Spiritual Retreat

The focus of my second month of sabbatical was fun.  That meant that I needed to get some time away and really connect with God by myself to help with some of the spiritual healing I needed.  Thankfully we have some great friends with a cabin up in Duck Creek Utah.  I have been able to use this house for a family vacation, personal retreats and even did a man weekend with some of my small group guys one summer.

This trip was the longest trip I have taken by myself.  I was alone for four days where I just spent time; eating, sleeping, reading, praying journaling and refreshing my spirit.  I am so thankful that my wife encouraged me to take the time to get away and connect with God.  While I was up there I ventured out of the cabin on a few day adventures and took a cool hike over to Cascade Falls.  Here is a picture of the view on the hike to the falls.

The following day I took a hike to Strawberry Point but it was super windy so I didn't get to the edge to take any pictures.  While I was up there I also read a book called: "Forgiving the Unforgivable".  I will be reviewing that book in the near future as it was very helpful in some healing I needed.

When I share with others that I spent that much time alone I often get varying responses.  For my personality it is pretty difficult to spend that much time alone but I have put in some structure to the time that helps me refresh.  Generally I have done these trips when I get exhausted; as I move forward I want to schedule in trips like this to keep me from getting exhausted.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.  Mark 1:35

Bay Area Bound

Yesterday our church made an announcement that will change our life.

Almost 8 years ago I accepted a call to minister at South Hills Church Community as the Middle School Pastor!  I will never forget driving home, from our first visit, when I distinctly recall feeling the call of God to Henderson.  November 18th 2004 I started my new role at SHCC and it has been a great time in my life!

Through out the last 8 years I have served in almost every capacity at our church.  I started as Middle School Pastor, then became Student Ministry Pastor, then High School Pastor (with a sprinkle of Missions), after that I helped lead our church in the absence of a Lead Pastor, back to High School Pastor and finally Pastor of Discipleship.  During my time in Vegas I got married, started seminary, got ordained, had a kid, kept doing seminary, had another kid and graduated seminary.

While on sabbatical I received a call from a great pastor in the Bay Area asking if we were serious about considering a Campus Pastor role that one of my buddies had told me about.  I never really saw myself in this kind of role but for some reason felt God leading us to check it out more.  After spending five days in the Bay Area our family came home and prayed.  We prayed, we asked for prayer, we asked for council, we prayed some more, we spoke with our leadership and prayed more.  To make the long story short; a month after our visit we were offered a role to minister on the Peninsula and accepted the role.

Now the hard part.  I always thought that writing a resignation letter would be easy but it was SO difficult.  I love South Hills Church.  I love the people that we have worked with.  I love the volunteer teams I have spent time with and that made it all the more difficult to resign.  I am going to miss our church family dearly but I trust that this is a Kingdom call and I am so excited to work with the team of pastors up in the Bay Area.  I am excited for the training I will receive working alongside the staff up there and I am excited for God to stretch me in this new role!

On August 15th my pastoral duties will be complete and I will move my family to Foster City to work with a team at Central Peninsula Church.  Will you please take a quick minute to pray for my family during this transition.  Will you please pray for us as we transition out of Vegas?  Will you please pray for us to find a great place to live?  Will you please pray for God to prepare us for CPC and to prepare CPC for us?  Thank you for all your prayers and support!

May Lake Day

As I said yesterday, the goal I had for the second month of my sabbatical was to just have fun.  This included a whole bunch of fun with my family but also some fun with my friends.  One day I went onto the lake with the guys, and a few girls, for some: wake boarding, wake surfing and cliff jumping.  I love hanging out with these guys and all the crazy things we have done together!

I don't have all the pics that we took but here is my favorite one of me wake surfing.

Here is a pretty cool video that Spencer filmed

Here is Spencer killing it wake surfing!

The spiritual side of this, for me, is that when I was a young man I thought that being a Christian was boring.  I thought that all Christians did was sit around and talk about the Bible.  One thing that I have hoped to do in my life is to teach young people that you can be a Christian and have LOTS of fun!

Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:3-4 (NIV)

Dodgeball Tournament

The goal for the first month of my sabbatical was to disconnect from South Hills Church.  The goal that I had planned for the next month was to have fun!  Part of that included playing a dodgeball tournament with some of the guys who grew up in our church and have become friends of mine!  The tournament was held at Lake Mead Christian Academy sometime in mid-May.

Our team did pretty amazing but in the end we got second place.  Here are some pics from the day!  Love you guys!

The team in action

Stay focused on the start

Thats a happy team!

Moving up the ladder to the finals

The Team!

Chasing Francis: Book Review

Book Title: Chasing Francis

Author: Ian Morgan Cron

Pages: 253

Publisher: NavPress

Recommendation: Yes! Read it! 

Favorite Quote: "Thomas, why does it feel like God's abandoned me?" I asked at last.
Thomas sighed. "Sometimes God's presence is most strongly felt in his absence."


During my sabbatical I read only a few books (in addition to the Bible) and this was one of them.  Now the interesting thing about this book is that is spoke deeply to my heart given the condition of my heart.  The even more interesting thing about this book is I have no clue who recommended it!


The book is a fictional story about a lead pastor from the Northeast area.  He (Chase) is about 38 years old and comes to a crisis of faith.  The tough thing about this is that Chase comes to this crisis while leading the church when he encounters the death of a young girl.  This culminates when Chase stands on stage, one Sunday morning, and announces to his church that he is not even sure if he believes in God.  After this he walks off the stage and leaves the church.


This obviously leads to an interesting outcome in the life of the pastor.  His elders encourage him to take some time off so both they and he can figure out what is going on.  During his time off he calls his cousin, who is a Franciscan Monk, in Italy.  Chase ends up going to Italy for a couple months (I think) to seek God and figure out what is missing in his life.  I am not going to give the rest of the story away but I will encourage you to pick up the book and see what it would like to seek after God in news ways. 

As for Me and My [Crazy] House: Book Review

Book Title: As for Me and My [Crazy] House

Author: Brian Berry

Pages: 154

Publisher: Group Publishing

Recommendation: Read it Now!

Favorite Quote: "So how about you? Did you sign up for the marriage you're living? If not, it's time to rethink some stuff and remind yourself that the best gift you can give your kids is not whatever they want, but the marriage they don't know that they desperately need you to have." (page 84)

This was one of the books that I bought while I was still working on seminary and thought I wouldn't get to until I finished.  Once this book arrived at our home Charity picked it up and started reading it; her enthusiasm for the book sparked my interest to begin reading it while writing my final paper (it was better than what I HAD to read).  There are books you read because you have to and books you read because they speak to your soul; this book spoke to my soul in a much needed way.

If you read my blog last week you will see how important this book was to me; it honestly came a critical time in my life.  I started this book before I graduated seminary but finished it on the plane ride to Hawaii.  It was cool reading it on the plane and reading how Brian affirms the need for family vacation (page 135) it made me feel like I was doing something right in the chaos of my own life.  I am pretty sure that the cover talks mentions youth ministry but I am going to just say that this book is a must read for anyone in ministry.

The principles that Brian shares are from a man who had tried and tested them; they come from a man who is leading out and doing what he writes!  Here are some quick thoughts: Brian Berry is a stud!  I love Brian, I love his heart for ministry and I love that he is doing ministry in the trenches.  The book is broken into three understandable parts:

1. The best gift I can give my marriage is a healthy self
2. The best gift I can give my family is a healthy marriage
3. The best gift I can give my community and ministry is a healthy family

I am committed to getting this book into the hands of as many people as I possibly can because I believe that what Brian is talking about here can help our communities find and follow Christ.  I really believe that the world is sick of they way they are living and they are looking for men and women to model something new to them.  Its going to take time to implement these aspects into my life but I am committed to making that happen for the health of my family.

Thanks Brian.

Spiritually Empty

Three months ago if you would have asked me how I was doing I would have given you the answer that most Americans give when asked that question: "I'm good"

If you would have pushed me a little on that answer you probably would have gotten: "I'm tired"

As I reflect back on the last couple years of my life I realize that I was constantly "tired".  I was tired of school, I was tired from being woken up at night by our daughters, I was tired of ministry being tough and I was tired of not spending time with Jesus.  The day after I left for sabbatical I took a picture of my phone and it was a good representation of where my life was at; I was empty.  You could also say: tired, drained, exhausted, depleted, empty, not full and pretty much any other word that relates to those words.

