Some of What i've learned since leaving ministry

Hello Friends. I've been away from blogging for a while, almost about as long as I've been away from church and doing ministry and being a member of a church. About a year ago I resigned form ministry and over the last year I've learned a lot of things about myself, about what life is like with out church, what it means to be "de-churched", and why its so hard to get plugged into a church. In a recent conversation with a friend God revealed to me that I'm meant to share my ideas and write. I still disagree with this Idea because I hate writing but I know I've been given ideas to share so I agreed to start blogging again. Today I'm going to share 10 things I've realized about doing church and ministry since leaving ministry.

Ten important realization:

1. Its Sad how much preference and importance people place on titles.

-How often do we expect leaders to have all the answers or to be perfect? How often we set our selves to be let down, and for them to feel like failures. don't put your leaders though that?

-I've lost friends, respect, and the ability to speak into peoples lives because I've stepped down from leadership. My knowledge and wisdom didn't go anywhere I just dropped the title.

2. Being free to not go to church on a Sunday is awesome!

-Seriously, after years of working at a church and being obligated to be up early on Sundays having the freedom to actually make Sunday a restful day is glorious. (That said, give some grace and love to those people who volunteer or are on staff at a church who have to work or go to school all week and then get up early on Sunday to be a blessing to blessing to the body of Christ.)

3. The there is life in the Word, but not when you use treat it as just words on a page.

-If you get so burned out that you only read scripture to teach you'll soon give up reading scripture

-The words God pours into our hearts are meant to become a river of life to us and those around us. if we simply seek to better our doctrine rather than engage in relationship with Jesus (the word of God) we can miss out on its life giving power.

4. You can still have God encounters out side of church

        a. We NEED God encounters outside of the church. 

        b. The church NEEDS God encounters outside of the church

        c. The world NEEDS God encounters outside of the church.

5. Worship is best in community.

-As in a group of people also fully engaged in worshiping God, and seeking his presence at the same moment.

6. If you're not serving its hard to find a real reason to commit to church. 

-I'm still searching for a reason to join a new church right now other than finding steady place to serve at. 

-Now I understand why it was so hard to get parents to bring their children to church every Sunday. life is busy, and if you don't have to go to church consistently its not easy to drag your self out of bed and go sit somewhere less comfortable than your sofa to hear some guy talk about stuff you probably should have learned the first time you read it in scripture or were taught it.

7. church doesn't always  equal community (community is where you engage others and visa versa)

-on reason people say you need church is for community. I've been to churches and I've walked in and walked out. Yet I did not experience community. Now part of that is my fault for not engaging in community but part of that is the responsibility of the church. If you say I need your church or any church for community and I go to your church for more that 3 weeks and i can't connect with anyone outside of programs then I'm not going to magically fall into your "community". This isn't anyone's fault just something I've seen happen.

-Community isn't only found in church. I work with a community of baristas, and a community of insurance agents. We laugh together, share each others frustrations with work and dealing with customers, and we encourage each other.

8. Leadership in Ministry can be disastrous for your spiritual health. 

-Its easy to let your title slip in to or dictate your identity and your actions.

-The saying "its lonely at the top comes to mind". The higher up in an organization you go the less people you have to relate to; the less people you have to bear your burdens with you. I believe there was a reason Jesus didn't send the disciples out alone. We were made to live in relationship just as the Father, the Spirit and the Son always live in relationship to each other.

-For those in leadership would you feel comfortable sharing your hurts, sins and frustrations with those you lead? For those of you following pastors, "coordinators" or any ministry leader, would you let them lead you if you new that they were truley human just like you? Really broken and flawed individuals are who God chooses to lead the rest of his broken and flawed people into relationship with him. Yet some how we don't create space for that brokeness or throw away the leader when we see their flaws. 

-Restoration is what I see in the bible, but that takes a lot more effort than replacement.

9. The Gospel, and the spirit work where there is intimacy

- Its in our most vulnerable moments our lives get impacted and changed. The Gospel is only good news when we can look at the mirror and see our brokeness. That only happens when we are in places where we are either safe enough to take down our mask and stop hiding or are caught off guard with out our faces on. What I mean is, if we want to see God heal the very core of people we have to love them and get to know them as they truley are; not just how they want us to see them or as we would like to see them.

-Through this season of life I've been forced to be more open about my struggles with sin, doubts about the calling God has on my life, and my fears of failure. As I become more open with those In my life who know Jesus, I've found God's grace time and time again. But its only in these moments of intimacy where I'm able to be completely vulnerable.

