#SundaySetlist #InHisImage

We started a new series last week titled 'In His Image' discussing the topic of Creation and beginnings.  So far it's been a great series.  This week focused on the thought God created us for the purpose to bring Him glory!  We rearranged the service quite a bit and I lead just on acoustic.  No drums, or electric guitar, or bass.  It was completely different from what I have done since I've started but it was great to be able to hear the church sing their hearts out!  We laid the service out so that instead of the music being a preparation of the heart for the sermon, we put the sermon right at the beginning, that made the worship a response to the Word.  It actually turned out great!  I love to hear the voices of many proclaiming the love of Christ in a unified song.

This is our #sundaysetlist

Welcome - Josh (lead Pastor)

Video Buffer - The G.O.S.P.E.L (life in 6 words) 

Message - In His Image: Creation (Josh - Lead Pastor)

Worship Set
  - From the Inside Out (Hillsong)

  - God of Wonders (Third Day version)

      - Scripture reading: Necia DiTrapani - Psalm 19.1-9,14

  - How Great is Our God (Tomlin)

  - Doxology (Crowder Version)

Closing & Announcements (Josh - Lead Pastor)

We are excited where this series is headed.  If you are interested in the series, feel free to listen to our Evident Church Podcast on iTunes

#SundaySetlist

This morning we had amazing service! It was our baptism Celebration service so instead of having a message and a typical layout, we focused the entire morning on the baptisms.  We had songs that were geared toward washing our sins away and our redemption in Christ.  What we envisioned was 'BIG,' massive celebration and I would consider it a successful service.  Here's our #Sundaysetlist.

Video - Baptism (http://rv.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/15480/Baptism)

Welcome - Rosalie (our children's director)
    She gave a small presentation explaining what baptism is using a naked barbie ken and peanut butter.  We try to cover our sins with stuff (going to church, good deeds) but God is the only thing that can wash us clean.  It was a great intro to the service

Worship Song - Our God is Greater (Tomlin) - B
    We wanted HUGE!  We started off with the band doing a driving beat while I coached the church describing why today was a celebration.  This is where we wanted to "raise the temperature" of the room.  I backed my coaching from Psalm 100 - Shout for joy, all the Earth.  We even did some shouting.  We had great congregation participation this morning!

Baptisms - 5 people!
   We had 2 sets. We had each person read a short story they had written about their lives, conversion and calling to baptism.  Some of the stories were very emotional.  It was an amazing addition to the service.  Some of the people being baptized were younger, and this was a great way to help them understand what they were doing.  We had each participant go through a booklet describing what baptism is and some questions to help them write their story.

Worship Songs
    Forever Reign - B (Hillsong)
    Jesus Messiah - B (Tomlin)
        Once again, the theme was Huge!  Another word I would use is passionate.  I would say that since I've been a worship leader at Evident this was the most united and participative the church has been in worship.  At one point I think the kids (1st grade and up were in the service with us this morning) were actually singing louder than the adults! I would step back away from the mic and just bask in the sound of the congregation proclaiming their worship.  It was an amazing sound!

Baptisms - 5 people! 
    We borrowed a portable baptism and had it set up basically at the bottom of the stage in the center of the room.  If felt as if the baptism was the center of attention for the morning, which is exactly what we wanted.  It was a lot of work for a portable church but the payoff for this type of service was very great!

Closing Worship Song - Happy Day - C (Fee)
    This was a great song to close the day of celebration.  Once again BIG.  I did some more coaching at the beginning of the song to help the congregation sing from their hearts.

Announcements/Offering/Closing
    We ended after the song with just a few announcements (small groups, Offering - which was basically at the back door, drop it on your way out, and a few other things).  Once the congregation was dismissed we played a few lines of Happy day and officially ended the service.


It was an amazing day.  The baptisms were amazing, the worship was amazing and the atmosphere of the entire morning was very upbeat and full of excitement!  One thing I wish we would have thought of was having a small graphic of the people getting baptized. We also had trouble mic'ing the people in the baptism (trying to be as safe as possible).  Things for the future, but all in all, a great day.

#SundaySetlist

In the Worship Leader blogging world there is a following titled #sundaysetlist where worship leaders will post about their sunday worship services and tweet the songs that they did. I am going to start sharing about once a series or so what we are doing on sundays to first, help me reflect on what all happened in our worship service, and also as a resource if someone else wants to incorporate what we are doing.  I have gotten many different ideas from others who have posted their #sundaysetlist and I hope when I post on ours, we can give ideas to others.

Right now we are in the middle of our series Multiply.  This series is all based out of Matthew 28, the great commission.  We are focusing on the idea of discipleship, which can be broad, but we have to have a strong foundation on what we believe "go and make disciples" means.  Last week Pastor Josh Hossler (our lead pastor) laid some groundwork explaining before we can make disciples we first need to make sure that we know what we are to be discipling.  We must examine ourselves and ask the tough question "are we modeling what Christ considers a good disciple to be?"  This week Pastor Bill Hossler, the president of the Missionary Church (as well as Josh's dad),  gave us some strong challenges.  He gave us some of the different aspects of what the Missionary Church believes "discipleship" is.  For me this series hits home because I am a Pastor of Worship & Discipleship.  I believe when it comes to discipleship the best way is with others!  We see discipleship from our small groups, mentoring those not as spiritually mature as ourselves, even doing life together serving in a particular ministry you see true discipleship.  If you feel you need discipleship, you need to be involved in your local church!

