Season of Harvest

random pictures

2009-04-02T06:17:00.001-07:00

One of the joys I have is teaching the youth on Friday nights . Good times.

Below you'll see pictures of: Christmas in Provo. Friends from church came together to celebrate Jesus' birth.

This is "Baptism Beach" It is serene.

We hang out here as is exemplified by these young ones!

And it is also where we have had several baptisms. Here are the two most recent that we had in January!

January I also had a chance to visit Phoenix for the first time since moving here. And I got to hang out with Anna, who is now my girl.

And I also got to connect with Jose and Jonny!

September 2008 --catch up

2008-10-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

Over a month later, much has happened and God has been continually good. I apologize for not getting anything up recently however I am in an ongoing battle with one of the island's internet companies about getting my home service back up and running. In God's timing.... Just a bullets to let you know what's going on. First about the hurricanes. And I know that everyone has heard about all of the devastation that Hannah and Ike ravaged on the island. But I'll just post a bunch of pictures to give you a story line of what it was like ... if you want a lot of words, call me 649.242.5996 (or even if you don't want a lot of words and just want to chat you can still call! smile).

Here you can see some of the damage caused by the hurricanes. The commercial building with the green roof had its steel roof peeled off like opening a can of sardines. The tractor trailer that had a steel storage container was flipped by Ike. But when many people heard reports of 80% of the roofs being damaged, it was a often just a few shingles missing like on this house.

Our small group was able to be involved in the relief efforts thanks to the partnership of Samaritan's Purse. We were able to provide plastic tarps to cover damaged roofs of our neighbors on the island of Grand Turk (another island in the TCI). Also we were able to assemble relief kits that provided some basic nutritional needs for the families that were affected by the hurricanes. The contents of the kits had: beans, pasta, flour, sugar, salt, powdered milk, vegetable oil, soap, etc. The great thing about this partnership was that it allowed the Youth Group to get involved and really be a part of the relief effort in a tangible way. It showed them that even in their youth they could help. One pic is of me and Lauren packing a bag. Lauren, even though only 4 years old really wanted to help! Another one is Kennon and Stanton excited about serving. Then, standing in the next pic is Dante, Tajhan, and Conroy. And the final picture at youth group is Miguel (!!!!) and Quinn. I thank the Lord for an opportunity to minister to these young boys as they grow into young men. Another thing that was sort of wild was taking my first inter-island flight. The day we went to Grand Turk to check out the damage that had been done by Ike, I flew in the smallest plane I have ever been in. Check out these pictures. The plane had 8 people + the pilot. and it was tight (not like "cool" = "tight", but "I can't breathe" = "tight"). The flight being about 70 miles, it was about 35 minutes in the air. The funny thing is that in spite of the relative brevity of the flight, I still took a quick nap. On the plane. But I think that part of the reason that I sleep on planes is for comfort. I don't think about being locked in, I don't worry about my ears popping, I don't concern myself with the temperature of the cabin.... which is good because I woke up sweating, and otherwise I would've been thinking about how hot I was the entire time had I been awake the whole time. The reasons that people were going over were varied: Some people commute back and forth between the two islands, some going to check on family and friends, and others helping out with relief efforts. The crazy thing is that the flight was still $200 for a 35 minute round-trip. Crazy! You do what you've gotta do. I had the seat right next to the emergency exit, and if you look past the sticker you can see the propeller of right side. the only one... so God help my claustrophobic inclination by providing a little bit of relief. I got to see first hand what the cockpit was like. And I was able to capture a few photos before the pilot told me to put the camera away.

August Update

2008-08-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

Friends, I have had a chance to speak to many of you and you are aware of the drastic changes that are occurring here on the island with several significant people leaving and a strong need for good leadership. We have many people here who desire to be fed, but the laborers are few... I am praying for some laborers to come alongside me and help till the ground and sow seeds and work for the Lord.

But thank you for the support and love that you have shown.
I have updated my podcasts ... http://harvesttci.mypodcast.com - it's still just a free site, and the file sizes are large, but it is what we are working with for now.

As far as what is on my heart and mind, I have been keeping a list of what I have learned and here are a few of the things that made the list...

I’ve learned that…

Ministry means hugging the unhuggable
saying hard things first won’t win a lot of friends but will earn respect even from your enemies
Friends can be first assigned to you and then befriended.
prayer can fuel love. Love for the Lord and love for other saints.
listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit will help you sleep better.
saving money is not as important as saving the amount of stress that you put on yourself.
just because something is free or easy doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to do.
It’s not about driving on the right and wrong sides of the road, but about driving on the right and left sides of the road.
the idea of a wisdom being in a multitude of counselors most likely includes counselors who are going to disagree with you.
It’s possible to have a concert all by yourself.
Love pursues

prayer requests

2008-07-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

Harvest Bible Chapel of Canton, Michigan is taking a mission trip to our neck of the woods and asked for prayer requests, and I was led of the Lord to share a few prayer requests for Harvest Bible Chapel TCI as well as the entire Turks and Caicos Islands with her and also with you:

1. Unity in the body of Christ, here in the church but also on the island. Although the island is quite small there still exist many divisions of race, socioeconomic status and even denominational lines. Please pray the the Lord Jesus Christ would tear down any walls in the hearts of the people that prevent his love from flowing to one another as well as to nonbelievers who needs to receive his love and hear the gospel message of hope, redemption and salvation.

2. Contentment in Christ. Whether it is financial, relational or emotional, there seems to be this spirit of discontentment, a restlessness that is pervading the culture. People claim to know Jesus Christ, but find themselves feeling greedy, relationally needy, and emotionally bankrupt. We need to learn to be content with the lot that the Lord has given to us.

3. A greater hunger and thirst for righteousness. Because we are in such a remote location, the only things we are fed from the other parts of the world is a feeling of being left behind and a growing, insatiable hunger for things of this world. This sort of ties in with the previous prayer request, but it is that while being content in Christ, we are striving to learn more about Him, know his ways more and increasing in our desire to see his glory cover this earth... everyone, everything, everywhere.

Thanks for praying ...be of good cheer

What's it like there???

2008-07-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

Just a quick video of a my temporary digs...it is a beautiful picture of God's creation.

And also propaganda to entice more ... well any visitors.

be of good cheer

Before and After

2008-07-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

God has done a lot of great things down here, and thanks to the hard work of the saints here in TCI, we have updated and completed some finishing details on a church building that we are sharing down here on the island. Check out the after picture (here), in contrast to the before picture below. Pastor Carrington, and the New Hope Baptist church family, planted landscaping. The collective efforts of our two bodies of believers... but the one body of Christ has made the campus a better place for both congregations that share it.

June 26 update on HBC TCI

2008-06-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

someone from the church asked if I could give a blurb about what's going on down here and I figured that it would a good update on a couple of different areas for all you... thanks in advance for your prayers.

be of good cheer....

Here's a little bit about how the Lord has been working.

Location -
God's been doing a great work down here. Even since before the arrival of the new senior pastor, Steven Bronston, the saints have been excited, and now that he is on the ground the Lord is bringing them all together on one accord. Currently meeting at the home of one of the members, the group has recently just signed a lease agreement to share a church building with another congregation. This is a work of the Lord that both pastors see the building as just that... only a building, not the church - the people in whom the Spirit of God dwells.

The praise report is that we are well underway to making some minor beautification touches and modifications to the property to allow it to present excellence even pre-launch. We have a decent building,currently set up to seat one hundred people, instruments available for our use and ample space for children’s ministries as well as auxiliary meetings. Although we are still in a 'pre-launch' stage, we need this space to meet together. The anticipated date of the first service is July 6th.

Musical Worship Leader –
We have been diligent in interviewing a few candidates for the position of a Director of Musical Worship. In our search we have include personal references as well as website referrals from churchstaffing.com, used at the suggestion of another HBC church plant pastor. I have attached our job description that I put together if you know of someone who may be led to join us in the kingdom work in TCI.

The website has yield three applicants: two from Tennessee and one from Ireland, and we are still interviewing another candidate who was a referral. We are praying for God's confirmation and leading.

Assimilation
As not only the Sr. Pastor, but a new resident, I am getting acclimated to the area. Moving to a new country is tough, I am continuing to try and connect with people on the island as well as having lunch appointments with people throughout the week. My weekends are full of events where I can support the brothers and sisters from the church and their families. Last week was a dog show that several people in the congregation had dogs participating in, and this week is a football (soccer) match between several people that come to the church who all play in the same league through their company.

We haven’t had anyone officially sign up to be small group leaders, but our average attendance on Wednesday nights is about 15 people. We are currently taking a look at the Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn which speaks to stewardship of God’s property… considering that everything belongs to him! Last night’s time was fruitful.

