What I Often Forget

There are tons of things that I often forget in my life. Just ask my wife. I forget my keys, I forget to swap out the laundry on lunch, I forget to throw trash in my vehicle away and so much more. I could probably write at least 3 blogs about things that I forget. But in this blog, I want to focus on something I often forget in ministry. Prayer.
This week one of the deacons and most beloved members of our congregation passed away. His grandson is in our student ministry; this is going to be a tough time in his life. He was super close to his grandfather and he will miss him like crazy. So this week I took time out of our normal Wednesday night schedule to pray for him. We must teach our students to pray for one another. It's biblical. James 5: 16 says "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
 All too often I forget to remind our students how powerful prayer is. God works through the prayers of his people and when a group of students truly grasp this and begin to pray for one another a beautiful thing happens. A community is born. Students need to know that the guy or girl sitting next to them every week truly cares for them and will be there for them in their time of need. Yes, asking students to have a dedicated time of prayer is awkward. They don't like to pray out loud and many of them won't. But, we need them to see how important it is to the life of the church.
How do you teach them this? You lead by example. Take time everyday to pray for your students. Pray for them by name if you have the time to. Lift up the ones you know need it the most. Ask God to foster a spirit of prayer within them as well. Don't be afraid to ask students to pray with you. Find the key leaders in your group and teach them how to pray for others by example. Prayer is not just important, it is vital.
This week I encourage all of you small town youth pastors to set aside time to specifically and purposefully pray for your students. Yes, there are other things that have to get done. Yes, it might be difficult to carve out this time. But make the time. Pray for your kids and teach them how to pray for one another!

Advice

This post is for all of our young and emerging pastors out there. This link is to an article by Mark Driscoll and  gives a little advice for new pastors. There is some great information and advice here. What do you guys think? Was this article helpful for you? Here'e the link!

Suggestions for Young Pastors

Movement and Growth

When Emilee and I moved to serve where we are a little over a year go, we really had no idea what to expect. With this being my first full time ministry position we had little to go on. Plus, we were moving from a decent sized city to a smaller town. And on top of that our church is in a very rural location, super rural. Not only was this not where we expected to be, it was the last setting we had even considered being in.
But, God's calling was so obvious that there was nothing we could do but surrender to it. So we got married (my favorite part of the story!), packed up, and moved. You spend your whole college career expecting to get the dream job as soon as you graduate and you even think you know what it will look like. But for many of us in ministry, we have no idea what it looks like. I definitely didn't expect it to be an average size rural church just 2 hours from my hometown. Honestly though, serving here with Emilee is my dream job.
There is a beauty about serving average/small local churches. It's much easier to see movement and growth. I know when our students are growing spiritually because I have a close relationship with most all of them. And I know when we are growing numerically because I can look out from behind the podium and see it. We have had an unusual amount of first time visitors to our church this past month and it's been obvious. I know who they are and I have the opportunity to connect with them.
It's also much easier to see movement. In our small town context, our congregation is able to serve the church so easily. When things are getting done you can see it. You can see forward motion when committees get together and work, when Sunday School classes are serving together in the community, and when business meetings are full of conversation about ways to improve our worship.
So, if you are a small town church leader today. Thank God for your calling! Thank Him that you get to personally interact with and see your people move and grow. It's an exciting thing to watch and an important thing to be a part of. God's people are at work all over the world. They are moving and growing in awesome ways. And they are doing it to bring Him glory and honor. Small churches, big churches, churches that are ancient and churches that are new are filled with the growth and movement of the Kingdom of God. Wherever He has placed you, be there! Get in and get your hands dirty serving with your church family!