Prayer

Sleeping on an air mattress, following Jesus can be uncomfortable!

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wpid-wp-1441706854917.jpgI miss my bed.  I miss how it makes me feel.  I would like just once to wake up in my own house on my own bed next to my wife and not have a kink in my back and neck. My new chiropractor loves this by the way. (Not really but we have gotten to know each other rather well these last few weeks based on the number of times he has popped my body back in place.)  Needless to say it has been a uncomfortable few weeks.

Beyond the aches and pains I started at a new ministry.  I traveled back and forth to sell and buy a house.  I have lived with my in-laws for almost 6 weeks now.  I went from a 5 minute commute to work to over 45 minutes when traffic is good. I went from knowing everyone’s names to knowing almost no ones.(cue Cheers music)  OH and my wife is living in Grand Rapids and i see her on the weekends.  Needless to say everything is different.  Life has become uncomfortable and I am ok with it.

I do like life to be comfortable.  I like to have a routine. I like things to be predictable. I really like to sleep in my own bed with my wife.  However being uncomfortable has helped me know Jesus.  Over 3 months ago my life was flipped on end.  I said goodbye to some amazing people.  I am serving in a new ministry.  It isn’t comfortable but it is exactly where God needs me to be.  Worship, prayer, and everything else is in my faith life is different.  Jesus is in control and for that I am grateful.

So why bring up being uncomfortable. Is it so you can feel sorry for me? Is it so you can comment on this post and say we are praying for you or can we help? (please do pray for me and my children.) Really that isn’t the point. The point is being uncomfortable in this faith walk is a good thing.  It reminds me of God and His work in my life.  It reminds me that no matter how much I have planned and how comfortable I am He seems to find a way to make me uncomfortable so I can trust in Him, so I can follow Him.

When we get comfortable I think we tend to trust in ourselves.  We trust in our choices, and abilities instead of trusting in Him.  We trust our good fortune, or luck.  We trust in everything but Jesus.  We look to everything but Jesus. Here is the thing. We need Jesus.  We need Him in His word, and sacrament. We need Him in our prayer life.  We need Him in everything. Being uncomfortable has reminded me of Jesus’ work for me.  Thank you Jesus for reminding me of my need for you.  Thanks for making me uncomfortable!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

How can I pray for you? How can I help families see Jesus?

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IMG_0005I must confess my prayer life is not all that good.  I have times when my prayer life is awesome.  Mostly I forget, fall asleep, or just plain don’t have the words.  To be real honest with you all prayer is something I have to structure. I need a purpose.  I need something to be doing.

Here is what I am going to do.  I am going to pray for you.  I want to spend this year in prayer for you.  I want to be in prayer for the families I serve in ministry.  I want to have God work through this means of talking with him so that you may be filled with Jesus.

This is probably the most important thing I can do for the families of the congregation I serve.  I am going to pray for them. No not all of them at once. Not the generic prayer for families each day but individuals.  I am going to pray for just a few each week.  It will probably take me the whole year to get through them all.  At this point I am not sure how many it will be but I plan to pray for 3 families a day.  I want to spend the whole day thinking about those three families and keeping them in constant prayer.  They will get a message from me a week ahead of time letting them know I will be praying for them, and asking if they have any needs.  Then I want to follow up and let them know I prayed for them.  I pray God will allow me to hear of stories of his work in their lives, but if not I want them to know someone cares.  That Jesus loves them.  I will be praying for their requests, but also that their faith may grow, that they would gather at God’s house and hear about Jesus.  I pray Jesus would be a part of their lives.

So what do I ask of you?  Well could you pray for me?  Could you pray I continue to do it.  When I am busy, or tired or lazy help me to continue to do it.  Help me to say nothing is more important than to pray for you.  Let us join together in prayer so that the world may know Jesus.

15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:15-16 NIV

Youth and family ministry to 80 year olds…Listening to the stories, being the family of God

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This week I had the joy of sitting with an old friend.  Someone I have known for a little over 5 years who I think of as an amazing grandma in the faith.  I have seen here many times at Church and today I had the privilege and joy of spending just a few moments talking with her at her house as I move away.  I wasn’t planning to see her but I had to make a visit because she had something in needed.  Jesus was at work in all this.  We laughed, we cried, we shared a moment together and she got to unload some of her story I have never heard before.  It was a moving moment and I have to say thank you to Jesus for letting me have a reason to see her one last time. I don’t know if I helped her but I do know I got to be Jesus for her today. It was one of my greatest moments in youth and family ministry.

You heard me right.  Youth ministry isn’t just about talking with teens, or children.  Youth and family ministry is about being in the lives of people.  Being in the lives of the family of faith.  Family and Youth ministry isn’t just about young people, young families, and little children it is about the whole family.  You see our more seasoned members need people to listen to them.  To care for them.  To pray for them.  Our family is bigger than just the young.  Our family is whole of the body of Christ.