The next couple of months will be a lot of shaking, as people will be coming and going off the island every week for vacations back to their homelands. The length of the vacations vary from 2 weeks to 2 months, so we are praying for stability during this time as it is uncertain who will be around each week. Lots of advance planning will be necessary.

Prayer Needs:
Growth in sanctification and holiness, drawing us closer to Him. As we get closer to Him, we’ll be closer to one another.

And along with sanctification… unity. We have a diverse group of people and backgrounds and we need to unite on the essentials and give grace on the non-essentials.

We are also praying for God to send us a Director of Musical Worship that would compliment the leadership and with the help of the Holy Spirit, usher the people into the Lord’s throne room.

We pray that you all rejoice with us over the answered prayer of providing a facility where we can meet, reach others and grow together.

June Update

2008-06-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

HERE'S ANOTHER BLOG--- BIG NEWS!!!! PRAISE GOD

1 - here's a link to our Harvest TCI podcast that I started until we get our website up and running. http://harvesttci.mypodcast.com
check it out and be blessed

2. Thank you for your prayers... in everything. We signed a lease for a new facility today!!! We are going to be sharing a church building with a smaller congregation here on island. It will require us moving our Sunday morning worship time up an hour, but it will allow us a much larger place to meet, instruments to use and plenty of room for all of the ministries that we have. New Hope Baptist Church whose shepard is Pastor Carrington Williams is the congregation of about 20 people who are currently at home there. God worked out a great opportunity and I pray that He would get all the glory out of this partnership for the Kingdom!
here are some pics.

Look at what the Lord has done... The church and preschool will serve as great facilities for our congregation and children's ministry!

A modest place but a great place to do ministry. Now we've got to get to work doing some cosmetic clean up and such to make sure that it looks excellent. Most importantly, I want to be in prayer for unity between myself and Pastor Carrington and all of the saints in both congregations, as well as a moving of the Holy Spirit on this island!

3. God has been good and faithful in helping my transition and I wanted to tell everyone I love you... Thank You for being my family, friends and support in Jesus.

Stay cool to all my people in the Valley of the Heat!

A saturday afternoon....

2008-05-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

There’s a passage that says:
8b. give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9. lest I be full and deny you
and say, "Who is the LORD?"
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:8b-9

I thank God for the time when he keeps me in the middle ground. Comparatively, I know that I am wealthy by the world’s standards, but I pray continually that neither extreme becomes a driving desire in my life. Through the delay of the arrival of my belongings, and the shift in culture, I am learning what I really “need”. And truth be told, I still have more than enough. More than enough food, clothing, space (I’m sleeping in a king sized bed by myself), etc. What I do need is more of Him. I need a stronger thirst for righteousness, I need more opportunities to share life and life more abundantly, I need a stronger fire inside me energizing me to press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling which is in Christ… whether I have familiar faces around or not, whether I have my creature comforts or not, whether I see the fruit of my efforts or not…help me be faithful.

Today after our men’s bible study this morning, I was invited by a friend to go on a three-hour tour on a boat. This wonderful gift included a little snorkeling, light snacks but also a chance to interact with some tourists from the U.S.A. The funny thing is that I realized the stark contrast between our perspectives on island life (mine vs. theirs) even after only being here for two weeks. I don’t feel like a full-fledged visitor, and I am slowly settling into making this more my home each day.
While interacting with the group, I told them of the call that God placed on me to come to TCI to plant a church. Now a quick piece of info, a few of the staff members on this boat are regular attendees to the core group Sunday morning services. One in particular is a young lady whom I am going to have the privilege of baptizing tomorrow morning – LaMeisha (I may have spelled it incorrectly but phonetically it works). This was an ideal time to invite the other crew members to church (which I did) leveraging LaMeisha’s baptism as a catalyst for their attendance. Hopefully, they’ll turn out.

When we were out in the water just swimming around one of the tour members called me over and said, “you need to talk to this guy. He’s ready to accept Christ, but just not today. He said that if he makes a decision today but tomorrow morning wakes up and wants to sin he’ll regret having made the decision”. That was an honest answer and I responded, “If you don’t want to accept him today, that is your choice. But tomorrow is not promised and you could die tonight. Your decision to trust in Jesus for your salvation is based on what HE DID, not on what you do”. I don’t know whether he truly was ready to receive the Lord Jesus as his Savior, but I did embrace that opportunity to speak truth to this young man.

Oh, my prayer is that the Lord would do a great work in the lives of the men on island here. Similar to the African-American community back in the States, TCI is a society plagued by absentee-fatherism, promiscuity, and misguided men. As I wrote earlier about having a chance to speak into the lives of the youth, I pray that God would do a mighty work even in the young men (18 – 35 and more) and older men to stop striving with vain effort but to trust in Him to make them be the men they need to be.

Keep my focus on you Lord, so I can direct others to you.

Getting started....

2008-05-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up my childish ways” 1 Corinthians 13:11

This verse found after the oh-so famous love passage is often overlooked, but God used it as a spring board for a great discussion with our young men of the youth group tonight. Well, let me rephrase, with the young men who comprise the youth group. We have a rambunctious, athletic group of boys ages 9 – 13 (approximately, with I think one or two guys who snuck in on either end.) It was a productive night as we contrasted childish speech, thoughts and actions with those of men. My prayer is to use tonight as a launching point to help them step up and live out the faith they profess. Not just for the sake of “giving the right answer” but because the concept resonates with their spirit.

I had a wonderful conversation with one of the saints today as I stopped by her place of work randomly to grab some vittles when she said, “Pastor, do you know why you’re here? Because I prayed that you would come!” I said, “Oh, I thought I was just hungry! (smile)” But I do believe that we had a divine appointment as she shared her life of hope deferred as her husband works abroad, her children live with her mother in the US, and she is unsure as to what her next step should be. Being able to minister to people at their point of need is confirmation that I KNOW, that I know that I know that God has me at the right place at the right time with the right people of God.

I am learning to take everything one step at a time. On my mind I am continually thinking about: preparing messages, finding a music minister for our people, thinking about a long-term location for us to meet (although God has greatly provided for our needs thus far), and how to connect more men into the body of believers.

Since I have been here I have baptized one sister in the Lord, and God willing on Sunday I will baptize two more. I have heard accents from around the world and been face-to-face with people saying, “I know Jesus is calling me but I’m just not ready”. Yes, pretty much that phrase verbatim.

This land is ripe for harvest, I pray to You, the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into these fields of TCI, I pray for your Spirit to lead me as I seek to lead these souls to the life that you offer now and in the future, Jesus claim more people for your glory… and be glorified!

I made it to Turks and Caicos

2008-05-10T18:01:00.001-07:00

Sorry to all of you ...my blog readers (as if I have a big following...hahaha) I have been in a whirlwind in my journey to island here in Turks and Caicos. And in my attempt to always have these long blogs, I err on the side of not doing any. But I know that you care, which is why you are reading, and so I am going to just post short and long posts.

I just arrived yesterday and since the train was late, I had to get creative about how to get to the airport in Miami from my friend house in North Palm Beach County. So, I caught a ride with this guy who works for American Airlines who was equally frustrated about the tardiness of the train. For me, I saw it as a chance to be a light to this guy. And it gave me a chance to practice my French (as he was a Frenchman!) Pretty cool opportunity that the Lord gave me.

I landed last night at around 9 o'clock. The Paatz family greeted me, along with Michael, all faithful servants of the Lord. We went directly to the youth group meeting where I met the 20 young boys who were jumping on the trampoline, eating chips and salsa, and shooting basketball in the front driveway.

I got home a little later that night and then got up this morning at 6:50 to hustle over to the men's ministry meeting. Then went to check out a potential location for our church to meet. After that I drove around town for the first time on the left side of the road!!! crazy. I only got honked at once. (smile). then I just looked around a little bit. Came home and made sloppy joes (Manwich - just for nostalgic purposes). Following that the afternoon was just hanging out on the beach and swimming a little... very little (the water was rough today).

I am excited for my new step in ministry here, and I am waiting on the Lord regarding meeting the right people and getting plugged into the community.

Thank you for praying with me for God's glory to be seen here in TCI!

Prayer...

2008-04-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

I like to try and keep cool under pressure but I have recently been reminded that I need to simplify and trust the Lord. I typically don't give people specific things to pray for me about, and instead desire them to be led by the Spirit about what to pray. Contrary to my normal way of doing things I feel prompted by the Lord to ask for specific prayer:

1. Spiritual, mental, and emotional preparation about making the transition to TCI - continued trust in my walk with the Lord... even in the smallest of details. Closure for seasons of relationships that I have here.
2. Prayer for a seamless obtaining of a work permit.
3. Once the work permit is in hand then managing the upcoming move to Turks and Caicos. The logistics of getting stuff from Chicago and Phoenix to Florida to prepare for shipment to TCI.
4. Peace and financial resolution about changes occurring in Phoenix with the Lord's house that's under my stewardship there.
5. Joy - when I have a lot of things on my mind, I tend to focus on myself more than on the Joy of the Lord being my strength. Even as I type this, He restores my soul!

