Who’s the one confusing it?

This is a response to the last post that Joel put on here. Right off the bat I want to say, I couldn’t agree more with you, Joel. These have been my exact thoughts lately. I have been thinking and praying about where the ministry should go here, and every time I do God brings me back to the conviction that everything we do must focus explicitly and intentionally on him. Of course, to someone reading this, even someone like myself as a recent graduate of Bible College, this sounds pain-stakingly obvious. Why else would a ministry be run in a church except to focus on God? For that matter, why else would we as Christians do anything except to focus on God? You know what, that’s actually not a bad question. Unfortunately, however, it’s not always that easy.

Here in my first few weeks of trying to relaunch this ministry, I have to confess that the majority of my energy has been spent on trying to figure out budgets and programming. Let me tell you, it’s very easy to begin thinking that these things, the numbers and systems of running an organization, are the reason the ministry exists. More than that, we become so easily blinded by the unknown of the future that we think somehow the right numbers and systems will provide us security. Have you ever been there?

It becomes even more confusing when we begin to see there are certain things we do or have that may not actually be bringing us closer to God. Perhaps some of these things may be bringing us further away from God and purpose for existing. But these things are so hard to let go of because they are attractive to us, and likely attractive to others. Take the hyped up games at youth for example; not to say at all there is no place for these, but what happens when we start relying on these to increase the numbers of our ministry? What happens when these things become the focus of why we exist? What happens when the people in our ministry come primarily because of entertainment and socialization? Even more, what happens when those in our ministry leave as soon as we teach them how to grow closer to Christ?

And so, while the question may be simple, the answer is not always as obvious. The answer may even be confusing. The question, then, is why. Why is the answer so confusing to us? In looking for the answer, perhaps it has much less to do with the answer, but the one trying to answer. I think as humans we have this habit of trying to find every solution outside of ourselves. It never has anything to do with us because, I mean, after all we have it all together. How could we possibly be part of the problem? It must be someone or something else, right?

If we took some needed time and breathed deep of humility and correction I think we may find the confusion lies in our need to justify the comforts and securities around us. We don’t like the idea of running a ministry that will hold people to character and conviction. We would rather hold to the things that we are familiar with and can somewhat seemingly control: numbers and systems. We would rather keep things comfortable in the name of being “seeker friendly”. We would rather suggest morality than warn of the eternal consequences of sin and lovingly restore a sinner. We would rather keep our doors open, hoping that somehow, somewhere a lost soul will come to us looking for answers than go out into the world with urgency to tell the world that purpose has been found in the Son of God who paid our penalty on the cross and rose from the grave to conquer death once and for all.

Who’s the one confusing?

You see, when we try to justify, things become confusing. When we focus more on compromise than conviction, our perspective becomes blurred even to the point that we firmly believe what we are doing is good even if it is not bringing us closer to God. However, something different happens when we hold on to our conviction in Christ. In Christ, there is no confusion. For those who are in Christ, there is no confusion because by the Holy Spirit they have the mind of Christ (cf. Rom 8:1-15). Therefore, in Christ there is no confusion. There may, however, very likely be difficulty and pain, but when it comes to right and wrong, there will not be confusion. If you find yourself asking of your ministry, “I wonder if this is honouring to God,” you have a much more serious issue than trying to figure out what events to run.

So forget your events, forget your numbers, forget vision planning. Do you have a passion for Christ? Do you desire with every piece of your being to know, love, serve and proclaim Jesus at every moment? Is it your inmost purpose to bring others closer to God?

How much clearer things would be if we focussed on Christ!

Dispel the confusion, hold on to conviction.

Re: How Would You Start?

Starting up a ministry is something that isn't easy. It's the question I have been asking myself over the last month and a bit. Where do I start, what are my priorities? At first, my biggest priority was getting to know people. Meet with this person, meet with that person. Chat about this, talk about that. It was a good way for me to get an idea of what is going on here at NAC but also to get to know the people that I will be working with. Also, I started to plan. Get things planned for the year and even start to dream and vision for the next three to five years. Where to we want to be and who do we want to be were the questions I was asking and trying to answer. As much as those things are great and will probably help me in the long run, over the last week I have started to change my thoughts. This is what I read that changed my mind:

"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But the prayer of the upright is His delight
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But He loves one who pursues righteousness" -proverbs 15.8-9

Looking at it now it seems pretty simple. Pursue righteousness and be upright and God will be happy with you. I think what I got from this is that how I should start up my ministry here is to focus on myself. Make sure I am pursuing righteousness and being someone who is upright. I also need to be praying though. So if there are three things that I am going to put in priority for starting up in full time ministry, these are them: pray, pursue righteousness and be a person who is upright. Easy huh?

How Would You Start

This is my first full week of ministry at UDAC (University Drive Alliance Church) and the question of the week is: how do we launch a new youth and young adult’s ministry? Have you ever thought about that? You don’t need to be a pastor to think about this or try to answer the question for yourself. In fact, I believe it is crucial for the church of God to be thinking through these kind of questions whether you are paid for full time ministry or not. So what would your answer be?

I don’t claim to be any genius on this issue. I actually think I’m quite “green” when it comes to the ins and outs of youth ministry. However, I know at least a little bit about leadership and a bit about the bible, so I think I may know at least where I could start. The questions I believe to be essential to answer in starting a youth ministry are as follows:

Why does the ministry exist?
Why would someone want to be a part of the ministry?
How is this ministry going to make a difference where you are?

These questions are not easy to answer. Take a moment and reflect on the ministries you have. Whether these ministries are in a church or in the community, how would you answer these questions?