new life transitions

So a few not so small life transitions coming up in my life, some if not all that influence others as well:

- new church plant growing in our apt with many young believers

- as a result, leaving the former congregation that I have personally been a part of for over ten years, and uniting with a our new church that the Lord is creating and becoming a lay-pastor

- in the process of looking for a new job, one preferably closer to home, - working part of the day, minister by night

- new one on one discipleships forming through personal relationships and friendships within Bradford

- reaching new facets of my relationship with my wife now that she is a very pregnant mother (just now reaching third trimester), I am sure there are others who can relate

- and if I am correct,  all the above is somehow interconnected and other misc decisions more or less to be made as a result of our new baby on the way

- fatherhood ... nuff said

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct ..." v4-5

 That well-known verse in Proverbs 3 is taking new meaning as we speak! Priase the Lord!

true discipleship?

Matt 22:37-39 "Love the Lord your God.. Love your neighbor as yourself."

Mat 28:19, 20 "God and make disciples ..teaching all that I have commanded you." 

 Its great to have programs to reach different people and and bible studies that teach spiritual insights into God's Word, and how to love God more, but more and more I am reminded not only by others but also by the very word of God in the above passage, that discipleship and leading others to worship and experiencing almighty God in ones life encompasses more then just the religious aspects. Its teaching every area of our lives.

Illustration: this evening I watched a fellow neighbor, friend, and man of God teaching a young 18 yr old believer what he wanted and needed to learn at this juncture in his life, not only how to read his bible daily and show up to regularly scheduled programs that teach about Jesus, but a proper understanding of how to use money, or the reason for the lack thereof in his own life. I watched as he poured out his life and the things he learned into this other young man. He went into good budgeting habits and simple understanding of how all of it is from the Lord, and even after the bills are taken care of, we can use the money left over to invest in the future, even to invest in others, and meet each others needs through it. He made himself available 24/7 for questions, and even helped the young man set a few short term goals.

I couldnt help but sit back and wonder, hmmm.. "I wish I had a godly friend like that when I was a teenager." 

Point is, discipleship takes many forms, and only one aspect of it is believing the gospel, while other aspects include living for Jesus in areas of our lives that effect our lives here on earth and those around us. The nitty-gritty parts about growing up where its not just about saying some prayer and joining some church, but what to do before showing up at a job interview, what it means have a working budget in place to save up money for living expenses, do's and don'ts of using a credit card (especially for young adults), setting goals in life so as not to get sidetracked, knowing and understanding how God gives us support groups and godly friends, as well as good resources all to help us live our whole lives for Jesus, not just the "spiritual" aspects. So many well-meaning religious people forget to teach about this and count it as wordly things that are better left for progessionals to deal with, ministering only to part of their lives and needs. Many times the goal is impure and leads to spiritually stagnent and immature believers without a balanced perpective of life with frustration as the norm. Not so with Jesus. And it should not be so with us either.

It makes sense (from I Thess 2:8), if we share the gospel, we should share the rest of our lives as well. If we tell someone about Jesus, we might as well tell them about ourselves and whatever else good and positive we learn along the way as well. What a concept!

it hurts to leave..

Though having watched and worked with ScottyB many years in this ministry, having to stop an ongoing kids club or youth night for me is hard nonetheless. Lord led me to a specific apartment complex at least 7 years ago named VB, and it grew to including a few other volunteers and residents that were believers then dwindled, and now that the Lord has me elsewhere for certain serving with a local group of believers made of very special neighbors and volunteers where we live. After much prayer for wisdom and direction in the Lord having to make a decision one or the other, I still had a very hard time saying goodbye to ministering to the kids, teenagers, and residents at VB this past week.

What a privilage it was to serve Him and others for so long in VB yet what great sorrow I feel that there are no others that I know of at this very moment ready to continue the work. Though many of the solid and great friendships built in VB were with residents long since moved away years before, I still see the new faces and  greet them with great joy knowing they are living in a special place, one close to my heart and I believe ver close to the Lords as well.

We are praying for a special calling upon believers within our church and our city that may continue the ministry in VB, hopefully sooner then later and hopefully later then never. My heart breaks for the lost and those in need where I live now in my own community where I live, but still no less in VB. Though I may visit some time in the future, there is no replacement for leaving, not in my opinion.

There are many people that I have met or heard of in the past within this type of ministry that quit for many reasons - some leave poorly with no excuse, others leave quickly without even stating an excuse, some quit because they are burnt out, others leave because they don't love people as much as they do their own ideas, some serve and leave for personal gains, some startt and quit with ulterior motives in mind, others feel they are following the Lord and continue to serve him in other ministries, others go home to be with the Lord, others....  never wish it upon themselves or anyone else.

General Questions I ask myself at this moment in my life:

Do I really care about others more then myself?

Am I really following the Lord in all areas of my life? 

Is my purpose in life really to share the gospel, or am I prostituting it for my own vain glory?

Is my sin list short and my heart and mind meditating on His word daily? 

Am I seriously interested in leading others to the Lord or am I playing games with peoples lives?

Am I still growing in love and knowledge toward Him??

Is He truly glorified and pleased with my actions and words?

new mercies every morning!

Heres what I did on Monday:

Met with Scotty and the Mission Team this week

Helped the misson team get started with summer kids club at Bradford Apts 

Visited a youth on house arrest, prayed as a friend shared the gospel,

Visited a family that just moved from New Jersey wanting to start off well on a new life, 

Visited another mother very concerned for the violence and drugs in the community and the influence it has on her teenage son

While walking by, spoke with a father and his three kids, welcomed them to kids club and got to know them, did it all in spanish

Took my beautiful pregnant wife out to eat for lunch and spent time getting to know her more

Went out to Valleybrook Apts to help start Kids Club with a Mission Team

Went home to visit a church family to talk about the prayer concerns and needs from families earlier in the day, their own needs, and the continual need for the gospel in the community and some great ideas how we can get involved..