I trust Him, and thank you for your prayers in advance.

"Even when we are faithless, yet He abideth faithful!"

The Future God has for his Kingdom Work! - Turks and Caicos Islands

2008-04-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

Without further delay, I have received an official letter about where the Lord is sending me through Harvest Bible Chapel

The place - Turks and Caicos Islands; google it. check it out... it is an island in the Caribbean-area; North Atlantic. The Lord definitely knows that I was made for warm weather climates and He knows what I need! (smile)

I took most of the below from an email that I sent to a good friend because it encapsulates how I feel pretty well...

While the location sounds exotic and all ... well it IS exotic... the most exciting part of about the opportunity is the people. I have met members of the core group in the island and I'll just give three words to describe them: passionate, diverse and dedicated.

Passionate - Men and women of prayer who are serious about seeking the Lord; seeking his wisdom, his direction and his provision. Each person/family had a different story about how they ended up on the island. Whether they were believers when they arrived or not, now that they are on the island, they are eager to seek the Lord's wisdom in how to direct their lives. Individually and corporately they are seeking the Lord's direction. Finally, they are dependent on the Lord in regards to his provision - even to end of providing a pastor, which God has used to allow us (myself and the people in the TCI) to connect.

Diversity - The group has a wide range of people - some people who are from the Turks and Caicos Islands, some who are from the Caribbean Islands in general, people from South Africa, Canada, the U.K., the Philippines, and other places! I had prayed for an opportunity to impact a variety of cultures for his kingdom, and this seems like a direct answer to that prayer.

Dedication - The saints on the island have embraced their relationship with Jesus Christ and have made a dedication in their heart to serve Him fully. This is exemplified by their commitment to worshiping together, serving together and being devout in their participation in Bible studies.

I am excited about this new opportunity and the plan is to be in place by mid-May. However, between the end of this time here (April 23rd) and when they are estimating they want me in place (May), I plan to come to Phoenix to spend time with family, friends and prayer warriors.

Therefore all of you, regardless of where you are, I ask for your prayers... I trust that you will hear from the Lord how to pray most effectively for both the ministry that He will do through the saints in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the church plant for his glory..

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.

Excited to see the glory of God manifested on Earth,

Pastor Steven

Finally a blog!!!!

2008-04-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well readers (smile - I like having blog readers) I have been away from blogging for a minute for a couple of reasons: 1. I have been traveling a lot. 2. I was waiting for some confirmation of facts before posting information.

Thus, this third part to the previous few emails is actually going to be two parts.

On the travel note, I have preached a couple of times and have some sermons online which I will comment on in more depth later. But for now, if you choose to listen to some of these messages here's where I was.

I had the privilege of enjoying part of the evening of Easter Sunday with my family! I hung out in Cincinnati through Tuesday and I had great visit. It was rich being able to spend with family. Here is a picture of me and grandma!

The weekend of March 30th I preached at Harvest Bible Chapel in West St. Louis and had a wonderful time ministering to the people there and sharing a Word with them. Here is link to the sermon that I preached.-

http://www.harveststlouis-west.org/Blog.aspx?site_id=10167&entry_id=92850

Hopefully it works. And here I am with Pastor Michael Sust, a spirit-filled man who was gracious enough to share the pulpit with me!

During that week we took a trip to Michigan to visit "Portable Church Industries, Inc." which I'll go into at another time. Suffice it to say that this company provides resources to facilitate set up and tear down for weekly worship services for church plants.

This past weekend I went to Milwaukee to preach at Harvest Bible Chapel - South Milwaukee. A rich time of fellowship, albeit a brief time. Nevertheless, I pray that God allowed his Word to minister to the hearts of the people. This sermon is available on the iTunes podcast directory. It's the same text that I preached in St. Louis, but felt a little different.

Then Sunday night I rode up the highway to visit my buddy Jason who returned to his Minnesotan homeland after spending some time in Phoenix (where we were in a Bible Study together). It was again refreshing to reconnect with a friend from the past, see his new place and hear about the great things that God is doing in his life. Another added bonus was that we had a chance to stop in to a church that had visited recently, and I always enjoy seeing the different ways that churches operate. It was unique because the church, which has been around for eight years, recently purchased an office park building and retrofitted it. I thank God for even divine appointments that allow me to get ideas about church planting potential.

So that's been a lot moving and shaking with more to come!!!

Facts on the Faithfulness of God

2008-03-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

I heard some bad news yesterday. In spite of the wonderful 45 – 48 degree temperatures that we’ve been experiencing, I heard that tomorrow Chicagoland is expecting to get 3 – 6 inches of snow!!! Oh no! I though that the Lord had lifted drought of sunshine and decided to let Spring start… not so. This is just a light joke, but I can honestly say that even in my darkest days here in Chicago, God has proven himself over, and over, and over and over again. Whether it’s been connecting with family, friends or just needing to feel loved, I have not lacked anything emotionally or relationally despite brief periods of loneliness or disconnectedness (is that a word? I guess). I have received over 30 cards and postcards as well as having the opportunities to connect with lost connections (as can be seen from the previous email). I have had the joy of being close to my extended family and I was able to spend time with them over the past few months because of my proximity. Also, I intend to go to Cincinnati for Easter evening as the Lord allows. Even my dad who lives in Arizona has been able to connect with me. The Lord allowed him to have business to tend to in Chicagoland several times giving he and I times of sweet fellowship. Here's my dad:

God's faithfulness is expansive, and now that I’ve started writing I realize that I can’t even encapsulate a fraction of his faithfulness (towards me) in this post … or even verbally. But if you give me a call I sure would try (smile)!

Even aside from having plenty of time to connect with people face to face or on the phone, God himself has continually covered me with his presence. I have been blessed with a peace that has truly surpassed all understanding, and when I needed a Word, God always has made sure that I received it! This morning I was listening to a sermon on Nehemiah 6. And the Lord reminded me to stay on course through the key verse 3b, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” When Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall, many people came to distract him from doing the work that the Lord had laid on his heart to do. In a similar manner, God has a great purpose for me and no matter what distractions I face, I need to keep my eyes set to doing things to please him and advance his kingdom. Thank you Lord for your Word.

Friends from everywhere...

2008-03-19T14:41:00.001-07:00

God has been so good. He's been better than good... but I've learned that the word "good" is just that "good". A lot of times we try to top "good" but the Word says the Lord is good, so that is sufficient for me. I've been crazy busy in preparation for my departure from Chicagoland in just over a month. I am thankful for all of the things that I have been able to learn and the wonderful friendships that I have been able to develop over the last 7 months. In these next few blogs (which I am giving myself a time budget to write) I am going to give some facts... just the facts
Facts about Friends
Facts about the Faithfulness of God
Facts about the Future

I did the alliterative thing in an effort to be clever.
The first of the three is on

Friends
I had numerous opportunities to connect with a variety of friends from Chicago last week. On Monday (March 10) I hung out with other buddies in the School of Ministry and ate meatloaf; random fact to include, but since I've been in the midwest I have enjoyed more comfort foods and meatloaves that I have in the past 7 years in AZ! It's cool. Then Tuesday I gave one of my friends, Lee a workout that left him nauseated. Not that it's an accomplishment, but I haven't had that kind of effect since training clients back in Phoenix. Wednesday night I enjoyed dinner at The Clubhouse in a part of town that I had not yet explored. But the best part about our dinner was the conversation concerning a Young Men's Leadership Initiative. My friend picked my brain about some things that we can pour into young men (recent college grads just starting life on their own) in order to equip them for serving in the church, and helping them shore up their weaknesses. The Word says that we are to sharpen one another Pro. 27:17, so we had a wonderful discussion as ideas were thrown back and forth. Hopefully the result with be a smaller scale version of the Timothy Leadership program that was a critical instrument to training young men at Scottsdale Bible Church. It was a privilege to be a part of the pioneering component of shaping the next generation of leaders.

Thursday, God gave me a good Word on Psalm 27:4 and seeking one thing at the Connect ministry! The illustration that stands out to me was this: Many of us... wait. If I give it now, I won't be able to use it in my own sermons. I'll just hold it in my repertoire of illustrations and you can ask me whether it was one that I picked up at Connect (hahaha).