Here is our worship flow:

Welcome 

   Lord, Almighty - Kristian Stanfill version

Worship Set

   Not to Us - Passion version
       Scripture References: Psalm 115.1 & Psalm 66.1f
 
   Hosanna - Hillsong United version
 
   Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin version

Announcements - Tony


Message - Bill Hossler

   Multiply (week 2 of series)

Offering & Closing Song

   From the Inside Out - Hillsong United version

Dismiss - Tony

Things I'm working on as a WL:

  - We start at 10.30a and it seems most people don't come in until around 10.40a or 10.45a.  I want to create an atmosphere of anticipation and excitement.  For me, I am so excited about our Sunday gatherings and I want to make every minute as intentional as I can.  I want to share that desire with the congregation so I am starting to lead us into worship as soon as I can and follow the worship set with announcements instead of having them at the beginning.

  - I want to see our congregation engaged in worship.  So many times I've been in services where I have had worship leaders basically give a "performance" and I want the congregation to be actively involved in our worship.  To achieve this I have been giving vocal cues for them to sing and I back away from the mic.  Also, I have used some scripture verses to "coach" them as we are in worship.  So far we have had a great response from the church as far as participation. 

Getting Settled In

Just thought I would give a small update with some pictures of our new place.  We are doing well and the house is completely unpacked and we are loving it!  We are so lucky to be here and there have been many doors God has opened up for us to make it happen.  I started working at the church on Tuesday and have already met with some of the worship band members and I am starting to get used to my responsibilities at the church.  I am excited about Sunday's worship service, which will introduce us to the church as a whole.  I led worship once in October, but since then the church has switched locations so it will be different.  The church is a "portable church" which means they meet somewhere other than their own facility.  Every sunday morning they set up the whole church from the children's classrooms all the way to the sound system and chairs in the main room.  It's exciting to be part of that.  Here is a short video of what they do...

This is at the other school that they were meeting in.  The reason they are meeting in schools is because it's so expensive for property up here, it is the cheapest route to go.  There are many churches that meet in other's facilities in this area.

  So.. back to our house... Here are some pictures of what we have done with the place.  It is very spacious!  Technically it's a condo (there are other houses connected on both sides of ours) but it's so massive that we don't even realize it.  I didn't take a picture of the backyard, but there is a 20'x12' deck on the back and a pond with fountains.  Very nice.  The weather up here has been incredibly warm and I'm sure that we will see snow soon.  As for now, we will enjoy the 35-45 degree weather :)  Please keep us in your prayers as we still get settled in and make more connections with people in the church.  We are doing well and loving life right now!

This is the Entryway when you walk in the house.  To the left is the stairs to the basement

 One of my favorite rooms in the house... the garage, which for now fits all our toys in there!

 Master bedroom.  We painted the blue.  There is a big window with a great view of the pond. The Master bathroom is on the right.

 This is the hallway between the two bedrooms and a full guest bathroom, which is very purple. :) The closets in the master bathroom are huge!  Ashley loves all the storage space in the house.  You can see we were still unpacking the guest bedroom when this picture was taken :)

Kitchen. Ashley making cookies, pj patiently waiting for cookies. :) I am standing in the laundry room, which has a huge pantry and a door to the garage.

 Guest bedroom.  There is also a desk in the room, but I couldn't fit it in the picture.

 My new office.  Love this!

 My new desk.  The MacBook Pro on the left is my new work computer.

 Picture of how big the basement is. Room for a pool table :)

 Home theater. nuff' said :)

Mellingers On The Move

   If you haven't heard by now, Ashley and I are moving at the end of the month!  Ashley and I have felt called to join the team of a church in Chesterfield Michigan (northeast Detroit).  We decided last year around this time we wanted to take a year off of ministry to spend with each other.  We had gotten married in May 2010 and realized the life of ministry is very fast paced with many long nights at the church and we wanted our first year of marriage to be a strong foundation for the rest of our lives.  I resigned from my youth pastor position at Cross Community Church and have been working at Sears and Family Christian stores in Fort Wayne part time while Ashley was a nurse at Parkview Hospital.  This year has not been wasted at all.  Ashley and I grow closer to each other every day and the one year break has given us a chance to just "be married."  We have been able to go on some trips, we have been able to focus on each other, and focus on our love for Christ as a couple.  I would strongly suggest this for any newly wed couple involved in ministry.  Now that this year is ending, we are going to start a new position, together, on the same page and I am very excited about where God is leading us!
   I accepted the position of Pastor of Worship & Discipleship at Evident Church in Chesterfield MI.  This church is 3 years old as of September and is part of the Missionary Church denomination. My position is twofold: First I will be focusing on leading the sunday morning worship, and overseeing and directing the portability team, tech, and guest services. I'm excited about having the chance to not only use the musical gifts God has given me but also the opportunity for me to teach a church congregation weekly about what true worship really is.  So many times we think that worship is just the "music" portion of the church service and it's so much deeper than that!  Worship is a daily activity, and God only accepts authentic worship from us!  Our whole purpose in life is to worship God!  We were created just for that: to bring God pleasure.  What a calling!  Right now I am reading a book titled "The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship" by A.W. Tozer and it is so uplifting because it is reminding me of why I am here on earth!  It's not to gather "stuff" or to become educated, or even for my own pleasure.  God created us in his image, with an intellect that has the capacity like none other to understand his love and grace.  Because we have this type of intellect, we can give Him pleasure by offering pure worship to Him!  What an amazing calling for our life!  The second part of my position will be directing certain aspects of the discipleship ministries of the church, plugging laypersons into positions they can help serve this local body, and assisting the Lead Pastor, Josh Hossler, as needed in other areas as a partner in ministry.  Ashley and I are so excited about joining this team of Christ followers.  We will be moving on December 31st, after we spend some time in St. Louis with Ashley's family for the Holidays.  Please pray for us as we switch gears from living in Fort Wayne to moving to a different community and joining a new church family.  God has blessed us so much in the past few months!

