"What a long strange trip it's been." I seem to quote Bill Walton quoting the Grateful Dead at regular instances in my life. Once again, that seems to be the case. To be honest, this entry has been about 4 months in the making.
When I graduated from seminary back in May, I had already been in the process of looking for a ministry position. I loved the position that I had in Kansas City but it was an unpaid position and I needed to find a paid position. In some ways, it is like a free agent in a professional league. You look around at what's out there (send out resumes), give "tryouts" to show off talent (participate in interviews) and wait to hear back on an offer.
It has been a long process. There have been hundreds of resumes sent out. There have been several interviews that I've done. And there has been a lot of waiting and a lot of rejections. I personally have gotten to know the phrases "We are going in a different direction." and "We wish you the best in your ministry." very well, even to the point of never wanting to hear or say those phrases ever again.
It has definitely been a lot of learning (or better yet relearning) patience. There were several times throughout this process where I really thought I was about to hear a yes, that I got a certain position only to get a no. It has been a lot of trusting God that He knew what was best for me.
Finally, today I received word. After over four months of praying and seeking and waiting, the decision has been made. I will be bringing my talents to.....Spartanburg, South Carolina. Yes I will be taking a position as an Associate Campus Minister for the Spartanburg BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries). There are 5 universities in the Spartanburg Area and I'll be helping out on a couple of those campuses. I'm excited about the opportunity.
There is still a lot to work out. The position does not start until January. That's good because there are several things that need to be taken care of before then. One of those is the fact that at this point it is only a part time position (or better described as a part-part time, 10 hours a week). I will need to find something else to help supplement my income. The BCM Director has assured me that she along with the DOM (Director of Missions) of the Baptist Association in the area will work to help me in maybe getting a part time church staff position. It might be an option to raise support but that's still to be determined.
I'm excited and thought I don't know how it's all going to work out, at least now I know what the next step is. Looking forward to 2012 and starting the next "season" of my life.
Showing posts with label analogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label analogy. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sports Analogy: The Draft
I thought about writing this post last month when the NFL draft was going on but it's still appropriate with the upcoming drafts of the other major sports (NBA, MLB, NHL). When thinking about the draft, it works well with the situation of life that I'm in right now. I just finished my Master's of Divinity degree and am in the process of looking for a full time ministry position. In many ways, it is similar to a college athlete who finished his collegiate career and waiting for the time of the draft.
There is the declaration that you are available, the answering of questions, the checking over of one's background and credentials. And then there is the wait. We see the players as they wait to hear their name called and find out where they will be going to play. In a lot of ways, that is how I'm feeling right now. Sending out resumes, answering questions, and waiting. Waiting to get a call saying I have been hired, that I've been "drafted".
Just as certain teams look for a particular need to fill for their teams, the same is true in ministry. God has designed me with gifts and abilities that work well with certain ministries (college/young adult, discipleship). And I know that He has the right place for me to serve. I just pray and wait for the call.
Wherever I get "drafted", I'm excited about the next phase of my life and what God has in store for me. Until then, I wait for the call...
There is the declaration that you are available, the answering of questions, the checking over of one's background and credentials. And then there is the wait. We see the players as they wait to hear their name called and find out where they will be going to play. In a lot of ways, that is how I'm feeling right now. Sending out resumes, answering questions, and waiting. Waiting to get a call saying I have been hired, that I've been "drafted".
Just as certain teams look for a particular need to fill for their teams, the same is true in ministry. God has designed me with gifts and abilities that work well with certain ministries (college/young adult, discipleship). And I know that He has the right place for me to serve. I just pray and wait for the call.
Wherever I get "drafted", I'm excited about the next phase of my life and what God has in store for me. Until then, I wait for the call...
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sports Analogy: Training Camp
It has been a long time since I had a sports analogy but one recently popped into my head and it was appropriate time and season for it. Right now, I'm starting what will be a year long internship (broken up into two semesters) in which I will (hopefully) finish my Master's of Divinity at Midwestern Seminary. In one sense, it will be a daunting task but in another sense it will be good.
I was mulling over this past weekend what I needed to do in the next nine months to get to graduation. Like I said earlier looking at it initially it seems rather daunting, this internship is what's riding on me getting my degree in May. But I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that I'm given just today and I have to take it one day at a time. It is very much like training camp (which is appropriate given the time of year for football). Players and coaches have a goal of winning the Super Bowl. And in July and August, that does seem like a pretty daunting task. But they take each day of training camp to prepare for the season. They take it one day at a time. Then when the season comes, they focus on the next game at hand. Soon enough, they are at the end of the season and are holding up the championship trophy. They didn't skip all the way to the end. They took it one game at a time, one day at a time.
