So this past Sunday was the last Sunday at BrookRidge Community Church.  I have served faithfully there for the past twelve years.  The church was also faithful in taking care of me and my family every step of the way.  We were and are a successful ministry story!   I think we were all blessed to have each other as we ministered together.

On June 28th I'll begin my tenure as senior pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Dekalb, Il.  It's a great church that has a heart for discipleship and reaching out to the college community that surrounds it.  Our family is excited about what God is going to do there and howe He will use us.

Leaving BRCC has afforded me the opportunity to reflect on my time there and what I have learned, experience, etc.  Time away can be a great gift to get perspective on a given situation.  More will come to me over time, but this is what I have found so far:

1.  Little things matter in ministry; people remember - Numerous times over the past month people have come up to me to thank me for interaction they had with me, prayer we shared, etc.  These were little things, not a program, an initiative, or leadership development.  These things are important and I'm passionate about them, but not one person has mentioned a program that inspired them.  The point is that little interactions were the ones that seemed to matter the most.

2. Being faithful matters - being at a church for 12 years has its ups and downs (like anything right?).  I'd like to say that it was easy the whole way, but it wasn't: for me or the church.  The key wasn't ease, but faithfulness; being faithful to each other and the vision for the church that is provided by Scripture.  It is a lot like a marriage: despite difficulties, no one bails, you push through the tough times.  I am so appreciative of BRCC and the elders for their years of faithfulness to me.  Because of faithfulness we have been able to see people grow in Christ, see the church grow and expand, and reach out to people in the community.  We could have quit, but no one did.

3. The Bible matters - the spiritually correct thing to say is that the Bible matters and it's the most important book in your life if you are a Christian.  We hear it all the time and I hope that it is true for people.  The truth is that working in and leading a church the Scriptures are essential.  Seems like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised how many pastors and churches value conferences, summits, retreats, advances, webinars, etc over the guidance of Scripture.  It's not that there is anything wrong with those - I try to attend several a year.  It becomes a problem when those supercede the importance and direction of Scripture.  There were numerous cases in my time at BRCC that Scripture guided our ship, both by just providing us with a right approach to our situation as well direct direction on what to do (spiritual and pragmatic); especially in the area of discipline.

4. Time off matters - It took me a long time to balance out my passion for the church and personal time.  At first it really didn't matter a lot (or so I thought).  We didn't have kids, my wife worked full time, so we had more than enough time to give to our respective jobs; working 70 hours a week wasn't a big deal and I felt like it was necessary (at times it was).  As we had kids, finished school, etc.  I found that needed to get better at balancing my time.  When I did this I discovered I was more valuable and could set a better tone at the church.  I could show that it was important to trust God more and obsess less; I could show that it was not my church, but God's; I could show how to work smarter and not harder; I could show that my family was a priority as well as my own development.  

So, yeah, I think that is it for now.  Since I've got time off the next two weeks I'm sure I'll post some more of my reflections.

Today our entire church fasted and prayed over their lunch hour.  It doesn't seem like a big deal (skipping one meal), but it can make a huge spiritual impact.  The point of fasting is to take the focus off your physical needs and put focus on your spiritual needs.  Prayer accompanies fasting as you pray for God to "feed" your spiritual needs.  We don't have time or space here to go into the proofs of fasting, but suffice it to say that fasting is considered a spiritual discipline by the Bible and its authors (Isaiah 58; 1 Samuel 7:6; Acts 9:9).

For my Scripture reading I read, meditated, and journaled on Luke 15,16.  I love these chapters as they contain parables that express how much God loves humanity, including myself.

After reading my prayers took the direction of thanking God for all He has done at our church.  In 11 years throughout the growth of the church He has provided buildings that could house us and give us a home.  He has blessed us with countless great memories here - Christmas and Easter celebrations, children's events, outreaches, etc. 

After being thankful my prayers moved to requests.  The constant refrain in my prayers was for God to take something small that we offer and turn it into something big for the Kingdom of God.  Oftentimes as pastor I see the negative or challenging things that we have in our community: I'm too close to the situation to see the great things that are happening.  So I prayed for God to use our small things and show me how He is working to accomplish big things.  I prayed for our Sunday worship that it would be not only pleasing to Him, but also that He could use it to break the hearts of those who were in attendance.  I prayed for the simple things to become Kingdom impacting things; nothing is too small for God.

It would be great if all BRCC would be in prayer for the little things to make a huge difference in community around us. It would be great if all BRCC had a vision for what God is doing in their life and what He could do in the future!

Today our church is having our 24 Hours of Prayer.  How it works is that each hour in the day (24 in total) is chosen by a regular attender at BRCC.  During their hour they spend time praying for specific things in the church - ministries, people, vision, etc.  They also spend time reading the Bible and meditating on Scripture.  It's a great prayer event that really does a good job of bringing everyone together to pray for a common goal.

