That’s a strange and scary ministry to be a part of you may think.

Yes, for most folks it is absolutely terrifying to go inside the walls of a jail or prison. How do you think the inmates feel?

So why would I want to do that?

Well, because I was one of those guys in there. In fact it was 14 years ago that I gave my life to God in a chapel service in jail.

The History

I had a couple of wild years in my teens where breaking the law seemed like the thing to do. I obviously wasn’t very good at it because I got caught, a few times. It was the third time that I realized that if didn’t change that I would be spending a lot of time behind bars.

I didn’t know it at the time but God was setting me up for a divine intervention that would change my life.

The God Encounter

One night I was in my dorm with a hundred or so guys and they called for a chapel service. I really wanted out of the dorm so I went. While I was there I listened to the guys talking, kind of, until I all of a sudden had this overwhelming feeling come upon me. The only way that I can describe it was that I felt like the worst person in the world. In my mind I could see all the wrong things I had done in my life all the way down to little lies I told my mom when I was a kid. I didn’t know it at the time but it as the presence of God coming near me.

Since I was in jail I did all that I could do to fight back the tears that wanted to overtake my being. Shortly after that the service ended and we headed back to our dorms where I followed one of the guys that had been in the service back to his bunk. I asked what this feeling was that I was having because I did not understand it. I honestly do not remember what he said or told me but I do remember praying with him and accept Jesus into my heart. He gave me a New Testament bible and I went back to my bunk.

The Impact that had on My Life

It has been 14 years since I gave my life to God in that Jail.

To say that the people who volunteered their time to minister to me is an understatement. Up until that time, at the age of 19 years old, I thought that my life was over. It was giving my life to God and learning about Him that gave me hope and helped me to change into the person that I am today – A husband of 10 years, a father of 3, a man who serves God.

Now it’s Time for Me to Give Back

In the last 14 years God has done some amazing things in my life and I am happy to say that I live a lifestyle that is totally opposite then the one that got me into jail. Jail is one of the most hopeless places in the world. Life is happening on the outside but is standing still for you. That is how I felt. I lost everything when I was in there.

I want to let guys know that there is hope in Jesus.

When I am done with this training on Saturday then I will need to go to a prayer training session at my church. From there I should be clear to go and minister in any jail or prison in Texas. It will be really different to be on the other side of the fence for once.

Pray for me that I can impact men’s lives that the way that mine was impacted.

Lonely road picture by Greenery via flickr.

I thought I was ready but it just wasn’t time.

The service that I sat in was the first and only service that I did anything in regard to the media ministry. I am not exactly sure why things did not work out, but I think there were still some areas in my life that God still needed to work on. It was kind of weird not being involved but I think you need to learn how to receive as a Christian and walk the walk before you can minster. So that is what I did. During that time my wife and I attended a couple of small groups so we still had fellowship and got to know people in the church. We are still involved with the small groups today.

Over the last six months due to some personal circumstances I saw the need to spend more time with God personally and began to do so. During that time I read the book Caught Between A Dream and A Job and am currently reading The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? In both of these books they talk about how God has a plan for your life and how you were created for a purpose. I believe both of these things and set out to see what it is that God has to do for me here on earth.

There are a couple of ways that I am seeking God in order to find out my purpose.

The first is that I am trying to spend time with Him daily and work on the areas that He shows me to work on. The bible says that if I draw close to Him that He will draw close to me. I figure the closer that I am to Him the more likely I am going to get a glimpse of what He has created me for.

The second thing that I am doing is opening myself to be used by Him at church. Before it was difficult with the kids and having to sit through services by myself and/or have my wife be by herself. This time around the church is a little more flexible in that you can tell them when you are available to work. My wife and I chose the same schedule for availability for Wednesdays every other week. We may be working in different ministries but we will still be able to be in service together in the weeks that we are not working. That works much better for us.

I also requested information on another ministry that is outside of regular services times. I will have to see what the commitment for that one is before I can say whether I can be involved in it.

I think things are different this time around because I do not feel compelled to get involved out of habit. I am getting involved because I desire to. I want to do my part no matter how small to make my church a better place so that hopefully others can get closer to God. We will see how it goes.

Well here is a nice list of updates of what I have been doing the last 7 months:

1. I quit the Media Ministry. I went to one training session and knew it was not time to get involved.
2. I quit school. Was not the time either. I was not spending as much time with my family as I wanted. Also it was very expensive verses the return. 
3. Started making some good, steady, money from blogging which helped our cash flow.
4. In addition to the blogging I got a steady side part-time job doing web design.
5. In addition to that I have had more side web design projects then I have wanted (OK, I wanted them).
6. Prayed for the last 5 months about buying a bigger house and finally put the deposit down this past weekend on it.
7. Have been pretty steady in going to church during that time.
8. Had a “Connection” with my pastor. No, I have not met him but he said a couple of things in a service that I felt spiritually connected me to him/the church.
9. Joined a “Connection Group” from the church. Went to the first and only meeting so far. It was cool. Really nice people.
10. Feel like I am closer to God then ever. I am led more by His peace then ever before in my life. I am comfortable with not moving (if at all) until He tells me it is time to move.

