March 2008 Thoughts

Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing. The joy our Lord experienced came from doing what the Father sent Him to do. And He says to us, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21 ). Have you received a ministry from the Lord? If so, you must be faithful to it— to consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that ministry. Knowing that you have done what Jesus sent you to do, think how satisfying it will be to hear Him say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant" ( Matthew 25:21 ). We each have to find a niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive a ministry from the Lord. To do this we must have close fellowship with Jesus and must know Him as more than our personal Savior. And we must be willing to experience the full impact of Acts 9:16 — "I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake."

"Do you love Me?" Then, "Feed My sheep" ( John 21:17 ). He is not offering us a choice of how we can serve Him; He is asking for absolute loyalty to His commission, a faithfulness to what we discern when we are in the closest possible fellowship with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is not the same as the call— the need is the opportunity to exercise the call. The call is to be faithful to the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him. This does not imply that there is a whole series of differing ministries marked out for you. It does mean that you must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this may sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.

This is copied from my devotional this morning, My Utmost for His Highest, and it really reminded me of why I do, what I am doing. It is not for man that I chose to get in to this profession and it was truly God that called me in to the ministry. You see I served in the music ministry and tech team for 13 years in Florida, and for various reasons never wanted to work for the church. I was offered the Media Director position at that church, on more than one occasion and turned it down each time. When I got the call from Nan here at Providence to send in my resume, I put it off and didn’t take it at all seriously,(thank God for a praying wife). You see I had it made, so I thought, traveling the country. Working for myself, great income, everything I thought I should have and more according to my plan. I for the first time in my life then experienced a dry spell for work, I have never been with out resources and had always been able to provide, or at least I thought was providing for my family, and serving at the church as often as I could, I was a good person doing good things. Then God made it clear he was calling me in to ministry full time, not exactly what I had in mind, you see it didn’t fit my plan.
I resisted and argued right up until the day we pulled out of Florida too come to Raleigh, that was 5 years ago this month. I know see what God had in store and still anticipate what is to come. I have been blessed beyond my furthest dreams, with friends, coworkers, and a tech team that is, as far as I am concerned the best group of folks any where in the World. You all do more to bless this church and me personally, than you will ever be able to be rewarded for here on earth, I am sure your rewards in Heaven will be great. Serving can sometimes be a complicated and trying at times, as we all sometimes get to much in our life’s, and easily become overwhelmed. It is often easy to get caught up in the negative and frustrating issues we deal with, and loose sight of what we are really doing. I really feel like we, as a team have grown significantly since Christmas, in our sound checks, implementing the Wednesday rehearsal, for Sunday services. We are also going to be having members of the praise team join us in the tech areas, so that we get the chance to spend time with them, as well as they getting to know us, and see what we do. We have already had 2 different members join us in the back on Wed. evening and it has been a ball.
As we continue to grow we are discussing a way to expand the team and eventually add a couple positions. Look for that plan coming real soon. You all are the greatest, and I know that you serve with all your hearts, and I will never be able to thank you for all your service here at PBC. Continue to serve with a servant heart, a positive attitude and with excellence, all for the glory of God. I look forward to many more years’ service with each and every one of you.