've just come across too many people who sound like they love Jesus but aren't really sold out for Him. They are sold out to the idea of being sold out for Him.

Let me please be clear: I am not saying this is everyone. As a matter of fact, this may be the vast minority. It's just that I keep seeing these people who say they are hungering for Jesus, but they don't stick around. It seems as if they are just searching for someone who will keep talking about Jesus with them and not actually challenge them to start living out what they are saying. It's kind of like the sports fan who analyzes his favorite team and criticizes everything they do and how they play, but yet he has never played a single game in his life; he just knows the right words to say.

Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 2:4 - "my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Paul was saying "I didn't try to talk really fancy so that I could convince you about Jesus, I just let the Spirit work through me in such a way that I practiced what I preached so that you knew it was real.

My heart is just really burdened because I know how easy it is to sound like you love Jesus; but actually loving Him and surrendering to Him takes a level of commitment that many are not willing to embrace. I don't care if you can write a 300 page thesis about how you love Jesus and why He is worth loving; if your life doesn't match that, it's all talk. Again - "the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power."

Our generation seems to be more fascinated with analyzing doctrine and discussing whether or not it's acceptable to drink or cuss as a Christian (to use just a few examples) than we are in advancing the kingdom through the power of Christ at work in us. Again, this is probably the minority, but this thinking is out there and seems to be gaining steam.

If you fall under this category (most of us do at times), then check your heart; do you talk about Jesus more often than you live for Him. Can I point out that our words will follow our hearts, but our hearts seldom follow our words. What I mean is that if you begin to follow Jesus and surrender your life to Him, you won't be able to keep silent. But if your faith consists only of talk right now, don't expect your heart to follow just because you sound committed. It usually doesn't work that way.

If our mission is to make disciples and advance the Kingdom here on earth, it won't happen simply because we know what to say. It will happen through the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Once we are empowered with the Spirit; then we will speak up and our words will bring life and healing, not because of the words themselves, but because of the power of the Spirit.

Identity

I really think that when Christians hear the word identity we kinda roll our eyes a little. I mean all too often we hear from pulpits and blogs: "your identity is in Christ." I imagine there are some who did not click on this post because they think they've heard all they need to hear on the subject. As though they know all there is to know on the subject and never struggle with finding their identity in anyone or anything other than Jesus.

Did you know that the Bible uses the phrase "in Christ" 216 times? At least that's what I found out when I watched Mark Driscoll talk about this. Many of those uses are found in the book of Ephesians. God thought our identity was pretty important and talked about it a lot in the Bible. So maybe you don't think you need to hear more of this, but bear with me for a few moments as I tell you what God has been teaching me about my identity.

I think we tend to think it's only bad if we find our identity in things like bad friends, bad habits or secular music. But what about those of us who find our identity in being a really good follower of Jesus? No, seriously, read that last sentence again...what about us?

Have you ever read your Bible because you think you're supposed to? Are you a volunteer of a ministry at your church, pastor or staff member that constantly goes through the motions of ministry? Do you find yourself saying you love Jesus but you know you're just spitting meaningless words out of your mouth? We're getting real here aren't we?

Search your soul Let God search your heart and soul to see if you're finding your identity in being a Christian, or if you're finding it in being "in Christ." Because the former brings guilt and the latter brings freedom.

If I'm finding my identity in being a Christian, then every time I think I'm not being a 'good' Christian, I will be heavy laden with guilt and shame because I'm not living up to my identity. If I find my identity in Christ, I will always experience grace and mercy because He never fails. He has given me His righteousness. When God looks at me, He doesn't see a Christian trying to be holy; He sees Jesus who IS Holy!

This doesn't mean I can do whatever I want because Jesus is my get out of sin free card. It means that since my life is "hidden with Christ" (Colossians 3:3), I will continue to become like the One who traded His identity for mine. Let that sink in for a moment.

See I used to find my identity in being a youth pastor, or a husband or a disciple maker. Those are good things and I will become all of those if I embrace my true identity "in Christ." The more I rest in Him and allow Him to live His righteousness through me, the more I will be free and the more I will find my true identity.

It's exhausting trying to keep any other identity than the one given to us by the Father because anything else is not who we are meant to be. Besides, we will fail at being anything or anyone else. We will never find meaning and purpose in anything (even being a good Christian) other than Jesus who is meaning and purpose. Let's start finding our identity "in Christ." After all, it's the only place we find our true identity anyway.

Husbands, Be The Man of the House

So I've been contemplating something lately as I think about my role as a husband to the best wife on the planet: being the head of the home doesn't mean I'm always right. Nor does it mean that I should call all the shots or determine how we live our lives 100% of the time. I know that sounds really basic and all but I bet that as I dive deeper, you men will agree with me on this.

Ephesians 5 is the foundation for this thought by the way. Paul says things in here like "submit to one another" (Ephesians 5:21) and "let each one of you love his wife as himself" (Ephesians 5:33). I just don't buy the idea that in order to be a leader, you should call all the shots. But I struggle with this. Jenna will ask me to do something a certain way and I feel it is my right as the 'leader' of the home to tell her how it really should be done.

