Seasons of change

I love spring. The warm sunshine melts all that snow and the earth comes back to life. I've always equated the fresh spring winds with God's activity; He comes and melts the icy coldness of our lives and brings warmth and new growth. But one of the things about spring is that it's mucky; there's all that mud & dirty water that messes things up. The "muck" in my life these days is that as I see things change there comes some uncertainty. Too many people think that Christianity is about having the answers instead of encountering Jesus in our questions. For me lately I've been thinking about my effectiveness as a leader in my church, and wondering if what I do makes a difference. My biggest desire is to see God change the world through my prayers and my service to Him. I shared these thoughts with my mentor today, and he asked me what makes me come alive. I told him that it's meeting with people one on one and bringing them into a deeper experience of God's love. His response was that my uncertainty was a good thing, and that God was moving me away from positional leadership to relational leadership. The difference between the two is that position may open up opportunities to minister, but it's in relationship that the service happens. Maybe his daughter was right when she teased me about why I'm a pastor. She said "I have you figured out. You do what you're doing because you just want to be friends with my dad!"

Speaking of relationships, I want to introduce to you all the guy in the picture with me. That's Aaron, and he's going to marry my niece Bethany this summer. Aaron rocks! This guy loves God, and for good reason. I've experienced brokenness in my life, but nothing like Aaron has been through. He's been through some horrible stuff in his life, and since he came to know Christ several years ago God has been doing some major healing in him, both emotionally and physically. God even healed him supernaturally of a hernia, and afterwards worked for a year in a warehouse doing heavy lifting. If the kingdom of God is all about putting broken lives together and building healthy relationships, then Aaron is a prime example of God's redeeming work. I love ya man!