Now I understand that writing about this subject makes me vulnerable but I have to image that I am not the only one out there who has experienced this.  Now I also understand that not everyone is given the opportunity that I have been given (a sabbatical) to address this issue.  In reality it took me about three weeks of sabbatical before I actually realized how drained I was.

One glaring issue was that I had made my quiet time just that.  I would read the Bible, try to pray and failed to sit and have a relationship with God: it was definitely quite.  Let me share a handful of things that I began to realize on sabbatical that is going to change in my personal walk with Christ as I move forward in life (at this point I am not talking as a pastor but a believer in Christ).

NO MORE QUIET TIME
Maybe you have called the time that you spend with God on a daily basis your "quiet time" I want to push back on that verbiage.  Over the last couple months I have become convicted that I do not want the time that I spend with God to be quite.  I want the time I spend with God to be interactive, communicative and uplifting.  I want to sit on my face before God.  If I feel I am not hearing God's voice I want to read the Bible out loud.  I am going to switch up my relationship with God to be multi-faceted and interactive but in ways that will require me to shut up and listen.

INTENTIONAL GET-A-WAYS
During my sabbatical I was able to get a few days in Utah, by myself, to connect with God.  There is something important about not just getting away but about being intentional with that time.  I'm not going to take too much time here since I will go more in-depth in a few days on this topic.  To wet your appetite go check out Mark 1:35.

DOING LIFE WITH OTHERS
While on sabbatical I realized how important friendships are to my life.  When we are busy some of the first things to go are our time with God and then our time with others.  You cannot read the Gospels and tell me that friendships are not important.  Jesus calls us to a life with others, share meals with others, be real with others and walk with others.  I had neglected that in my life and realized that is going to change as I move forward.

MORE TIME WITH MY FAMILY
I'm not sure if most people would include this in their spiritual health but I cannot see it being separate from my spiritual health.  I make that statement because as the leader of my home it is my responsibility to take care of my family.  One thing that God spoke clearly to me is: "Love your girls."  That will be a main focus in my life from here on out.  I have put other things above the needs of my family too many times and moving forward I am going to make sure that is not the case.

In conclusion I want you to think about this verse and ask yourself: "Who is in control of my life?"

"Come to me, all you who are wearied and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30

Hawaiian Vacation Round Two

As I attempt to recap most of my sabbatical I wanted to take another post to talk about the blessing of our Hawaiian Vacation.  It was so rad to have our family there to spend time with, but also, to watch our kids so Charity and I could get some "us time".  One of those times was taking a helicopter ride around the island of Kauai.

One of the blessings of the ride we took is that the helicopter actually lands at the waterfall featured in Jurassic Park.  Having never ridden in a helicopter before this was a treat for me to experience.

Charity and I sat shotgun in the helicopter and it was such an amazing view of the island.  Heading into sabbatical I was pretty tired/exhausted and taking this ride was a great reminder of all that God has created.  Its interesting to me how a ride like this was able to lift my spirit some and show me more of the beauty that God has created.

Check out this video of the Na Pali Coast from our ride

Hawaiian Vacation

The day after my graduation from seminary our family jumped (we actually walked) on a plane that was headed to Kauai.  Looking back on my sabbatical leaving town immediately was the best decision we could have ever made!  We spent the next ten days in Kauai with my family and had a GREAT time.  The girls loved hanging out with their cousins, I loved seeing my sister and it was great having Oma and Opa there.

Kauai was filled with adventure so I think its going to take more than one post to share but for starters I had a great time with my kids!  Kauai is filled with chickens; they are every where and Sophie and I had a great time catching them.  This is a pic from the first morning we caught a chicken.  Sophie was so excited to hold it!  Leah held one but quickly let it go to watch her sister.  My sister (Beth) also has some made chicken catching skills while holding her son!