Friday, I had a great dinner with a friend Kelly. She's a teacher here at the Harvest Christian Academy, and although the school is a separate entity from Harvest Bible Chapel, we are in the same building. Kelly and a few of the other teachers have been really encouraging in lifting me up in prayer over the last few weeks as God has provided direction and guidance for my next stage of ministry. We went the Grand Lux Cafe in downtown Chicago. It's basically an upscale Cheesecake Factory, but the atmosphere a little nicer and the food a little richer! Good stuff. We had fun encouraging one another.

Then I had some friends from out of town visit. My buddies from my fraternity in undergrad had dinner with me on Sunday. Brent, visiting from St. Louis has been one of the good friends for the last 10 years and I thank God that we have been able to stay connected. He is a good sounding board and I hope that I can have as much of an impact in his life as he has had in mine. I look forward to staying connected and seeing God do some great things in his life. By the way he was also a friend that hosted me on my trip up north when I initially moved from Phoenix. (look back at the first blogs... he's there).

Finally, I was able to hang with a friend from high school! Beverly was in town for business and we had a chance to go to Bandera (good American cuisine) after a random, unplanned shopping spree on Michigan Avenue - known as Chicago's Champs Elysee. She was looking for a dress for a wedding and somehow I ended up with a new pair of shoes! Kenneth Coles... but I got them 1/2 off! Praise God.

So as I look back over the past week I was truly blessed to be able to spend time with friends from different seasons. A wise woman told me, "Everyone is in your life for a reason and for a season!" thanks mom...

2 more blogs coming soon

Cycles of life

2008-03-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

It's crazy how things work in cycles. Often it seems that God takes us through the same seasons... over and over again. Although as we grow the intensity of the seasons increase in the same manner. I sometimes think of a few days when no one phones me as a break, but at other times, I pity myself and say that I'm getting "no love". Then the enemy comes in and tries to distract (from God's purpose), dissuade (from sticking to God's path) and destroy (the fruit that God has planted in my life that I'm cultivating).

I thank God for his perfect timing of even being able to orchestrate what I am listening to: in person, on cassette tape, on my iPod shuffle list, and the radio to all mesh and produce for me one LOUD CLEAR THEME that He desires for me to listen. Yes, sometimes I would like to have a loud resounding word from the mouth of the Lord directly, but when I am compelled to listen to the small details... the small voices I am able to have even more confidence that it is no one but the Lord!

Today, I am thankful for how he allowed me to hear the autobiographical words of John Newton (author of Amazing Grace), the lyrics of Kirk Franklin's latest album, and a prayer prayed over me -- all which strengthened me in Him.

I am praying diligently... and God IS answering prayer. Can you hear Him?

Pregnant Possibilities.

2008-02-29T11:22:00.001-08:00

It's been a good day, I thank God for it. The words of the Reverend James Cleveland song ring in my head. The day is only about halfway over and yet it has been great. After sweet sleep, I awoke prayerful. As I opened my eyes, I quickly tried to bring to mind the dreams that I had. Sometimes I write them down and other times I just reflect on how closely my dreams correlated with the thoughts, prayers or songs which filed my head before going to sleep. This dream, although I can't remember it in detail, settled any feelings or restlessness that I had in my heart... it was like a completion of a fully experiential week.

I had the privilege of going to visit a potential core group which may soon be the flock that God will bless me to be able to shepard. Immediately upon arrival I was able to interact with saints from a variety of countries with even more stories of God's faithfulness in their lives. It was a wonderful experience connecting with so many saints and... wait. I feel as if I am rambling but I have so many thoughts and feelings ... all good running through my head about the hope and potential that God could do as I partner in ministry with saints who are devoted to following Jesus and being salt and light in a very needy community.

My meager attempt at explaining how I feel is this. Although I am yet unmarried, and not a father, I still think a fitting illustration is seen in the idea of a pregnant couple. It's as if the entire time that I've been here in Chicagoland I know that God has grown my ministry as a woman pregnant with a child. There is a sense of expectation about the future ministry that I would have, albeit in an unknown place. This past week I had a glimpse of the ultrasound. The vision of a potential ministry on the horizon - experiencing the presence of God in a fresh way, meeting people and seeing a fertile place - fired me up! It's like a dad painting the walls, putting together the crib and sharing the news even more fervently about his upcoming joy... that he's experiencing even now. The ministry will soon be birthed, and right now I am still preparing even with greater anticipation.

ATLiens - a trip for the Lord

2008-02-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

In the School of Ministry we have "vacation time" per se, but occasionally the good Dr. Jones allows us to slip away to connect with our friends who aren't in the Chicagoland area. This past weekend was one such privileged time. I had the opportunity to go down to Atlanta to visit a great friend Jesse, and celebrate his birthday. And as could be expected God opened my eyes to several great experiences.

First of all, the plane ride down was delayed an hour. Frustrating because I frantically hurried through Friday night rush hour traffic for nothing. However, after boarding the plane, I sat in the wrong seat. Yet God planned for that to happen. I had the wonderful opportunity to share my faith with Dave; a Jewish 20 year old from New York headed back to continue his junior year at Emory. I was reading "The Bondage Breaker" by Neil Anderson - a book to help believers understand and know how to combat Spiritual Warfare based on the truth of their identity in Christ. Now, as you might guess when he asked what the book was about, I hesitated for fear of "weirding" him out. Since I had no idea where he stood in regards to understanding faith in Christ. Typically when I get on a plane, I can easily fall asleep before getting in the air. But this open door to a spiritual conversation was quite welcomed. For the next hour and a half of the 2 hour flight, Dave drilled me with scenarios about why a good guy, husband of one wife, wonderful father who service on the PTA should go to heaven and on the other hand a guy who has killed 30 people and then on his death bed professes faith in Christ should die. As the Lord laid Scripture on my heart, I was able to challenge his paradigm of human worth, the eternality of a soul, and what a fulfilled life truly is. I explained to my new friend Dave, that the good guy was simply basing his meritorious entry into heaven on his works, whereas the fictitious antagonist - the murderer- was basing his entry into heaven on the sacrificial work of Christ- what He has already done. Although this is easy to understand while reading, as I was speaking these truths, I was reminded of this wonderful reality. That it's not about me - neither how good nor how "bad" I am. It's all about Jesus! Thanks be to God. Although I can't give the good report that Dave bowed his head and gave his life to Christ at 30,000 feet, I do have a good word about the outcome. During our conversation, I continually used as much Scripture as possible for my responses. It was quite exciting. The best part of that was when I explained to him that when it comes to things like heaven and even faith in a God we don't see, the truth of the matter is that we "walk by faith and not by sight". Dave gave me a curious look when I said that. "Hmmm... Walk by faith and not by sight," he repeated. I said, "yeah, do you want me to write it down for you?" He said, "No, I'll remember that." I was thrilled when he said that. I prayed in my heart that God would sow the Word into him so deep that truth would spring up fruit for a harvest of coming to faith in his life. The outcome of the conversation was encouraging.

While down in Atlanta, I had a wonderful time hanging out with Jesse and Dillon, friends that I made in Arizona and God has allowed us to stay connected in spite of the fact that Dillon (button down) is now serving the country at a Marine Base in Jackson, NC and Jesse (green shirt) is working with kids as a pharmacist at a hospital in Atlanta. I also got to meet Rachel, Jesse's girlfriend, a cool southern belle from Florida. Together the four of us made enough noise to wake up many neighbors in the surrounding area. Laughter, smiles, and genuine conversation marked a quick but deep visit. For example, we started a discussion about what it means to truly desire racial reconciliation in the world and in the church. My boys are quite open to learning about different people, learning from different people, but aren't timid about sharing their opinion regarding controversial things or issues. They keep me sharp as they balance out a willingness to learn and dialog. I thank God for such brothers!

Gratefully God has allowed me to connect with other saints who are filled with the Spirit. It is encouraging to know that you're not alone in your pursuit of the Lord. When Sunday after Sunday I look around and feel as if I'm surrounded by robots who mechanically - file into pews, stand only when instructed, move theirs lips without a link to their heart, and quickly file out after the last song ends. Now, I think that they may have never encountered the living God; so I pray that they could taste and see His goodness and essence (Psalm 34:8). But how sweet it is to connect spirit-to-spirit with other saints that have experienced God's salvation - beyond justification, but sanctification!

