TBH: To Be Honest

Can I be honest with you? Can I share my heart with you for a minute?

I am struggling with feelings of discouragement in ministry. I am struggling with wanting to throw in the towel and asking myself if it even matters anymore.

Before I go on I need to back up and give you a little back story.

I went to college at Liberty University where I was a Religion: Youth Ministry major. Yes, that is an actual degree and yes I did spend "some" time in the library during my undergrad; though, truth be told in one of my classes I had a mid-term in which we drew turkeys with our hands.  No I am not making that up and I think the professor got fired the following semester.

Anyways... while in college I volunteered at Thomas Road Baptist Church (you may know it as Falwell's church and the Moral Majority). TRBC is a mega-church in every sense of the word. On a typical Sunday, the church would have about 8,000 people worshiping. I volunteered in several capacities while a member of TRBC and one of the ways I volunteered was in their youth department. On a typical Sunday morning we would have over 300 teenagers in Sunday School. To help put that into perspective that is typically more people than I have attend the entire church I work at now during a typical Sunday morning. 300 in Middle/High School Sunday School! I knew that I would not graduate and get a job in a mega-church but my time at TRBC shaped my view of ministry.

During my junior year I had to do an internship with a Student Ministry Department. I choose to work with a local church in NJ. This local church typically had 25-30 students on a Wednesday night and 15-20 students on a Sunday morning. I had an incredible experience during my internship and learned a lot about working in a local church. I left the internship with the impression that a typical church which I would be hired at would have a youth group of 20-30 students.

After college, I attended seminary at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. My wife and I attended a church which had three services on a Sunday and if I remember correctly had about 800 in attendance on a Sunday morning. My wife and I volunteered in the K4 SS class and Kindergarten SS class. Each grade in the Elementary wing of the church building had multiple classes being taught per grade level. Every Seminary student should have to teach Kindergarten SS to help keep them grounded in theology. Try and explain the Bible to a 5 year old in a way he or she can understand and than you will know if you are learning anything in school.

I have always been around and served in typically larger churches and that experience has shaped (right or wrong) my view of ministry.

If I may be honest and bare my heart.

I am discouraged by the size of my Student Ministry. At times, I am embarrassed by the number in my Student Ministry department. On a typical Wednesday night we have 8 students and on a typical Sunday morning we have 12 students.

I follow individuals I went to school with on social media and I see there youth bands, incredible activities and high numbers and I get envious. I meet with youth pastors in my city and I hear them complain about a low attendance event which only had 20 students attend and I want to grab them and say 20 STUDENTS... I WOULD BE JUMPING UP AND DOWN IF 20 STUDENTS SHOWED UP!

I am discouraged. I realize it is wrong to compare myself to other Student Ministry but it is so hard at times. I realize I am making a difference in the lives of my students but I just wish I was doing more.

To be honest with you, I wish I had the largest Student Ministry department in my city. I wish I was the guy other youth pastors looked up to and said, "have you seen the size of his student ministry department." (I know this thought is prideful and sinful).

So... how do I fight discouragement in ministry?

I give it to Jesus in prayer. I cry out to God. I write blogs to process my frustration and to give words to someone else's struggle. I have spent many hours in the youth room crying out to God and as I have spent time with God and His Word four pieces of advice have been implanted on my heart.

1) Work Harder: I need to pray more and pray harder for my students and for God to grow my department. I need to hit the streets and local middle/high schools more. I need to get out of my office and spend time interacting with students. I need to never become content with the size of my department but I need to do all I can to grow my Student Ministry. I need to have a clean/modern space for my students to interact with each other and learn about God. I need to learn from others who are succeeding in the area of Student Ministry. I need to read books, attend conferences, ask hard questions of youth pastors who are reaching students. I need to be a learner. I need to put in the time, effort and hard work to grow my department. May I never become so discouraged or so content in my numbers that I stop working hard to reach the next student or school.

Please, do not misunderstand me, I know God is sovereign... I know God will grow my department if He pleases BUT I also know that He will only move if I am working. God has called me to work and it is in and through my working that He will reach more students with the Gospel. We are to work hard for the Lord, spreading the message and inviting people to church but knowing in the end it is God who causes the growth and if/when the Student Ministry Department begins to grow all glory and honor and praise goes to God.