During my hour of prayer and reflection I read John 1.  The section that I focused in on the most was vs.43-51, Jesus' interaction with Philip and Nathanael.  Nathanael, first unconvinced of Jesus' divinity despite Philip's words, eventually confesses Jesus as the Son of God.  This was primarily because of Jesus' vision of Nathanael under the fig tree - exactly where Nathanael had been.  

Jesus follows up this interaction with this in v.s 50 "You believe because I saw you under a fig tree.  You will see greater things than that."  In vs. 51 Jesus gives Nathanael a few of the greater things that he will see.  Nathanael, perhaps, was pretty amazed at the words of his newly confessed Son of God friend.

Now, verse 50 started me wondering and thinking.  What would it mean to see even greater things after one confesses Christ as Lord?  There is no reason to see v.51 as an exhaustive, but short list.  Nathanael would have gone on to see Jesus heal, turn water to wine, etc - those would fall in the category of "greater things."  Is it possible that we (meaning the church) is seeing greater things or can still claim that promise in v. 50?  Are we just ignoring the great things or just mistaking them for something else?  How do we translate v. 50 for us today?

As a pastor I have many goals - growing the church being one of them.  I would like my church to grow in quantity (evangelism) and quality (spiritual disciplines/fruits of the Spirit).  Is it possible that I can expect "greater things?"  Will the Spirit, through our church's prayer and devotion, begin to do a greater thing in our community.

My answer is yes, but not for the reasons I just mentioned.  Our devotion (or late thereof) acts as a work - we can't earn God's love nor earn more of God's Spirit in our lives.  My answer is yes, not based on our devotion, but on God's Promise.  God promises to send His Spirit to us. Through this promise the Spirit will help the church grow by convicting hearts as to the truth of God and their own rejection of God.  God's faithfulness to us (like He was to Israel) guarantees that we will see greater things, but in quality and in quantity.  It may not always come in the form that we want or expect, but the promise is fulfilled day by day.

We can, like Nathanael, expect greater things from God.

As I think I've said before, I'm not a runner but since I do triathlons I'm forced to run :) I have grown fond of it, but sometimes running seems to be monotonous.  Sometimes I think, "The same course, the same roads, the same hills every day - how can I stay motivated?"  Just think if you ate the same food over and over again, even if it is food you like; sooner or later it would be hard to swallow it down.

Yesterday I decided to do something different - I ran my course in reverse.  I found myself running with more power and even distracted (in a good way) while I ran.  It was the same course, same mileage, but a vastly different feeling. As I ran I looked at all the terrain and surroundings in a different light.  Houses that I passed looked different as I saw them from a different angle.  I am happy to say that I actually enjoyed the run!

There are some parallels here in our daily spiritual life.  So many of us approach our relationship with God the same way, every day.  It shouldn't be a surprise that after a while it all gets stale and boring and we feel disconnected from God.   Often it just takes a change of pace, speed, or method that can wake us up to what God is doing in our lives.  What can you do?  1. Get a new Bible or book to read and do your devotional; 2. Spend a week praying not for yourself, but for someone else; 3. Incorporate some music to your Bible study - music often opens up thoughts about God that we wouldn't ordinarily have; 4. Change up the time you read your Bible and pray - move from nighttime to morning or lunchtime.  

Your responsible for your relationship with God - change it up to maximize your devotional life!

There are a lot of thing that help us in our Christian walk.  Some things are easier than other.  As pastor of BRCC I'm interested in what people find the hardest to do in their spiritual life.  Perhaps once I know what the hardest things are, the church can help equip you to do these things better.

Take a second and take the poll below and let me know what the hardest thing for you is!

This is great prayer by Karl Barth that is in the Selected Prayer svolume that was translated by Keith Crim (Richmond: John Knox).  It was meant for a Sunday morning, but I do think it is good for every day use.

“Holy and Compassionate God, how great is Thy goodness, which permits us to enjoy this day and now brings us together to call on Thee and to hear Thy comforting and exhorting words.

What are we men befor eThee?  How much conceit, hardness, and falsehood there is in our thoughts, words, and deeds.  And as a result how much error and confusion, how much sorrow and need here an in the whole world.

But over it all Thy fatherly heart is open for us and Thy had remains strong to hold us, to lead us, and to make us free.  Thou dost not forget or reject any of us.  Thou art near to us all.  Thou dost call to us, everyone.

Make us aware of this again on this Sunday morning.  do Thou see to it that what we do here in praying and singing, in preaching and hearing, may not be done in vain, but be to Thy honor and to the awakening, enlightening, and lifting up of us all, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.”