May 11, 2010

• End of Radio Silence

  I had a good quiet time yesterday.
  
  My quiet times have been a little less routine, and I've tried to listen more.  That's resulted in some spontaneousness, but I'm fine with that.  Yesterday, I set out to start my quiet time off by making a note card of a Bible verse I've had in my head for a while.  Some years ago, I started writing down verses on notecards, punching a hole in the top left of the card, and placing them all on a ring.  It's been a while since I've added to it, but I really wanted to do that yesterday.  I had to look around for a little bit to find them, but then I realized I didn't have any notecards handy, so I just plopped down on my bed and began to pray. 
  
  I was reading "Sustainable Youth Ministry" the other day, and I can along a really good quote.  "Seeing one’s life in terms of its long-term trajectory is one of the strongest predictor’s of a person’s future success."  For the longest time, I've really just gone with the idea that I'm going to keep truckin' along the best I can, and when God wants to course correct me, He will according to His Will.  Not to say waiting on God's Will isn't important, but for the longest time, I've felt far less productive and far less confident in my direction than I should be.  I was fast, so I ran track, and I went to State.  I was good at debate, so I did debate, and I went to State.  I recognized my talents, focused those on a specific goal, and excelled at the highest level. 

  However, when it comes to ministry, I've really been in a fog.  I know what my talents are, but I really haven't focused those in a particular direction.  Youth ministry has been, to use a track analogy, like high jump for me.  I've got the raw skills to do well in it, but I've not been trained in how to do it well, and I don't really have a passion for it.  I did high jump occasionally at some track meets.  Sometimes I did great; sometimes I didn't. 

  I say all that to say: I got a little bit of vision for the future as far as my talents in ministry go.  This young adult small group thing has taken off, and I see tons of potential for it to grow because of the gap most churches have in their ministries.  They have a ministry for children, for youth, some for college, and all for older adults, but very few have ministries for young adults: those out of college who are either single or without school-age kids.  The big picture, God-sized vision would be to create a ministry that would connect with churches (like WHBC or The Well) without a ministry like this and partner with those that do to reach every single young adult in Waco. 

  We'd need a website that would provide links to churches, the leaders of all the small groups, purpose, mission statement, etc.  It would be interdenominational, and we'd meet corporately every couple of months.  These groups would utilize triad discipleship groups within the larger cell group to ensure what's being discussed during Bible study is internalized and applied throughout the week.

  And when we get done with the Greater Waco area, we just move to the next city, rinse and repeat.

  How's that for a vision?

  Now, I just have to think of a name for it...

  ...

  I'm  leaving for Georgia in 48 hours.  I still need to figure out how I'm going to get to Dallas.  I could always just leave here at 7 in the morning and use a parking service, but I'd rather try to find a "free" option first.  I'm excited to get away for a while.  I haven't missed a Sunday in a while and haven't visited another church in even longer.  On top of that, I've never been to an AG church, so it'll be refreshing to step into a different worship environment. 

  :::checks the weather:::

  As of today, it looks like weather here will be 40% chance of rain every day I'm gone.  It looks like it'll be mostly clear in Georgia while I'm there, so that's good. 

  ...

  I'm visiting James at work today.  He works with crazy kids, and he's wanted me to come up there for a while.  I've wanted to as well, and today looks like a good day to do that. 

  • 9:59 am
  • 1 Comment