I've been spending a lot of time with my guitar lately.  Last month I led worship at a church in Michigan and it reminded me how important worship leading is.  I was reading an article today and I thought  Rob Still had some great points that I wanted to share with everyone! Sometimes it's so easy for us to get wrapped up in the band, or which songs, or even whether or not we like the singer's voice, but it's so much deeper than that.  As a worship leader, you are called to lead everyone not only musically but also spiritually.  It's a big challenge!  

~Tony

1. Leading worship is … primarily a spiritual activity.

”God is spirit. He is looking for worshipers in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

“Worship of the true and living God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible” David Peterson, Engaging God (20, 283).

2. Leading worship is secondarily a musical activity. Nevertheless it is to be done skillfully (Psalm 33)

3. The leadership aspect varies according to your role. Not only do you lead with your instrument or voice, you also lead with your whole countenance and how the congregation experiences you.

4. Leading Worship is a combination of art forms requiring skill, talent, aptitude, knowledge, understanding, insight, wisdom and discernment.

• Music is an art.
• Leadership is an art. So is preaching of the word.
• Leading Worship is a unique art form converging these aspects with spiritual sensitivity and “anointing” – that is, the power God to do His work, His way.

5. As a leader of worship therefore, you are called to a lifestyle of personal spiritual growth and maturity that is, discipleship.

• No, you don’t have to suddenly become “super spiritual”. You do however, need to understand that your role is much more than learning and playing music.That’s where this is going. Leading worship is primarily a spiritual activity.
• There is grace for you to start as you are, where you are, right now. You just have to be headed towards growing in the Lord.

6. To lead spiritually therefore, by definition, you can not take people where you have not gone yourself. So you have to lead yourself deeper spiritually in order for people to follow your leadership.

• You lead by the overflow of your heart. (Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45)
• David is a primary example of a heart that pleases God. He is a “man after God’s own heart” and is commended as a model to imitate (Is 55:4). Therefore we will reference regularly how to cultivate a heart of worship like David’s. This is the type of heart God is looking for.

Rob Still is a worship leader, artisan, instructor and blogger in Nashville TN. He teaches at conferences and extensively on the mission field in eastern Europe – and blogs atRobStill.com.

welcome back to boring Indiana...

Well, made it back safe this afternoon.  Sunday Clint and I pushed it super hard, rode 1100 miles (we left around 6am and didn't get in until about 1am) and made it from Santa Fe, NM all the way to STL.  Then, I woke up and headed back for Indiana (another 400+ miles), only to find a million police officers in Illinois, and construction every 20 miles in Indiana.  It was a hard push, but I was super excited to see my bride, and a little white dog, who both missed me terribly.  I rolled in about 4pm super exhausted, hungry, and sunburnt, so after a long scrubbing in the shower, we ended up going out to dinner.

I thought it was only appropriate, because Clint and I were just in Texas yesterday! :)

The trip was super fun, and I loved spending time with Ashley's family.  I am so glad to be home though. I missed Ashley more than ever, but loved spending the time with her father, Amber and Jacob (Ashley's sister and brother in law), and her grandparents in Denver and Santa Fe.  Now, I am trying to persuade Ashley that God is "calling" us to Denver :)  The scenery is just breath taking on a motorcycle in that part of the country... I am sure God could use us there, right?!  Total trip ended up being right around 4000 miles, which translates into about 27 fill ups at the gas startions!!! (some of those were not quite empty though).  I wouldn't trade the trip for anything. The only thing that would have made it better is if Ashley would have been there to experience it with me, but I know there is no way she is ready for such an adventure yet, or maybe ever! My butt still hurts from yesterday! :)  I am trying to wait until at least tomorrow to get the bike up on the lift in the garage to start the cleaning, I know if I start tonight, I will still be up when the sun is rising scrubbing that thing! I am sure I will be posting some more pictures of the trip here soon, once I download them from the camera. The pictures already posted, were just random ones from my phone.