One thing I promised the girls was that we would get shave ice every day.  Shave ice is pretty much the best invention in the world and I enjoyed every time we ate it.

Finally, for this post, I have to mention how much fun I had snorkeling with my wife and my sister.  I love being out in nature, I love chasing fish around the ocean and I love being able to see more of what God has created!

God knew this was how we needed to start our sabbatical!

Seminary /// Support

The other day I wrote about how I finally graduated seminary.  That post didn't allow for the time to really thank some of the people who have been a huge support (my cheerleaders) while I was working on my degree.  I am sure that I am going to forget some people in this post but there are three main groups I want to thank!

My Family
Seminary took a toll on my family.  That is probably not what you expected to hear but its true.  I am eternally in-debt to my family for the sacrifices they made for me to finish school.  My wife was extremely supportive when I had to read books, write papers, be gone for weeks at a time and stay up late to finish up a project.  Charity was my biggest support and I am so thankful to you wife!  My kids also took a blow during these last four years of their lives.  Sophie came up to summer school once but in the other eight times I had to travel to Redding I did it solo.  Leah is still young and may never remember but I will never forget the times I missed with them.  Thank you girls for making the sacrifices for me.  Thank you for letting me use our families resources and thanks for Skyping with me in the mornings when I was away; that kept me sane!

Extended Family
Thank you to everyone of you who encouraged me during these last six years.  My extended family was super supportive when I would explain to them what I was learning; they always extended a listening ear to hear what God was doing in my life.  They understood when I would have to leave family vacations to go to Starbucks and finish up a paper or stay up late to write one last book report.  They also took their time, and resources, to attend my graduation and that was a huge blessing to physically have them all there!

South Hills Church Community 
My Church was key in my completion of seminary!  They supported me when I needed to take a day off to finish a paper.  They gave me weeks (yep, weeks) off every year so I could travel to take courses. They understood the time commitment that was involved with seminary and they understood the Kingdom value of school.  I didn't have to fight with them about the importance of seminary because they understood the value it presented in my life and the benefit it was to the Kingdom to train up leaders.  More than that, I am so thankful that Pastor Brandon Gallup took the time to travel up to Redding for my graduation also!  Church; thank you for believing in me, investing in me and all your support these last six years!

If you are going to take the plunge into seminary I was to remind you that you are not meant to do it alone nor should you ever think that you can!  Seminary is costly (not just financially) and it requires a deeper commitment but if God is calling you to take that commitment start now because we are ever in need of Theologically sound pastors!

I did it (finally)

On April 28th 2012 something monumental happened in my life!

My journey in seminary is totally different than what I expected!  In September 2004 I started working on my Masters of Divinity at Azusa Pacific University's extension program in San Diego.  After taking two course God lead me to Las Vegas to minister with students which put a halt to my studies.  After getting the ministry up and running I chose to go back and work on my degree but now I was heading to Fuller Seminary.  March 2006 I took my first course at Fuller and my time there was amazing!

Once I realized I would not be able to complete the program through Fuller I transferred to a new seminary in Northern California called Tozer Seminary.  That was the most enjoyable, difficult, time of my life.  Seminary stretched me, shaped me, frustrated me, challenged me, gave me new friends, took lots of time, and encouraged me (Did I mention that I started Seminary as a single man and graduated a marriage man with two beautiful daughters?).  After three years at Tozer I graduated on April 28th 2012 with my Masters of Divinity; this is one of the top ten happiest days of my life!

I have referred to Seminary as the modern day discipleship process in my life; I needed Seminary in my life.  There were times that I wanted to quit but it shaped my Theology.  It helped my understanding of Scripture.  It provided a route to learn the Biblical Languages.  I wish that every new Christian would take the time, make the commitment and go to Seminary so that they can grow in their knowledge and love for Christ.

Seminary taught me how to think Theologically.  It helped me understand Scripture in a new way and make it understandable to the world around us.  My heart breaks for the lack of Biblical literacy in our society and I feel that God has called me to help combat that; I think Seminary has helped prepare me for a life of that.