That’s it. 7 months wrapped up in a 10 point list.

The last 7 months have been good and I really feel that God has been working on my character during that time. The biggest area that He has been working on me has been managing my time between being a good Christian/husband/father/son/employee/business owner. It can be challenging, some days are better then others, but I am here and still kicking.

I am not making any promises on when the next post will be or frequency of posts. I am still alive though and throw something up here when the spirit moves me.

Until then…

I signed up to operate the projector in the youth service and to operate camera 1 in the main sanctuary. It may be a couple of weeks before I start but I am excited.

How do I know? It just feels right.

It was not the right time before because I need to get school going but now that it is and I am used to it so it is time to take the next step.

I have to be honest – my wife inspired me – without her even knowing it. She is the one that involved first by starting to help out with the kids. Seeing her get involved and meeting people stirred up the interest in me.

I have already put my feet to the pavement and emailed and met with the director of the media ministry. As a result of that meeting I am meeting with the rest of the group tonight.

Another byproduct of the meeting was him asking me what I wanted to do in the media ministry. I told him that whatever they needed me to do was fine as that is the attitude that was always expected at my other church’s that I attended.

Here I feel that it is a little different so I need to decide – and I have – I am going to petition to be apart of the video production team that makes up our video presentations ahead of time for services. I have not had as much experience in that area as the rest so it is an area that I can grow. I am hoping that it will fit with my schedule.

I will post tomorrow to tell how tonight went.

Technorati tags: Ministry, Church, Media, Video Production, Serving, Christian, God

Walking photo by tehtopo via Flickr

My wife received her response first and was set to attend a orientation meeting to get acquainted with how they do things. I got a call a couple of days later and was encouraged to come to the next Praise and Worship practice to meet the team.

My wife and I did not make it to either meeting.

The reason for this is that after we had talked with each person something just was not sitting right with either of us. The only way that I can explain the way that I felt was that I felt “wrong”. It was a weird feeling so I spent some time praying and talking to God on the way to work one morning about it. I really felt from Him that this was not the right time to get involved. As weird as that seems there was a reason for it.

In my previous post – God’s Blessings can be Humbling – I explained how God had given me a job that I did not qualify for because it required a degree. While I am most thankful for the job and know for a fact that God gave it to me I know that God wants to do more. I know this because I am His son and He has told me (that is another post). Anyway, my wife and I had been talking about money and what the future was going to hold for us and it was not looking too good.

See God has been trying to get me to go to regular school (I went to and graduated from Bible school) to get my Bachelors Degree for the last 10 years and for one reason or another I have not done it. I have a list of excuses a mile long which include, no time, no money, “I don’t need a degree – I got God”, and several other things which are not reasons but excuses.

To sum everything up, the reason that God said that it was not time to get involved in the ministry was because it was time for me to go back to school. With this word from God I started doing research into different colleges and Universities and felt lead to enroll at Devry University. In one week I went from an initial consultation to sitting in my first class. God moved quickly and and swiftly on my behalf to get me back into school. He moved from the administration to get me enrolled to complete financial aid and grants so that I do not have any out of pocket expenses while I am in school. This is all to His glory.

See this is what happens in our lives a lot of times, we are struggling along in one area of our lives not aware that God has completely mapped out to take care of that issue. Then all of a sudden all the beckoning and calling from God gets us turned in the right direction and all of a sudden the answer to our prayer is showered from heaven.

This is what has been happening to me for the last year and half. It all started when I quit my business and got a job. I have been on a blessing roller coaster ever since. I have begun to learn that when things are not flowing that I need to take a step back and understand why. 9 times out of 10 the reason that they are not flowing is because I am not going the right direction. Then once I make the proper adjustment all of a sudden the peace returns and things begin to flow again.

I encourage you that if you have an area in your life that is not flowing to ask God the reason why it is not. Then, once you have heard from him make the adjustment and receive the blessing.

God Bless.

Technorati: Christian Living, Christian, School, College, DeVry, God, Finances

In last week’s service they announced the first of a few classes to become members of the church and eventually serve in a ministry within the church. Feeling good we signed up for class that was supposed to be this past Sunday.

During the week I picked up a little side job to bring in some extra cash since the wife is staying home now. I was gearing up to take on more projects on the side also. On Friday I got an e-mail from a company that wanted so refreshing of their web site and a little marketing direction.

After a 1 hour + “free” consultation on that Saturday and 4 e-mails from the company on Sunday (I did not respond to them) I was feeling pretty worn out.

We could use the extra cash coming in to make things a little more comfortable financially and that job would have been a nice chunk of change. The thing of it was that the little bit I was taking on was wearing me out to the point that I did not want to got to the first class that we had signed up for at Church.

In talking with the wife we narrowed it down to the fact that we are really used to biting off more then we can chew and then rushing around. This is really not what God wants.

