Wednesday 02 July 2008 at 1:28 pm
We had 16 youth at Raleigh North Youth Nite this week. It has been so exciting to be a part of starting a youth group again.
The youth group that meets now has only on youth from last year attending this group, most had moved away.
I have been doing something a bit different than past groups I have started. You see after 14 years of ministry I am still learning, After helping with the Cedar Point youth group I learned the value of organize games. The youth are really enjoying that part of the youth nite.
That leads me to talk about how staying teachable is so important in ministry. Americans do not always grasp the concept of continual learning. We are so goal oriented that we think that we achieve a level of expertise. We become the expert! Well in Mission Raleigh nothing scares us like an expert. Mike use to say that God like used people who are F.A.T. (Faithful, available and teachable)
Let us continually be striving to learn more about the depth of our Saviour-God.
Monday 23 June 2008 at 7:22 pm
So it was one of those days. It was the first day of summer camps. We had 42 kids at Raleigh North, what a great day. The summer staff got off to a good start and it is exciting to think about what God is going to do through them and in them.
I came home, pretty tried, and was sitting and relaxing when I got a call from Toya saying, “The kids say someone broke into the center and trashed it.” I jumped in my truck and arrived shortly before the police. They filed a report and then left and we cleaned up.
We must have left the back door unlocked or not shut it completely and some kids got in and stole snacks and trashed the place.
I understand that this is all the kids have seen and experienced in their lives. They could have just went and got the snacks and left but there is this stream of anger that runs through their lives.
This is why we go, to show them the love of Christ and to help them find a balanced life.
I love my kids, I love the ones that trashed the center as much as the ones who helped me clean it up.
Friday 20 June 2008 at 8:45 pm
This is not the first coffin I have stood over asking God why.
It does not get any easier.
I saw him a week ago and he asked about youth nite and I told him that i didn't have anyone to come with me to do one.
How can the church sit and watch as people die unreached.
How can we stay in our pews.
Friday 06 June 2008 at 04:35 am
Well it is the first week of June and we are are already hitting nearly 100 degrees. It is going to be an exciting summer.
I have had one of the most stressful weeks that I can ever remember. Trying to get thing set up for Mission teams and summer missionaries is always a tough time. So for some reason God has me going to Oregon to share the Mission Raleigh vision in the middle of it all.
Praise the Lord for co-laborers who pitch in to get it all done.
I will trust in Christ to get us through it all.
Tuesday 20 May 2008 at 8:39 pm
Pride is an ugly sin. I see pride destroy ministries as people are more concerned with being in charge rather than being a servant. I see pride cause men to lie as they can not stand to pass on credit when it is deserved. For me my pride often reveals itself as it has the past week. My pride is doing too much. My pride comes in the spirit of if no one else will do it then I will do it all myself.
My God HATES when I display such a spirit and he often does what just happens. He takes His hand off the “hours” I work and I end up doing them of my own strength. The only problem is my own strength is weak and I crash with exhaustion.
Dear Lord forgive me for my presumption and for striking out before you and without your blessings.
A man's pride brings him low,
but a man of lowly spirit gains honor. ~ Proverbs 29:23
Saturday 17 May 2008 at 06:23 am
As I prepare to share the vision of Mission Raleigh across Oregon I am reminded of the most basic principle of the ministry. Showing up. That seems to be the key. Showing up when you said you would be there. Showing up when it is rainy or cold. Showing up when you really don't want to be there. Showing up proves that you care. The days we show up without an agenda are particularly effective. I mean if you show up for the program then your motives are not as pure. If you show up just to visit, or play kick ball or go out for donuts and prayer before school or to take a youth to the driving range or a movie then your motives are transparent. You are not there for your plans but you are there for them.
Over the past few weeks I have seen the results of missionaries who just showed up. It has impacted lives well beyond a scheduled bible study.
I recall a story of when Jesus just showed up. In Luke 19 Jesus just showed up at Zacchaeus ' house and Zacchaeus life was eternally changed
Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn't see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by. When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home." Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, "What busis does he have getting cozy with this crook?" Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, "Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I'm caught cheating, I pay four times the damages." Jesus said, "Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.” ~ Luke 19: 1-- 10 (the message)
Wednesday 14 May 2008 at 6:24 pm
One thing that is going to be different in Mission Raleigh this summer is my leadership of the Mission Teams and my summer interns. In the past I have worked to share the vision of Mission Raleigh and the importance of reaching at-risk communities. This year that will be just a small part of what I try to do.
I really want to use this time to teach and model to my kids a culture of missions. I want missions to be so thick that very air they breathe is missions. I want them to leave this summer with the smell of missions on them. I want them to leave with the understanding that missions is not what you do one week a year, It is not what you do two months a year. It is not what you do one day a week. Missions are a lifestyle. It flows out of you without you even realizing it. It is when your heart breaks for people. It is when you think of Hell you see faces. It is what makes you not fit in places. It is what embarrasses your friend. It is who you are.
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18--20
Friday 09 May 2008 at 04:34 am
I love summer in Mission Raleigh. It may see odd to look forward to crazy hours, working in the heart, block parties every Thursday. Yet, it’s a labor of Love. We are going to have a ton of youth working with us this year. We will have a Jr. staff made up of a mix of Mission Raleigh and MVBC youth working and around 150 youth pouring in from all over the country to work with us. The energy and excitement that they pump into the ministry is amazing. I love sharing this vision with these youth almost as much as I love to see my kids spoiled and loved on and told about Jesus week after week.
O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Psalm 71:17