2) Be Faithful: One day I will stand before God and give an account for my students and my ministry. I want to be found faithful. I want to have given every last ounce of strength and breath in my body for my students. Even if five students show up to an event, I want to put on the best event possible for those five students. Even if eight students show up to a Wednesday night Bible Study I want to be able to faithfully preach the Bible as if 800 students were there. The students in CREW do not deserve second best because we are small they deserve the best I can offer. I will never slack in my job to minister faithfully to my students. Regardless if our numbers are 8 or 800 they will get my full attention, love, and the best events/lessons I know how to put on.

3) Count My Blessings: I need to log off social media and stop comparing myself, my ministry with others. I need to focus on what I have. Let me tick off my blessings: I have an incredible Student Ministry team, I have a large budget (a huge budget for the size of my group), I have an amazing space to meet in and interact with students, I have the backing of the Senior Pastor, deacons and church body, I am not micro-managed and have free reign to run my department how I see fit, I have a great group of students, I have incredible parents who support me and my family and desire to help in any way, I am able to be a full time Student Minister, and the list could go on and on. I am blessed to be Associate Pastor/Minister of Students at FBC Stanleyville. I love my church and the freedom I have to do ministry. I need to spend more time counting my blessings.

4) Crucify My Pride: The root reason at least in my heart for wanting a large Student Ministry is pride. Sinful pride. I need to nail my pride to the cross. I need to crucify my selfish pride on the cross. I need to daily die to myself and follow Jesus. I am repenting of wanting my name more famous than the name of Jesus. I am repenting of wanting my name talked about more than the name of Jesus. I want, desire and need my pride to die. I am a sinful man who serves a sinless Savior. I am thankful for the power of repentance and the ability by the power of the Holy Spirit to crucify my pride each and every time it raises it's ugly head.

In conclusion, I struggle with discouragement and at times I want to throw in the towel but in the end I need to work harder, be faithful, count my blessings and crucify my pride.

If God causes CREW Student Ministry to grow to 30 students Praise The Lord but if He decides to keep our numbers where they are than I need to continue to praise the Lord. He is worthy!

The Shack: The Truth We Are Missing:

On Friday, March 3rd the movie adaptation of The Shack will be released in theaters. The movie is based on the book written by William Paul Young which has sold over 18 million copies worldwide.

The Shack tells the story of Mackenzie Allen Philips whose youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

I wont tell you anymore about the movie but I would encourage you to watch the trailer.

Due to the massive success of the book and the level of cinematography which is shown in the preview I can imagine the movie will do quite well.

There has been a lot written within the blogosphere pointing out the heresies which are contained in the book and will probably be brought up in the movie. A few of the heresies include:

1. Universalism: Everyone goes to Heaven regardless of their religion. Jesus Christ is not the only way to God.
2. Humans representing God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
3. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit speaking words that are not found in Scripture. (It takes a braver man than me to put words in God's mouth).
4. Depicting God as a female.
5. And the list could go on

I could go on but for the sake of time and space let me refer you to these three articles if you would like to know more: The Shack: CARM Response, The Shack: Dr Al Mohler's Response, The Shack: Randy Alcorn's Response

A lot has been written about and against The Shack. I believe Christians should practice Biblical and Theological discernment when it comes to whether or not to see the movie or read the book. If you have been following my blog you know that I would never tell someone what to see or not to see, read or not read, etc.

I do, however; want to weigh in with my opinion on The Shack.

I believe that the conservative Christian world is missing something important when it comes to The Shack. There is a reason The Shack has sold 18 million copies. There is a reason the book took Evangelical Christianity by storm and there is a reason why the movie will do really well.

The reason why The Shack has done and is doing so well is because it meets a very real need in our world today. People are hurting. People are suffering. People are crying out for answers and I fear the Christian community by and large has fallen back on "pat" and "trite" answers rather than really wrestling with God and the Problem of Evil.

When an individual is suffering, Christians (myself included) are quick to say something and attempt to fix the problem. We are quick to say things such as... God is sovereign... God's got a plan for this... God's going to work it all out for your good and His glory... Humans have free will, etc.

Maybe we should take a minute and here Papa's words in The Shack when Papa is talking with Mackenzie about his suffering, "There's no easy answer that will take your pain away."

We are quick to talk and quick to attempt to fix things.

