Moving

For anyone still left checking this from time to time, I have moved my blog (starting today, so you have not missed much!!) to this new site audiblethinking.wordpress.com

Come check it out and my goal is to be better at consistency. (It is good to have a goal right!)

Well, I am pretty sure that by now there is no one left checking this. It has not been my intent to not write for so long, but I have not been motivated to write when I have had time. We spent a lot of time this summer "renovating" the basement of the church where we hold our youth ministry. I will try to post some pictures at another time.

Ministry-wise we are being considered for one position, so we are waiting on the Lord for direction there.

Last Friday night we held an all-nighter for the youth at church. We were blessed to have 25 teens and probably 8 of them were unbelievers.

An Open Door?

I am sorry I have not written in a while, but I have not really known what I could share. Now I have a better idea.

As some of you may already know, we had an interview at a church this weekend. The church is a smaller church in a rural Maine community that is looking for a Senior Pastor. This is an opportunity that we were not looking for, but the Lord opened to us and we have pursed. We came away from the interview still intrigued by the opportunity and time will tell whether this is God's will for us. IN some ways we feel overwhelmed by the responsibility, but know that if this is God's will, we will be up to the task in His strength.

Please from for wisdom and a peace in God's timing.

So, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, but just not taken the time to write.

Someone asked me recently how we were doing seeing I have not written in so long. My answer was "stuck." We have had no progress at all as far as ministry is concerned. We are still completely waiting on God to work out His perfect will for us, but our human nature is very impatient. Work is getting more frustrating and it would be nice to move on from it, but evidently God desires otherwise.

This section of a song hit me the other day.

"Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly"

From Sanctus Real's "Whatever You're Doing"

This really sums up where I am right now. I will right more soon…but you've never heard that before!

How soon we forget

I am going to continue with the story in Exodus. When the Egyptians were coming after the Israelites quickly began what would be a regular routine of complaining. They had just seen God systematically "destroy" all the gods of the Egyptians and they were feared so much that the Egyptians gave them whatever they wanted as they left. It is easy to criticize, but we do the same so often. We look past the great things that God has done in and through us, and view the circumstances He allows. Did He become any less great? Why do we act as if He did?

Still there?

When I wrote that title I meant it as a statement as I am still here. After thinking about it for a minute, I realized that maybe there isn't anyone left out there as I haven't written in so long. Anyway…

Life has been interesting to say the least. I took a group of 13 teenagers to NBBI last month and managed to not break anyone this year. (Last year my pastor's daughter broke her ankle on the tubing hill)

I have been suffering with a cold for the last couple of weeks and the kids have had fevers at different times.

I am picking up a new hobby in that I am learning to play the guitar. I am currently able to make intelligible sounds that slowly sound like the songs that they should be.

As far a ministry, we are still in consideration at one of the places we applied to and will know more in the next week or so.

 

"Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, 'Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.'" Exodus 13:17

I was really challenged by this verse this morning. When I look at the call God has for me to full time ministry, I know that there has to be an easier way to get to it then the way that we are on. However, God knows that the direct way is not always the best way for us and is protecting us in the way. He does that with all of us. We all know the phrase that He knows what is best for us, but do we really trust that and rely on it, or are we second guessing Him, even if only to ourselves. Very convicting.

Been Busy

Life has been very interesting lately. Last week I filled out a 7 page survey that a church had sent me to fill out.

Pastor then asked me on Saturday to preach on Sunday due to a family situation. I had been already working on a sermon for two weeks, but put it on the fast track and it seemed to come across well. Ultimately it is God's message not mine and he knew the short notice all along so it was on Him.

Now we are getting ready to go to NBBI Teen Retreat this weekend and today a leader had to back out so we scrambled to find a replacement.

We are having a great time and just rollin' with the flow right now.