Too often we (myself included) get caught up and worried about how we're going to accomplish certain goals. We need to be reminded by the Father that all we're given is today. We need to be diligent at doing the work for today and the long term goals will be taken care of as we reach the designated time frame for each of them. We all go through seasons of life where we are either to begin a new season, in the middle of a season or coming to the end. Whatever season you're in, focus on the task at hand and what God has given you to do.
I was mulling over this past weekend what I needed to do in the next nine months to get to graduation. Like I said earlier looking at it initially it seems rather daunting, this internship is what's riding on me getting my degree in May. But I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that I'm given just today and I have to take it one day at a time. It is very much like training camp (which is appropriate given the time of year for football). Players and coaches have a goal of winning the Super Bowl. And in July and August, that does seem like a pretty daunting task. But they take each day of training camp to prepare for the season. They take it one day at a time. Then when the season comes, they focus on the next game at hand. Soon enough, they are at the end of the season and are holding up the championship trophy. They didn't skip all the way to the end. They took it one game at a time, one day at a time.
Too often we (myself included) get caught up and worried about how we're going to accomplish certain goals. We need to be reminded by the Father that all we're given is today. We need to be diligent at doing the work for today and the long term goals will be taken care of as we reach the designated time frame for each of them. We all go through seasons of life where we are either to begin a new season, in the middle of a season or coming to the end. Whatever season you're in, focus on the task at hand and what God has given you to do.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sports Analogy: "The Backup Quarterback"
I shared this analogy with my small group in my church last month. It was one that I thought of when our small group leader asked the question "What has God taught you lately?"
Here's the analogy: I was spending the last year (2007) a starting quarterback on a team that wasn't successful. My contract was ending at the end of the year and I knew that it was time for me to move on. So I signed with a different team in another city. However, I went from being a starting quarterback to being the backup quarterback. I was not the one who was ultimately responsible. I was the one with the clipboard and the headset. But the team I came to was successful and was a winning team. And I was able to get excited and find joy again after being on a team that wasn't as successful. Also, as a "veteran", I've been able to share my experiences and advice to the "young starter" who's leading the team. I'm able to help him grow and through that help the team be even more successful. All the while, I'm still preparing knowing that at sometime I'll get a starting opportunity again and that can be at any moment.
It was for the best that I left Seattle. Even though I still love the city and the people, things just weren't working out being with the church plant I was with. Coming to Kansas City and being at Fellowship of Grace has been refreshing and renewing for me. Things are on the upswing and I'm excited to see how things will turn out. Sometimes a starter needs to get a view from the sidelines in order to better handle situations when you do get back on the field.
Here's the analogy: I was spending the last year (2007) a starting quarterback on a team that wasn't successful. My contract was ending at the end of the year and I knew that it was time for me to move on. So I signed with a different team in another city. However, I went from being a starting quarterback to being the backup quarterback. I was not the one who was ultimately responsible. I was the one with the clipboard and the headset. But the team I came to was successful and was a winning team. And I was able to get excited and find joy again after being on a team that wasn't as successful. Also, as a "veteran", I've been able to share my experiences and advice to the "young starter" who's leading the team. I'm able to help him grow and through that help the team be even more successful. All the while, I'm still preparing knowing that at sometime I'll get a starting opportunity again and that can be at any moment.
It was for the best that I left Seattle. Even though I still love the city and the people, things just weren't working out being with the church plant I was with. Coming to Kansas City and being at Fellowship of Grace has been refreshing and renewing for me. Things are on the upswing and I'm excited to see how things will turn out. Sometimes a starter needs to get a view from the sidelines in order to better handle situations when you do get back on the field.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sports Analogy: "The Pep Talk"
Most people that know me know I love sports analogies. So it's no surprise that I thought of one last night right before I went to small group. The past few weeks I had been feeling down just with things in my life. I got an e-mail from an old friend and boss of mine and among other things it was an encouragment.
Sometimes in life we have seasons where things aren't going our way or we're getting knocked around. It's in those times where we need people in our lives who can encourage us. The sports analogy is this, the "pep talk". It's halftime or intermission. The team is down, feeling defeated. Coach walks in or the captain of the team and fires the team up giving encouragment and pushing the team to play up to potential. The team is reenergized and ready to go out and face the competition again.
As believers, we have those seasons in our life where we get knocked down. And I believe God places people in our lives to encourage us, to give us these "pep talks". Sometimes we're the ones to give the "pep talk" to those who are down. It's an important part of being a community following Jesus, to help one another to carry burdens we all face.
Sometimes in life we have seasons where things aren't going our way or we're getting knocked around. It's in those times where we need people in our lives who can encourage us. The sports analogy is this, the "pep talk". It's halftime or intermission. The team is down, feeling defeated. Coach walks in or the captain of the team and fires the team up giving encouragment and pushing the team to play up to potential. The team is reenergized and ready to go out and face the competition again.