On Sunday night a spontaneous "pot-pie party" hosted by my friend Eric (in the picture below sticking his head into the frame) allowed such a connection with me and five friends. The sisters in Christ present that night are teachers at Harvest Christian Academy (Kelly and Stephanie are to the right, Kim is below) and my brothers are involved in the Connect ministry at Harvest with me. After enjoying far too much of the succulent pot pie pastries and watching the premiere of the new Knight Rider Show (which by the way is sort of weak, except for the super -hot Ford Mustang Cobra SVT - the new K.I.T.T. The special effects were cool and I must confess I lusted after this car a little bit.) for the first couple of hours, I suggested that we spend some time sharing and encouraging one another. Over the next two hours we filled the room with the beautiful sound of voices crying out to Jesus in song as the guitar was strummed softly. Interspersed prayer helped usher in the Holy Spirit. Then one by one we each shared a testimony of what God has been teaching us along with areas of growth and expectation in the Lord. Once everyone had shared we continued in prayer and song asking the Lord to lead us and guide us collectively (during that time) and individually, even beyond that night. When I finally glanced at the clock, it was a little after 1 a.m.! And I was... not really tired...but I was still.... in awe at the presence of the Spirit of the living God. It was an awesome start to the week. I connected with God, and others in a way that honored Him and increased my faith. (which has been a prayer of mine lately) Lord please continue to increase my faith. Each person present contributed and the result was a dynamic experience that only could've been orchestrated by the Holy Spirit.

Finally, I have been waiting in excited anticipation to see where God would place me as a church planter. Over the past week I've been able to talk with my closest accountability brothers as well as my parents about an opportunity that was presented to me by the Harvest Bible Fellowship leaders. the overwhelming response from those with whom I've shared so far has been affirmation in the Spirit. With each person I get a different lens through which to look at this opportunity and I have been continually in prayer about it. I won't (yet) share a specific location, but I ask that you pray for God to continue to give me wisdom and discernment as I seek to transition to the next level of ministry. I am taking a trip to visit this location on Sunday and look forward to meeting other saints of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray for sweet communion in every possible way; ways that I can think of and even ways that I cannot yet imagine! Eph. 3:20

God hasn't ceased to blow my mind and I look forward to walking closer with Him today

Learning from Men of God.... and another chance to preach

2008-02-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

Written two nights ago...
Right now I am on a train to hear Voddie Baucham at Moody Church, where he is speaking as one of the guests during their Founders' Week celebration. I have come to realize that another beautiful facet of this season for me here in Chicagoland is exposure to an even greater number of men of God.
Last week we went to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for a church planting conference. During this event I had the privilege of going to lunch with one of their speakers, Mark Dever, the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church - where they focus on knowing their members, taking membership with the utmost seriousness, to the degree that each week they reprint the member directory so that they can pray over their members and they always have the most up to date info. During lunch we had rich conversation. It was refreshing to hear another way of doing ministry.
Then a real joy was hearing Mark Driscoll speak about reaching this generation through preaching. A preacher known for being a "dude's dude" he has a bit of an "edge" but is effective in showing conviction about proclaiming Jesus Christ and encouraging others.... especially preachers to boldly proclaim the Word of Truth. Mark Driscoll challenges the young men of this generation to have conviction in living for Jesus; take care of the necessary things of life (job, school, care for family, etc.) but beyond that we are to be intentional about speaking the name of Jesus, truly considering the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, and in light of this make a stand in each of our decisions to honor Jesus in word or deed. This is a pic of Mark Driscoll and I.

Then last weekend I had the joy of preaching the Word at our Harvest Bible Chapel of Jacksonville. I brought a Word from 3rd John and encouraged myself as well as edified the saints. Here's a link to the website where you can listen to the sermon if you'd like:

http://web.mac.com/harvestjacksonville

Sermon was preached on Sunday, February 3.

We connected well and God was glorified! I had wonderful hosts Rob and Jenelle (seen in this pic with some others from the church L to R - Jenelle, Rob, Little Brian, Elaine and Big Brian). What sticks in my memory of my time in Jacksonville was the connection in the body of Christ that I experienced. With each visit that I make to preach at various churches, my prayer is that I could sense a bond in the Spirit. You know, when you meet someone and you just get a good feeling from the first time you meet someone. Nothing romantic, or strange but a genuine love and concern for someone else. A disarming willingness to connect with a new person and give of yourself and a desire to learn about someone else. My time with the saints in Jacksonville was just like that. I truly felt that as I met the people they weren't just digging for information, but cared about me and sought for God to show them how we could encourage one another in the Lord. In addition to the nice folks in the pic above, Shawn and Monica (below) also had many questions for me that ... uhhh... made me feel "loved". smile

I know that typically after a particularly strong experience in my walk with the Lord.. the enemy tries to swoop in and knock my legs from under me. I had a great time in the Lord - through bringing the Word, prayer, with people.... just a rich time ... well, maybe that's part of the reason that the last few days have been sort of tough. Mountain highs, valley lows. But God is faithfully walking with me through them all.

Even if I fall down, stumble or misstep, I know that God will give me the courage and faith in Him to get back up and press on for his glory!

Thanks for caring about me and thanks for praying ... please pray as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

p.s. when I got back from sunny, warm Jacksonville my car was kept safe. The Lord prevented any thieves from checking out the valuables in my car. I guess that is at least one blessing of the snow...reduced risk of theft? Hey, I'm trying to make lemonade out of lemons!
Later

A rant

2008-02-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

Oh! How valuable are the prayers of the saints. I have been greatly encouraged by the consistent love shown to me by my friends… but more than that my real brothers and sisters in the Lord. I want you all to know that your prayers are timely and effective! Today I got a text from one of your stating that you were praying for me at 12:35 p.m.; at a very point in time when I was feeling insufficient and frustrated. I had a frustrating experience of getting stuck in the beautiful snow, was being attacked with feeling of insufficiency and felt unworthy to be blessed as I am. To a certain degree I am not worthy, but I would never be if all I did were to compare myself to others or to unrealistic expectations. As a result of your prayers and the moving of the Holy Spirit, I am confident that God will continue to perfect me into exactly what He wants me to be and will continue to comfort me with his presence. You may not have known why you prayed for me, but God does.

The question that I have been receiving more lately than in the preceding few months is “So you still want to come back to Phoenix?” My gut response used to be yes… and in my flesh the answer is yes. But as I was on the phone with a friend last night I confessed “It seems when I hold on to a thing really tightly then I risk getting them taken away. However, when I hold things loosely, not selfishly it seems God give me the option to take or leave something. And He knows that I will make the right choice when that happens. Or at least be more inclined to the right decision ☺.

I have a big meeting this afternoon, and my intent was to post this last night, so that I could solicit prayer. I didn’t get it posted… but you can still pray The meeting is with the leaders of the program that should give me a little more insight as to what I can expect my future to hold as a pastor.

For the first time people who don’t even know me have called me pastor! Granted we were at church but it was a humbling reminder of the weight of the responsibility of the calling to serve the Lord.

What I must remember - when I’m tempted to compare myself to others – is a truth that I heard in the past, “They aren’t like you… so you can’t expect to look to them for love, affirmation or acceptance. God will be your sufficiency, your exceeding great reward.”

Some of this might sound like ranting and seem a little incoherent; but the simple way to understand how I feel today is - unique. I have had a very different experience than everyone I know, although some parts are shared, God allows that so I can connect with people and minister to them.

Sanctified, set apart yes.... that's me... by God's grace

Stronger Everyday

2008-01-30T13:33:00.000-08:00

Wow!
So much has happened in the recent past that I haven’t written about. I apologize but I guess I have been living life more than just writing about it. Hahaha. But I guess that’s the point of blogging.

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing my sister in the Lord, Tracy, connect with a great young man of God, Chad Steel as they started their new life as one in Christ. Praise God! It gave me such joy to see the patient endurance of my sister be honored by our awesome Lord. Our faithful God answered her prayers, and I believe He made sure that she was prepared for this blessed union; in spite of the many years of preparation that it took.

Also, at the wedding, I had a chance to catch up with some good friends ... all in one spot. Like Kim and Jose in this picture!
During that same weekend, I ran in the PF Chang’s Rock N Roll Marathon and ½ Marathon. While I was home for the Christmas holiday, my friend Bernadette decided that she was going to run the ½ Marathon for the third time. Being the competitor I am I decided that I should do so as well…. Or at least consider it. Therefore, I resolved upon my return to Chicago, “If I can jump on the treadmill and run 13 miles, then I’ll sign up for the race.” I successfully completed my goal, but I was still reluctant to go through with registering. After an encouraging follow up from my friend, I decided to be a man of my word and followed through with registering. Needless to say in spite of my lack of training, God gave me much grace and allowed me to complete the race in less than hours! I was ecstatic! I beat my goal of 2 hours and at the end of the race I felt victorious, strong, thankful, praise-filled. It was great to know in my heart that I had it within me to run even more if needed as I crossed the finish line. Unlike my high school days when I crossed the finish line of cross country races with remorse about not giving it 100%, I had confidence that I had run the race intended for me to run…. Wait.. That’ll preach! Anyhow, my first ½ marathon was a wonderful experience.

