what the ministry is (not)

i took part in a school of ministry last night, and it got the wheels turning…

yes, back to school. upon graduating high school i went through a school of ministry. me and 34 of my closest friends, all shacked up in a little a-frame house on the church property. we spent 6 weeks driving a school bus to honduras and back (the bus was forever known and the stinky twinkie after that trip), countless hours in a classroom being taught the bible, and every waking moment trying to not strangle our snoring bunkmates.

well, our church has started a weekly school of ministry as well. it is not quite as intense as the one i previously attended, but i see that it will bear fruit nonetheless. it is designed to cover the basics of what ministry is, what it entails, how it should be done, etc. these classes are kind of the 101 courses for more to be held in the future. they deal with the heart and motive behind ministry, more than the hands-on workings of ministry.

all that to say, it got me thinking last night. in fact, i got home and started discussing it with my wife some, as well. the thought that came to mind was this – how do we look at ministry? when i say, “the ministry”, what comes to mind? do you think of what takes place inside a building between the hours of 8am and noon on a sunday morning? maybe you think that’s too small-minded. after all, something happens at the church nearly every day of the week, so how could ministry be limited to sunday morning? instead, you associate ministry with the title you hold at your church; whether it be deacon, elder, pastor, overseer, children’s ministry volunteer, board member. but maybe that’s too easy. after all, that high school kid is a children’s ministry volunteer, and surely he isn’t in the ministry. ministry is for the elite, those that are hired on staff at church or a para-church organization. to be on staff – that’s the ministry. right? wrong!

i write this hoping that all who read this will know that the rhetoric in the paragraph above is designed to draw a resounding NO! from you. but i hope it challenges you to take a step back and look at the way you view ministry. i’m passionate about this, because i once thought that being on staff was the epitome of ministry. having the title of deacon, elder, pastor, or leader. let me tell you, that was wrong. don’t get me wrong, either, thinking that i’m saying your pastor, leader, or staff person is not involved in the ministry. they are. but so much ministry takes place outside the church building.

my wife and i have recently moved back into town after 5 years in the country. it’s been wonderful seeing ministry taking place in my neighborhood. in fact, i would venture to say it has rekindled my love for ministry. serving neighbors, encouraging friends, sharing with those that haven’t put faith in Christ, and living out my faith in front of them. that’s a ministry any believer can get involved in, regardless of title or position.

what should church look like (part 2)

as promised, here is the second installment…

let me start this post out by telling you a little about my own personal church history. the year was 1985. the place was doran, minnesota. i was a cute, fat-faced boy, all of five years old. well, cute by my mom’s estimation at least. each week my mom would lay out my “sunday” clothes for church, which typically consisted of worn out payless shoes, tan slacks, a pink (yes, pink) shirt and pink (yes, pink again) tie. gotta love the 80’s right? having adorned ourselves with our sunday best, we would walk the block and a half down the gravel road to the small white wood-framed presbyterian church.

what should church look like?

sparked by some good conversations i had this weekend…

this is take two. i just deleted my first 200 words because i don’t think i was saying what i wanted to say. make sense? if not, hopefully the rest of this will.

i was blessed to have had some good conversations this weekend. i would say great conversations, but unfortunately they were cut short due to garage sale mayhem and the fact that kids don’t care about your grown-up conversation. ever notice that just about the time you’re really enjoying yourself, the kids start squawking?

anyways, both conversations were dealing with the same topic for the most part. “what was that topic”, you ask? church.

pray for greg laurie and family

they have suffered a great loss today…

earlier today, christopher laurie died in a car accident in riverside, CA. please take a moment to pray for christopher’s wife and daughter, as well as greg and the rest of the family.

more info can be found here

you can also leave a comment on greg laurie’s blog by clicking here.

emergent bend

it seems that the emergent church is picking up some steam here in central oregon…

as a guy in his 20’s (late 20’s) who works at a church and spends much of his time with others in their 20’s and teens, it seems that i am continually being faced with this thing called the emergent movement. as time goes on i find that i don’t even need to go out looking for it, but it comes to me, standing directly in front of my face. what do i mean? i have sitting on my desk right now a paper written by a local pastor, calling into question use of words like ‘infallible’ and ‘inerrant’ when speaking of the Word of God. though this pastor and church refuse to take the title emergent, their actions seem to be speaking more clearly than their public words. then take last night for example.

coffee with a mentor

in the midst of a hectic weekend i was able to enjoy a cup of coffee with a mentor…

wow, i’m glad to be back home with my family. i was home all week while my wife and kids were away visiting grandparents in henderson, nv. on friday she flew into the medford int’l airport and, after a monthly youth outreach we do, i drove down to meet her in southern oregon. i arrived around 3am saturday morning, but that was just the start of a busy weekend.

i woke up saturday morning around 8am in order to have coffee with an old high school math teacher of mine. yes, he is a mentor to me. i’m not sure he even realizes it, but as years have gone by, he has always had encouraging words and direction for me in the midst of chaos. it all began my junior year of high school…

pujols prays

got home last night to check the twins score, but stumbled upon this video clip…

chris young, the 6′10″ right handed pitcher for the san diego padres took a line drive in the face off the bat of st. louis cardinals’ albert pujols. no, that’s not what blessed me, and that’s not why i write this morning. what blessed me was to see albert pujols immediately begin praying for chris young, right next to the mound, in front of tens of thousands of people, and who knows how many more watching on tv. the commentator even made special note of pujols praying.

as an even greater testimony, i believe God answered that prayer, because chris young then got up and walked off the field, blood running down his face.

donna and billy joel

no, it’s not that billy joel…

strange things happen sometimes, don’t they? sometimes those strange things are good, sometimes those strange things are not. sometimes, we even get to see God’s hand at work in the strangeness. what brings this up? donna and billy joel.

restoration

i’m so thankful we serve a God who desires restoration…

i saw this evidenced yesterday morning. as the first of our sunday morning services was getting underway, i stepped out the front door to pick up a piece of litter i saw. upon turning around, i saw an old friend that has been absent from church for the last year. i was a little surprised to see him, but overwhelmingly thrilled. i consider him a friend; we’ve served in the church together, worked alongside of each other in the construction industry, seen each other at car shows and rallys, and helped each other out on different occasions.

equipped to…

what have you been equipped to do???

i’ve been going through several different studies lately. some are from the blue letter bible institute, some are from different audio sermons, and some have been in books i’ve been reading (btw, i finally updated my reading list in the sidebar). all of these studies have been encouraging, challenging, and quite helpful. one recurring theme i’m finding, though, is that of being a servant (i guess the fancy word for this is minister).

it is my firm conviction that each of us is called into the ministry.