Instead we need to be quick to listen and emphasize with those who are hurting.

We need to be the ones sitting with those who are hurting and listening.

We need to be the ones to offer a shoulder to cry on.

We need to be the ones offering hugs.

We need to be the ones sitting in silence with those who are grieving.

We need to be the ones praying for and with those who are going through hard times.

We need to be the ones bringing food and serving those who are suffering.
We need to be the ones weeping with those who weep.
We need to be the ones who understand that blessed our those who mourn for they will be comforted.

We need to be the ones who are quick to listen and slow to speak when it comes to hard times.

People are hurting. They should be coming to church and encountering the love of Christ through Christians but instead 18 million plus of them have bought a book and will go see a movie which does not accurately, Biblically or theologically depict God the Father, God the Son or God the Holy Spirit. That is to our shame! Church we need to do a better job sitting with those who are hurting instead of speaking. We need to do a better job weeping with those who weep rather than spilling more ink attempting to fix things.

The truth we are missing from The Shack is that people are hurting, people are searching, people are looking for answers. 

May the church step up and minister to the hurting; rather, than being quick to speak may we be slow to speak and quick to listen. May we be a people who rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

The world is hurting. They don't need "pat" or "trite" answers. They need people... a family... a community of believers who will genuinely listen, love on and be there for them in the midst of their suffering.

In conclusion, in the midst of our theological blogs and rantings about the heresy in The Shack let us not forget the truth we are missing. There are hurting people in the world today who are not looking for answers but are looking for someone to grieve with them and be there for them in the midst of their suffering. May we be a people who are slow to speak and quick to listen. May we be a people who weep with those who weep and understand that blessed our those who mourn for they will be comforted.

Oh... and if you do go see The Shack please tell me how it is. ;)

Wednesday Worship:

Wednesday Worship

Our Time:

I hear too much grumbling in Christian circles today, and I’m afraid it’s a sign we are “of little faith.”

Oh, it’s so terribly hard to be faithful in sharing the gospel in the Bible Belt because of “cultural Christianity” and all the confusion about the true gospel!

Southern pastors complain about cultural Christianity and think it would be easier elsewhere. Northern and urban pastors do the opposite.

Oh, if only you knew how hard it is to be a Christian in the urban, unchurched regions of our country because there’s so little respect or interest in Christianity at all!

On the horizon is the question of what shape our public witness to the gospel should take.

Many Trump supporters and “#NeverTrump” folks were preparing to be prophetic toward a Clinton administration. But now, all Christians will have to wrestle with what our witness should look like in the Trump era.

We weren’t expecting this, say people from both groups. No. We weren’t, but Election Night didn’t surprise King Jesus.

Meanwhile, the ideology of the Sexual Revolution continues to spread. GenX and Baby Boomer pastors murmur about having to talk about sex all the time.

I wish there were other, bigger debates going on right now.

It’s hard to live in the messiness of this era, when we’re seeking to be steadfast and faithful to the Word of God while also showing compassion toward all kinds of people.

Can’t we just punt on this one and get on to other subjects?

Grumbling about this cultural moment usually leaves us wistful for another.

And so, we yearn for the past, wondering what it would have been like to experience the growth of the early church, or join the church fathers in their affirmation of orthodoxy, or protest social injustice and doctrinal error with the Reformers, or minister during the great awakenings, or replay the fundamentalist vs. modernists debates of last century.

Oh, we of little faith!

We will never be faithful in the present as long as we are yearning for the past. The only era we should long for is a future one, when the kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.

Our griping about the current moment gives voice to the resentment we feel because we are facing these challenges in these days. That complaint says to God: “You’ve put me in the wrong time and place. I don’t like the assignment you’ve given me.”

To which, I imagine, God says: My precious children, this is your time.

And then, all the saints who throng the stands of the great heavenly coliseum, these faithful witnesses hidden by the clouds, stand up, cheer us on, and say: “Stop grumbling about the race, and start groaning in anticipation of the victory. RUN!”

The shot has been fired. It is our time on the track.

Is now the time to complain about the cultural winds and bad weather?

Is now the time to complain about the shallowness or rockiness or thorniness of the soil?

Is now the time to complain about the way the runners right in front of us have stumbled and, at times, fallen?