It's been a few days, we have been busy busy! Wednesday we made the trip to Santa fe and it was quite nice except for the huge hail storm we ran into! It was crazy! Never been in a hail storm and there was so much that they actually got the plow trucks out after it was done. More than an inch and a half on the ground when it was all done. We ended up finding a bridge for coverage after getting pretty beat up! It was insane because we were in the middle of the desert. after that, we enjoyed the rest of the drive.



I have gotten to spend quite a bit of time on the bike. The scenery is beautiful out here. Santa fe is an interesting place. All of the houses looks like this...



It is really a unique place. I don't think I will ever come back if amber n Jacob leave. His internship is over at the end of the month so then they will prolly move back to STL. Denver was so amazing. Well, don't want to be too long, we r leaving in the morning, but here is some more pics!






We r taking 2 days to get back to STL and then back to boring IN. I have been so spoiled with these amazing rides out here, not looking forward to riding in the most boring state in America :)
Tony

I am on a huge motorcycle trip with my father in law right now. We are heading to new mexico with a few stops here and there. we made it to Denver this morning. We hit horrible wind on the trip from basically Topeka KS on. At one point it was so strong it blew me off the road, so we stopped for supper to wait it out. Ended up about 100mi from Denver, getting a hotel for the nite. here is a pic. Under the clouds is a lower cloud. It was that dirt cloud that took me out! Haha I kept the bike up, but ended in the grass!

Here is the sunset after the wind calmed down

We ended up staying at the hotel and ended up meeting someone w the same VTX as me, so this morning we rode out all together. He is part of the vtxoa, which is a website designed for ppl to communicate that have the same bikes as Clint and I so it was cool to meet someone from the website

We got to Denver a little before lunch and ashley's grandparents showed us around and fed us and then I took off by myself up to the mountains! Here's some pics. We have had great weather. All that snow is just up and the mountains and it's surprisingly warm! The climate is so different from home! It must be the humidity.

Biology 101

   For those of you who do not know, the past few months I have been taking a class at Huntington University.  When I was going to college, I ended up commuting the last year, and could not fit in a science class with a lab so I hadn't officially graduated.  All I needed to graduate was that one class, and it had been hanging over my head for years.  I had been trying to finish the class, but I just couldn't fit it into my work schedule at the church, or something always would come up.  So... once I resigned, I knew it was a perfect time for me to take the class. Plus, I want to start looking into getting my masters soon so I needed to get that undergrad work all finished up.  That being said... the class finishes up in just a week. I had my last lab today and only have one more week of the lectures, then the final.
   It's been a great experience actually.  I have learned quite a bit from the lecture part of the class, but the lab has been really interesting!  Today we had the chance to dissect a sheep heart and eye.  In the lecture class, there is about 50+ students and I lucked out with only 9 in my lab so we have gotten to know each other pretty well with such a small lab.
  Even though I have had to learn about things that I would say wouldn't be my favorite subject, I must say that it is crazy how "life" works.  Just like today, taking a look at the heart and seeing how it works, the valves that keep the blood from running the wrong way, and the system that cleans the blood, even the nervous system and how we have nerves that don't have to reach all the way to the brain to create an action so that we can protect ourselves.  It is so crazy how we are designed.  I just cant imagine that there are scientists who know how the cells all work together at just the right time, even some of those designed as little motors and there is absolutely no way that they could function without all the tiny little parts, still think that we are not designed intelligently.  The thought of no god is completely absurd if you look at our bodies, the organs, the brain, even our bones!
   The thing I think I have taken from this class the most is that no matter what area in the study of life you look at, God makes himself known.  I love the thought that God has made us! He is the designer of the blueprints for our bodies!

        You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body,
             and knit me together in my mother's womb.
        Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
            You workmanship is marvelous-- and how well I know it.
                                                                   ~Psalm 139.13f NLT

Whenever you wonder if God cares about you, I strongly suggest you just take a few moments and research something about life.  Take a look at some of the details of our organs, take a look at the creation of the world, take some time to think about how all the parts of the brain work together so that we don't go crazy.  Even though sometimes we think that we have it rough, think of all the wonderful things God has given us.  Think about the fact that you don't have a disease where you cant recognize faces, think about the fact that you can see colors, shades, shapes, think about the fact that you can organize your thoughts, and write them on a piece of paper, or type them with your fingers onto a keyboard!  We are so wonderfully complex and I hope I never forget it!  Thanks Huntington University for letting me study in your biology class and learn so much about the life that God has constructed for me!