Slow Return

I almost titled this post "I'm Back" but the truth is I am not back.  I really still have two weeks left of my sabbatical but some of the advice I was given was to come back a week early and work part-time for two weeks.  With that said I figured I would sit down and blog to prepare myself for my return.

Since I am not really sure where to begin I am just going to write what comes to mind...

These last few months have been some of the best, and toughest, times of my life!  I have spent more time with my wife, kids and God than I have been able to in the last eight years.  I have been able to get away and hang out with just me and God.  I have been able to sit and talk with my wife and just dream.  I have been able to spend precious moments with my children.  I have been able to see most of my family members, sit with them, grab a meal and talk (miss you sister).

Here is an overview of some of the things I have been able to do while on sabbatical:

• Graduated Tozer Seminary 
• Kauai with the family
• Dates with my wife
• Attend a rad Church in Vegas
• Spiritual Retreat in Utah
• Marriage Mentoring
• A Week at the Beach
• Went to a rad Church
• SeaWorld
• Disneyland
• Time with Mom in Big Bear Lake
• Time with Dad in Santa Clarita
• Went to a rad Church
• Time with Charity's family in Santa Maria
• Time with great friends in San Francisco
• Went to a rad Church

This is what I plan on blogging about more in depth in the next few weeks.  I want to breakdown my sabbatical and share what God taught me.  I want to share some memories that our family made.  I want to share some convictions that God has been working in my life.  I want to share some books that I read that I think might be helpful for you to read.

Bottom line is my life has changed since I've been on sabbatical.  My priorities have shifted and my life is going to reflect that from now on.  

Will Return: July 2012

This will be my last blog post for the next two months

If you are a regular visitor to my blog you are just going to have to go through the archives to see the crazy things in my head.  If this is your first time popping in, just come back in a few months!

I have been on sabbatical for ten days now and I think that leaving town, initially, has helpful for me to disconnect from full-time ministry but I have noticed that I have some auto-responses that need to die for this to be the best use of my time.  That being said, here is what I am going to "go dark" on for the rest of sabbatical.

Facebook
I will be disabling, or deactivating, my Facebook account here in the next couple days.  I am sure that many of you are shocked, amazed, maybe encouraged or just not sure how you would live without Facebook.  I have noticed that checking my Facebook takes time away from my family.  I am not sure I would have noticed how much time if I was as busy as I normally am but I have noticed and I am acting on that.  No more posting rad pics of my fam, checking in at amazing restaurants or stopping in to stalk others.

Twitter
This may be the most difficult one for me but I think it's a must.  I have noticed that I am not checking my feed and have used Twitter like I use Facebook; to post and get out.  Twitter has been a place for me to get encouraged, share wins, and stay connected with friends I don't always see.

Instagram
This has become a new found favorite for me.  I love seeing what my friends are doing, seeing the cool pics they post and adding a few myself.  I feel like I am so new to Instagram that leaving this soon sucks but it needs to happen.

Blogging
This will be one of the more difficult ones for me.  I love to sit down and write out my thoughts about what is stirring in this crazy brain I have between my ears.  I remember when I first saw blogging and was certain it would never pick up; but boy was I wrong.  I enjoy reading my friends blogs which allows me to keep up with what they are doing, what lessons they are learning or how to pray for them.  I will miss the blog world for the next two months.  I will miss being able to get my thoughts out of my head and process through them.

With all that said you can be sure that I will come back slowly but surely.  I do not plan to re-enter the technology world all at once.  This sabbatical thing is going to be a crazy lesson for me in the next 10 weeks but I am excited to see what God is going to teach me and speak to me.  Please pray for me, my family and our church while I am away.  If you wanna talk to me just give me a call!

Peace out; see ya soon!

Monk Habits for Everyday People: Book Review

Book Title: Monk Habits for Everyday People

Pages: 144

Author: Dennis Okholm

Publisher: Brazos Press

Quotable: "But a vow of stability is unique to Benedictine monks.  It is a commitment to stay with the same community for the rest of one's life."

This week I have been blogging about some of the books that I read for my Church History class and this was one that I bought as a resource for my final paper.