There is this subtle, yet powerful thought process in me (and most men) that in order to be a man, you must not back down from your beliefs and to listen to your wife's requests all the time means that she wears the pants in the family. Why is it that a man who chooses to favor his wife's desires over his own is labeled as 'whipped?' Why do we not celebrate men who are strong enough to put their wife's interests before their own?

Men also struggle with an innate desire to be right; all the time! We feel defeated when proven wrong; especially by our wives. But why? If marriage is a partnership (granted we each play unique roles), then why can't we admit that we are wrong and rejoice that we have a wife who is right? Sounds almost counterintuitive doesn't it?

I mean, I'm the man of the house. I am supposed to play the role of Jesus loving His bride (the church), which means I should call all the shots like Jesus right? Since Jesus is always right and I am supposed to display Him through my marriage, then I'm never wrong right? Wrong. You and I are still humans in need of a Savior. Besides, we are called to display Christ's LOVE in this relationship (Ephesians 5:25).

Let me be clear here: wives are called to submit to their husbands as head of the household and should never be in authority over him concerning serious decisions that affect the entire family. As long as the husband is acting in accordance with the Word of God and is humbly playing his role, the wife has no need to jump in anyway. Women should also celebrate when they have a godly husband who is mature enough in his faith to call the shots and call them well. So do not think I am saying that a woman can play the husband's role when she feels the desire to do so.

I'm talking about the simple, everyday stuff like taking out the trash. When your wife thinks it's time to do it guys, then you don't have any reason to backfire. When your wife thinks tonight is a good night for a date, you would not be loving her as Christ loves His church if you give her every reason why you shouldn't.

Being the head of the household never means that you get the final say on every detail of your lives. It means you are able to lead well with the input from your wife. It means you are on a journey together to become more like Jesus. Never slack on your role as head, but never lord it over your wife either.

Put her needs AND wants before your own, even when it makes you uncomfortable. Unconditional love includes serving your wife when you least feel like doing so. It's human to disagree with the way she wants you to do things sometimes; but do it anyway. It's normal to get frustrated when you want to relax and she wants help with the housework; serve her like Jesus serves His bride. Cherish her in everything and never think of yourself as too much of a man to wash her feet in every way possible. Besides, you aren't being a man by lording your role as the head over her; you're being a jerk and you are acting nothing like Jesus in those times.

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and GAVE HIMSELF UP for her.

Mission: Make Disciples, Not Heterosexuals

What I am about to talk about will probably go against the way you think right now. I may not win a popularity vote with this blog post, but I believe God has been moving in my heart to preach this truth to myself. Since I have been drilling this into my own heart and mind the past few months, I thought I would share it with you.

I think here in America, we have become like the Jews during the time Jesus walked the earth. They were oppressed by the Romans and they wanted a Savior from that. Some of them thought Jesus was it; they thought that Jesus was there as the Messiah to overthrow the Romans and establish His Kingdom. They believed that God cared about them enough to remove them from that oppression they were experiencing. The lie they believed was that the real problem was their oppression, not their sin.

The Jews were looking for a Savior from the Romans, not a Savior from their sin. I believe that American Christians want a Savior from the oppression of the world, not a Savior of the world. Let me get to the heart of what I'm talking about: we would rather Jesus prove that we are right about the sanctity of marriage than for Him to save the homosexuals. Read that last line again. Our message has become a very moralistic one; we proclaim the commandments of Scripture well, but we never point people to the One who has fulfilled them all and offers us that righteousness of His.

I have to be honest; I'm tired of the rants on homosexuality. I'm tired of Christians whining about the propaganda that homosexuals push. I expect the LBGT community to rant and spread propaganda. That's not going to stop until Jesus captures their hearts. But there are way too many Christians who have made it their life's goal to turn homosexuals straight. They would say that they want them to trust Christ, but their words and actions say something entirely different.

We believe that we should tell people 'come as you are' unless you're gay, then you have some work to do before you can become a Christian.

Do we really not believe that it's possible for a homosexual to receive God's grace and have Him work on their hearts over time just like He does with my lying, anger, gossip, etc? Why do we require of them anything more than we require of the rest of the world?

Our mission is to make disciples, not heterosexuals.

By the way, I believe with all my heart that homosexuality is a sin and I am not a supporter of marriage equality. I just don't understand why we would rather argue with them about who is right than to tell them about Jesus and live out His love toward them. I don't understand how we think that God will save them and turn them straight in the same moment. Sanctification is a process and there are gay Christians just the same as their are lying Christians and angry Christians. That does not make it right, but it should change our perspective.

I am not asking that we do not stand up for what is right or condone sin. That's the problem actually; we believe that we should show justice sometimes and love at others. Perfect love and perfect justice were in perfect harmony on the cross and should also be that way in our lives. It's not either/or, it's both/and.

Besides all of that, we are fighting a losing battle trying to change the world; only Jesus can do that. So if our focus is to "know nothing except Jesus and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2) then we will see change, because He makes all things new! Which means even if I do convince someone that marriage is one man and one woman, I've done so much less than Jesus can do. Jesus changes EVERYTHING; why are we only striving to change sexual orientations?

