Quarter Century

A big thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes, and an even bigger thanks to those who have made an impact on my life up to this point. I think people often take for granted the turning of 25. Not everyone gets to turn the quarter century, so it makes me even more grateful for the years I have had. I'm glad that my parents taught me to be thankful, and it has come a long way in teaching me humility to know that every day I can wake up is because God has allowed me to. I will admit, though, that I haven't been very good at being thankful as of late, but these last few days have allowed me to re-align myself a bit.

I've hit another minor road bump over the last month-ish, lacking motivation and feeling lazy; but the difference I feel this time is that I know how to get out of it, I just have to do it. Easier said than done, of course. Haha.

Things have really picked up, and will continue to get busier as we're well underway in February. On top of sermon prep, I have to teach baptism class (which is an absolute joy and privilege), and also try to manage the Sunday school class I was teaching before. And then, I've also picked up several extra-curricular things on my plate, so I'm spending more time out and about. This will make me more tired, but in some ways I hope it refreshes me and keeps my life from going stale. We all know that when I get too comfortable, I get complacent and start to become ineffective.

One other thing I've been thinking about for a few months now is the unfolding and evolving of my call in ministry. You probably read in my last few posts, me mentioning that I'm trying to discover something or I'm looking for something. When I look back at my calling into ministry, I often told people that God told me to become a pastor. So when I got here, it sort of marked a finish line in one sense - I've gotten to where God directed me to go. I would tell people I don't really know what's next; maybe what I was supposed to do was just stay at a church and that was it.

However, I'm starting to see my calling evolve, or rather, unfold a little more. In one previous post, I talked about being a pastor not only in Newbern, but that there needed to be a universal aspect to doing church, and how I would lead/serve on a more universal scale. I'm starting to think this could be the start of a new revelation for me in terms of a focus area for my ministry.

And in the last few weeks, what's gone on during my days have reinforced this idea. A lot of my thoughts and studies have drifted to a broader sense of being a church that is on the move and isn't restricted to a building and its programs. So far, I have no idea how the zeroing in on this aspect of church life can manifest itself in a tangible and practical way of my life, but I suspect that I will find out in the near future. It may take a couple years, but I think this is a direction I am headed.

You can even see how in my sermons I'm starting to emphasize a church in motion, a church moving with purpose. So maybe the unfolding of this calling is already starting to take shape. Haha. As it says in Ephesians 4, it's all about equipping the saints to have unity of mind, unity in Christ, and unity in motion.

I've had the privilege to reach the quarter century mark. Let's see if I can manage another.