The following weekend on Saturday, I took a road trip to Iowa to speak at a banquet honoring the lay leaders of the student ministries that night. I will not go into as much detail about this experience, but suffice it to say that I didn’t have that same sense of victory as I took my seat after delivering a charge to these fellow saints. I was in a sea of weariness, frustration and discouragement. My first experience of being in -4 degree temperatures seemed to even permeate my ministry experience. It felt cold. I didn’t stick around for Sunday morning service at that church, ready to put this disheartening encounter behind me.

The Sunday morning drive back to Elgin was frigid, but I felt that the presence of the Lord was with me the entire way! I had the Lord being the pilot, and I rode with Him
I had a wonderful experience the following day.

After returning to Elgin, I went swiftly to New Covenant Fellowship where one of my colleagues in the School of Ministry, Dan, brought a good word about trials by drawing upon his life experiences, as well as rooting the text in James 1. It was a strong word that served as strength through the tough time that I had the previous day, as well as strength for future trails. Overall I was thoroughly excited for my friend, and thankful for the Word speaking to my life.

Before Dan and I had a chance to leave the church, a spirit led group of pastors and leaders in the church prayed for me and gave me a word of prophesy over my life.
Here’s how I felt when I was being prayed over … here is an excerpt from an email response to the Sr. Pastor of the church, the primary man who let the time of prayer over me.

As a follow up to my time at New Covenant, I want to thank you so much for the leadership that you show your people and the way that you shepard them. It is apparent in their love for visitors and one another that the Spirit of the Lord is truly present… and active in their midst. The Holy Spirit was tangible in my visit and I felt enveloped in love and peace. As you and the saints prayed over me, I was truly engulfed in the presence of God. I literally felt as if God was kneeling down beside me with His arm draped over me and encouraged my spirit. Thank you thank you thank you for your prayers. They were fervent and effectual. I received from the Lord greatly.
It was a time when the Lord was filling me, blessing me, confirming His presence and guidance in my life.

Later that afternoon, I sent off a friend on her first mission trip, as she set out for a three-month stint in India. Pyary was one of the people who has helped me feel loved and accepted in the Chicagoland area, and within the Harvest family. It was back in September on my birthday when she shared her vision to be a missionary overseas with our group of friends. Therefore, I sense a strong link of “love for ministry” between Pyary and me. Her perspective on life, friends and faith is lovingly conveyed through her compassionate responses to everyone around her. Pyary is an effective listener who is quick to try to relate to others. This is one of the many reasons that I think God has prepared her for this missionary ministry work in India. For example, it wasn’t until I began my friendship with Pyary that I learned about the southern part of India having Christians, while the northern part of the country being unsaved. I grew up around many Indians from the northern part, who were predominantly Hindu. As this small group of people came around Pyary to commission her to the Lord’s work, we enjoyed good food, meaningful conversations, communion and sweet prayer. Again, I could sense the tangible presence of the Lord in that place. As a result, it was confirmed in my heart that I was connected, loved, and useful for the kingdom work here in Chicago

Throughout that week I was still encouraged in my heart and felt light. That week coincidentally was also the week of prayer for harvest bible chapel. Specifically, Thursday night we had a time of prayer at the church. I found myself in the midst of a the congregation lifting up prayers. One of the many fallacies that struck me during this time was the tendency to be over structured in our churches. Specifically, the night of prayer was organized with an agenda such that there were four stations between which the people in attendance were to rotate, praying for specific things at each. As I left station one proceeding to station 2 I looked to my left and saw a guy sitting there with tears coming off the nose of his bowed down head. I thought, “This is absurd. We have four stations to pray for these long lists of requests, but no opportunity has been given for us to pray for one another.” I put down the list and walk over to him and say, “Can I pray for you? What’s going on?” And I proceeded to pray for my new friend and just minister to him at his point of need. It was God’s gentle way of reminding me to organize, and yet remain sensitive to the Spirit.

I feel as if I have been closer to the Lord than I have for a while. His faithfulness is covering me, giving me peace and guiding even the small decisions in my life – whether to take one route to the store or another. Although that practice could be equally entangling, in regards to being fearful about doing anything, I have learned to slow down a bit. Literally… like in regards to my driving. That, in and of itself, is near miraculous. But really, any fruit of the Holy Spirit – in this instance, self-control is not because of my great capacity to do such but because of His leading.

Last weekend was also great! The Connect Ministry of Harvest Bible Chapel, geared toward 20’s and 30 somethings took Friday, Saturday and Sunday to retreat to our camp just outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Several different facets of the retreat combined to help me be reminded about truths that the Lord has been speaking into my life.

The first shock was the considerable amount of snow. Since Michigan is on the opposite side of Lake Michigan from Chicago, it gets a substantially greater amount of the beautiful winter weather in light, fluffy powder form. As we walked through the camp, there were areas where the snow was literally up to my knees. Although that may not seem foreign to my friends who ski often, I have not experienced that much snow in well over a decade and a half. It was a winter wonderland where we went tubin’ and sledding down hills. Even just walking through the still, crisp air hearing silence in a rare form, I was reminded of the awesomeness of God’s creation.

These are some random friends from the retreat. They are participating in an activity that I helped put together.... like an Amazing Race

I even saw snowflakes in a new way. Perhaps I just have never really investigated snowflakes. For about 15 minutes the beauty of the unique shapes, variation and perfection of the snowflakes mesmerized me. The snow was dry and powdery, unlike other snow that I had experienced before, and it was truly magnificent to think that God has caused each snowflake (and there was an abundance of them) to be formed. There is nothing that stands outside of his sovereignty.

The sessions that were taught were insightful as I was challenged on the concept of brokenness. Surely, that is something that was not taught in the church where I was raised, but even in recent times there hasn’t been a call to be broken before the Lord. I think it’s because of the fear of brokenness. At least it is for me; a fear of pain, suffering, trouble, frustration and separation from God. At times I think to myself, “I’ve had enough of being alone, lonely, and frustrated without God having to ‘break’ me even more.” God is opening my eyes to the fact that what I fear is precisely the point of brokenness. As I truly depend on God He will carry me through each of these tough times as I continually give up my efforts to do everything and even anything outside of his strength. I am thankful for this revelation to my heart as I learn more about Him.

I still do not have a definitive answer in regards to where I will be placed for the Church Plant that God would have me to pastor. I am praying fervently for wisdom for myself as well as for the leaders under whose authority I serve. Please pray with me.

My spirits are lifted, I am encouraged and I thank God for each chance I have to connect with other saints of God – new and past friends. Pray that I can continue to draw yet closer.

God is encouraging me...

2008-01-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

This was written on Friday night…. Just didn’t have time to post it yet.

Tonight I had a great time. I met up with a new friend at a familiar place. One of my favorite places to eat – Sweet Tomatoes. I joked with a lot of friends before coming to Chicago that all I needed was an L.A Fitness and a Sweet Tomatoes in a nearby vicinity.

Well I ended up joining Lifetime Fitness – aka, the country club- and putting my LA Fitness membership on hold during my time here. However God did provide a Sweet Tomatoes. Yesterday I was joking with a friend at church telling him that I would at times go to Sweet Tomatoes with a stack of books and a paper to write and I would sit down for 3 to 4 hours, spending the time eating and writing and eating and writing and eating and… well you get the idea. So, this new buddy, Brian, who also goes to the Connect Ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel on Thursday nights agreed to meet at Sweet Tomatoes to help me feed my addiction. We sat and talked for FOUR HOURS. I guess it was prophetic what I said about spending that much time there yesterday.

The time sitting and talking was refreshing. Learning about a new brother in the Lord was encouraging and it’s cool that every time I lose a connection with someone, God allows me to connect with someone else. Not exactly in the same way, but in such a way that my friendship needs are satisfied … at least for the time being.

I believe God is trying to show me NOT to be dependent on human connections, but instead to depend on him and him alone to be the friend who sticks closer than a brother. To count on Him to be the one who I can always go to, depend on, and talk to – without having to worry whether my text message will wake Him up or if it’s too late to call.

I thank God for reminding me of balance in my daily life and in my relationships.

Answers to prayer… for now… with great expectation

2008-01-02T19:41:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I am excited to be back in the ridiculously windy city. Although the reason for it’s moniker of being the “Windy City’ harkens back to the political campaigning of yesteryear, I would strongly assert that the 7 degree temperatures that we have experienced would give another reason for the city to be named the windy city.

As a quick update on what’s been going on… I spent December 22 – 29 in the beautiful Valley of the Sun and had a great opportunity to connect with many friends and my parents. I saw new babies that have been born over the last few months, rejoice with the babies that have really sprouted up, and met some new brothers in the Lord who are doing great ministry in Phoenix. This is a VERY brief synopsis of the holiday because of the weight of what’s on my heart to write.

