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.

This and That

I have had every intent on putting more into this of late, but it just has not happened. I will just give some brief bits on my thinking.

• I have been very thankful for the wonderful wife that God has given me. At work I have been around 2 people whose marriages have dissolved or are close to it. Our marriage has its moments like all others, but at the end of the day we know that we are both committed and in it for life.
  
• Our ministry has been really effective of late, at least from our perspective. We have been given great opportunities to mentor and disciple the young people we have come to love and have really enjoyed the process.
  
• A couple of doors for full-time ministry seem to be creaking open a bit. One appears at first glance to be a great opportunity while both are out of our initial comfort zone (So what else is new!). We are prayerfully taking steps forward and would appreciate your prayers as well.
  
• As I look to fill out the questionnaire that I received from one of these opportunities, I kind of began approaching it like a test and wondering what the teacher was really looking for. I then remembered that it is not a test and all worry needs to be left at His feet. It is up to Him where we serve, not our answers.

Still Here

So I have not disappeared, or run out of thoughts, just not gotten around to posting much. I will write some of my own thoughts, but heard this read on a podcast yesterday and thought it was pretty pointed. Understand, I don't know anything about the author, Craig R. Smith, but liked what he had to say. This was written just before Thanksgiving and the full quote can be read here.

 

The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

… I starting thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home, you may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

I suggest this Thanksgiving we sit back and count our blessings for all we have. If we don't, what we have will be taken away. Then we will have to explain to future generations why we squandered such blessing and abundance. If we are not careful this generation will be known as the ''greediest and most ungrateful generation.

Hanging Around

So, the ministry search has seemingly come to a grinding halt. We really heard nothing for about 2 weeks, maybe more. Granted, I'm sure a lot of the processes slow down for the holidays. Thankfully, I am not discouraged by this, though it seems odd to me that it would be true. Thank you to all of you who are praying for us in this process and for God's will to be accomplished. The only thing that has crossed my mind is that you always hear of the need for people to be in full time ministry. Here we are willing and ready (at least in our minds) and God has chosen to keep the doors closed. As I said, I am not discouraged, just find it funny.

Heat Wave

As much as I hated shoveling the 2 feet of snow we had last week, I love the fact that it has been 40 out for the past 4 days. Not bad for January.

So, I decided that I have done really bad lately in memorizing Scripture. I don't remember doing it regularly since High School. It is something that I think we find it easy to take for granted. While it is a great idea for young people to do, it is just as great for us to do as well. So, if you are thinking of me in your prayer time, pray that I will follow through and retain the verses. I have also challenged a couple of others to do the program with me.

I have also been thinking about forgiveness and how often we need it. The word of a song the other day really hit me. It was talking about the Israelites and how they had followed the cloud and fire, seen the Red Sea part, and still grumbled and disobeyed. The line said, "Have we forgotten who we are? Did we forget whose trip we are on?" We fall into the same problem. We have not seen the same things that they did, but still have seen amazing and wonderful things, and yet get our eyes of Him and end up wandering around in the "desert" of life.

Lord, teach us to remember that this is all about you and the journey is Your's.

Random Thoughts

Well, it is a new year, so I am going to get back at this. Holidays and responsibility have taken a ton of time, but here we go.

I love how that God works. At our last Detour, John and I each did our own lessons. Normally, we each teach the same thing. The amazing thing was that we both ended up speaking about Joseph. We hadn't even spoken about what we were going to speak about.

Christmas was good. I was able to have 2 consecutive 4-day weekends which went by way to fast. Tomorrow is Friday already and it will be different having only 2 days off.