Submission

Well, Ashley is already in bed, and her last words before I shut the door were "don't spend any money" :) I may have a small problem with that lately (give me a break, it is chrome season is it not?).  As I'm sitting here on the couch, trying to be quiet so she can sleep, I decided I might as well do some writing.
    For the past few weeks, I have been reading a chapter every week or so out of an old book I have from Bethel College from one of my spiritual formation classes: The Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster.  I figure that I am never going to stumble upon discipline, so I might as well read a chapter in it occasionally.  The book of course is split up into chapters on different disciplines and todays chapter that I read was on submission.  At first glance, I thought to myself, ugh... here we go with submission (a sure sign that I am in need of a chapter on this discipline!).
  He started out the chapter discussing the fact that with every discipline, we gain a freedom.  The discipline is in all honesty just a means to the end.  In order to be good at something, say being a magnificent guitarist, you first must work on your chords and scales.  Yes, your fingers will hurt at first, and it will take up much time, but in the end, you gain the freedom to be able to play beautiful music.  I thought this was an interesting way to start out a chapter on submission.  As the chapter unfolds, Foster described that people will get all bend out of shape over something if it doesn't go their way.  Just watched a tv show episode of "How I Met Your Mother" where someone was getting married.  Classic example... I mean does it really matter if the flowers are off a slight shade... anyways, this is so true what Foster has to say.  The freedom that comes with the discipline of submission is we don't have to live in the bondage of our own self-gratification!  "In submission we are at last free to value other people.  Their dreams and plans become important to us.  We have entered into a new, wonderful, glorious freedom--the freedom to give up our own rights for the good of others.  For the first time we can love people unconditionally.  We have given up the right to demand that they return our love.  No longer do we feel that we have to be treated a certain way.  We rejoice in their successes.  We feel genuine sorrow for their failures.  It is of little consequence that our plans are frustrated if their plans succeed.  We discover that it is far better to serve our neighbor than to have our own way."
   What a concept.  Throughout the rest of this chapter he laid out how Biblically we are given examples all through the New Testament of course starting with Jesus, who not only died on the cross for us (the ultimate self-denial) but he also lived an entire life of submission/sacrfice.  If you watch him throughout the gospels, he constantly put others first, and in bizarre new ways!  You would never see a leader bend down to wash the feet of his disciples.  Jesus gave us a brand new way to view others: by living a cross-life.  And if the King of Glory can do it, why should we not?!  Throughout the New Testament even into the letters to the church, how many times do we see we must put others first and think of them above ourselves.  One point that Foster laid out was that this is much harder for the more dominant partner, say the Husband or the master.  It's nothing for the slave to serve the master because it's part of who he is, but for the master to bend down and help the slave with his needs, now that is sacrifice.  As leaders, I believe we are held to a higher standard because of this.  We have a harder time living a live of virtue and discipline, but we must be strong to demonstrate it to those who are following us!  Real quick, right at the end, Foster points out seven areas of submission that I want to share with you.

   1. The first act of submission is to the Truine God.

   2.  The second act of submission is to the Scripture.

   3.  The third act of submission is to the church.

   4.  The fourth act of submission is to our neighbors and
           to those we meet in the course of our daily lives.

   5.  The fith act of submission is to the believing community,
           the body of Christ (the church).

   6.  The sixth act of submission is to the broken and despised.

   7.  The seventh act of submission is to the world.

If you want some more clarification on just what Foster means on these acts, I encourage you to get your hands on a copy of this book and read it, read it again, and read it once more.  Every time I reread this book I gain so much knowledge from it! One of my favorites!  Foster describes Submission and service going hand in hand.  The best way to be submissive is to serve, so this weekend as we are thinking of Easter sunday, be sure to think of just what does the cross stand for and what does it mean to serve. Submission and Sacrifice.

Motorcycle Therapy

    We finally got a taste of warm weather here the past few weeks and now its cold again. yuck...  The best part of warm weather for me is the motorcycle. Last weekend I went over 500 miles.  It's not just riding the bike, it's the therapy that comes with it for me.  When I'm on my motorcycle, it recharges my batteries, gives me a chance to think.  Because we've had some bad weather lately, my hours on the bike have been very limited and I'm starting to go crazy :)  

    The main thing on my mind lately is Sunday mornings.  As weird as it seems, the thing that I used to love most, is now the thing I like the least.  During the week I can go about my business and live my life, but on Sunday when we go to church, it reminds me that I am not in ministry right now, doing what I love.  It's more than just church for me.  When I am sitting in a chair participating with the congregation, it is actually frustrating for me because I am not actively helping out with the service.  I know it sounds funny, but I really don't like going to church because of this.  We have found a great church to go to.  It's only a few miles from our house and very similar to the style that Ashley and I both love.  I get frustrated not being on staff, although I know that this time right now, this time of transition will be very beneficial for me in the future.  So... how do I deal with it?

    The easiest thing for me to do is simply not go to church.  Although, I have only taken this approach a few times, it is nice to be able to miss a sunday morning service occasionally without repercussions.  Never fear, I watch the video online so I am not missing the teaching. I also listen to sermons on my ride to Huntington for my class, so I definitely get my filling of teaching (my favorite preacher right now BY FAR is Perry Noble @Newspring church in S. Carolina, if you haven't heard of him I strongly suggest listening to one of his sermons).  

    That is my last resort though.  Most of the time I ask God what I am supposed to be learning in this time.  I know that for certain Ashley and I are where we are supposed to be.  In some ways its great to be able to step away from the church and look and see, experience life, and spend time with my wife.  When I was in the church it was constant work.  I always thought about work, the next lesson plan, the next event, who I should be spending more time with, what game I need to be going to... and it was unhealthy.  It was my fault.  I did not give Ashley enough of my time and I do not want to live the rest of my life like that.  So... right now, I am learning how to deal with that.  I am learning how to manage my time.  I am learning how to go through a meal without checking my email on my phone, or answering every call I get.  It's alright for us to be inaccessible at times.  Ask me that a year ago and I would have told you that I am available any time, day or night.  Now, I am learning that in order to have a life and family of my own, there are times when my wife is more important than any other thing in the world, including txt messaging.  

