Searching for Meaning and Purpose...

" But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. " 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV) In our resumes and university applications, credit reports and Facebook profiles, political campaigns and music tastes, we are goaded to flaunt our strengths. Intrinsic to our culture is the philosophy of boasting in strength. Submission to this cultural spurring proves to be a great obstacle to the modern Jesus-lover in his relationship with the Divine. For God views the strength of man as wholesale folly and chooses the weak things of the world to shame the wise. Thus, Biblical instruction contradicts our very habit–– as always–– and we're left at a disadvantage by the very things that we thought enabled us. No longer should we fall into the trap of trying to woo God's eye toward our shabby "good" but, instead, ...

After a great weekend of master's classes and the Frequency conference at Indiana Wesleyan University, I am thinking, a lot! I am going to deviate from thinking about what it means to be a Christ follower into what it means to "minister" and what a "ministry" really is. Ministry is a broad term, covering anything someone does in the name of Christ (minister means to give aid not someone who is of the clergy, that's something we associate to it, not the original meaning!). So in theory, feeding someone who is hungry is a ministry (particularly as we fit both contexts, the idea of doing something in Jesus' name and the "professional" idea of someone who does things for the church) especially as it was something Jesus told us to do? However, should there ever be separation between the "professional" idea of ministry and the actual process of giving aid? I think not, but we've made it so. Is there a place for preaching? Yes. Is...

You know, I'm constantly amazed at God's grace. I'm still reading Titus, but today is so much more encouraging than yesterday. I mean, seriously, reading lists of who I should be (and know I'm not really that person!) versus being reminded of the fact that God's love and grace have absolutely nothing to do with me. It's an awesome realization. Yeah, I know God's grace is a "free gift" and I can spout off platitudes until I'm blue in the face (part of being a pastor type person). But, until I hear the voice of God whispering in my ear as I read His word, it's not real yet. In fact, until I hit today, my reading had sent me into a bit of a funk simply because I had heard God speak and it was some of the same things I was thinking: I need to follow, simply and honestly; I need to obey, simply because He loves me; I need to listen more, simply because I'm so loud; I need to love Him more, simply because I know how much He loves me. ...