Over this holiday break, I was really seeking God about whether my desire to come back to Phoenix was fueled by a selfish desire to be back in the warm weather, at the comfort of my house, or proximity to many familiar people. After some time of prayer and solitude, through reflection and conversations with several other saints, I am confident that God has a great work for me to do…and yes there is a strong indication in my spirit that Phoenix would be such a place. However, that is not fully my decision. If I am to plant a Harvest Bible Chapel, there are several prayers that would need to be answered; and although they seem large to me, NOTHING is too hard for God. Here they are:
• God, please move in the hearts of the leaders here in Chicago to affirm this ministry opportunity.
• Lord, faithful provider, please bring financial provision for the balance of the support that I need to raise, as well as sufficient and even above what I can ask or think to do a work in Phoenix.
• Heavenly Father, please give me wisdom about how to communicate this opportunity to friends, potential ministry partners, and whomever else the Lord would have me speak with.
• Regardless of where I end up keep me in the center of your will Lord. Protect me from attacks of the Enemy, sharpen my eyes to see your will, keep my ears open to hear your voice, and strengthen my legs to walk in your way
• Please God, bring leaders that can come around and support the vision – your vision.

If the Lord leads you to pray anything additionally please allow Him to use your prayers to further His Kingdom work! It’s all about the Kingdom.

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me about the recent sermon that I gave. I also welcome criticism as I hone the skills that God has given me.

Be of good cheer.

I preached a sermon....

2007-12-19T16:05:00.000-08:00

I have so much to be thankful for that I don’t really know where to start. First I apologize for the long hiatus since my last blog entry. Things have been a little busy and things have been good. From a ministry standpoint, I have just returned from preaching at Harvest North Palm Beach County, just north of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida....AND.... I don't have a lot of time to recount my time down there. So... what I'll do instead is let you just listen to my sermon. Check it out.
here is the link. www.harvestnpbc.org on the lower right hand corner click on the link to listen to the sermon. PLEASE post comments and let me know what you think. Until later.... peace! I'll give more details about the visit to Florida soon... I am looking forward to being back in Phoenix this weekend - PRAISE THE LORD

God is teaching me

2007-12-04T09:42:00.000-08:00

Below is an excerpt from an email reply that I sent to a friend today... just thought it would be helpful for those of you who want to know how I feel and what is going through my head

I am doing well. I think from time to time how nice it would be to be in a relationship.. but yesterday, especially, I was comforted by the God of all comfort. I was physically alone all day, but not once did I feel lonely. I had confidence that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I dropped to my knees last night and found myself praying for a lot of my single brothers that God would comfort them... however they need to be ministered to. That is a personal note.

Work is not "hard" right now per se. Remember I came from working three jobs and being a student simultaneously, time wise... the tough part is NOT having a lot to do. I hate wasting time and I don't want to waste any time. The hard thing is staying focused. You know the saying, "it's easy to stay organized when you are busy". I am learning in the program, but I have come to realize that the reason that I am here is to: 1. reconcile broken relationships with whomever I have broken ones 2. to grow to trust in my dependency on God 3. To learn ALL OVER AGAIN (smile) how to reach out to people who are unlike me and people who need a touch from the Lord but don't know how to ask. I have been privileged to know Him intimately and I have a call to help others walk closer to Him and with Him.

I am encouraged...

heart...

2007-11-29T07:06:00.000-08:00

Prov. 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Luke 6:45 for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Yes, both of these are the conclusions of two different verses, but both are in reference to the thoughts of the heart. I am reading a book called, Good to Great in the Eyes of God, by Chip Ingram. I have just started, but one of the keys points he reminded me of from the beginning was that in order to be great in the sight of God. You have to think great thoughts. You know, whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are lovely, if there is anything praise worthy think on these things.... paraphrase. So over the last couple of days I have been pretty conscientious of what I am dwelling on. Sure, we should always be, but what I noticed was the significant difference in the way that I have slept. When I have spent some extended time in worship: singing, reading the Word, prayer, just sitting, giving God a chance to clear my head and resolve any "outstanding issues" my sleep is much more peaceful. Not groundbreaking news to many I know, but it is a reminder for me.

Thus, the reason for the quotes at the beginning is that I am trying to be more intentional about speaking into other people's lives out of the overflow of the Lord's work in my life. However that is not possible if, my heart is not absorbed by the Spirit of God and the things of the Lord; whether that is Scripture, wisdom, a song, or even just a peace. I can't speak peace, if I don't have peace....that's real. I would say that is a big struggle that I am facing - resting in the peace of God. Peace about where I am physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally with others and relationally with God. Peace. Pray for me that the peace of God would saturate me, even my very life, so that I am swift to hear the voice of the Lord, and slow to speak aside from the leading of the Lord. That my eyes would be open to see the great things that He is doing in my life and even that I can remember the great things he has done...whether in the valleys or on the mountaintops.

hope for the hopeless?

2007-11-28T19:23:00.000-08:00

When I went back to Cincinnati for the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a great time. However, when I showed my younger cousin my blog she said, “It looks like all you do is travel around a lot”. Then I realized that most of my blogs … if not all have revolved around my travel to some place or another. Hence, the outcome was the façade that my whole life is just one big trip. Not so. Thus, although I am writing this blog after returning from yet another trip, I have decided to share more of my feelings about life and stuff. Is that alright.????

My thought for this entry is this: Have you ever looked into the eyes of someone and saw desperation? This weekend, I had the distinct opportunity to connect with a few people that I know and meet some new friends. The unfortunate common link between them all was the emptiness of an unfulfilled life. I don’t think that any of them know the Lord. At least not 3 of the four. The image that remains etched in my head from each of these 3 guys is the desire to know answers… I don’t know if I can accurately describe the look. For two of the guys, it was weariness from working for years and years and not having too much to show for it. A flat screen, a nice car, a well taken care of child and/or grandchild(ren); but a look of being lost and confused. These guys were saying, I’m at the end of my rope .. I know I need more but I don’t know where to turn or what to do. However I didn’t feel that I had the authority or the platform to speak into their lives. So, I listened. That’s all I could do. Each of them was defensive … in their own unique way.

It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. How do you respond to looking into a big, gaping hole of emptiness? Staring into a shell of a person, knowing that they need the Spirit to fill them. I guess the first step is to pray. I felt utterly hopeless because I didn’t have the direct answer. Yet… they didn’t ask any questions? This is the tension of ministering to people. Most people don’t eve realize that they have a problem.

Which leads me to one of the discussions that we had in our time here at the School of Ministry. There are green apples and red apples. Green apples are not ready to the hear the truth of the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ - whereas red apples are ripe to receive the gospel. Thus, do I pray for more red apples or an opportunity to help the green apples mature and open their eyes to the fulfilling truth? How do I pray?

Last week.... a full week part 2 of 2

2007-11-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I sort of lost momentum and now what was recent news has become stale. To finish that week it was good. Friday night went to a high school football game and rooted for the Prairie Ridge Wolves. It was cool to reminisce about the days of being a drum major in my high school band at Princeton High... sigh.. that was cool. Anyhow, that was Friday.

Saturday morning I taught at a men's breakfast from Ephesians 4 on how we can grow in unity in the body of Christ. There were about 35 guys there, and I think I was well received but I don't like to evaluate myself.

Later that day we went to Davenport, Iowa to visit a church plant that Harvest Bible Chapel has in the city. It was an enjoyable trip full of Midwestern casseroles, deserts and down to earth people. As I visit a larger number of the current church plants I get a better picture of the work of God (present)... and the hope of the future work of God which is yet unseen in my life!

He's faithful. More to follow....

Last week... a full week Part 1 of 2

2007-11-06T08:29:00.000-08:00

The saying is true… if you don’t write down what has happened in your life.. you will definitely forget it. So this two part entry is the result of me trying to recount an entire week in a two entries... I think I am going to try to make two entries per week instead of one. It'll make it more interesting for you and less cumbersome for me. This is a pic of my class of guys.. with Joe Stowell IV in the center - he's the executive pastor at Harvest

A few of my friends have asked me whether I have had any teaching. Sunday morning I had the privilege of completing the third class of a course on Characteristics of Biblical Leadership. The first week I was a little frustrated in the fact that there were only 4 people that showed up. Wait! The reason I was frustrated was because I was expecting 7 people! So just more than half of the expected number showed up. God doesn’t measure ministry by numbers but by hearts! I went ahead with that truth and poured out my heart to these saints. We had a good time!!! Talking about Character, responsibility and disciplines of a godly leader. God convicted me to continue to strive for excellence in each of these areas and I learned as I taught. God is so good.