    God is making me into a better person and a better pastor right now.  Sometimes its really hard for me to deal with working at Sears, not doing what I was created to and other times, its really easy.  Lately, because I have been deprived from my motorcycle time, it's been harder for me.  When it gets hard, it seems thats when I have to make it intentional otherwise its so easy for me to get bitter.  I have had a horrible problem lately looking online a church position openings.  There are a few churches around this area looking for pastors (youth, worship, associate...) that I would love to send my resume to but I just don't feel like God is leading me there yet.  He is still molding me and shaping me and I must be patient right now. 

    Another way that I have been dealing with all of this is I have been taking advantage of being able to go to other churches!  Last Saturday night Ashley and I went to Pine Hills, our church, but then on Sunday morning we visited Blackhawk Ministries.  One of my coworkers told me about her church and we wanted to check it out so we went to see their church.  Just visiting other churches makes this time more valuable for me.  First, I never get to visit other churches so its great to be able to do that, and second, I get all sorts of ideas!  When we were sitting there, I had so many ideas of things that were good ideas that I will probably be able to implement in my future.  God is helping me grow in so many ways I can't even see them all!

Real People

   Here we are in April.  The weather is changing and I am so excited about being able to finally get back outside.  Fort Wayne living is quite different from the country and we are still getting used to it.  Even PJ is having to make some adjustments because he has to share "his yard" with some other dogs who live in our building :)  Along with some of the other changes include stoplights and traffic (ugh), being able to be anywhere in about 15 minutes, and meeting tons of new people!

   Along that note is what I want to share.  I'm not sure who is reading this blog so I want to just share some things I am learning while living.  God has placed us in a new place and we are learning tons right now!  I am loving working at Sears.  Not really the job, which is just ok, but I love working with the people!  It's not quite fast food "do you want frys with that" type relationships, or the deep relationships that I had with some people when I was working in the church, but it's kind of an in between short term relationship.  I think the reason that I am so good at my job is I can stand around with a customer for hours building a friendship and hearing about their lives and then sell them something that they need that they came in for.  In just a few short weeks I have made quite a base of customers that come to only me when they come to sears!  I love being able to just listen to people and I know that there is a bunch of people that truly just need someone to listen to them.  I know when you think of someone working in the Sears lawn and garden section you don't really think you are going to tell your life story to them, but you would be so surprised at how many people need just that!  People here are so real.  I love it!  Whether its the customers or my coworkers, people are REAL.  They aren't ashamed to tell me about the mistakes they've made in their lives and they are not going to try to cover them up either!  I have realized that even people who don't go to church, believe it or not, know there is a right and wrong.  Some of them choose to ignore it, but most of them in their hearts know there is something more than this life.  I have had the chance over the past few months to be able to live an example where people openly walk up to me and say "what is that about you?"  I'm not trying to brag, but I tell you, people can notice God flowing out of you.  This job has created a craving in my heart for the "real person."  The person who doesn't go to church and live a fake life and pretend that everything is perfect, that pretends that as long as they look good on sunday morning they can live however they want, the person who isn't afraid to share their mistakes with the people they trust.  I'm not saying I will never work in a church again, but I love when people are real.  We live in a "condo" style apartment, so we only have a few neighbors and their doors are a little ways away.  If we wanted to, I could go my entire time living here without talking to them.  I have spent quite a bit of time in the garage lately getting the bike cleaned and my neighbors are starting to sneak out of their houses and we are making new friends.  Once again, these people aren't church goers.  They have made mistakes, they know it, but after just a few conversations they are willing to talk about some pretty deep stuff with me.  When we moved I was of course discouraged that I wasn't jumping right into another job at a church.  I know we need some time for Ashley and I to be married and build our family first so that our ministry can be the strongest and that was the push of the move, but I was still disappointed about leaving what I love and working at some retail job.  I have to admit though, I have had some amazing talks with some people that have really changed my perspective of what it means to minister!  I am excited about meeting new people.  Of course the last thing I try to talk about is the fact that I went to school to be a 'pastor' cause then their attitude changes a lil', but these people are so real. I love it, and in some of our conversations I have already started building a relationship with some people that I KNOW God is laying on my heart! It is truly an amazing experience that I have been missing out on being in such a tight Christian bubble.

 People want to be loved on.  I know this is getting long so here is my point:  Make sure to go out of your way to start finding people to just be there for.  Make a list of some friends that aren't Christians to pray for.  Can't think of any? SHAME ON YOU! Our sole purpose on this earth is to tell people about Jesus everywhere and if you know no one who needs Jesus, you are wasting your time!  I pray my short time here in Fort Wayne is spent well building friendships so that Christ may open the door and I can share my first love, Christ, with those who need him so badly.