No. This is the time to savor the strain, to revel in the toil, and to see the barriers as benchmarks. The glory of running the race is that it’s hard, not easy. The darker the moment the more glorious the piercing of light!

Ten years ago, older millennials were all singing John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change.” Well, it did. Now, we’re up. It’s our turn.

This is the world that God has called us to serve. And this is our moment of service and calling.

Enough with the murmuring and on with the mission! This is our time.

Who Likes to Wait?:

“What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient?” (Job 6:11)

Show me a person who loves waiting and I’ll give you a million bucks. I don’t think you can. Whether you love it or hate it, it is part of the journey we’re on. But those who wait on Jesus have hope. The waiting becomes part of what shapes us into His image and likeness. We must learn to embrace the waiting and use that time for His glory, no matter how hard it gets. We must all must wait, so let’s consider how God might use our waiting for the highest good of His glory.

Waiting can be an expression of faith, but it can also reveal the wickedness of our flesh. I pray for the former. Waiting becomes fruitful when we wait with our eyes on Jesus and the fullness of His faithfulness to the Father and His work of redemption.

When I’m waiting, whether it’s for a particular prayer to be answered or for my kids to hurry up so we can leave, I have to make some decisions. I need to be asking myself some questions, and so should you. Is the waiting itself a curse, or is waiting an opportunity to glorify God with a life that knows nothing is wasted with Him? Waiting is actually intended to do something in me that no other struggle can. It reveals my humanity. Because I am neither infinite or all-knowing, the good things that come are never instant. But as the sinfulness of impatience is revealed in me I have the opportunity to see God more clearly and desire Him more deeply.

“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14)

Waiting is not always simple though, and at times, it is mingled with suffering. Much of our waiting in this life is due to the curse of sin. We wait for things that have been destroyed to be repaired. We wait for lost souls to come to Christ. Even waiting for our own maturity in Christ is a long and winding road. Yes, there is pain and suffering in much of the waiting but it is for our good and to His glory that He allows it. The Scriptures tell us that the heat from trials can both purify the soul and strengthen the Church. So with that knowledge we learn, somehow, to cherish the fire. These trials of varying kinds and degrees are working to produce passion, patience and the kind of faith that endures to the very end, if we let them.

You may not love waiting. But if you love Jesus, you can learn to see that waiting, though in many ways part of the curse, can be redeemed for Him. It can be a joy killer, but it can also be an offering and a sacrifice of love. It can drag us all down at times, but each of us must choose to embrace it as part of our lot in life and cherish it as being among the highest and most glorious of all our works of faith.Thing about it. Out of all the things we will do from now till death, the time we spend waiting on something will likely exceed everything else. Let’s not waste that time, but allow God to use our waiting to produce fruitfulness and the holiness He desires.

“So, being himself a waiting God, he loves a waiting people; he loves a man who can take the promise, and say, ‘I believe it; it may never be fulfilled to me in this life, but I do not want that it should be. I am perfectly willing that it should be fulfilled when God intends that it should be.’” – Charles Spurgeon

Wednesday Worship:

The Loss Of A Loved One:

Sooner or later we will all have to face the death of a loved one. Christians meet this reality more than most because we belong to a bigger family: the church. In the body of Christ, God blesses us with many brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers — all dear loved ones whose spiritual bond with us will never be severed (Mark 3:31–35).

We must all reckon with death. Someday we will all confront our own end, but along the way, we will also witness beloved friends and family pass from this life into the next. Death is a real enemy — a frightening enemy. “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26).

I have watched people die in front of me. I have lost friends, young and old. Death is always ugly. Death always brings sorrow. And there is nothing wrong with grief in the face of death. Jesus himself wept over the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35). God has so designed us that death is unnatural to us. We were meant to live.

But when we lose a loved one who is a believer, we need to remember an important truth that will help us deal with the loss. Grief will inevitably strike us, but by God’s grace, sorrow does not have to overcome us. This truth gets to the heart of the Christian faith and offers us insight into the person of Christ, the God-man.