Again, I am not asking that we stop addressing the issue, and we should most definitely call out our Christian brothers and sisters who twist God's Word on this issue. I'm asking that we keep the gospel at the center of everything. I beg of you to place gay propaganda aside and proclaim Christ in everything. Let Him first save their souls because He loves them. Then watch, rejoice and be amazed as He changes everything about their lives; including their sexual orientation.

Calling people to a biblical view of marriage alone will not change the world, but the gospel will and that's our message. So build relationships with homosexuals. Seek to show them the same love that Jesus showed you when you were His enemy. Answer their questions and be sure to have your answers grounded in the truth of God's Word. But make your campaign Christ and nothing else.

We seem to more concerned with Jesus overthrowing Obama and the gays than the salvation that He has extended to them.

As I stated in the beginning, I am sure that some will read this and over react. I will probably be mocked by brothers and sisters in Christ who still don't really understand the harmony of holiness and love. They will probably say that I am wrong. And no matter how many times, I affirm that homosexuality is a sin and we should call it that, they will not hear it because they are infuriated by the fact that I don't think our mission is to straighten out the world on their marriage views.

But when I look at Jesus, I see a man who did not come to satisfy the injustice that the Jews were experiencing from the Romans. He came to solve the real problem: the oppression of sin on this world. He came to deliver the captives. He celebrates the freedom of those captives, not their realization that they are captives.

I have a feeling that we are angry with Jesus in the same way that the Jews were: we want deliverance from the oppression that we are experiencing, but all He keeps doing is teaching us to love like He does. I also have a feeling that we get more satisfaction from winning an argument with a gay person than we do extending grace to them when it's hard.

Ask yourself this question: if a gay person walked in my door right now and asked me to lead them to Jesus, would I talk about Jesus or homosexuality? Would I be okay with leading them to Jesus without trying to convince them that being gay is a sin first. Do I trust Jesus enough to reveal their sin to them?

No matter how loud my fellow Christians shout against homosexuals, I know that Jesus died for them too and wants to offer them freedom from sin. No matter how hard they shake their heads in disgust at the LBGT community, Jesus still desires that none should perish. And most importantly, Jesus wins souls, not arguments.

I don't know about you, but I want to be like Jesus.

When You Don't Understand the Scriptures

I was just reading 2 Peter during my devotional time this morning and I came across chapter 3 verses 15-16: "just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures" (emphasis mine).

I don't know about you but I took comfort in those 11 words in verse 16. To know that even the people in Paul's day thought some of the things the Spirit led him to write were hard to understand. Even the apostle Peter, who physically walked with Jesus, claims they are hard to understand. I suppose that it would not be a stretch to say that Paul may have found some of the things he wrote difficult as well; since he was "carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

We give up far too easily when it comes to understanding God's Word. We settle for surface level interpretations of some of the deepest, most valuable truths in the Scriptures. And maybe this is, at least in part, due to the fact that we don't understand Godly wisdom. Proverbs 9:10 tells us that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." That means that if we want heavenly wisdom, we must seek the Lord, not facts.

If your goal in understanding the Bible is to gain knowledge or to outsmart an atheist, you're going to come up with many facts but no real wisdom. Look at John 5:39-40 - "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." God's Word has life and is alive because it points us to Jesus. When we view God's Word as something we must intellectually solve, we will gain nothing more than facts (which by the way, do not save). But when we view God's Word as God's way of pointing us to Himself that we may know Him (Philippians 3:10), then we find life in the Savior.

But what do you do when you honestly are perplexed by a passage of Scripture? I think the first response is to pray. I'm not talking about those short tweet-like prayers that we have become all too accustomed to. I'm talking about real, fervent prayer (James 5:16). Ask God for wisdom and He will give it to you (James 1:5). Why would we trust our own wisdom when it comes to the infinite wisdom of God? Even the foolishness of God is wiser than man (1 Corinthians 1:25).

I think the next step is to study that passage with all your might. All throughout the book of Proverbs we are told to seek the wisdom and truth of God as a treasure; Solomon pleads with us that we would search for it diligently. We give up far too easily and would rather find a good commentary that we agree with than discover truth for ourselves. Do you realize that you have the same Holy Spirit in you that the greatest theologian has? He leads all believers to truth and understanding of God's Word. Do not think I am discounting a good commentary or saying that God has not given us great men and women to help us understand doctrine. But God also wants us to learn to understand His Word through the greatest Bible Study tool He ever gave us: The Holy Spirit (not that the Holy Spirit is a tool, He is a person. But you know what I mean).

So "study to show yourself approved" (2 Timothy 2:15). Search the Scriptures diligently and find Jesus in every page, every word, and every phrase. If we could all learn that the goal of Bible Study is not facts, we could change the world. The goal of Scripture is to find and follow Jesus and to be sent out on a mission to help others do the same.

How Shall we then Love?

As I read Paul's third letter to the Corinthians (we know it as 1 Corinthians), I learn more about how leaders are supposed to love people. Of course, we know that Paul wrote the famous chapter 13 in here, but how did Paul express love? If everything is to be done in love or else it is meaningless, how can we know we are expressing that love?

