For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. Romans 14:17-19

This passage (and actually the whole chapter) is a great heart check for Christ followers. We really need to examine ourselves often against this, because it is so vital to the cause of Christ that we do what we can to live in harmony with one another.

It reminds me of John 13:35, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” If we aren’t showing love to each other than how will anyone know that we have the hope of Jesus in our lives? We are then no different than anyone else.

I think that looking at recent events in Washington, DC can show us how not to act. It seems like all we see there is fighting and bickering, but sadly that is what the world often times sees when it looks at the Church. How are we any different? How are we showing them that we are Christ followers?

When I read things like what Paul wrote here to the church in Rome it reminds me that I need to check my heart and make sure that I am doing all that I can to live in peace and harmony with my fellow Christ followers. So instead of picking up the rocks or clenching my fists I need to pause and realize that if it weren’t for God’s grace I wouldn’t be able to be where I am. I would rather share His grace and love with others.

That is my mission.

After reading Luke 8:9-14 I decided to write a letter to God and this is what I had to say….

Dear God,

Please help me to keep my pride in check. You alone know how I can allow my pride to get in the way and you alone know how I can allow others to push me into that area of pride. I don’t want that in my life.

Let me never forget that it is Your love and grace that should be the source of who I am. It is not about what I can do, but whose I am. I want to be to a light into the world, but my pride can all too often put that light out. It’s all about You and not about me.

Following You,
Todd

Many of you know that last year a few weeks after I was hired as the youth pastor at The River Church the lead pastor resigned. It was somewhat of a shock, but not completely. Well, in the beginning of this year we started a team to find a new lead pastor. I volunteered to be on that team and the elders agreed that I would be a good addition to the team. I was even asked by the team to be the team lead in the search process. I had never been on that side of the process. I had spent almost 5 years being the person trying to find the job, so I used some of that knowledge as a candidate to help our search. One day I will blog about that process and give some advice to churches that are looking and to candidates that are searching.

After a about a 5 month search we ended up hiring Brad Mitchell to be the lead pastor at our church. He started almost one year to the day that I started, so we can celebrate our anniversaries together. I am still in shock that God brought us Brad, because he is an amazing person and lead pastor. I am so hopeful for the future of The River with Brad as our lead pastor and with the amazing group of men that we have on our elder team. It is so great to be a part of such a healthy church. I have to pinch myself every so often just to make sure I am not dreaming. This next year is going to be a great year of growth for The River.

About a month before Brad was coming on board while I was in prayer regarding the RiverBank Kids ministry, because we had no one that was able to really lead the ministry, During that time of prayer I felt God prompting me to take on the leadership of it. And if anyone knows me they know that I am not wired to do kids ministry. Not too mention the time it needed was way more than I could provide, but I have learned a long time ago to do what God is telling me to do. So I approached the elders and asked them to pray about it as well. They came back to me and agreed that it was the direction they felt God leading as well, so I started the process of taking it onto my other duties as the youth pastor. I switched the entire kids ministry to one curriculum throughout, so that we could beter partner with parents. That is something I believe it vital to kids and student ministry. If you fail to do that then I believe you fail as a church and a leader. We went with the Orange Curriculum in August and it has been such a great switch for the kids ministry!

Slowly I began to realize what a huge undertaking it was to do both student and kids ministry. I have no idea how some people do it. I began to fervently pray that God would bring us someone that could lead the ministry. I had a person in mind, but I left it up to God to prompt them if they were the person. Much to my surprise a few weeks ago they emailed me and said that they couldn’t shake the fact that God wanted them to lead the kids ministry. So as of this past Sunday we now have a new RiverBank Kids ministry director. I am so thrilled for the kids ministry, because I know that Maria is going to be able to take it to that next level and beyond.

It is exciting to think that I start 2011 with the sole focus of being just a youth pastor. I believe that it is going to be a great year for The River Youth and for our church as a whole. I really believe that God is going to do some amazing things.

I completely forgot to mention that at the beginning of the year my wife was hired on at the church to lead the music ministry at our church. I love being able to go to work with my best friend and the love of my life.

I am excited for our family in this new year. In June my son will start being a part of the youth ministry and that means that both of my kids will be in my youth group. That is a crazy thought but exciting for me personally as well. It is so much fun to see my kids go from being kids to becoming young adults. Hannah has been doing an amazing job at horseback riding and has a wall with a bunch of ribbons. Caleb has been doing origami (no idea where he picked it up) and it has been cool to see him create things.

This year personally I wanted to run a half marathon, but did not get a chance to do it due to a couple of things. One was my trip to Haiti that I took in April, so I missed out on the Flying Pig. Then for the next one I ended up hurting my foot that I think was a stress fracture. Oh well! I am shooting for next year to be my half marathon year.

I finally got a chance to go on a mission trip this year, which was also my first time going out of the country, Canada doesn’t count. Going to Haiti was a life changing experience and I look forward to being able to go back again. God moved in my heart so much while I was there. It was such an amazing experience.