Jesus Desires You

In John 17:24, we read words that, on close and prayerful reflection, should be very near to our hearts when a loved one dies. Carefully consider the language:

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

As a man, Jesus has certain desires. He had desires on earth, and he still has desires in heaven. Here, Jesus has a desire that he makes known to the Father. He speaks, as he often has before that, of those whom the Father has given him (see John 6:37, 39; 10:29; 17:6, 9). Those whom the Father has given to Christ are the very sheep for whom the Good Shepherd laid down his life (John 10:11). Jesus prays to the Father for his beloved sheep in the High Priestly Prayer of John 17, and he continues to intercede for them to this very day (Romans 8:34).

And what does Jesus desire?

He desires that his people be with him. Jesus is completely happy and satisfied as he reigns from heaven, but according to his prayer in John 17, he still has a certain unfulfilled desire: that his people join him in the home he has already prepared for them (John 14:2–4).

We May Lose, But Jesus Gains

When a brother or sister in the Lord dies, we should remember first and foremost that the Father has answered Jesus’s prayer. God is sovereign over our loved ones’ deaths, and he has purposes we may never understand (Deuteronomy 32:39; James 4:15), but we can cling to the truth that Jesus has prayed for his Father to bring his people home. When a Christian dies, the Father is granting to his Son a request that he first prayed nearly two thousand years ago on the night before he gave up his life for his people.

We can at least say this much: When a loved one passes, Jesus gains a lot more than we have lost.

Yes, we have lost. We will never again share sweet fellowship with that brother or sister in this life. The magnitude of the loss often eludes our words. But the loss is never beyond Jesus’s words: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.”

Eternal Joy Beyond the Grave

Jesus knows he has a glory that is far beyond anything this world can offer. He knows that a true sight of him is worth more than millions of worlds. He knows that the sight of his glory will leave no one unsatisfied. Jesus is eager for his precious saints to enter true, eternal happiness with him.

We certainly taste many joys in this life, but nothing can compare to the pure delight of unhindered fellowship with Jesus. We are destined for unspeakable joy in his presence.

An Answer to Prayer

When you lose a loved one in the Lord to the Lord, you have indeed lost — at least for now. But that brother or sister has gained, and so has Jesus (Philippians 1:20–23). We may shed enough tears to fill buckets, but those streams of tears running down our cheeks will glisten with joy when we realize that our loved one’s death is nothing less than an answer to Jesus’s prayer.

The death of a dear loved one in the Lord may present one of the greatest tests of our faith. But can we trust that our loved one is better off with the Beloved? Will we believe that the Son of God is reaping the fruit of his work for sinners? If we do, then our grief is godly grief, and Jesus will turn our sorrow into great joy (John 16:20).

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15), and it can be for us too when we cling to the hope that death will never win (1 Corinthians 15:54–55). Jesus grieved himself so that we will never have to endure hopeless grief in the face of death.

In the end, death is just an answer to Jesus’s prayer.

Pizza: It's Whats For Dinner

I love stereotypes. I know I am not supposed to, but most of the time they are funny because there is a chunk of truth in them. And as far as youth ministry goes, pizza is the one and only food group. Pizza is the anchor to our ministry philosophy and model. While I try so hard to be healthy and provide food options that actually have nutritional value for our students, pizza is still my go to food! And when not pizza, then Oreos and milk.

No matter if you are a health conscious youth ministry or you lean into the way of your forefathers by embracing the Costco $10 extra large pizza, there is something vital to the health of our ministry that is closely linked to providing food for the body and for the soul.

SHARING A MEAL IS A WAY TO SHARE LIFE. 

I think this has to do with the way in which God created us. He made us to be in relationship, to be in intimate relationship. The way that intimacy is expressed most appropriately throughout all time and all cultures is by sharing table fellowship together. Even in a suburban, western culture where individualism and isolation is king, there is still something intimate about eating a meal together.

In Luke 14, Jesus tells a story about a man who is having a banquet and who invites his friends to celebrate with him.  His friends reject him, and the invitation is then sent out to the weakest and poorest and there is still room, so the invitation is sent out to the foreigner until the house is full. It is God’s heart to be in fellowship with His people. To host a meal expresses to those who are invited that they are seen, known, and valued.  They are important enough to pay for and prepare food for.

When we provide food for our students we have an opportunity to express God’s heart for them in a really intimate way. Inviting students to a meal or sharing a meal before youth group says to a student that you want to be with them, that you value them, and that you want to know them. And every human needs this!

SHARING A MEAL IS AN ESCHATOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE.