Some will say that we are supposed to accept all people no matter what. But then I read chapter 5 and Paul teaches the church in Corinth that they need to remove the sexually immoral man from their congregation (1 Corinthians 5:2). Granted, he was sleeping with his stepmom, but Paul goes on to teach that a little bit of sin ruins the entire congregation (1 Corinthians 5:6). So in Paul's mind, loving believers correctly sometimes means that we rebuke them in their sin.

There seems to be this subtle movement in the church that is crying that we do not call people out in their sin. But if Jesus loved us enough and hated our sin enough to endure the wrath of God to deliver us from our sin, why would we ever say to a believer caught in sin, "it's okay?" We don't understand love correctly.

Now, let me also say this: we cannot hold unbelievers to the same standard. Loving them means pointing them to Jesus in the midst of their sin. We have to expect unbelievers to act like unbelievers (1 Corinthians 5:9-10). Jesus hung around with the worst of sinners by the world's standards. He loved them and didn't spend His time with them pointing out all of their faults all the time. He talked with them, asked them hard questions, pointed them to Himself and the Father and loved them well. But even with unbelievers, He still was not okay with their actions (see the woman at the well and Zacchaeus).

To understand love, we should look no further than the cross. In that moment (and in every moment) God's was displaying perfect justice along with perfect love. We tend to put justice and discipline on the opposite end of love and grace; we think they are opposed to each other. But in God, they find perfect harmony. Because Jesus is our example, we should also learn to love as He did.

You've probably heard the illustration before of a child walking into a crowded street and the parent loving them enough to not only grab them out of the street but disciplining them to know what they did was wrong. Not one single person would tell that parent they aren't being loving because they are sucking the child's fun away. Then why is it that we cannot love our brothers and sisters in Christ enough to snatch them out of their sin? Why is it that I am thought of as legalistic and unloving when I warn unbelievers that their sin is leading them to destruction?

Church, we have to learn that love "does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6). Let us not coddle those who are trapped in sin, but let us love them enough to point them to the Savior who paid a high price so they can be free from that sin that enslaves them.

Looking for Fruit in all the Wrong Places

A thought hit me today as I was praying for God to work in the hearts of the teenagers I am shepherding: fruit in ministry is often not what we think it will be. I have a feeling that if you ask 50 youth pastors what fruit in ministry looks like, most of them will either tell you that fruit is bigger numbers or more spiritual growth in their current numbers.

Galatians 6:9 teaches us that we shouldn't grow weary in doing good, because we will reap fruit if we don't give up. Often times that fruit will result in spiritual growth in the people we minister to. Often it will result in more people that God will entrust to you. But sometimes, the fruit we reap is not either of those. Sometimes the fruit (the reward) of our hard work, faithfulness and good stewardship of the ministry God gives us is a deeper relationship with God.

As we continue to press on and trust God to work in our ministry, and as we walk with Him through the good and messy times of ministry, He will draw us closer to Himself. If you don't consider that to be fruit worth reaping, then you need a heart check.

The really cool thing about that is as we draw closer to God, it WILL affect those we are discipling and shepherding. We must not miss the fact that sometimes, we are looking to reap the wrong fruit. Let God reward your labors however He chooses.

Here's the thing: if fruit in ministry was only physical and spiritual growth in those we minister to, then there have been quite a few missionary failures. We hear of missionaries spending 30-50 years on an island or living with a tribe; faithfully preaching the gospel but never seeing one single convert. Was Galatians 6:9 not applicable to them? Of course it was! the fruit they reaped was a greater trust in God and faith that He would reach them, even if they never saw it! They reaped the reward of closeness with God in a seemingly impossible scenario. That's fruit worth reaping.

So pastor: don't give up! You will reap fruit, but it may not be the fruit you are trying to reap. I know that this blog is not well written and is scattered in it's thought process, but I believe the Holy Spirit was teaching me this as I prayed for fruit in ministry this morning. I pray it is an encouragement to you.

If You Love the World, You Hate God

Christians are funny creatures aren't we? I mean we are really good at proclaiming the gospel with our lips, but terrible at living it out. We are like the parent who keeps making threats to spank their child but never follows through; nobody actually believes the things that we say. Maybe we don't even believe the things we say. That would lead to the hard truth that we may not really believe that God's Word means what it says.

Think about that for a moment; do you really see God's Word as having authority in your life? When you read things like "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him," do you say amen with your lips, or your life? Or both? Or neither? We like to make things not seem as serious as they really are.

Or maybe I'm the only one that can have an awesome time with Jesus in the morning and live like the Devil by sunset. We get on our knees, mark up our Bibles, fill journals with 'spiritual thoughts' and all that good stuff, but we never actually allow the God to change our hearts through His Word. I know you've heard all this before but I want you to stop for a moment and think about your life. Does your life line up with the Word of God? Are you living in a way that displays the righteousness of Christ in you; a righteousness that could never come from within yourself?

Okay, let's think about what John is saying here for a moment: If you love the world, God's love is not in you. And so John is quite simply telling us that we cannot call ourselves a Christian if we love the world. What does loving the world mean? Loving the world's theology. Wanting what the world has to offer that is outside of the will of God for us. I get so sick of hearing people say things like "just follow your heart," or "God will never give you more than you can handle," or "be true to yourself, haters gonna hate." Clinging to unbiblical philosophies of life like those would be a perfect example of loving the world.