For those of you who work in Youth ministry I want to remind you of something so important.  Seek out the seasoned members of your congregation.  Pray with them. Ask them to pray with you. Listen to them, and be there for them. They are a part of the Church as well. They are important to your ministry.  Jesus has allowed me to have some pretty amazing people walk with in my life.  People who wouldn’t be considered kids, but people who have allowed me to share Jesus with them.  I love that they let me and I love that Jesus puts us in those places.  May God put you in a place to day to be Jesus to someone.  To listen and to offer hope in their lives.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for letting me walk with youth both young and old.

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,[a] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing 2 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV

Desecerning a Call…what does it mean?

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20150608_224256_001So yesterday at St. Peter’s it was announced that I have received a call to serve as the Director of Child and Family ministry at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rochester MI.  So at High School youth group we talked briefly about what that meant and a student asked me how do you know what to do? How do you know you made the right decision? I was very glad she asked the question because I think many of us struggle with this as well in our everyday lives.  I am not going to claim to be this great expert but I thought for many of us in ministry it can be helpful to hear what others go through in their process to discern a call. By the way I don’t believe their is any perfect way to discern a call. I thought I would just get some thoughts on the computer screen to let others see how I discern a call.

When I am discerning a call the first and most important thing I do is pray.  I pray, I ask others to pray, and when I think I am done I pray some more.  We cannot underestimate the importance of this step. Everything in the call may seem great, the money, people, location, ministry, and good for family. Its the perfect Church. (This doesn’t exist by the way)  The most important thing I do when I receive a call is pray.

For those who are praying for me it is ok to be selfish in your prayers.  You want me to stay or you want me to come, it is ok to pray that, but I would ask you add this one part to your prayer, may God’s will be done. If you care about me or any worker going through the call process to serve another Church please pray that we will be doing God will in this decision.  God’s will is ultimately done in all this, but we pray that God will let us see His will and follow it.

Every Church worker looks at different criteria for a call.  For me it has always come down to these few questions.  Can I serve this new Church in the way they are asking me to do it? Am I a good fit?  Is my move helping the Kingdom of God? The first question is normally fairly easy for me to answer. The second is the tougher question. The last question I ask myself was shared with me by a DCE friend and it comes from a book he read. (I am not sure of the book or I would quote it here) “Are we leaving a call at the end of the book or at the end of the chapter?” This is probably the toughest question of all to answer.  This is why prayer is so key to these types of decisions.  Most of the time I listen to people who are praying also.  I listen to trusted friends and fellow workers to answer these questions. I talk with my wife and kids about these questions.  I read the scripture in search of answers.  Most importantly I listen. I listen and try to hear God speak the answers to these questions.

Lastly as a point of practice I normally make a decision at night and take an evening to pray about it one more time. If I have that peace the passes human understanding the next morning, I feel comfortable I am following God’s lead. I then start to share with others around me what the decision is. If it is a tough night, and don’t have that peace, then it is time for more prayer.  I want that peace. At a certain point you have to make a decision and you do and then you pray some more that God allows everything to go smoothly no mater the decision.

By the way Church workers are not the only ones who go through this. All people have a call in their vocations. We should all be going through this process when we think about where God is leading us to be and work. It shouldn’t matter if it is a Church, or retail job, janitor or babysitter, we should all be discerning God’s desire for us and where to serve.

So I am asking all of you, will you pray for me as I discern my calling to serve in these two places. Help me to know where Jesus would have me serve his Church. May God lead all of us on the path he would have us travel.

Breathe, pray, breathe

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untitled (2)Often as we read through twitter, or look on facebook we see a lot of anger, hate, sin, and frustration. We see people with stress, letting it out. We see broken relationships being hashed out online.  Have you ever read the comments under most articles published on the web.  People are angry, broken, and afraid.  I am angry, broken and afraid many times. So my question for today is how can we respond to all the anger, the hurt and pain?

To start I am reminded what my pastor said to me recently.  He said  “I am never surprised when people act like the sinners they are, I am shocked when they act like Christians.”  Too often I think we believe that everyone should be nice and happy all the time.  The reality is we are all sinners. We are all broken, angry and stressed, however we are also loved, redeemed, and saved by the one who came down from heaven.  So what do we do?  How do we make it through the day with so much stress, anger and hurt filling our world?  I have a suggestion, remember to breath, pray, and breath again.

I have seen lots of ways to help us but none has been more effective for me than just breathing, and praying.  Breathing is essential for life and so is prayer. Pray can help us see God at work, Prayer can help us focus on Jesus.  Lots of people take a walk, or look at something pretty. Recently I have see people post pictures of flowers to remember God’s great creation. These can all be good things. I would add breathe, pray and breathe again.  To breathe is to have life and to pray is have life.  Jesus is there with you, you can pray his words, “Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more”John 8:11b

I know we will continue to sin, we will continue to see others sin. I often try to remind myself Jesus has forgiven me, now go back out and follow him again. Be reminded of His kingdom of forgiveness and grace.  So as you are hurting, broken or angry today remember to breath, and pray, and breath again.