We decided that we are going to give it another couple of months before we consider the whole membership/ministry track at church. Also, I am not going to pick up extra projects on the side, not right now, maybe somewhere down the road.

The thing is that we have small children that need us to be around. If we spend the time now to be there and nurture them then we and then are not going to face as many issues when they are older. We chalked this whole thing up to a “growing up” lesson.

Technorati : Christianity, Church, Family, God, Jesus, Ministry

We went to 2 Wednesday services and 1 Sunday service. We missed one Sunday services because we were convinced that the kids were falling a sleep on the way to church so we did not go. They ended up staying up until well past when service would have been over. They are going no matter what next time.

The other good thing that has happened is that my daughter is not freaking out when we leave her in class. A few weeks back the had to flash our number on the screen to go pick her up because she just did not want to be there. Well this Sunday the had to chase her to pick her up to give her to us to leave – that’s a good thing.

The other good thing that has come out of this is that we have decided to attend the first of 4 sessions to become members of the church. The first session is a dinner with the Pastors at the church as the go over the history and vision of the church. I think that it is really cool that the Pastors still do this even though the church is a few thousand people now.

My wife and I have decided that we are going to go through the process of becoming members and then volunteer in the ministries that we enjoy. Her – with the kids. Me – in the media ministry. I’ve got my eye on their web site (don’t get me wrong, it is one of the best I have seen from a church, but it is not updated regularly and could use a little polishing).

Anyway, it is nice to be in the land of the living again.

Technorati : Christianity, Church, God. Blog, Jesus, Ministry, media ministry

I do not think that their is anything wrong with that, it is just different to me. I guess the hope of most ministries is that they would be able to raise someone up within the church to meet these positions. If not then they use a service like christianplacements.com.

Christian Placement appears to be a Monster.com type of web site that is aimed specifically at the Christian community. I would think that this would aid Ministries in finding the right person. I took the time to browse the posts but there are not any positions that I was interested in locally .

Technorati : Christian Placements, Ministry, Ministry Jobs

As you can tell this blog has not been very active. The main reason for this was not procrastination but fear.

See I have not been active in church for quite some time. In fact I probably only been to church about 10 times in last year.

I know the first thing that you think – Oh he is backsliden.

Am I? What exactly is that?

To me backsliden is when you turn your back on God. I have not done this.

If anything I have turned my back on the church. Why? Because I got caught up. I took anything and everything that was spoon fed to me. I got to a point that the church was more important then my family.

I was fortunate though, God woke me up to that fact before it was to late. My finances were already affected but not my relationships – yet. If I would have continued down that road I do not think things would have been good.

So back to the fear thing.

What was I afraid of? God? No.

It was the church that I was afraid of. That fear is what causes me to explain why I am not backsliden to people when I tell them that I am not actively going to church.

See unfortunately a lot Christians have a difficult time making a distinction between having a relationship with God and going to church. In fact the majority of Christian’s relationships with God are at church and church alone.

Now before I go further I want to clarify which Christians I am talking about. I am not talking about new Christians. It is obvious that newer Christians are going to get the majority of info about God and Jesus from church because they are not as familiar or comfortable with getting it on their own. Sidebar ended.

In the last year I have seen God move on my behalf more then the previous 8 years of being a Christian. I went from not having a steady job and severally in debt to having a good job, a new house that is paid for, and zero debt. I give God the credit for this but it took me lining up with His priorities for these things to come to pass.

The way that I lined up with His priorities was to make what he considers important, important to me. The main area that was relevant to me was putting my family before church. Now before you get all freaked out, I said church, not God.

I know some of you cannot make the distinction between the two and you want to shout at me Hebrews 10:25-26 -

24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

I am down with that. I am not going to argue. But…

It is wrong when we put the church in the place of God.

I believe that these are the priorities when it comes to God (scripture to come) -

1. God – direct relationship, one on one
2. Self – Health, well being
3. Wife
4. Kids
5. Job – Falls into caring for wife and children
6. Church Attendance – Also falls into caring for wife and children
7. Ministry – Volunteering

Stop. No really – Stop – time for honesty.

I just realized in writing the above that I have been wrong in my approach to “church”. I just realized that I associated “Church Attendance” with “Ministry” and therefore that is why I haven’t been to church in the last year. I am not going to beat around the bush – this is wrong.

I was about to go into a long spiel about God taking Paul off on his own for several years away from “church”. But that is not what God was taking him from, it was away from ministry. That is what he wanted him separated from (for a season/preparation).

See ministry can be a tricky thing because it is very easy to get into the Mary/Martha thing. I realize now that I was in that – a lot.

We have to be careful that we understand what God’s priorities are and make sure that they are the priorities that we have. The reason for this is that God knows what is the best for our life. He knows what is going to be the best for our family and what is going to make us happy. If you cooperate with him – do things His way – we will have the best that life has to offer.

I believe that I am beginning to understand this know and apply it to my own life. Hopefully you are either already doing this or see areas that you can improve.

Technorati : Christ, Christian, Christian Living, Christian Priorities, Church, God, Jesus, Ministry