Or let's say you're like me and you are more far quicker to get on Facebook, get your cup of coffee or read the newspaper before you even think about spending time with Jesus. That's loving the world because your love for what the world has to offer exceeds your love for Jesus in moments like those. John says that in those moments, the love of the Father is not in you. James took it further and said "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).

If you love the world it's not just that you aren't loving God in that moment; you are making yourself an enemy of God. James was talking to believers when he said this, so this is not a warning to only unbelievers. I need to remember that because I tend to use the Bible as a way to convict my brothers and sisters in Christ before I let it permeate my heart and change me at the core. Which is why I am writing this blog post; God has completely wrecked me with this truth today.

There has to be a point in my life and yours where we begin to actually believe what God's Word says. I'm not only talking about claiming His promises, I'm talking about also obeying His commandments. The cool part is "His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). The burden is when we are claiming to love God but are actually in love with the world. Making yourself an enemy of God is the biggest weight you will ever bear. But living in His will frees you and you will "abide forever" (1 John 2:17).

The best advice I can give you at the end of this is to wake up everyday to hear from God, and then do what He says. It's that simple. Be sure you remember that He has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to do the very things He asks of us! How cool is that?! So what are you waiting for? Go in the love of the Father and not the world.

Right Doctrine Gone Wrong

Being a pastor is a tough calling for many reasons. One of those reasons is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to teach proper doctrine. Another reason is that it is far too easy to focus so much on teaching correct doctrine that we miss discipling our people. If you and I start to think that the only aspect of discipleship is what we teach from the pulpit and how we organize our Sunday services, we have missed it entirely.

We spend so much time and energy into preparing our sermons and services that we never gear in to the specific needs of our people. The old saying is true though: "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." I'm mainly speaking to pastors and elders here: when is the last time you preached a message that wasn't intended to convict, but encourage? I'm not asking us to become 'feel good' false teachers like Joel Osteen. What I am asking is that we understand when our people need to be encouraged.

Don't forget that discipleship is a process. We can't come in every Sunday expecting to change our people with our sermon that we are sure will convict everyone; it just doesn't work that way. If all your church says about you as a pastor is that "he sure is smart," or "he knows the Scripture so well," then you're not doing the work of a Shepherd.

Please don't misunderstand me here, I think doctrine is vital to a church and if you throw away proper doctrine, you don't really have a church. But we are supposed to lead our people to a relationship with Jesus first. Proper doctrine will follow an authentic relationship with Jesus; the real Jesus. But pastor, think about it for a moment, are there people in your congregation who won't listen to you because all you're trying to do is cram doctrine down their throats instead of loving them when they need it most?

We must find a balance here. We must spend time with Jesus and allow our relationship with Him to flow through our ministries. Stop planning sermons based on what 'so and so need(s) to hear.' The people at your church must see a pastor that is going through the same things they are. They don't need your fancy quotes or the fruits of your la(bore)ious study. They need the fruits of your labor with Jesus. That's what being a pastor is all about after all.

Stop trying to show how much of the Bible you know. Start showing your people how the gospel affects every area of their lives. Teach them that even though they probably just had the worst week of their lives, God hasn't run out of grace for them in this very moment. They don't need your intelligence, they need Jesus. Reflect Him, not just knowledge about Him.

Don't Go To Church

Okay, so I admit that my title isn't really that creative because you've probably heard someone say that before. Christians all around the world have been crying the past few years: "Don't go to church; be the church!" I'm here to agree with that statement and explain why. Since I will be talking about this tomorrow night in youth group, this serves as a part of my sermon prep as well seeing as how I think best when I'm writing my thoughts out.

It bothers me a little bit that it is considered a 'spiritual discipline' to attend church. What's so spiritual about showing up to a building once a week? And how is it considered a discipline as though it took real work? I understand people's intentions in crying that we go to church, but Scripture doesn't say that the early believers committed to 'attendance.'

Check out Acts 2:42-47 - 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

There are two parts to 'being the church' that I see in those verses:

1) They focused on building each other up.

The early church wanted each other to love Jesus more every day. That's why the writer of Hebrews said "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:24-25).

A part of being the church isn't singing in unison with each other on Sunday during the worship set, but loving Jesus in unison with each other. In the same way that you would correct someone who is singing the wrong words to a song, we are to correct our brothers and sisters who are living wrong.

The church is supposed to push each other foreword; help each other get out of our comfort zones. This does not just happen on Sundays and Wednesdays, but every moment of every day. Sunday and Wednesday are special times when many of us gather together in one place and it's supposed to be awesome and encouraging, but 'being the church' should only grow from there into the rest of the week.

Not just spiritual needs were met however. If you want to be the church, you need to help each other in any way God leads. If that means mowing their lawn, taking their kids to school, giving them financial help, calling them when they are sick, etc. All of this is what will happen when we focus on being the church instead of just going to church.

2) They focused on changing the world.