One day, we will all experience the fullness of this when Jesus ushers in the fulfillment of His Kingdom! But until that day, you and I get to take on the flesh of Jesus, be His actual body, His hands and feet, and usher in part of this experience here on Earth as it will be in Heaven. We are creating an eschatological experience simply by ordering a $10 pizza from Costco!

For as much as youth ministry stereotypes are funny and often true, let us not forget the nobility of our high calling, and see pizza as not just a simple go to for our youth ministry, but see pizza as the tool we use to express God’s heart of love and mercy towards our students!

May we be the body of Christ and provide an experience where our students are seen, known, and valued by a simple invite to share a meal together.  And may that meal be PIZZA!

My Children Need Prayer:

My children: Piper and Bryant need your prayers. They need your prayers because they are Pastor Kids.

Why exactly is it that pastors’ kids (PKs) need prayer? What makes them so special? Actually, nothing. They are just like all their peers—the same weaknesses, the same proclivity to sin, and made in the image of God, too. All in all, PKs are a pretty normal bunch.

And there you have it, the reason they need prayer: they’re normal. Yet when you put normal people in uniquely challenging circumstances, things get difficult, and growing up in a family wherein the father’s vocation is full-time ministry is definitely uniquely difficult.

A pastor’s family often functions as the “first family” of the church, setting the bar in all things spiritual and moral. They are the exemplars of ministry and life. They’re always being observed, and with that comes expectations. The church expects certain behaviors and personas from their leaders’ families.

So you can see why it is that a pastor’s kid could use some extra prayer. Growing up is a challenge all by itself—learning, growing, hormones, identity crises, unrequited love, sports heartbreak, relational drama, school, spiritual life, siblings, parents, and more. Now imagine doing all that while a church watches, expecting you to be a good little Christian. Where can a PK hide? Where can she hide her mistakes and her insecurities? More deeply, where can she connect with Jesus deeply and genuinely, not as just another expectation?

Most people in the church love the pastor’s family. They have no intention of adding to the pressure or pain of PKs, so what can they do to ease the burden? More than anything, the church can pray.

THAT THEY WOULD KNOW JESUS

One of the most significant challenges PKs face is a true connection with Jesus Christ. All the knowledge and trivia and Bible memory doesn’t equal a saving relationship with Christ. On the contrary, sometimes knowing all that good stuff actually tricks PKs into thinking they have one. So many PKs know of Jesus, but all the morality, expectations, and knowledge blind them to His heart-transforming reality. Only a miracle of the Holy Spirit revealing Jesus to someone can truly save. Pray this miracle, that Jesus would be visible through all the stuff that happens in His name.

THAT THEY WOULD FIND THEIR IDENTITY IN JESUS

When people grow up under significant expectations, it is natural to gauge themselves by those expectations. Am I what I am supposed to be? Am I pleasing the right people? PKs see themselves as what others want them to be instead of what God made them to be. For PKs, those standards often look very “Christiany,” very moral, very “churchy.” Christian kids know they are not to measure themselves by “worldly” standards but rather by biblical ones, and these churchy standards sure look biblical. But something is amiss. Meeting churchy standards still feels empty.

Why? Because it is the wrong place to find one’s identity. A follower of Christ is a new creation in Jesus. With that comes freedom to live a life made full by honoring Jesus instead of a life made harried by meeting expectations.

THAT THEY WOULD LOVE THEIR FAMILY

Pressure crushes things, and a cracking family is one of the devil’s favorite ways to undermine a pastor’s ministry. It’s an exploitable weakness and a nerve to be jabbed. When a PK crumbles under the pressure of ministry, she often blames her parents. (Sometimes they even deserve it for heaping that pressure on.) More subtly, the practice of being “just so” for the church can carry over into the home and stilt relationships. Instead of honesty, transparency, trust, and love, there is a void between family members.

THAT THEY WOULD LOVE THE CHURCH

PKs see more of the ugly in a church than anyone but the staff does. They see how ministry can pull apart their families. All the expectations can frustrate and embitter them. That’s why some PKs rebel and abandon church altogether. On the other hand, PKs get to see the best parts of the church too—deep friendships, changed lives, needs meet, souls transformed. Pray that the good would outweigh the bad, that they would recognize that there is bad everywhere humans gather, and that the church provides hope and richness like nowhere else.

