organic christianity

reflections on ministry

I have asked myself the question, "What are the qualities which make a man successful as a minister and father?"  This question has been weighing on my heart more in the last few months then ever before.  Even though I am 24, which is very young, I don't want to waste a moment building my ministry or family in a way that I will regret many years down the road.  When you are a child you have the opportunity to make mistakes with less consequences.  So my goal, God willing, is to learn a bunch of hard lessons now so that I can have more years of fruitfulness.  I recently heard a quote from a wonderful pastor named Craig.  This quote is one of those lessons that if I don't learn now I will pay the consequences dearly in my "adult" life. 

In reference to Craig's early years as a pastor he said, "I realized that I had become a full time pastor and a part time follower of Christ." 

Ouch!  Have you ever heard a quote and said, "That's me!"  I did that with this quote.  In striving to become a better pastor I have put my relationship with Jesus on the shelf.  The very fact that I am striving is a false view of pastoring.  Dying to ourselves and letting Christ live through us is how we should minister.  Not from a prideful, I got it all figured out, attitude.   Humility is the key to being a long-lasting, fruit-bearing minister.  Humility is having a correct perspective of how God views you.  It isn't saying, "I suck, and God rocks."  God views us as His children whom he loves and adores.  He wants to bless us but we have to get out of the way so that He can move.  God help me to always minister out of a healthy, growing relationship with you.  I truly would much rather be a full time follower of Christ than a pastor any day.   But I do believe you can do both as long as Jesus is the focus and not yourself, church or success.  I will hopefully fill you in on more of my thoughts as I journey down the road of becoming the man of God that my family, friends and church deserve. 

treat hell's trash like heaven's treasure

This last Friday I went out with 13 other people from our church to feed and pray for the homeless of San Francisco.  I felt more like a genuine Christian then I have in a long time.  It was refreshing to go out to some of the most needy people in my community and bless them with food, candy, socks, drinks and prayer.  Meet their physical needs then meet their spiritual needs.   The most memorable moment of the night was when I met Craig.  Craig was lying down in a storefront on Market street.  He was drunk, dirty and covered in sores.  I knelt down and held his worn hands.  We gave him some candy which is all we had left.  I looked Craig right in the eyes and said that Jesus loves him.  Samuel, a student from our youth group, laid his hand on Craig's shoulder and prayed for him.  Then I prayed while looking him directly in the eyes.  I prayed that God would touch him and heal him of his seizures.  I wanted to just weep and thrown myself on this man.  I wanted so badly for him to know Christ and for His love to set him free.  I will do this again. It is an experience that is almost indescribable. 

Interview

As we were hangin' out at Tully's someone from a local news station stopped buy to ask if we would like to be interviewed about our new iPhone's.  She told her boss she was going downtown to find iPhone owners and her boss told her that she would never find anyone downtown.  She walks up to Garry, Mark and I with our iPhones all out on the table (ha, ha).  She asked us what we thought about the threat of the potential hacker getting into iPhones.  We all told her that it didn't concern us at all because we are Mac users which makes us indestructible and perfect : ).  It was fun and I hope I don't end up looking like an idiot on television. 

word on the street

This morning I sat in a room with 150 people who were dreading to have their name called.  I was waiting for jury duty and I actually wanted to be picked.  I have always had a fantasy of being picked for a huge criminal case.  This may surprise you but I am fascinated with our justice system.  Sadly, I wasn't picked and I went home with my head hung low like a 5th grader whose name wasn't called for dodgeball.   
But I soon cheered up as I headed out for my daily interaction with the  most honest, loving, real people I know, unbelievers.  Alright that is a bit harsh but I really enjoy hanging out with people that don't have a hint of religiosity but just live for themselves.  I usually have more interesting conversations.  We were interviewing kids on the street and having them answer the question, "If you could ask God one question what would it be?"  One student said, "I would like to know why he made me."  Isn't that the ultimate question.  It was refreshing seeing a young skater kid think so deeply about his own life.  Some adults might look at these kids as rebellious hooligans.  I see them as seekers of truth.  I hope he finds his answer in Jesus.  But if we don't go out into the streets to provide these answers they are going to get them from friends, TV, Hollywood and who knows where else.  I pray for his salvation.      

Monsters and Jesus

We just got back from passing out Monsters (energy drinks) to the kids at our local skate parks.  Young people flocked to us as we handed out drinks.  My heart broke for them when I realized that they were sheep without a shepherd.  Young people in this community need strong pastors who are Christ-like and lead them to a genuine relationship with Jesus. 
I thought about how funny it was that this is what preaching the gospel could look like.  Jesus walked around healing people and open air preaching.  We were passing out "heart-attacks" in a can to students, watching them almost kill themselves with crazy tricks, getting to know them and then pointing them to our website.  Sharing the gospel in a language that young people can understand is the whole goal of these events.  Please pray for Jordan, Brendon and Erik, some young kids we met today.  Getting out of the four walls of our church and mixing it up with young people is so invigorating.  This is what I signed up for. 

Loving people in front of God

It has been a while since my last post.  I have not fallen off the wagon but rather have had a crazy last couple weeks.  To be honest the last thing on my mind was to share my thoughts and blog.  But I have now regained some composure and am ready to spread my propaganda.  Last week, as a youth group, we went out to a local skate park to meet with students.  I think sometimes we are so caught up with "church" that we forget that we are called to not attract people to our building but rather go out into the cities and preach the gospel.  Two of the young people that went with me had never in their life walked up to a stranger with the expressed purpose of sharing Christ's love.  It was exciting to see their faces and to see the confidence they now have after putting themselves out there for God.  Today we are going to visit more skate parks in the area and pass out Monsters (energy drinks).  We don't know if we will be able to share the gospel with words but we will try with our actions.  It is fun to risk and do something you normally wouldn't do.  I think God is found in those moments.