The early church were known for turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6). If your only focus is going to church, you will never reach your world. Sure there are unbelievers who will come to church on occasion, but the real mission field is outside those four walls. How do we expect to impact the world with the gospel of Jesus if we never take that outside of the church?

Members of the body of Christ are supposed to go in the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of God's Word to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ into a world that s desperately needs it. So many churches are imploding because they are so focused on themselves that they have almost become this secret club.

I love the movement where people are all over social media with the hashtag "ilovemychurch." It's so cool to see people excited about being a part of a gathering of believers. If we aren't careful though we will only be excited about going to a social club instead of being the church.

So let's show people that "church" is something you are, not something you do. It's a movement, not a club. That's why I'm so glad that at South Shore we don't have 'members' we have 'partners.' Christians need to get over being more focused on what they get out of church than what they put into it. We are so selfish though aren't we? Everything becomes about us being comfortable and entertained. When did the gospel take second place to the order of service?

Folks, when we understand that we have been redeemed and we are a part of a 'people' that have been redeemed, church stops becoming something we go to; it becomes who we are. That is when it really becomes a spiritual discipline. So don't go to church, be the church.

Stewarding Grace

This post fit this blog perfectly since I am writing it from a coffee shop. I am sitting in Perq Coffee Bar in Sarasota Florida reflecting on a few things. One of those things is how inadequate I feel at times to do the ministry that God has called me to. Often as a youth pastor I am overwhelmed with the responsibility that has been placed on me.

I have a feeling this post is going to resonate with many Christians (at least the ones who are actively discipling someone else); especially parents. There is a line that I have to preach to myself often. It's a line that at the surface sounds very discouraging but when you really think about it, it becomes one of the most freeing things you can tell yourself. Ready for it?

I cannot change lives!

Whew! Feel better? No? I should probably explain myself I guess.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." Did you catch the part of that verse that said "God making His appeal through us?" I think we get so caught up trying to change lives that we forget that we are in-dwelt with the Only One who can! God appeals to men through us. That means that we are simply a mouthpiece to proclaim the good news.

That is so refreshing to me as I look at 35 teenagers on a Wednesday night and realize that as long as I am faithful to live and preach the gospel, God will do the work. By the way: God does it so much better than you and I! Parents always are telling me how heartbroken they are that their teenager is rebelling against God. The often ask me these words: What can I do? My response is first of all PRAY! Make sure that you are relying on God to do the work.

1 Peter 4:10 teaches us that we are stewards of God's grace. That's our job is to be a faithful steward of that grace. Preach the gospel always through your words and actions. As long as you're doing that, leave the rest to the Holy Spirit. And understand that you may only be the one to plant the seed in someone's life. As a parent, you can preach to your kids for 20 years and they seem to not get it. Then someone else comes along and says the same thing you've been saying for years when all of a sudden they get it! Don't ask why it took so long! Rejoice that God worked the miracle of salvation/sanctification in their lives!

Find freedom in the work of God! Know that He works in ways that go beyond our understanding (Isaiah 55:8). Trust the fact that so often He is at work when we do not think that He is. Believe that today and continue to be faithful in the work that He has called us to: preaching Christ and Him crucified!

What if God Doesn't Use You?

Let me say right at the start of this post that these thoughts are not original with me. Mike Donehey from the band "Tenth Avenue North" wrote a post about a year ago entitled "God Don't Use Me" that struck me then and has recently come back to memory. Here is a link to his blog (which by the way is awesome!) - http://mikedonehey.tumblr.com

When I read that post a year ago, I began to chew on it and to this day I am still processing it. Allow me to share some of my thoughts with you here.

I want you to think about s prayer that we pray often; we say something along the lines of "God, please use me." It's a great prayer and I think every Christian should desire to be used of God. We should fervently seek to have God use us in a way that advances the Gospel and His Kingdom on earth. But I think that we also need to learn to be okay when He doesn't use us.

Let me explain: say you have an unsaved family member and you want more than anything that Jesus would save them. Wouldn't you be okay if God used someone other than you to lead them to Him? Of course you would because the most important thing to you is that they know Jesus, not that you be used to lead them to Him. Of course, you would be thrilled if you are the one to lead them, but the ultimate goal is that they be saved.

So why is it that so often we pray to be "used of God" more than we pray that Jesus be exalted and the lost be found? Let me challenge us to come to church services, mission trips, youth groups, everyday life, etc. with the desire to see Jesus lifted high and God's will be done; no matter who He uses to accomplish that.

We all play a part in seeing God's mission accomplished, but there will be times when God uses someone else instead of you for a specific task. You need to be okay with that. This hits home to me as a youth pastor because I want to be a part of showing all the teens at South Shore what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. But I have to be okay with and even excited about the fact that God will at times use other people to impact those same teens instead of me. And I should rejoice when that happens because the ultimate goal is to see them follow Jesus, not that I be the one who led them to do that.

After all, it is God who does all the work right? We all are here to play the role that He calls us to. That means we must let God use those around us as well instead of trying to be the "top Christian" at our church. So what will you do if God doesn't use you? Will you submit to that? Or do you want the spotlight? Let us "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the right time, He may exalt us." (1 Peter 5:6)

The Other Half of the Lust Problem

Ephesians 5:3 (NIV) - "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."