My interest in the monastic practices really began when I took a class in seminary called Christian Spiritual Formations.  This class taught me about new ways to connect with God that I had never really explored.  The professor helped teach me more about my personal relationship with God and how dudes from hundreds of years ago have impacted the Church.

This book is really good if you are curious about the Benedictine monastic practices and how to apply them to your daily life.  I appreciate the viewpoint that Okholm brings to the table on this book.  The book is very readable and practical in its explanations.  If you want a quick overview of some of the monastic practices that are found in the Benedictine order than I would encourage you to grab this book. 

Water from a Deep Well: Book Review

Title: Water from a Deep Well

Author: Gerald L. Sittser

Pages: 365

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Favorite Quote: "But we should never work so much that we neglect prayer, which in my minds seems the more urgent discipline, at least in our culture."

This book was one of three books that were required reading for my Church History course.  This book really taught me about many different eras of Church History and was a great compliment to the other books we read.

I feel like this book is very readable where some books like this could be very difficult to understand.  Sittser presents the information in a way that you can grasp and makes it easy to apply to your life.  I personally enjoyed the first couple chapters most as I really dig the monastic practices.

If you are looking for a book that will give you an overview of Church History in understandable language then you need to check this out.

Church History in Plain Language: Book Review

Title: Church History in Plain Language

Author: Bruce L. Shelley

Pages: 532

Recommend: Yes; for sure

Favorite Quote: "Despite widespread and determined efforts to eliminate the new faith, it survived and grew.

Taking this class on Church History rocked me!  This book helped me to learn about the 1900 years of Church History that I really had no clue about.

I remember one night an Elder called me while I was reading this book and as we were talking I told him that I am ashamed.  I was ashamed that I have been a Christian for twelve years and was so ignorant about the leaders who paved the way before me.

This book was great to learn about so many spiritual leaders and the impact they had on shaping the Church as we know it.  It was fun to see the impact of the monks, the dark ages, the church fathers, the Catholic church and every other significant point of history that brought us to where we are.  If you haven't read a book on Church History consider reading this one.

Be Present

I struggle with being present!

I have struggled with this for a long time!
(now that I have confessed it you can trust I am a fellow learner in this)

Being a dreamer I struggle with being present.  While I was leading in our student ministry I would struggle with being present in conversations, being present with my wife, being present with my children, being present at school and other places.  I remember driving home from a mission trip one time and just wishing I was home.  Finally a student reminded me that I could talk with them in the truck and it hit me how unfocused I was being.

While talking with a trusted mentor one day I shared this struggle and began the road to healing on this topic.  I had to slot in times in my day when I could dream and then find people to share those dreams with.  I learned to be present more with my family while thinking less about work or school.  I had to teach myself how to be present in situations and just dreaming all the time.

About a year ago I got some pretty sweet TOMS that helped me with this concept even more and put words to my struggle:

The journey is the destination

I wish you could see these shoes up close!  TOMS found a creative way to write this slogan out over and over again.  I had these shoes for about three weeks before I began realizing how important this saying was for my life.  When I began to realize that the journey was the destination I began to realize how important it was for me to be present in situations that I don't always desire to be present in.

I am not saying that I am perfect at this by any means, yet, but I am working on.  I am working on being present when my children need my attention.  I am being intentional to turn off my phone after work to focus on my family.  I am learning to say no to things that drain me and yes to things that fill me.  I am taking a day off every week to just rest and fill up my tank.

Here are some practical ways to be present

IN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOD
Turn the TV off and take some time to be still and listen to God

IN YOUR MARRIAGE
Instead of cooking your spouse dinner at home, take them out to their favorite restaurant and engage them in conversation (don't be on Facebook)

WITH YOUR KIDS
When you get into your house, put your phone in the bedroom on silent until they are in bed

WITH YOUR FRIENDS 
Plan to hang out with them outside, don't just invite them over and be on the computer

Wedding Verse

Its fun to think that Charity and I have been married for over seven years now!  After we were married for almost two years I ended up getting a tattoo for her on my right side (you can see the bottom of it in the picture).  After thinking about it for a while I decided to get the verse we put on our wedding invitation tattooed on my side as a reminder to the commitment we made seven years ago.