10. We can often mistake routine for Relationship. 

-I would argue that if your relationships don't outlast changes in your routine they may not be the real kind of deep relationships you think they are. Don't get me wrong, I understand that some relationships are only meant for a season of life. Some people come into your life and go out from your life; there is nothing wrong with that. But how often do we claim relationship and say "oh yea i saw so and so last week" but if we were asked what was really going on in their life we couldn't give an answer that goes beyond what is on their Facebook wall. That isn't relationship that's just an aquiantance you see often. I would argue if you don't know at least a little about a persons hurts, hopes, and dreams; you probably don't have a real relationship with them. The same can be said in reverse if you can't share your hurts, hopes, and dreams with them then there is a level of distrust that shouldn't exist in the body of Christ.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings. I love feedback so If there is anything you'd like me to go into more detail on, questions, or comments please use the comment box below or send me a message.

When the world is blocking Christ (Lunar eclipse reflections part 1)

         The world we live in is a dark place. Sometimes it seems like everything around us is determined to block out the light that we so desperately need to see, move, and live. A few weeks ago while watching the Lunar eclipse with my girlfriend, and my dad the Holy Spirit reminded me of a word picture he once gave me for my life. "If Jesus is the Sun, then you are to be like the Moon"  We were made to reflect Christ to the world, designed to take the light we receive from Jesus and shine it into a dark world. For years I have tried to live like that. Doing the best I can to share the light: the love, hope, grace, truth, and blessings Jesus has given me with those I interact with.

        What I noticed during the lunar eclipse is that as the shadow of the earth started to block the moon, part of the moon grew darker. To be real with you, my life has felt like that lately. Between stepping down from ministry, having 2 flat tires in 2 weeks, and feeling disconnected from a community of believers the world has been getting in the way of places I normally looked to see God's light in my life. It seemed as if the world was going to block out the light of the Sun and keep the moon from shining. However when the moon was mostly covered by the earths shadow I noticed it didn't stop glowing it just changed color, it turned red.
 The Earth as big as it is, with all of its distractions, with all of the struggle it can bring with it, can't block out the light of the Sun and that's when I felt like the Holy Spirit was saying to me. He was breathing some life and hope back into me. "No matter how big and dark the world may seem, It can't keep the light of the Son from reaching you." 

        Side note: just like the moon we have a normal light that we shine, but during times of change, stress, and struggle. The light we shine changes, and that's okay. As situations change its okay to change with them, just make sure you keep shining. Even when your light sees dulled, or shifts color, its still a light that needs to be seen. 

        When does the whole world turn their attention to the Moon? During crunch time when it looks like the world should block out the light it reflects that's when people take notice.  No one wrote an article about the moon continuing to shine under normal circumstances. people didn't make the moon shining like normal into news. It's when something unusually happens and when something challenging happens that people take notice. To those of you in the middle of a struggle, feeling like the world is blocking out the light of the Son be encouraged! Nothing can keep you from the Love of God. (Romans 8:39) It might just be that God is going to use the circumstances in your life to refine you, to make changes to the way you reflect his light to the world around you. Also don't worry you're not the only one in the middle of a struggle.

Praying for blessings for ya'll

L.J.

discussion questions:
1. How do you change when life gets hard?
2. How do you keep shinning when life gets hard?
3. What do you do to stay encouraged?

New Year Goals, don't let Failure stop you.

So This year I didn't make any New Year resolutions. "Why not?" you ask. Because I know I will probably fail to keep them and I hate! Hate! HATE! failing. Which is funny considering how often I fail at things, come up short, or fall short of all the expectations I have for my life. The more I thought about how much I hate failing I realized because of my hate or maybe its a fear of failing I've stopped trying as many bold and crazy new things. Some where along the way I think part of me stopped searching to experience more of this wonderful gift of life God gives us because the more I explore and learn and try new things the more I realize how prone to mistakes I am. Every new thing I have ever tried I have messed up at one point or another. Some of them for make for funny stories liked Dropping a motorcycle during a test drive. Some of them have left some scars. Some of them I don't even want to think about. But I've learned for each failure I've moved forward I've learned and grown smarter for the next attempt. I was listening to a podcast from Perry Noble (the link is below) He mentioned how when a baby gets up and takes its first few steps and falls Parents get all kinds of excited, They break out cameras and call it walking, even though its really falling forward. It encouraged me to get up and try some new things and to keep working on some old things. I thought about how far I've come with God even though my walk has had more falls than I care to count. Even if it was only a few steps and a fall forward at a time that's all a Father needs to get exited about his kid taking a few steps. (It's also all you need to march a football down a field for a touch down)

This year instead of Resolutions (lets be real who actually keeps those for long) I decided to add some Goals to this year. Goals: "the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result."  Goals are different than resolutions "a firm decision to do or not to do something." Decisions change and I now how easy it is to loose resolve. A resolution to lose weight doesn't stay the same when faced with a maple bacon doughnut, or birthday brownies. Goals however can stay the same even if you get knocked off track for a bit. I want to move in the direction of the Goal and even just some progress in that direction will be a small win.