I am so blessed and thankful to have a loving family, a great church family and to be able to live my dream and serve God in the church. It is more than I could ever have asked for this Christmas. Who needs things when you can have all of that?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I am on my way to Florida right now to celebrate Christmas with my sister and her family. Not too mention being able to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Years ago Kimmy and made the decision to turn off our porch light and would not participate in Halloween. We had heard all the scary stories of how evil it was and that real Christians did not participate in it, so we agreed and did not let our kids go out dressed up to get candy from our neighbors. Nor did we pass out candy to our neighbors.

I want to be clear that I do not condemn nor look down on anyone who makes that personal choice. We have just made the decision that we believe this is the perfect opportunity for Christ followers to leave their lights on and let them shine. It kind of reminds me of the kid’s song “This Little Light of Mine“.

I recently read a blog post that talked about this and I think this part of that post really hit home….

Mark Young, my friend and former missions prof at DTS (now the president of Denver Seminary), used to talk about this in his missions 101 class. Oh the shame of all of us students who turned off the light. We left the class crying looking for little witches and ghosts to hug. His thesis: Christians are not Christians on Halloween. Not because they have compromised and participated, but precisely because they don’t participate. The one day of the year where children (“Permit them to come to me…” Mark 10:14) were attempting to come to us and we shut the door and turn off the lights. We left the class in tears and began to plan what we were going to be for Halloween.

The blogger posted an excerpt of the talk that Mark Young gave and you can read it here.

What are your thoughts?

I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.

Paul is saying that we need to have so much love for our neighbors that we wouldn’t care if we were eternally separated from Christ, which is exactly what hell is, as long as they were able to connect with God and have a relationship with Him. Sure we can say that we are trying to love God and love others, but are we willing to take that “loving others” to that kind of an extreme? Do we even ask God to give us the kind of sorrow and unceasing anguish that Paul talks about here?

I love my family very much and I would do anything for them. However, I have to be honest that I don’t know if I would go to the point of saying that I would rather be cut off from Christ for their sake if it was necessary. That is pretty hard core. That is one of those things, as Francis said in his message, that I am not sure if I could ever attain. That is the kind of love that Jesus pretty much had for us. That is intense.

Every time I read that passage lately or even think about it I am pretty much brought to tears. It is such an overwhelming thought and quite honestly it is a place that I would like to find myself moving towards. I think that if the church would grasp that kind of a love for others then we would really see revival happen in this country. However, I can’t worry about what other people are doing. I can only worry about my response to this.

Today, my family and I decided to sponsor a teen who is at the orphanage down there. His name is Ti-Frane and you can see his picture here. I have always thought about sponsoring a child before, but never did it. With me going to Haiti in April I thought that it would be cool to sponsor someone, because then I could go and meet them. So we sat together as a family and decided to sponsor Ti-Frane. He is 18 years old and his birthday is one week before mine.

Of course, I would pick a teenager. He is in 7th grade and has two brothers. I am really looking forward to getting a chance to meet him, and bring him some clothes and stuff when I go down. It is neat to think that we have the opportunity to help someone out and that I will get to meet him as well. I look forward to our family being able to develop a relationship with him and watch him become whatever God wants him to be.

I must admit that I am a little nervous about going to Haiti. I have never been to a foreign country. (Sorry, to all my Canadian friends but I don’t count Canada.) Not having the modern comforts that I am accustomed to here in America will be a challenge. Sure I have gone camping, but this is different. Then there is the language barrier and trying to communicate with the Haitians that will be a challenge.

Even though I look at all of the odds that I am going to have to face and I can get a bit overwhelmed with the thought of it all I know that I am supposed to go. I am not going because I want to be comfortable and explore an exotic land. I am going because I want to be obedient to what I know God told me to do. So I go with excitement and little bit of fear.

My prayer is the same that Francis Chan said in his book Crazy Love, “God, bring me closer to You during this trip, whatever it takes….”

1) Do something about my job situation, whether that means a new job and forget ministry all together, or do something to get into ministry.

2) Do more to care for our planet (i.e. recycling, conserving energy, etc.)

3) To live my life in light of these deep and profound words…

Little did I know when I posted this list last year that part of my first goal would be answered for me when I was laid off from the company that I had worked at for almost 15 years. Not too mention the fact that the owner of the company is my dad. That is how bad the economy is in Michigan.

After that happened my wife and I literally saw it as an answer to prayer. So we decided that my full-time job would be to find a job in the ministry as a youth pastor. Not long after that happened we were flown down to College Station, TX to interview with a church down there. That didn’t pan out for us but we had asked God all along during this almost 5 year process to close the doors we were not supposed to walk through and open the one we were. Almost 7 months after getting laid off we finally walked through that door and move down here to Liberty Township, OH so that I can take the job as youth pastor at The River Church.

I am so happy to take that one off of my list of goals.

