"God Believes In You!"

In Matthew Chapter 4, God does something amazing. At the beginning of His Ministry on Earth, Jesus invites ordinary men to "Come Follow Him." Not only is Jesus inviting these guys on His journey to seek and save the lost, He is also telling them that He believes in them!

Few things have the power to change us as much as knowing that someone, believes in us. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I have new pastor friend named Greg. Our family has been attending the church he preaches at for a little over a month now. He recently did a sermon series entitled, "I Believe In You," in which he talked about how important it is to realize that God believes in us, and how important it is for us to tell people close to us that we believe in them. This has become very real in my life.

Youth ministry is all I have known, since graduating college in 2002. I spent the past five years of my life giving my all into a youth ministry that I resigned from at the end of last year. The successes and failures of this ministry greatly affected my life. I realized over the past couple of months that part of the reason I left that ministry is that I didn't always believe in myself or feel like people believed in me. It's been a hard thing for me to deal with, because I realized that most of this was my fault. I did not trust God enough, but rather relied too much on my own power in regards to this ministry.

Naturally, because of this everything in my life suffered, the quality of the youth ministry, my teaching, my passion, my family life, and even my health. It breaks my heart to think about it now. I know cognitively that God believes in me, but practically I forget a lot. Too often the busyness and pace of life and ministry had me just getting things done,. rather than spending time in prayer asking God for wisdom and help.

That being said over the past month or so, I have had to trust God. I'm unemployed and my future and my family depend on God providing right now. It sounds scary, but it's been great! God keeps letting me know that He believes in me, and as I trust Him more and pray more, God just keeps being faithful. I have to thank Greg and the community at the church we have been attending as well. They have done so much to show me that God believes in me, and that they do too. Most of them probably have no idea how much kind comments they have said to me, or just asking my opinion on something youth ministry related has meant to me, my family, and our faith! This is one case were actions have truly been louder than words to me.

I want to encourage you, know that God believes in you! If you have given your life to Jesus, then God has given you the power of His Holy Spirit in your life, and He believes in you to be Jesus to others in this world! Live that way, and tell others close to you that you believe in them, more importantly, let your actions reflect that! Blessings.

Sabbath!

Today is an interesting day for me. If you know me or read my previous blog post, you know that I recently resigned from a youth ministry position I had for five years, without a job to go to. I have been gainfully employed for around 15 years. The last ten years of that I have been in full-time ministry. So, today for the first time in nearly 10 years, I slept in on a Sunday, that I wasn't on PTO/ Vacation. We chose to attend a church last night with some good family friends.

It does feel weird that I was not at church this morning, and that I didn't "have" to be there, because I work there. Here are a few things that I did not miss about being in church today:

1. Getting up really early on a Sunday morning. I wish there was a Levitical Law that Jesus quoted in the Sermon on The Mount forbidding being at a church building before 9:00 AM. Tony is NOT a morning person.

2. Having to be nice and smiley no matter how crappy I may feel. Pastors are people too, they get sick, sore, tired, upset, have bad things happen to them, etc. How about we cut our pastors some slack, and not always expect them to smile just, because we said hi.

3. Being distracted during worship services. I am usually thinking about what students, adults volunteers, other staff members, etc. that I need to talk to that Saturday or Sunday, or what I need to get done for upcoming events. I realize this is my fault, but ministry is consuming. Although, I also get distracted by people who talk to me, throw things at me, or text me during services.

4. Getting blamed for rowdy Middle & High School Students who run the hallways or are obnoxious during church services. Grow some courage, and go talk to those kids and/ or their parents, not your youth pastor. If you don't know who their parents are ask that question or follow them, but not in a stalker/ creeper way!

5. Getting asked questions that could easily be answered if people (usually the same ones from week to week & month to month) would check & read any one of the following items first; the bulletin, the newsletter, the various bulletin boards around the church, the e-newsletter, the website, or the facebook group page. Come on people, put in your due diligence.

I'm not trying to be cynical. I love the church, being in church, and being in ministry. There is nothing more rewarding than helping others connect with their Savior. I am merely pointing out for me, how glorious it is to be able to Worship & Sabbath! So today, and maybe several Sunday's to come I'm looking forward to a true day of Sabbath with Sarah and the kids!

If you took the time to read my thoughts in this blog, I pray that you find rest and peace in the arms of our Heavenly Father. May you find time to Sabbath and be renewed by God's Holy Spirit! I also pray God's richest blessings for you and your family!