This coming Monday will be our last and final meeting together as a young adult ministry. I wanted to use this last blog to give a sort of "farewell" as this chapter of our lives closes.
First, I want to encourage you all to read the blog previous to this one. I wrote it with my "stepping-down" in mind. I know some of you really appreciated and valued the young adult ministry and so I wanted to keep you mindful of your proper foundation, lest you stumble. Examine yourself and make sure your foundation is not laid on myself or the young adult ministry. If your foundation is solely on Christ, you will remain stable even though we're not meeting anymore. I encourage you to get plugged into another ministry in order to stay accountable and engaged in fellowship. Our church has an abundance of healthy ministries for you to get involved in. Christ is your foundation, not Surrendered. Its understandable if you're sad that its ending, my heart goes out to you and I'll be praying for the Lord to supply you with a new ministry. I have been super blessed to pour into a lot of you and watch your growth in the Lord; my prayer is that it continues.
Also, I want to thank all of you who've served the Lord alongside of me over these few years. Your service to the Lord has been helpful to me in the ministry and a blessing to witness. You have been faithful to serve tirelessly and sacrificially and I am humbled that the Lord brought all of you to be my co laborers in Christ. I appreciate your labor of love and your work of faith. Beyond my gratefulness, you have a far greater reward awaiting you when you stand before the Lord.
Finally, I can't close without saying that my wife and I love you guys. We really do. We have been extremely blessed to be a part of some of your lives. I cant' help but cherish all the times we've hung out, prayed, laughed, and borne our hearts with some of you. You have been a huge blessing to us and we can't thank all of you enough for being so loving and sweet to Crysti and I. We love you! It has been a privilege and an honor to minister with and to all of you. Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement, and love in this transitional season of our lives.
I'll leave you with Paul's farewell to the Ephesian elders: "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." Acts 20:32
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Our Foundation
Well, I only got a few responses to the previous blog. However, in the event that more might visit this blog in the future I'll share what has been on my heart lately.
Sometimes without realizing it, we can start building our spiritual foundations on things other than Christ. It usually never is a conscious thing. As we hear so many Bible studies about how we're to rely solely on Christ and nothing else, we all are quick to vocally and mentally ascent to the foolishness of trusting in other things. Although, without realizing it, we can begin to depend too heavily on things in an unhealthy way.
This can be seen when some lay a foundation on things that are spiritually helpful and good. Even though those things are good, they are only meant to help us build on Christ, not to be the things on which we lay our foundation. There are times when we lay our foundation on fellowship or an influential person in our lives. We come to depend on such things so heavily that our foundation is dangerously laid on something other than Christ. Fellowship and a godly influence are supplied by the Lord in order to help us stand on Christ alone. We must be careful to understand the importance of them and to keep them in their proper place. If not, it can be potentially damaging. There can come temporary seasons in our spiritual journeys when, for whatever reason, there isn't as much fellowship or there isn't a godly mentor. If your foundation is not solely on Christ, how will your house stand when your friends aren't around as much or when you don't have a mentor close by. While these things are extremely helpful to our walks with the Lord, there must be an understanding that Jesus alone is enough. He must be everything. He must be the One thing. He is the only One in whom we should find our life and being. A foundation laid on anything else is faulty. Good things like mentors and friends were never meant to be built upon, only to be those that help us build our own house upon Christ.
"For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 3:11). If your foundation is laid rightly on Christ, you will remain solid in those tough seasons where its just you and Jesus. You will learn what Paul meant when he said, "At my first defense no one stood with me...But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me..." (2 Tim 4:16, 17). Jesus will never let you down; He will never forsake you. He is our only firm, solid, and immovable rock. On rock, foundations are sure; on sand, the house falls.
Sometimes without realizing it, we can start building our spiritual foundations on things other than Christ. It usually never is a conscious thing. As we hear so many Bible studies about how we're to rely solely on Christ and nothing else, we all are quick to vocally and mentally ascent to the foolishness of trusting in other things. Although, without realizing it, we can begin to depend too heavily on things in an unhealthy way.
This can be seen when some lay a foundation on things that are spiritually helpful and good. Even though those things are good, they are only meant to help us build on Christ, not to be the things on which we lay our foundation. There are times when we lay our foundation on fellowship or an influential person in our lives. We come to depend on such things so heavily that our foundation is dangerously laid on something other than Christ. Fellowship and a godly influence are supplied by the Lord in order to help us stand on Christ alone. We must be careful to understand the importance of them and to keep them in their proper place. If not, it can be potentially damaging. There can come temporary seasons in our spiritual journeys when, for whatever reason, there isn't as much fellowship or there isn't a godly mentor. If your foundation is not solely on Christ, how will your house stand when your friends aren't around as much or when you don't have a mentor close by. While these things are extremely helpful to our walks with the Lord, there must be an understanding that Jesus alone is enough. He must be everything. He must be the One thing. He is the only One in whom we should find our life and being. A foundation laid on anything else is faulty. Good things like mentors and friends were never meant to be built upon, only to be those that help us build our own house upon Christ.
"For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 3:11). If your foundation is laid rightly on Christ, you will remain solid in those tough seasons where its just you and Jesus. You will learn what Paul meant when he said, "At my first defense no one stood with me...But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me..." (2 Tim 4:16, 17). Jesus will never let you down; He will never forsake you. He is our only firm, solid, and immovable rock. On rock, foundations are sure; on sand, the house falls.
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