Unfortunately, Not the Last
This past Sunday night, I came home to an empty apartment after a busy night putting on a concert at FOCUS. My wife called in a panic and told me that her mother passed away. It was a shock to everyone.
I won’t go into the details because most are personal, but I want to share my own thoughts about my involvement in the funeral service (and life/death).
This was my first time preaching at a funeral. After being asked, I became extremely pre-occupied with what I was going to say that could comfort the family (and myself). It got to the point that more than anything I didn’t know if I could keep from breaking down in the middle of the funeral. (not what the family needs to see from the minister)
Once I finally settled on the message I prayed through thoroughly, I was ready to go. Until I got in the chapel and sat down. It was at that moment I felt completely unprepared, unqualified, and WAY over my head. So I prayed…HARD. Read the rest of this entry »
What a Difference a Day Makes
So, today would’ve been exactly 35 days away from me moving into our new apartment in Columbus, but that’s not going to happen. We received a phone call this morning from the apartment complex that the apartment we originally looked at was available to move in as early as Friday!
So while I was planning on patiently waiting for April 27th to start living and working in Columbus, God was orchestrating this new plan.
That’s not even the best part. Last night was an INCREDIBLE night at our youth services. It started out typical, but once I started teaching I could tell that God was up to something different. It came down to me teaching through one of my favorite passages, Isaiah 6:1-8. I won’t go into the details of what I talked about, but it came down to making a choice. I didn’t challenge the students to make this choice (the typical student pastor route), I made it. Right there, on the stage. The choice I made was to do whatever God called me to do. Whatever, wherever…no matter how hard or how impossible. I guess all it takes for God to take notice is complete abandonment of our will in exchange for His (sound familiar?).
I’m not saying that it’s going to happen the same way for you, or even happen the same way for me ever again. What I can say is that in this case, as soon as I let go, God changed things. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, but anyone who says the Christian life is boring hasn’t lived it!
The Next Move
Posted by thelokey in Uncategorized on February 22nd, 2009
So most all of our friends and family are aware that about a month ago I began looking for a job after things did not work out for us in Rockmart. After a few weeks of hunting and watching God do some AMAZING things to get us by, we have officially taken a student pastor position at Wynnton United Methodist Church in Columbus, GA!
This was a complete God thing as we were looking for where we could minister to students and get plugged in to a community church. After going there to interview and meeting the students (and some parents) we are confident that this is the next stop on our ministry journey.
To answer a few FAQ’s…
- Yes, it’s a full-time job. I will be the Youth Minister so it means a lot of work, prayer, and delegation.
- I’ll be officially starting sometime in mid-March
- Yes, we have a house in Rockmart that needs to be sold. This is the worst time to try to sell a house, but we’re believing that God is going to do something BIG and it will be sold with no problem (Pray with us).
- Crissy will be finishing up her semester at KSU while I get things started in Columbus (job, look for a place to live, etc.). Until then we’ll have to do the long distance thing for a couple of months. Not fun, but we’ll get through it.
- After this semester she will only have 2 more classes to finish her degree in Biology. One online class in the summer and hopefully one class at Columbus State University as a transient student to graduate in December from KSU.
- Yes, it’s a Methodist church. Some people have already looked at me funny (being raised in the Baptist church and all). Bottom line, I’m called to be a minister of the Gospel and there are a lot of students in Columbus that don’t know how to have a relationship with God. There’s work to be done and I’ll be setting up my headquarters at Wynnton UMC to get this task done to the glory of Jesus Christ.
So that’s the big news. Please pray for the house situation and also that we will find favor with the students and parents at the church.
What Kind of Day Has It Been
Posted by thelokey in Uncategorized on February 5th, 2009
So it’s been a while since I’ve posted to this blog. Mostly for the selfish reasons of not having my personal life become everyone’s business. I know, I know…I could just write about something else, but that just wouldn’t be my style. And it’s hard not to write about the one thing that’s turned your life upside down and inside out.
I recently became a statistic of yet another person looking for a job in the worst economic times since I was born (’82 was not a good year). So I’ve been spending a lot of time on ChurchJobs.net, YouthSpecialties.com/jobs, and various “church ministry” job boards. Putting out resumes, sending emails, and beefing up my web design site http://thelokey.com (now complete with portfolio).
Needless to say I’ve kept fairly busy. On the lazy side, I’ve spent way too much time on the internet, playing SPORE, and watching a lot of Netflix movies. I just got canned, give me a break!
All that to say is that some days I wanna scream and shake my fist at God for allowing this to happen. Some days I’m optimistic and God and I are on the same “something good is going to come of this” page. I never know what kind of day it’s going to be until my feet hit the floor.