Then during the first part of the week we went to a Waterpark… Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Steven, the high temperature in Chicago is about 50 degrees right now. How in the world did you go to a waterpark? Well, to top it off the park we went to was in Wisconsin! The city of Wisconsin Dells is like THE waterpark capital of the Midwest. The School of Ministry guys, their wives and kids all went and owned this park for about a day and a half. Here’s a link to check it out if you want. If ever in the area it would be worth your time. I even had a chance to ride this thing called a flowmaster. It’s a “wave machine” that you can use to train to surf or boogie board. I was able to ride it for a couple of minutes, although I wiped out a few times. Check it out: http://kalahariresort.com/hub/

While I was there, I was able to experience a time of refreshment. I was able to step away from distractions of the television, class, computer, cooking, everything…. I was able just to think and sit. During some time of extended prayer and meditation God calmed my heart and reminded me that I was exactly where I need to be for this season. I am praying that He’ll continue to reveal his will in my life step by step! I am sure He will.

We returned on Wednesday night and I hustled to a nearby barbershop that I had previously visited but experienced horribly unfriendly people. This time I found a good barber at that same shop! Even though it seems small, finding a good barbershop is critical! Here’s the story - I drove down to the shop and it was Halloween. As I walked in at 3:24 p.m. the barber said, “We close at 4 because we have to get ready for the Halloween party”. I responded, “ So, what? Is it going to take you thirty minutes to cut my hair?” He laughed and said, “I’m just saying…” Then I said, “Hey, so I’m not invited to the party?” this short discourse started a friendly banter. Dewon was a great barber, who was down to earth and friendly. It was cool. Hopefully this will continue. He was a little crude in his speech, but it was comical and I was able to share with him the reason that I was here in town. I opened a door for spiritual conversations, and he shared how he was turning his life around from some bad decisions. I thank God for not only a good barber, but also an opportunity to witness and be a light. Faithful God.

Thursday nights I go to Harvest’s Young Adult Ministry meeting called Connect. One of my prayer requests that I have shared with many of you has been that I could meet some good like-minded people. I’m not just talking other Christians, but people who value genuine fellowship and want to reach out to others. Well, this past Thursday I had the task of running the 1st Connect Cornhole tournament. Now , Cornhole is a Midwestern game similar to horseshoes. However, instead of tossing horseshoes and trying to get them around a pole, you toss a bag fills with corn kernels and try to land them in the hole of the board on the opposing side. By running this tournament I was able to meet about 50 people. Now really,…. I don’t have a problem meeting people, but I have not found Chicagoans to be particularly friendly. This role of organizing this little tourney allowed me to interact with people who I may have otherwise never spoken to. It was a lot of fun, even though I was at church until about 11 o’clock at night. Hahahah. Playing Cornhole.. funny huh? Time well spent. And yet another praise that God has allowed me to connect with people.

Weekend away....to the sunshine state

2007-10-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

Things this week are going great! Last weekend I was privileged to go to Jupiter, Florida with the Dean of the program to visit one of the church plants that was started by a graduate of the Harvest School of Ministry from last year - Jeremy Hill. But I'm going to recount the weekend in a somewhat of a chronological order.

God knew that I needed time away from Chicago in the sun! Although the weather was somewhat mild in Chicago, there is NOTHING that compares to sitting on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean. It was only partly sunny and as a matter of fact on Saturday when I was at the beach, it started to rain, but it was a glorious day nonetheless. I had a chance to hang out with a dear friend Christin, who made the long drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Jupiter to show me some love. I was grateful for having a relaxing afternoon on the beach with a good friend.

Jeremy and his wife Jo, moved down there with their three kids from Chicagoland (a new term I learned when moving to the area, sort of like living in the Valley even if you aren't in the city of Phoenix proper). It was a great time to see God using one of his young men for mighty things. It gave me a good idea of what to expect when working with a core group, how to plan out your week, what it's like to settle into a new area where you will be ministering, and more. I learned a lot from observation, and I had some time to just pick his brain, about the School of Ministry and the transition to the next step.

Sunday afternoon, post church and after a good lasagna lunch, I had an opportunity to kick it with Jeremy and his family. His in-laws joined us as well before they had to drive over to Tampa. Playing games such as "I Spy" out of the book. As you can see, Dr. Jones (the dean of the School of Ministry) is schooling Jo and Zeke in this intense game of observation.

After allowing the in-laws to take off, Jeremy and his gang took David and I to the beach. David had not yet had a visit to the beach. So we had a chance to hang out at Loggerhead Beach. Eli - short for Elijah, the middle son - was giving me lessons on how to boogie board. The water was great, and it was a true time of refreshing.

Right now I am thankful for the ministry that God is doing through Jeremy and the future connection that we'll have serving the Lord at Harvest in the future.

Please pray for me as I seek to clearly hear the voice of the Lord through this season of learning.

Dinner in the city.... Nate represents the Czech

2007-10-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

October 18.
So in an effort to be more on top of my blogging as I attempt to launch, I am going to try to take some notes throughout the day. Today we have a guy who’s come in to give us personality assessments. Although part of the typical process of applying for the residency program was to take a DISC profile before entering the program, somehow I missed that step. The last time that I can recall taking any sort of personality profile was when I started working at General Mills. I believe that was the Myers-Briggs profile.

Well, as I wait for my pencil, I’ll go ahead and share about last night. I went to Chicago to hang out with a buddy, Nate, who is currently a missionary to the Czech Republic working with Josiah Venture in Youth Ministry. Also, Sarah, a friend that I met at Scottsdale Bible Church a few years back, who moved to Chicago and allowed me to reconnect with. I am thankful for the good friends.

I am also thankful that we DIDN’T HAVE PIZZA!!!! Every time … well a lot of the time when people have guests over… especially in Chicago everyone feels that it is necessary to have pizza. Really folks… let’s expand a little bit. I have eaten more pizza during the 7 weeks that I have been here than I have eaten in the past two years (barring somaNorth dinners ☺ from that statistic)

Anyhow we hung out at Mark and Kristin’s house (gracious hosts) who have a cool upper level flat (apt.) just outside of downtown Chicago, but still part of the city. A newlywed couple who –individually as well as collectively - comprise the epitome of athleticism. Hopefully I’ll get to know them better as well as other friends that were present – Pyary Jessica, and Natalie aka PW.

All for now…

A praise...

2007-09-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

As I was writing an email to a friend I was struck by the truth that the Lord spoke to my heart... so I just decided to post this excerpt that explains my heart of thankfulness.

"God continually allows me to stay connected with people who speak into my life and show me love. There have not been more than two days when I have not spent extended time on the phone, had a face-to-face interaction, or received a card or gift from someone in my life. He continually reminds me that I am loved and I am thankful."

That was my prayer request as I left Phoenix, that I would just be reminded of the Lord's love even when I am away from everyone familiar, and God has done just that.

First Blog

2007-09-20T13:42:00.001-07:00

Considering that there is a two hour time difference and I have not had a chance to even speak with everyone that I left behind or connect with them, I figured a good way to keep everyone up to date on my life and ministry is to post blogs at least once a week and perhaps even more frequently than that. Given that I haven't been able to consistently make journal entries, I figure that I'll set myself up for success through realistic expectations. So I'll start off with a breakdown of what has happened in my life thus far, for the first few posts. Don't expect chronological order considering that I'm always sort of random.

Getting settled in:
The drive across country was great. I enjoyed cruising through the southwest, even not minding the barren lands of North Texas and Oklahoma. It made the drive easy. Just pop in the iPod and ride out!

I had a chance to hang with a good friend Brent while passing through St. Louis, and at the same time visited my alma mater Washington University. It was cool to see a lot of the changes that had occurred on campus, and yet the few things that had remained the same.

When I arrived in Chicago... actually let me clarify. I'm in the NorthWest suburbs so I am about 30 miles northwest of the Chicago in the city of Elgin, IL - known for its casino riverboats and farmland that is being eaten by suburban sprawl. I found an apartment on the second level with a cool balcony so I can sit out and watch people in the complex walk by. It's right next to the pool, although unfortunately it's not really hot enough to use it. The tough part about moving to a new place is getting started over from scratch. Thanks to some good friends I came with plenty of food and snacks though!

The day after I moved in I took my first roadtrip to Milwaukee on the last Friday of August. My cousin, Jonica is up there and I wanted to show her a little love. That and I am pretty confident that it might be a little more difficult to make the 2 hour trek with inches of snow on the ground. We had a good time going out to eat and hitting a fair at a local park the next day. I'm proud of my younger cousin!

Needless to say I have been able to settle in and get to know the area.