Update: Life and Blogging

I haven't had any time to follow up on my Bible Study plan from the beginning of the year.  I still plan to do an in-depth study through Scripture on the nature of the atonement, but work and seminary have been keeping me pretty busy so far this year.

I always wrestle with what to post on this blog.  My original intention in starting this blog was for it to be a place for me to write things I was wrestling through as I got to know God and understand His mission, but since I now hold a position in a church where my ideas influence the beliefs and lives of others I recognize that it may not be wise to post everything I work through personally and theologically.  Sometimes the path of learning, especially when it comes to hearing and discerning the voice of the Spirit, can take us down some odd trails.

So rather than writing intellectual pondering only, which is what this blog has mostly been up until this point, I may throw in some personal/life updates as well.

I was asked recently where I saw God at work.  Here is how I responded:

God’s really been working on my heart as far as future direction in ministry. Nothing concrete, but wrestling through whether full-time “church work” is the direction I’m heading, or if bi-vocational ministry is more the direction. On Sunday morning I really felt God give me the affirmative that some of the ideas I've been toying with are from Him and not my own. Basically, my idea is to lead a church towards seeing themselves as a missionary outpost in the community rather than a program for their members, and in order to do that I feel that I should be working in the community some rather than spending 50-70 hours per week on “church” things.

Later I was talking with a friend who is really passionate for God but has been very inward-church focused. They told me that God has been completely changing their long-term vision and they're not even sure that they'll be working in a church in the future, but instead they're hoping to be a “community pastor”.

Add onto that, we’re heading towards a series on evangelism, and there have been at least 5 people in the past week who have been very vocal about a new/renewed desire to share the gospel in our local community.

Tell me that’s not all God at work!!