My wife and I continue to recycle and we are hoping that we can encourage our church to do the same thing. It feels so good knowing that we are not being as wasteful and that we are doing our part to care for the planet that God has given us to care for.

Not only do I feel that this is something that I continually grow in, but I also am spreading that same message to the teenagers that God has given me the opportunity to pastor. I believe that if Christ-followers can grasp a hold of that concept that we will be able to have a greater impact in our country and world.

I had set three fitness last year as well….

1) To run a 10K.

2) To continue working towards competing in a mini-triathlon.

3) I plan on running in several more 5K’s again this year.

I ran in my first 10K when I ran in the Nike Human Race 10K, which was run by myself and then I uploaded my run to my Nike+ account. I then ran in my first 10K with a group of people on Thanksgiving Day when I participated in the 100th Annual Thanksgiving Day Race here in Cincinnati. My goal was to finish it under one hour and I did. I was very happy.

With the move down here I was not able to participate in the mini-triathlon like I had hoped to, but perhaps I will see about doing one this summer. The only problem will be trying to find a place to work on the swimming.

I did run in a couple of more 5K’s and hope to continue doing that. I am also hoping to help one of my youth pastor friends run in his first ever 5K.

Did you make resolutions or goals? If so, share some with me.

Colossians 2: 2-3 – I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

That is my prayer for the teens at The River Church and also for the church as a whole. This past Sunday we started a series titled “Rules, Religion or Relationship” that is based around the book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. I just really felt that as a group we really needed to grasp God’s relentless love for us. I don’t want our church or youth group to just be content with the status quo and I want them to grasp a hold of an authentic faith in Christ and to know His love for them in a deep and amazing way.

I had gone to the National Youth Workers Convention a few weeks ago and one of the things that hit me while I was there was that I want these teens to fall in love with God like I have fallen in love with him. I kind of stole the idea for the title of the series from an ad I saw as a teenager for the Bible college I went to and it was one of the main reasons why I went there. I didn’t want to follow a set of rules or just become a part of another religion. I really wanted to have a relationship with God.

God didn’t send His only Son to this planet just so that we could better understand rules or have a face to put to a religion. No, God sent Jesus here so that we could better understand the importance of having a relationship with Him. Jesus became God with us not above us. I think Jesus summed it all up when He was asked by the religious leaders of the day about what the most important commandment was and He didn’t even reply to them with one of the Big 10. Instead He replied with something completely different and said that everything was based on it and here is the exchange that takes place in Mark 12:28-34.

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

So If I want the teens at The River Church to get anything I hope that they figure out to love God and to love others, because then I know that they will close to the kingdom of God. This past Sunday I saw a glimpse that they were getting to that point as we discussed the mysteries of who God is and how our minds just can’t grasp all of who He is, but the overwhelming this is that He loves us. I am really looking forward to seeing more and more of our teens getting God and falling in love with Him.

As Christ-followers we are called to be a light to our world. The question we should always be asking ourselves is that if what we are doing is being a light to those around us? Or in essence, “am I doing what I can to let people see Christ in me and through me?” Or are we putting our light under a bowl?

One of the things that bugs me as a Christ-follower is that we have to have a “Christian” alternative for everything. Just do a simple Google search for “Christian MySpace” or “Christian Facebook” and you will find that there are a half dozen or more of these alternatives to Facebook and MySpace (do people still even use MySpace?). There was also an alternative to YouTube called GodTube, which is now Tangle.

Today, I just found out that someone created a so called Christian alternative to Twitter. It is called Christian Chirp and it even labels itself as “The Christian Alternative to Twitter”. Maybe they should have just gone ahead and labeled itself “The Place Where Christians Can Put Their Light Under a Bowl”.

I am really tired of people in the church finding new ways to hide from or take themselves out of the the world, because they are afraid of being influenced negatively by the world. But that is not what the Bible tells us to do. Check out John 17:15 (TNIV) – “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

I am thinking that as Christ-followers we should have the same prayer as Jesus and instead of trying to constantly finding ways to remove ourselves from the world, that we would find ways that we can be that light to the world. We need to pray and ask God to protect ourselves from the evil one and trust that He will do His part while we go and do our part to be that light in the world that we are supposed to be a part of.

I believe that all of these Christian alternatives that we create are showing our complete lack of faith in God. And I believe that in some small ways that we are even setting ourselves up to be bigger then Him by doing this. If we don’t believe that He can keep us safe then we are really taking over the reins of our life and kicking God out of the driver seat. I am not saying that this gives us the right to make foolish decisions, but I am saying that we don’t need to wrap ourselves up in bubble wrap, because we are so fearful of the big, bad world. God will honor the prayer of the faithful asking Him to protect them.

I am choosing to not be a part of those things because I don’t want to hide my light under a bowl and I would rather set my light up as high as possible for everyone to see. I hope that through my life other people will see the love, mercy, grace and forgiveness of God. I want God’s kindness to show through me, so that others will be led to repentance.