FOR GRACE

People who grow up in church hear all about grace but often know very little of it. It is God’s grace that reveals Jesus and connects a PK to Him. It’s grace that overcomes and redeems the failures of family and church. It is God’s grace flowing through the church to the PK and through the PK to the church that enables the relationship to flourish. Grace is the thread that ties each of these needs together and the means by which God can grant them. Pray for the miraculous grace that covers a multitude of sins, restores the fallen and the bruised, and ties God’s people together.

Please pray for my children. Thank you in advance.

Worthy and Able:

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.-Hebrews 11:17

For many of you right now-and for others of you the time is coming- obedience feels like the end of a dream. You feel that if you do what the word of God or the Spirit of God is calling you to do, it will make you miserable and that there is no way that God could turn it all for good.

Perhaps the command or call of God you hear just now is to stay married or stay single, or stay in that job or leave that job, to get baptized, to speak up at work about Christ, to refuse to compromise your standards of honesty, to confront a person in sin, to venture a new vocation, to be a missionary. And as you see it in your limited mind, the prospect of doing this is terrible-it's like the loss of Isaac, the only son who can be the heir.

You have considered every human angle, and it is impossible that it could turn out well.

Now you know what it was like for Abraham. This story is in the Bible for you.

Do you desire God and his way and his promises more than anything, and do you believe that he can and will honor your faith and obedience by being unashamed to call himself your God, and to use all his wisdom and power and love to turn the path of obedience into the path of life and joy?

That is the crisis you face now: Do you desire him? Will you trust him? The word of God to you is: God is worthy and God is able.

February Newsletter 2017:

1.       Super Bowl Party: Sunday Night at 6:00 pm-End of Game. Cost: One side dish.

2.       During the month of February, CREW will be raising money for our local pregnancy center by filling baby bottle with loose change. Details coming THIS Sunday.

3.       Caswell Summer Camp: June 19-24^th. Deadline to sign up for camp is March 31^st. Cost: $150. This year we will have a house at the beach. Please encourage your son or daughter to attend and also encourage them to bring a friend.

4.       Discipleship NOW Weekend: March 24-25^th. Cost: $ 30 We will be partnering with Becks Baptist Church to host a jam-packed God honoring weekend. The weekend will include worship, preaching, lock-in, food, hanging out, serving our community: both church and a local apartment complex. We will wrap up the weekend by going to Winter Jam where we will hear 12 Contemporary Christian artists and another dynamic message. It’s going to be an exciting weekend to remember. More details coming.

Dear Parents:

During the month of February students in CREW Student Ministry will be filling baby bottles with loose change to support our local pregnancy center. The pregnancy center exists to offer nonjudgmental pregnancy support, parenting programs, referrals for community resources, STD and sexual integrity education, and post-abortive care.

Sunday, January 22, 2017 marked the 44th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Roe vs. Wade was the landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. Since the decision by the Supreme Court over 50 million innocent lives have been legally murdered and the number is still growing.

Below is a graphic account of different types of techniques used in an abortion. WARNING: It is graphic.

Dilation and Curettage: Occurs early before the human life is 3 month old

The cervix is dilated and the uterine wall is scraped

The baby is cut to pieces

Suction: Human life is 3-4 months old

Fluid is removed from the water bag and replaced with a concentrated salt solution

The baby is slowly burned and poisoned

Death takes about an hour

Hysterotomy: Human life is 5-6 months old

Same procedure as C-section but with a different desired outcome

Doctors are given latitude to neglect or kill a baby if it remains alive after being removed

Usually the head is crushed in the womb to make sure a dead fetus comes out.

Dilation and Extraction-D&E: Human life is 6-9 months old

Cervix is dilated, and the baby is turned around and pulled out upside down & backwards until only the top of the head remains in the mother's body

The doctor holds the baby face down in his hands and punctures the back of the skull (which hurts but does not kill the baby)

He then inserts a tube and sucks the brains out (kills the baby).

I pray that this post has opened your eyes to the horror of abortion. A modern day holocaust is occurring all around us and your son or daughter is going to be working to stop this from happening. On Sunday students will receive a baby bottle which they will fill with loose change throughout the month. All proceeds will go to our local pregnancy center.

(Information taken from (Dr. Heimbachs; Ethics class at Southeastern Seminary)