Helpless

Recently, I have been overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness. I drove by a Pinery Park and saw 50 guys playing basketball last night. First, I thought that several of them probably need to hear the gospel. My next thought was that I couldn’t be the one the bring the message. How would I begin to approach them? Why would they listen to me? I couldn’t just go ask to join their game (imagine an uncoordinated chubby white girl coming up to a bunch of ballers and asking to play).

I’ve had several situations like this where I feel like it would be ridiculous or stupid to do something myself. I tend to respond by wishing that I had a husband who could do ministry with me. While this would be nice, it’s not close to a reality at the moment. I guess this is why I have a community of believers at my church to do mission. They may not be ballers, but at least I’m not alone.

Too Much

Everything around me is screaming at me to drop some stuff. I’ve been doing too much, and it’s catching up with me. I love to be busy, but not so busy that I barely have time to breathe. I’ve decided that one can get a telling glimpse into my life by merely looking in my kitchen sink. Let’s just say, my sink runneth over with dishes. The problem is that I only have 3 things that I do in life: church, school, and work. None of those are optional right now. I need to work so that I can go to school and drive to church (and eat). I need to go to school so that I can work after I graduate. Obviously, dropping out of church would be ridiculous. So, now, my task is to stay sane while I try to eliminate little parts of these categories. My biggest encouragement is to remember that doing stuff does not equal godliness. I think it’s easy for people in the church to equate being involved in as many things as possible with being uber spiritual. However, that’s not what’s really important. Jesus is what matters. If you love Jesus, you will care about the church and want to be involved in the advancement of His kingdom. Doing more “church stuff,” on the other hand, does not mean that you love Jesus more.

Pastoral Education

I had an intriguing conversation the other day with my roommate’s boyfriend about whether pastors should be required to have a seminary degree. His point was professionalism in the church: why should doctors, lawyers, and teachers be required to have a degree, but not pastors? Honestly, that mindset doesn’t make sense to me. All the other professions are institutions of this world, while the church is an institution of God. It seems like He should be able to make His own requirements for the position of pastor (and He did -read I and II Timothy and Titus). It doesn’t say in the Bible “thou shalt attend seminary.” My point in all of this is that a pastor’s training doesn’t have to come from a seminary. The Holy Spirit can use life experience, good books and sermons, and other Christ followers, as well as formal education. In Acts it says that some of the apostles were uneducated men, but would anyone say that Jesus made a mistake in calling them? On the other hand, Paul had an extensive formal education. Why be so wrapped up in the world’s way of doing things? Seminary can be a great thing, but it isn’t the only thing.

A Bittersweet Sunday

It’s so easy to be selfish when people move on in life. This is true whether it’s a friend, a family member, a co-worker, or, as in my case, an associate pastor. I tend to get attached to people. When God decides to use them somewhere else, I fight it. Today was different, though. God knows what He’s doing, even if I have no clue. Certainly, I’ll still miss the guy, but I know that God will use him in huge ways, no matter where he is. Even on a day mixed with a tinge of sadness, God gave me a generous helping of the sweet portion of “bittersweet.” Just when it seemed like our youth group was on its way down, a couple new teens showed up today. I also had the chance to have a talk with one of my teens about his future. Plus, I got to see some of my old youth group teens that have stopped coming. It sounds like they’ll be there on Wednesday. God is not done with this place and these people. He’s moving in powerful ways, and I can’t believe I get to be involved in it.