Most people read the above verse and think "men really need to stop lusting and viewing pornography." There's a problem with that statement; men aren't the only ones. I don't know the exact statistics, but I do know that more and more women are engaging in the viewing of pornography; and so many people are ignoring this.

Why is it that when I look at my Instagram or Facebook feed I see hundreds of 'man crush monday's' that nobody has a problem with. Women (teens and adults alike) are posting pictures of half-naked men as their 'man-crush' without even a slight pushback from their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let me be clear: I am NOT for a second ignoring the fact that men have a massive problem with lust and do the same things and more than women do. What I AM saying is that the Church must stop ignoring the fact that millions of women are drowning in a sea of lust without anyone trying to help them through it.

Everyone seems to be calling for modesty in women and for men to find help with their porn addiction. But nobody is calling out to the women of the church to "flee sexual immorality" (1 Corinthians 6:18). This is a serious problem because women have become numb to this sin and it is destroying their relationship with Jesus. The hardest part is, they don't seem to notice.

It's like they don't even see their posts as lustful or their thoughts as adulterous at all. I know that this is not just a man's thoughts on the issue because I have had a few women express their concern on this as well. Our "Christian culture" has accepted the lie that men lust and women don't. Oh we say that we know women struggle with lust, but we don't battle the issue or provide any correction or accountability for them. I know that women don't struggle with the same 'expressions' of lust as men do, but lust is lust and it's sin that Jesus died to free us from!

Women fantasize what their lives would be like if they were in a relationship with certain celebrities, have conversations with their friends about how 'hot' certain guys are, and some even are engaged in full-on pornography. How are we okay with this? If Ephesians 5:3 says that there shouldn't even be a 'hint' of sexual immorality (depending on the translation), then we have to do something about this.

If we only address men for their lust, we are missing half of the problem. Let us be more aware of this and being to "Abstain from the passions of the flesh" (2 Peter 2:11). I think our churches and the body of Christ are struggling more than we realize because of this overlooked sin in our congregations.

Philippians 4:8 - "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

For more on this subject, check out this article - http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2014/01/08/when-women-lust/

Always a Student, Never a Warrior

The other day, I went on a spiritual retreat with some of the pastors and staff at South Shore. It was a time that we could just spend a few hours by ourselves in prayer to the Lord. To say I needed that time would be the understatement of the year. My prayer life had been really dry and almost non-existent. I spent hours on a dock with nothing but my Bible and Journal. It was truly Me and God for a while. I could spend a whole other post talking about how refreshing that alone was.

For now however, I want to tell you about what God revealed to me that day. As the title of this post proclaims, I realized that I am always a student of the Word, but never a Warrior in the battle. I realized that my 'quiet times' with the Lord were too quiet. What I mean by that is that I always spend my time with the Lord reading His word, but never praying. Never would I sit with Him for hours or even half an hour praying.

My life and ministry was full of knowledge about God; seeking to be a student of the Word and to 'know Him' (Philippians 3:10), but never stepping into the mission  battle that He has called us to fight. We have been called to know Him yes, but we have also been called to make Him known! How in the world do I think that I can come against the "spiritual forces of evil" (Ephesians 6:12) if I never assume the battle position; on my knees?

Let me be clear, I believe that being a student of the Word is of utmost importance. 2 Timothy 2:15 I believe is very clear that we must be able to "rightly handle the Word." Besides, we have such a great privilege to know God through His Word. But just as I believe there is no substitute for the Word, there is no substitute for "fervent prayer" (James 5:17). It's interesting that James doesn't say the fervent study of a righteous man has great power; he says it's prayer that does.

You can't always study but never pray. Neither can you always pray but never study. It's not either/or, it's both/and. If you're always a student, you're powerless to put your study into action, if you're always a warrior, you're clueless as to how to fight and Who you're fighting for.

I have a feeling that there are others like me out there. For me it's just easier to always study the Word. Prayer is hard work for me, I get way too distracted. I also like to approach God intellectually; I want to be able to know Him in a very deep, personal way and I feel as though His Word gives me the best chance at that. But there are ways that I can know Him through prayer that I could never know Him through His Word.

So my challenge to myself is to continue in the Word, but to stir myself up to fervent prayer. I want the whole armor of God and I don't want to always be a student, but never a warrior. It takes work, and I know I'll be fighting this until Jesus calls me home. But if I have been called to a God-sized mission, I am going to need God-sized power. Don't let your time in the Word take from your time on your knees and vice-versa. Become a student who is also a warrior!

Get Out of the Way

At South Shore, we are going through an in depth, powerful series on the Holy Spirit. I have not been here for much of the series, but the weeks I have been here have both encouraged and challenged me in my walk with Christ. By the way, that is what solid, biblical teaching is supposed to do.

I have been thinking a lot about Christians' responses to the Holy Spirit and the conversations that stir up when He is talked about. I realized that we (myself being the foremost) love to dissect the teachings of the Holy Spirit. We love to analyze who He is and what He does in our lives. We get so fired up when we realize the power that He gives us. And then we go out and argue about how He gives us that power.