So this New year I want to encourage you to make some Goals reach for something new, know that God is walking with you. Know that like the good loving Father that He is God is excited for you to take your new steps even if you stumble and fall He just wants to see you get up and keep trying. He believes in you, and So do I. p.s. Give yourself some Grace we're running a Marathon and not sprint If your still alive you still have a chance to get back up and take another step (I'll be making a post about getting back up soon)

Here are my New years Goals and steps I plan on taking to accomplish them feel free to borrow them:

• Spend more time with God
• Set my morning alarm clock 10 mins earlier to wake up and have more time to pray
• Go to a remote / isolated place once a week to pray
• Sidenote: this has worked for me in the past If you're not wired that way don't feel like your life should look like mine 
• Spend more time in the Word
• Set a devotional on the table where I eat breakfast to star the day in the word.
• p.s. You can get one on your phone, check the bible app.
• Confession: I've never been great at sticking to daily devotionals, pray for me.
• Read More books
• Love / Encourage More People More often.
• Do one unusual act of Love or encouragement each week
• Ask friends to ask you if you've accomplished that each week.
• Get Healthier
• Eat at least one vegetable every day (baby steps)

Here is a Link to that Sermon from Perry Noble its Pretty Good I'd encourage you to check it out:

http://newspring.cc/watch/thejourney/how-to-have-the-best-year-of-your-life-2014

You could be the voice someone needs to hear.

If you know Jesus then you know the "bread of life" John 6:35

If you know Jesus then you know the God who is "love" 1 John 4:8

If you know Jesus then you know the source of "all good gifts" James 1:17

If you know Jesus then you know the "word of God" John 1:1-14

I'm reminded of the time Jesus feed the 5,000. The disciples came to him and said "send the people away so they can go by them selves something to eat." I think that is how we look at the world around us sometimes. We see all kinds of needs around us every day. We see hurt, we see pain, we see loneliness around us and we turn to Jesus and ask him to fix it but that is when Jesus does something crazy he says “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”  Jesus took what they had in their hands, a few loaves of bread, and some fish and multiplied it. Jesus took what they could do "pass out some fish and Bread" and used them to bless a pretty large group of people. I want to encourage you to go out and take what you have. Maybe you don't know a ton about the bible, maybe you don't know all the answers to why God allows bad things to happen (it's ok the disciples didn't) , just take what you have and trust Jesus with it. Then go share what you do have. You could be the person who gives someone enough hope to make it one more day. You could be the person who leads your friends to Christ. You could be there person who gives hope to the hopeless. You could be holding the encouraging words, the hug, the hope that will change someones life.

Worn?

So I realize I haven't written or a blog for while now. I've started a few, saved them as drafts and never went back because I couldn't find the words or in some cases the courage to say what was on my mind. But this song "worn" by Tenth Avenue North kinda describes how I've been the last few months.

One of the Books I've read recently for my CML classes suggest that the role of pastoral leaders in this generation is to be "articulators of inner events" So let me articulate some events for y'all.

the last few months has just been tiring and draining. Even taking a week of vacation which was awesome and fun and even kind of relaxing was still draining.


Some things that have helped and I hope will help you if your feeling tired, worn, or drained.

1. Asking for / Letting others  Help: Its ok, to ask for help. Sometimes I think God allows me to run out of energy trying to things by myself so that I will sit down, or fall flat of my face, in exhaustion and actually listen to him whisper "Will you let me help you know?"

• Ask God
• God Is the best Help you can ever find.
• So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" - Hebrews 13:6
• "Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me; LORD, be my help." - Psalm 30:10 
•  "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me" - Psalm 54:4
• Ask Others
• Remember that song Lean on me? It has a really obvious statement that I think people often ignore... I know I do sometimes. "no one can fill those of your needs, that you won't let show"
• Galatians 6:2 Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

2. Rest: Take a break. Take some time to breathe. Sit and enjoy the stars or stop and smell the roses if you like roses. Remember God invited the day off, and even though he never needs rest he still took a day off because its a good idea. I'd write some more useful things about rest but I'm still trying to figure out how to do this better however I'll list some verses that have helped me rest as I reflect on what they mean for me.

• Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus promises rest to all who come to him
• John 15:1-8 Jesus produces fruit in our lives as we abide or remain in him like a branch on a vine. last I check branches don't do a whole lot of work, but they do produce fruit.

3. Remembering who you are: Sometimes in the middle of trying to do everything I get stuck doing so many things that I forget I am a "human-being" not a "human-doing" You are not just what you do or what you have done. I know I never really forget these things but sometimes I act like I do. Sometimes I need to stop and actively remember who I am. (Just like Simba)

• God made you new. If you are in Christ, then New! you are no longer bound to your past 
• 2 Corinthians 5:17
• The fact that I am no long bound to my past self is freeing, and it helps me let go of the burdens of the past I carry.
• God loves you, You are loved!!!
• God loved you and me enough to die for your sins while you and I were still sinners, Thats love! 
• 1 John 4:9-12 
• John 3:16
• Romans 5:8
• God forgave your sin's , You are forgiven, maybe its time you let them go and move on too. You are Forgiven.

You were made for greatness

Do you ever have those moments when you stop and look around at your life? or at the lives of people around you and wonder. "how did we settle for this?" Or maybe you can recall back to when you were young remember what you though life would be like when you "grew up" I don't know what it was for you but I bet it was something awesome and something you thought would be great. I know at times I went back and forth between doctor and lawyer but my first answer was always a super hero until I got to High school... (truth be told I distinctly remember telling a few people I wanted to be a super hero while in high school) As Children its easy to listen to that still small voice that is in side us helping us to believe we were made for something great! that is until something or someone starts to drown out that voice and then somehow we forget that voice was even there at all.

But if your able to get still for a moment if you listen I'm sure you can still hear these words resonate with your soul "You were made for more than this! You were made for more than this world has to offer." For me that still small voice is often drowned out by my fear of failure, or my insecurity that I am not good enough. Sometimes I tune it out in favor of being "practical" or "realistic" Tonight on my way home from class I felt lead to go for a drive through the country as I was driving around thinking, and praying I stopped and checked facebook and twitter for a minuet. Then this thought hit me "how do we all settle for this?"

Wether you know Jesus or not I want to make this very clear. You were made in the image of God! You were made for more than this world has to offer! as I scrolled through meaning less post, and the occasional meaningless picture I realized somewhere along the way we traded the hope of being awesome, a life that had a significant impact on the world; for a life far less than what we are capable of. Then I realized most of the people I follow on twitter and facebook. Have heard about this guy named Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God, creator of all things; and This Jesus says things like follow me and I will make you fishers of men, Follow me and you will do the things I've done and even greater things. We read about this Jesus in scripture who speaks life in to people and says I love you enough to die for you, I love you enough to give you my spirit and to let you be my hands and feet to change the world. yet somewhere along the way we accept that the world is the status quo and will stay that way. 

All that to say "you were made for Greatness You were made in the image of God You were created to be creative in your own unique ways. You were made for more than the status quo and I hope and I pray you and I come to realize our full potential someday." 

Be encouraged,
L.J.

Reconciliation. (quick unedited thoughts)

It's a tough subject. Forgiving people and asking for Forgiveness. It is hard and what God ask of us is even Harder. Today God really put this verse on my heart

Matthew 5:²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

So I thought and prayed about it, and then a few people came to mind (of which I have already messaged and asked for forgiveness) But then the thought occurred to me It doesn't say Go and tell that person you are sorry, it says "go and be reconciled to them." 
What does that even mean? (don't worry I'll look it up for you)

rec·on·cile  

/ˈrekənˌsīl/

Verb Restore friendly relations between: "she wanted to be reconciled with her father". Cause to coexist in harmony; make or show to be compatible.

So technically I should go about trying to restore friendly relations between anyone who was my friend and now isn't because of something I've done wrong.

Later on in Matthew 18 Jesus tells us to go to people who have wronged us and be reconciled to them too.  Matthew 18:¹⁵ “If your brother or sister^[b] sins,^[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

Mark 11: ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

weather or not we caused the problem or they caused the problem The Gospel is clear, we should be reconciled. 

Forgiveness is apparently a big deal to God It seems like no matter the situation as Christians we have to initiate forgiveness, and reconciliation. 

^{2 corinthians 5:18} All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

If God can forgive people like us who sins against him are many, then I think with his help we can forgive the humans we have to share this earth with.  

For more on Forgiveness and reconciliation I recommend reading this article:

http://theresurgence.com/files/2011/04/10/Keller-Forgiveness_and_Reconciliation.pdf