The verse is from 1 John 4:19 and says: "We love because he first loved us."

That will be a constant reminder about how I treat my wife and where our love stems from.  Marriage is tough and being married for seven years seems to be a feat in our day and age.  My hope, and prayer, is that Charity and I will be married for the rest of our lives!

Empowering Leaders

Empowering leaders to lead can be a difficult task to undertake.  I recall my first year of Bible college and one of the professors going over this passage:

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)

This passage has always stuck with me and the reasons have varied at times in my life.  Yesterday this passage became very real when I sat down with Julie Andrews and finalized some of the tasks she will be working on while I am away on sabbatical.  Since August 2011 I have been working with a team of people that have been the backbone in creating a healthy groups ministry at our church and Julie is just one of the seven people on that team.  Julie has an amazing passion for getting people connected in Life Groups (mainly because her life was changed drastically by a group) so it made sense to invest into her.

I know that leaving on sabbatical is going to be amazing for my lifetime of pastoral leadership but training up leaders to take your job is a tough role.  You may not be in my shoes right now but what if you used these three principles as you trained leaders:

GIVE PEOPLE EVERYTHING THEY NEED
Many times in ministry I hear people complain to me about the tools they don't have to do their job.  In my mind that is just poor leadership.  If we are going to set people to succeed in ministry we need to give them everything they need (not want).

SHOW THEM HOW TO DO THE ROLE
Someone I used to work with on staff taught me this principle.  First we need to let people watch us in the role we are training them to do.  Then we need to explain to people how to do their role in a way that they clearly understand.  After that we need to take the time to show them how to do the role.  Finally we can now watch them do the role on their own confidently knowing what is expected of them.  This is a great way to train leaders!

HELP THEM BE BETTER THAN YOU 
This may sound crazy but I hope that one day Julie takes my job.  I have usually taken the stance that my job in life is to train people to take the job that I am currently doing (sometimes it has been difficult) but when I do so I find that I always have a job!  Ask yourself this: "Are you comfortable with people being better than you are?"

Training leaders is tough but once we empower more people to do ministry we get to see more people find Christ as we realize that we are working towards the Kingdom of God not our personal empire.

Denomination: Blessing or Curse

I know that there are some people who swear by having a denomination that they are affiliated with and others who prefer to be on their own.  I have really been a part (on staff) of churches that are affiliated with a greater group of church.  Now I know that people are going to have their reasons for either way and we all have our personal preferences but let me share some of my experiences in the last seven years at my church.

When I was hired I was required to get licensed, and ordained, through our denomination.  I really didn't know much about what I was getting into but when I started studying more I really started agreeing with their stance on theological issues and doctrinal points.  It took me about two and a half years but I finally was ordained September 2007 through the Christian Missionary Alliance (now called The Alliance.

The longer I was with The Alliance the more I learned and the more I appreciated them.  I began to find out that more of our churches are located overseas than an in the United States.  I also learned that we had missionaries in Vietnam that never made it out alive and it was tragic.  Once Vietnam was opened again (as a safe country) we sent missionaries in who started making connections and found out that The Alliance was strong over there!  We actually had over 1,000,000 Christians in Vietnam when the missionaries went back and its so cool to see the involvement in spreading the Gospel.

In May of 2009 something happened that I would never have imagined.  Our founding lead pastor resigned due to moral failure.  I was shocked and had no clue what to do.  The great thing is that within two days our District Supervisor was in town and helped out with everything that happened that week.  I was in meetings I never thought I would be in and learned so much that week from the leadership in The Alliance.

On Sunday, April 15th, something really cool happened.  Our District Supervisor was back in town and we had lunch with him before the restoration service for Bret Johnson.  It was very cool to see that our group of churches hadn't abandoned a fellow worker in Christ when he made an unwise choice.  I have been able to spend time with Bret over the last three years and spend lots of time working with our denomination.

In the last couple years I have been able to help other workers get licensed and ordained with The Alliance.  Is our denomination perfect?  Nope, not at all but I trust that I am involved with a group of churches that radically care about advancing the Kingdom of God.