As believers, we have those seasons in our life where we get knocked down. And I believe God places people in our lives to encourage us, to give us these "pep talks". Sometimes we're the ones to give the "pep talk" to those who are down. It's an important part of being a community following Jesus, to help one another to carry burdens we all face.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sports Analogies from the Big Debate On Campus
So last night, there was a big debate on the campus of the seminary I go to (Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary). The debate centered around the question essentially whether historians can prove the resurrection of Jesus. The two debaters were Michael Licona, author of "The Case For the Resurrection of Jesus" and Bart Ehrman, professor at UNC Chapel Hill. Licona took the position that one could prove historically and Ehrman took the opposing view.
Aside from the debate, which I thought ended as I draw, I walked away with two thoughts. These two thoughts I will elaborate on with the use of sports analogies (of course). The first centered around Dr. Ehrman, who is an agnostic. He talked about his past and how he went to Moody Bible Institute and to Wheaton College (a Christian college) and how he "believed" in the truth of the resurrection for the longest time and that he only came to the position that he's at now in his words "kicking and screaming". Now I mulled on that and to me it sounded like this. Picture if you will a superstar baseball player. He is very talented, has risen up the minor leagues as the "can't miss prospect". He becomes identified with Team A, pretty much is the heart and soul of the team. He then signs with Team B for an exorbernt amount of money (like 100 million dollars). At the press conference, the player says that it was hard for him to leave team A and he was pulled away kicking and screaming. Now, if you heard about that, what would you think? For me, there are only three options. One, he's a liar. Two, he's (to put it nicely) not bright. Or three, he knows exactly why he left (the 100 million dollar contract). I think the same goes for Ehrman in regard to his former beliefs. Either he's option one and a liar, option two and not bright, or option three and he knew exactly what he was doing. For me, I tend to go with option three. In the end, he chose what he felt was the truth. Do I think he chose right? Well, no but the point is that don't make it out to be that it was hard for you when in the end it wasn't.
The second thing was that it gave me a better apprecation for those followers of Jesus that I don't necessarily agree with or like all the time. Here the sports example is this. On any given team, there will be players who don't like other players, for whatever reason. But, they are teammates and as long as they are teammates they have one common goal, to win. And they must cooperate and play together in order to achieve that goal. Same thing for followers of Jesus. There are some followers that I don't always like or agree with. But I have to be reminded, and last night was a reminder, that we're on the same team. If we're following Jesus, then he or she are not the enemy, they're my brother or my sister, they're a part of the body of Christ just like I am. And that is a good encouragment to have when faced with a difficult situation.
By the way, Happy Leap Day everyone :)
Aside from the debate, which I thought ended as I draw, I walked away with two thoughts. These two thoughts I will elaborate on with the use of sports analogies (of course). The first centered around Dr. Ehrman, who is an agnostic. He talked about his past and how he went to Moody Bible Institute and to Wheaton College (a Christian college) and how he "believed" in the truth of the resurrection for the longest time and that he only came to the position that he's at now in his words "kicking and screaming". Now I mulled on that and to me it sounded like this. Picture if you will a superstar baseball player. He is very talented, has risen up the minor leagues as the "can't miss prospect". He becomes identified with Team A, pretty much is the heart and soul of the team. He then signs with Team B for an exorbernt amount of money (like 100 million dollars). At the press conference, the player says that it was hard for him to leave team A and he was pulled away kicking and screaming. Now, if you heard about that, what would you think? For me, there are only three options. One, he's a liar. Two, he's (to put it nicely) not bright. Or three, he knows exactly why he left (the 100 million dollar contract). I think the same goes for Ehrman in regard to his former beliefs. Either he's option one and a liar, option two and not bright, or option three and he knew exactly what he was doing. For me, I tend to go with option three. In the end, he chose what he felt was the truth. Do I think he chose right? Well, no but the point is that don't make it out to be that it was hard for you when in the end it wasn't.
The second thing was that it gave me a better apprecation for those followers of Jesus that I don't necessarily agree with or like all the time. Here the sports example is this. On any given team, there will be players who don't like other players, for whatever reason. But, they are teammates and as long as they are teammates they have one common goal, to win. And they must cooperate and play together in order to achieve that goal. Same thing for followers of Jesus. There are some followers that I don't always like or agree with. But I have to be reminded, and last night was a reminder, that we're on the same team. If we're following Jesus, then he or she are not the enemy, they're my brother or my sister, they're a part of the body of Christ just like I am. And that is a good encouragment to have when faced with a difficult situation.
By the way, Happy Leap Day everyone :)
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