In many churches around today, if you mention tongues, healing, prophecy or any of the 'dynamic' gifts, people start grabbing their pitchforks and torches. It's almost like we are afraid of what God will do if we give the Holy Spirit too much room.

Let me say here that this post doesn't really have much to do with those specific gifts. The point I want to get across is that, as Pastor Frank said this past weekend, we spend so much time arguing over how the Holy Spirit works and how He empowers us; all the while we spend no time actually tapping into that power.

A thought hit me this past weekend; Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4 that true worshippers must worship him in "Spirit and in truth." Way too many believers only worship Jesus halfway; either they worship all in Spirit or they worship all in truth. What wrong with that you ask? Well if you only worship in Spirit, there is no truth. You will do what you want and become like the people of Israel in the book of Judges who did what was right in their own eyes. If you worship in only truth, you'll be boring, have no power and God will be more of an intellectual pursuit than anything else.

Some of us are afraid to tap into the Holy Spirit's power because we are afraid of the change that we know He will bring. Others are afraid to study truth because we know it will make us uncomfortable and it may change the way we do things.

But can you imagine how much stronger your relationship with God will become if your worship (your life) flowed out of the truth of the Gospel and manifested itself with the power given to us by the Holy Spirit? Here's my challenge to you: seriously ask the Holy Spirit to change your heart on this. I have had to do this so many times. We let what we have been taught and/or experienced our whole lives influence the way we worship. Let the Word and the Spirit lead you to proper worship. Let it happen, and try not to freak out when it does!

I'm not saying let's get crazy and change everything we believe; I'm saying let's let God be God for once in our lives. Stop trying to fit Him into a mold. Because the truth is, He wants to do something amazing through us and we are too busy getting in the way.

How Did I Get Here?

Did you ever sit back and wonder "how did I get here?" There are only a few times in my life that I have done this. Most of these were the times in my life that I really let go of the controls of my life and trusted God to guide me. After all, He said that He would in Proverbs 3:5-6. I have to tell you that letting God take control is not always easy. This post is just a reflection on how God brought me to SSCC in Sarasota Florida. I hope that it will be an encouragement to you in your journey with the Lord.

Back in August of 2013, God began to stir in mine and Jenna's hearts a desire to move back to the U.S. After living in Spanish Wells, Bahamas for only the past year and a half we wanted to be sure this was of God (and wasn't just indigestion). So we began to pray; hard! We knew that God would have to speak clearly before we made any decisions. We both wanted to have a job in place before we just packed up everything and switched countries.

However, as He usually does, God asked us to step out in faith and move before we knew where He would place us. That was not an easy decision to make or to explain. Telling our family, friends and church that we would be moving but weren't sure where yet, didn't exactly win the popular vote as you can imagine. But we knew that this was God speaking and refused to be swayed any other direction.

My resume went out and job offers came in. I never realized how many churches were without a youth pastor at any given time. As pastors and search committees contacted us, we began to see the importance of really waiting on the Lord during this process. Of course there were opportuni
ties that looked really good and made complete sense, but they weren't God's plan and we knew it. We would not allow ourselves to settle for anything but the Lord's will.

A church in Georgia popped on the radar around September and we began to think that was where the Lord would have us go. We fell in love with the pastor, his wife and the search committee and really began to see ourselves doing ministry there long-term. We checked out apartments in the area and continued to pray with and for the pastor and the flock he was leading. We felt pretty sure that God was leading us here, but there was still something inside us that just wasn't sure.

Somewhere in early November, I was contacted by South Shore Community Church in Sarasota Florida. Instantly something drew me to this church, but I felt like we were so close to confirming that the Lord had us in Georgia. We felt like our first priority was to them. We kept saying "God's ways are not our ways" but I don't think we fully grasped what that meant.

That is until early January when we had our first interview via Skype with the elders at SSCC. There was not a single doubt that God had us to minister with this church family after sharing our hearts and hearing theirs over the course of this interview. Even more confirmation came from the Holy Spirit after we got the privilege of talking with some of the youth leaders and parents via Skype about a week later.

Talking with Pastor Frank through e-mail and having him confirm that God was leading them the same direction was so awesome I can't even explain it to you. Before we knew it, we were offered the position and were on our way to visit our new church family. The first night there; meeting the youth and leaders settled it for us. And so, here we are!

I feel like I just explained in a few paragraphs, a process that I could write an entire book about. As I sit in the conference room at SSCC and think about all of this, I realize that God is faithful to direct our paths! We say it all the time and we write it on coffee mugs and t-shirts, but I don't think we realize the brevity of that statement. Almighty God steps into my tiny, insignificant life, orchestrates every detail to bring Him glory and extends unspeakable joy to me. Even when our plans are great, His are better! They just are.

I don't know where you find yourself today, but I know that God is faithful. Whatever situation you are in, whatever plans you have to make, He is faithful to guide your paths. All you have to do is ask Him to do that and keep your eyes on Him. We like to ask God to direct our paths as long as we get to steer the wheel; that doesn't make any sense. How about actually trusting Him; even when you think it makes no sense? I promise you that He promises to be faithful (His promises are way better than mine).

So pray and ask Him to direct your paths, and them let Him do it!