It's about Time

After 3 months of not being in ministry, I finally decided it might be time to start jotting down some things in my blog again.  Wow, has our life been a whole whirlwind of changes.  It is no fun to uproot from everything you know and are so accustomed to, but Ashley and I felt that it was time for us to move on.  In December we found a really nice place to live in Fort Wayne (most important a garage for the motorcycle :) ) and moved out of Berne basically by the end of the year.  First and foremost, I must put my marriage first and after three months of being out of the ministry, even with all the hours of praying and trying to make sure that we could swing this jump, I am positive that we are doing the right thing and God has given us so many confirmations along the way that have been such a blessing.  I am so excited for the future the Lord has for Ashley and I.  Right now, I know that I am being molded and shaped into who I am supposed to be.  Sometimes you look back at where you were just a short period ago and can't believe where you were. God is shaping me into the man that he made me to be first with His relationship with Him, and second as a husband to Ashley, my wife.  I have recently started working at Sears in the Lawn & Garden department and really do love the change of pace.  Yes, I loved working in the church, especially with the teens in our youth group, but right now, I am loving being able to minister at Sears.  I am making some awesome friendships and having a blast learning how to make commission. :)  Did I ever imagine that I would be out of the ministry once I started, not really, but I am so thankful every DAY that I am not the one making the plans.  God has a course charted for us and do I know where we will be in a year, or 5 years, no, and I'm so glad!  Faith is not knowing where you are going. Faith is confidence that there is someone else leading you with the best plan!  How true this passage is: "The Lord says, 'I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you. (ps. 32.8)"
  In this time, Ashley and I are just falling more in love with each other.  We are learning to rely on each other and learning to put our God first, and our marriage second, and finally everything else after that.  It is so hard to explain when you are working in a church how easy it is to become that church. Everything becomes about the church, the meetings, the people, the crisis', and it's so easy to stop putting your priorities in the right place.  God has given us the perfect place to build a strong foundation.  I miss working in the church terribly, but I know that this period can be as long or short as I want it to, and when we are ready, God will place us where we need to be!  So, as for now, Ashley will be working at Parkview Hospital and I at sears, and God is growing us both.  We all need healing, even those who are not sick.  I am putting all of my trust, all of my faith, into the God Almighty.  During this time I know, because the process has already started, that God is making me a better man and I am thankful for the life that He has given me.  We have been attending a church close to our house, Pine Hills Church.  Thank you Ben and Kara for introducing it to us.  We need a church family right now.  God is providing for us. He is truly an amazing God.

12.12.10

Over the past few months, Ashley and I have been praying and wrestling with our future. We have decided that God has released us from this ministry and it is time for us to move forward with our lives. Today, I am officially giving you notice of my resignation as the Youth Pastor at Cross Community.

It has been a privilege for Ashley and I to serve the Lord by ministering to the students in this church and community.  I have enjoyed the opportunity to experience with these students their spiritual growth and watch them in their activities, sports, and concerts.  God is really working in the lives of these students and I pray that they continue to develop to be the men and women that He wants them to be. Thank you for the privilege of serving at Cross Community. 

National Youth Workers Convention

So... I'm sitting in my hotel room, downtown Nashville, the night before the National Youth Worker's Convention is over, and I must say that my mind is swimming!  As I think about all that God is doing in my life and ministry, there are many variables that will play a part in where CONNECT will be heading in the future as well as myself personally.  It's crazy to see how God nudge's you.  Sometimes you don't realize where you are when you are in ministry day in and day out.  When I was given the opportunity to come down here, it was a perfect opportunity for me to just get away from everything, and be able to reflect!
  Just to catch everyone up to speed, last week at CONNECT I introduced the idea that we are basically stopping everything going on in CONNECT right now.  The only thing we are going to offer to students is on the Wednesday nights when the rest of the church meets, we will be offering a prayer service, where we will be praying for God's wisdom to guide us in the visioning process.  The point of stopping everything is to help us get back on track with where GOD wants to take this ministry.  We will be determining the vision and some practical goals for CONNECT.  This is perfect timing, because down here, I have been given so many great resources on visioning, and relationships, and leading, and students, and looking toward the future... the list goes on and on!
  God is so good to me.  He has blessed me with a great youth group and an awesome "core" group of students, a church that provides me with everything to effectively run a ministry, an awesome wife to give me support, and of course His word to guide, strengthen, lead, challenge, connect me to Him!  It seems sometimes like I feel like we are limited in our ministry, but one thing that I have realized down here is that God is a God who provides in every area, as long as we are willing to trust Him.
  I ask you to pray for me as we are going through this process right now of defining who we are.  It's one thing to say that we are "CONNECT", but what does that mean?!?  Why are doing what we are doing.  Please pray for us as we are deciding who we are and what we stand for so that in the beginning of the year, we can hit the pavement running so fast that Berne can't keep up!