Had a meeting with a young adult whose charges were thankfully dropped against him for theft and violence in a certain community, and how the Lord had given him a new chance in life, and discssed a few good hard decisions that he needed to make, ones that will likely change the course of his life as he knew it

Took a friend my age and two teenagers to play basketball for 45min  to unwind and catch my 5th wind.

Met with my wife to start our weekly youth night program

Afterwards met with a motherand her children and shared and talked through some concerns for their physical and emotional well being, knowing the neighborhood influence, peer pressure, and crime going on within the community, shared a little about purity and answered a few questions from the Bible about parenting then prayed with them for wisdom and boldness to follow the Lord

Met with a young man to minister to him during a time when the the world has placed obstacles and circumstance in his life beyond his control and how these things will grow to make him an even more powerful man of God now and in the future

Said hi again to my pregnant wife, found out how her day was after lunch..

Very late evening ate a Pringles snack dinner and catching my 10th wind... :)

Sat down in my own home to relax and pray for the needs in the community that I had seen today 

Kissed my wife and went to sleep tired yet grateful for his mercies, for they as Bible says, new every morning...

As far as the baby is concerned..

Now that Jess and I are having a baby, we are getting lots of opportunities to share the gospel using this season of our lives! Several people tell us we need to do this, or that, or whatnot, but I can't help but think and wonder how much common sense God has given us and the more I reevaluat ite, stressing over this or that or any other major decisions during this season of our lives only takes glory away from Him and gives us less time to share Jesus! 

Here are some ways the Lord has used this pregnancy

-we use our baby as general conversation starter to share the gospel,

-to share with adult and children alike how each life is precious in His sight and the miracle of God knitting a baby together,

-to help cautious parents and residents open up when they see a pregnant neighbor visiting them,

-to reveal nomatter how pregnant my wife is she can go to the doctors, have almost 10 vials of blood taken from her, coordinate a furniture delivery, share the gospel, walk around and minister to other young believers, all in one day.

-to show teenageers in our apartment how Jesus can give courage to a man to actually love a woman enough not to run away from this or any real life problem but rather, give him courage to follow boldly

-to show the Love of Christ in our marriage by being patient, forgiving, and loving towards one another through this time

-to show how He provides over and beyond our imagination 

 I am thankful to know that God is in control of our baby, nomatter what happens

 Matt  6:33 Jesus says simply in life to "Seek first His kingdom.." 

I pray that we continue to, even after the baby is born!

unconditional love

So this past week I witness a powerful example of unconditional love. The example comes from that of a parent and child. I have the privilage to work with many children (and youth) and get to watch how much God loves them and provides for them, but also how he does so even if they are missing a single parent or even both. To the point, this past week I witnessed unending and unconditional love shown by a parent to a child in such a way that points me to the power of Christ unending and unconditional love towards us that believe in Him. The mother sought reconciliation and reunion with her child to the point of physical agony in her own life. What great love it is that I witnessed. How fitting an image it is of Christ love as a heavenly father pleading for his creation to be reconciled to Him (2 Cor 5), through the great love shown through Jesus' death, burial, and ressurection. And with this great love, we are to share with the world by passionately and patiently pleading and persuading others - be it our friends, family, or even our worst enemies who don't know or understand the love and reunion that Christ. Again I find myself being asked, do I love the lost the way that Christ loves them? Am I truly obedient to his Word and His Spirit when I am asked to share with everyone and anyone the gospel? What a wonderful opportunity to be reminded and to reevaluate the unconditional love of Christ!

pool party and baptism

So yesterday we had the privilage to baptize two residents in the community pool in our apartment - one young adult and the other a young boy. We made a party out of it as well, with snacks and drinks to go around. There is something wonderful about watching God at work not only in the life of the person having placed their faith in Christ then following in obedience to baptism, but also it being expressed in a truly public area, where people who may have not yet trusted in Christ are the main onlookers, some may never be interested in going to a church building. Many people seemed truly interested and gave their utmost respect watching intently before returning to their fun and games.

There is also something to be said, since both Jordan and Carl, the young adult and the young child, both had some of their friends watching it all happen. What a wonderful way to share the gospel with each of them, through their very own baptism! I pray this is the first of many ways they will share the gospel with others.

Though now by reason of tradition and/or convenience, baptism is now usually done inside a building, where believers and religious onlookers are the main target audience there to celebrate such an exciting occasion, and only close family is invited. It was still simply refreshing to see God at work outside those very walls in a very powerful way! Praise the Lord!

egg frying in the heat

So I am reminded today that God has a sense of humor revealing itself today through the children at VB. As I pull up in my car, with AC blowing at max to ward off the 100+ degree weather outside, I watch as four of my children that are regulars at the kids club all standing shoulder to shoulder huddled together and staring down at  what I later find to be a gently placed egg yoke beginning to sizzle from the heat off sidewalk pavement in the apartment.

With that, I decide to join the spectacle and the circle to watch the egg transform before our eyes. I think I even saw one of the kids lick her lips in anticipation. Maybe other kids that live in other apartments may have been inside with their video games, or gameboys, or at their mothers request, but I consider it a great joy to know that my kids at VB are more then special and their optimistic point of view even helps them make the best of the hot weather today and throughout the summer.

And this perspective is probably important, not only in an inner city childs life, but also in this ministry and in a believers life. Making the best of a relationship and circumstances surrounding it brings people closer to the Lord, rather then farther. Philippians 4 speaks directly to this spiritual truth. 

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things..." and the promise is  "..the God of peace will be with you" (v8,9  NIV)