Take It Like A Man

  It has been awhile since I have updated my blog.  There is quite a bit going on in our youth right now!  We have so many students coming on wednesday nights right now!  We were just under 60 last week and I am gearing up for just as many this week.  We started a new series titled "Take It Like A Man" where we have been looking at some traits of a Godly man.  This whole thing has been kind of spun around the Ironman theme where we have been pulling some ideas about what it is to be a "man" based on the characters in the movie.  Last week, we tackled the Big picture. and that Big Picture, believe it or not is circumcision.  You see, back in the OT, when the idea first came around, Abraham had to cut a piece of himself to claim that he was God's.  That was the agreement that God made with him.  As time went on, and Jesus died for us, the ultimate death,  circumcision took on a new meaning.  This new meaning was that we have to cut a piece out of our own selfish person to make room for what God can make us!  THATS the big picture!  we have to cut out our own self to make room for the Almighty God in ourselves so that we can become like him.
  Part of the small picture, we talked about last week was one of the three characteristics that this series was going to tackle: the first being Humility.  We talked a whole bunch about where humility fits in and how in the movie, the definition of a man is quite the opposite of humility and Tony Stark's pride almost kills him in the end!  We have got to break down this stereotype that a man has to be so proud that He can't take a knee. Thats what we discussed last wednesday.
   This week, I now have a new twist that was just given to me from God tonight, Sunday evening.  It is actually shaping the second part of this series and we are going to focus on an OT Bible character who shows us what it's like to be a man after God's own heart!  We have been given a strong challenge and as hard as it is, we as men need to stand up to that challenge, especially when we are still young and forming our ways!  Please, Please, Please pray for the young men in our youth group to be challenged so much that they make some strong commitments this week to redevelop some of the habits in their lives.

iLife week 3

We had a great night at Connect this past Wednesday!  We had quite a large number of students up in the youth room actually, which is really starting to get the gears in my head turning on what we should do, because we are maxed out on space.  That is a great problem to have, but it will probably have to be addressed soon.  Although numbers don't tell us everything, they do offer some help on if we are attracting students, and with over 50 students up in that room, it tells us, at least they feel comfortable to bring their friends.  Now we need to make sure that we are making Eternal connections with all of them!  Right now I am reading a book on building a sustainable youth ministry.  The goal for me is not to build a ministry that when it is time for me to move on, people say wow, that was a great time, but for me to build a foundation where the ministry continues to grow whoever the youth pastor is.  That is my challenge.
  As we are going through this series on iLife, we have been discussing rules that God has designed for relationships.  We pick up these phrases that we live by, like "if you don't have anything nice to say... Don't say anything at all" or "Don't cry over spilt milk." We actually took one very popular phrase, "Mind your own business"  and shredded it up at Connect.  The problem with MYOB is it is not Biblical at all!  Christ calls us to be one body with many parts and as a body, if there is something that you can do to help another part of that body, why would you not help them! Our culture teaches us that we should just mind our own business because we don't want to get messy or it's not our concern, but the truth is, if we see a Christian brother or sister in sin, we have got to address it and if we don't, we are actually hurting the body of Christ!  This can be a challenging task!  Many times when you confront a friend in love, they are in a "sin matrix," where they can't clearly see the true direction of where they are headed.  Wednesday night I urged the students to try and work through this with their friends and help them realize that what they are doing to themselves and to the body of Christ.  It was a powerful night and I am so lucky for the teens that I get to work with weekly!  Please pray that these students step up to the challenge to Encourage their friends and family, boyfriend/girlfriends, to address the issues in their lives! Thank God for friends who care enough to challenge us in our walks!

September Sermon Series

In the month of September we have been going through a series by Doug Fields called iLife.  This series is all about our relationships!  Not boy/girl relationships, all relationships: mom & dad, friends, enemies, siblings, boy/girl relationships... everyone!  There are basically two ways we can look at our relationships: first the way that the world tells us we should treat others (treat others the way they treat you) or second, the way that God has specifically designed relationships to work the best!  Why would we not listen to the one who created relationships in the first place!  Each week we tackle a different irule (a rule that God has designed for us to have the best relationships possible).
     The first week we simply talked about forgiveness.  That is the foundational element in a friendship.  Eventually, we are going to do something that needs to be forgiven, and we all have experienced something that someone has done that we needed to forgive them for.  This is basic.  This is elemental!  Many of our students have gone through pretty tough stuff.  Maybe they have had some issues with parents, or a girlfriend/boyfriend that has broken their hearts!  One thing that we have to constantly remember is that no matter what, we have been forgiven way more than anything else someone has done to us:  when Christ died on the cross, he took all of our sins and forgave us even before we were born!  Why on earth would we hold something so trivial over someone else and not be able to forgive them after Christ has wiped us completely clean!  I know that it is hard sometimes when someone intentionally hurts you, but in no way does those things  measure up to the perfect example.  If we want to be like Christ, we have got to forgive.
     Last week we tackled Acceptance.  Same concept.  Why on earth would we not be able to accept someone after God has accepted us even after all the things we have done against him. Thank goodness we have a Savior huh! I would strongly suggest that as this series goes on through the month, be sure to check back to see what we are talking about at Connect!  This is an interesting and powerful series.  Please pray that the right students are here on the right nights to hear what God wants to say to them individually!

We've changed our name!  Student underground is now named "Connect."  Basically we wanted to create our own identity and so we have been working on coming up with a new name!  After much thought and discussion, we kind of brainstormed this idea that students come to our youth group to get connected to God, to others, to the word... therefore, what better name than 'Connect.'  Going with this theme, you can see down in the bottom corner of this picture, our new symbol: the word Connect with an ipod charger cable!  Perfect!  Today's students are developed by things that plug in.  We want at Cross Community Church to make sure they get connected to right things, not only the things the world is telling them they should get connected into.