The Benefits of Friendships

Over the last six months, Heather and I have been trying to find some friends that we can become close to. We have found that it is important for us to have some outside contacts who we can hang with, get to know, and share our lives with.
I originally thought that if I were to keep in contact with my friends in Cincinnati that I would be able to fulfill that need in my life. While it is a blessing to keep in contact with those people whom I love very much, it just makes me miss them just the more. I need to be physically around people in order for me to become close to them. I have to be honest, it stinks to know that I am no longer as close to my friends as I used to be when I lived in Cincinnati. I really do miss them, and I hope that as time goes on I would be able to change those relationships and restore them once again.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about...

It seems that over the last few weeks God has been answering Heather's and My request to bring in people who want to become close friends. This is the first ministry where both Heather and I have had friends together. Usually, it was me who had close relationships and Heather who was stuck with the kids. This Sunday, we will be having a Super-Bowl party with 10 of our friends, and we couldn't be happier.
You see, when we ask for something God delivers because He understands our needs and wants to bless us completely. God knew that Heather and I longed for physical friendships and has filled that desire.
If you are one of my friends from Cincy, let me say that this does not fill the hole that is created within my heart from not being back home. However, moving to Minnesota has taught me the importance of physical relationships in the life of a human. We need relationships more than we need to live, because a life without friends is a life that I don't want. That is exactly why Jesus calls us His friend if we truly love Him. Friendships are vital in my life and I am thankful that God is supplying that need.

Mormons are Regular People Too

That's Right, and now we have the proof! Thanks to Adam for posting this on his blog, that's where I got it. Funny stuff!

Redefined

My church is going through a new Sermon Series entitled Discipleship and it has been going really well. Throughout this series I have been taking a very serious look at my own heart; am I practicing what I preach? As I think and pray about where I am I can't help but to think of how much work we all have to do to be a Disciple of Jesus.
When I think of a Disciple, I think of someone who lives up to the name of Christian (or Christ-like). If I am looking within my self to see if I have the heart of a Disciple, then I must look at the heart of Christ first. Do I care about the same things that Christ cared about while He was here and still cares about in Heaven? Do I have the same passions as He does? Do I share the same love for all people that He had for me? These are the things that we must be concentrating on in order to truly become a Disciple of Christ.
It is my goal this year to Redefine myself as a Christian, to come to the place where I can share the same cares, passion, and love that Christ has. I know that I am not perfect, and no one is, but with the help of the Holy Spirit I can make this a reality in my life.
As a side note, I want to share that I am starting to feel more comfortable in the role that I need to be playing at this church. I feel as if things are starting to make sense to me, that I am really starting to make some progress in my own life and the life of those within this body. I covet all of your prayers as we continue to make strives for God's Kingdom.

Peace, Love, and Soul

The Thing I Wish for the Most

Today I was sampling a video series for our youth ministry and listened to a message by David Nasser. David really spoke to my heart about the passion of ministry, and as I listened to him today all I could think of was: I want to be able to communicate God's Word like he does. This isn't a put down on my preaching, but he is a whole lot better than I am.
The funny thing is that I have had these thoughts a lot through my 6 years of ministry. There has always been one person that I have listened to that has grasped my heart and gave it a desire to sound like that person. I want to be able to change lives through my messages, I want to be able to speak God's Word in such a way that brings people to their knees in prayer. I want God to use me so powerfully that His Kingdom would be embraced by His children, old and new. I have the passion, I have the desire, but what am I missing? What do I do to become the preacher that God wants me to be? How do I begin to minister to the lost in such a way that when I die God will look at me and say, "Well done good and faithful servant!"
I guess all I can do is pray and wait.

Peace, Love, and Soul
Larry

An Attack

These past two weeks have been tremendously overwhelming. On New Year's day two members of my church went to the hospital. Three days later I found another member of the church collapsed at his apartment. It turned out that he had a massive heart attack and died just yesterday. I went to go visit the family after Orville's passing and I was really hit hard. It's funny because I never knew the seriousness of my calling until I saw Orville that night. My church is going in a great direction and because of God's grace we have a wonderful group of people. We are currently going through a life changing series called "Discipleship" where we are learning the essentials of becoming and making disciples in the name of Jesus Christ. We are also pursuing a full time Youth Minister and are expecting an Preaching intern this Summer. We have an active part in the community and God is really blessing all that we do.
With that said, I have realized that this church is being attacked by God. My wife Heather said something very profound while I was sharing with her my feeling of stress. She said that, "God must really be doing something in this church." God really is doing something here, something that is causing Satan to attack this church with as many problems as we can get.
All throughout the ministry of the last two weeks, I have been attacked for the look of the new bulletins and I have received nothing but negative comments about the possibility of hiring a second staff member. I am honestly tired. I have not seen my kids but a couple of hours per day and I don't have time to stop and think. I know that it is only by the grace of God that I am still functioning properly. The only conclusion I can think of is that Satan is attacking my focus.
Hebrews 12:2 says, "To fix your eyes on Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith..." I have made that verse the anthem for our church and now Satan is trying to get us to lose our focus. When Peter was walking out of the boat, he had his eyes fixed on Christ and when he saw that giant wave come at him, he got scared, lost focus, and almost drowned. The last two weeks of life have caused a great wave of stress to come towards Forest Lake Christian Church, but we have to remain focused on the eyes of Christ; otherwise we will drown.
If you are reading this I ask you to pray over our church. I will personally be praying over Ephesians 6:10-20 so that I can ask God to put His spiritual armor over our church. That's it for now, more to come later...

peace, LOVE, and soul
Larry

Over my Head, Under my Heart

I have decided that my blog needed some work. After much thought I have come to the conclusion that I must depart from my old blog title of "Peace, Love, and Soul" to "Over my Head, Under my Heart". I really think that this is a better representation of my life right now.
Sometimes I feel as if I'm over my head in a lot of areas in life. I often wonder why God has decided to put me in a place where I feel like a rookie in a place of veterans. If you even realized the Biblical maturity of much of my church you would understand where I am coming from. The question that constantly comes to my mind is this: how can I lead a church of experienced leaders? How can I be the leader for them? But then again that is how my head feels and not my heart.
Although I feel overwhelmed a lot of times, my heart feels differently. My love for God is the only thing that is keeping me going. I am so in love with God and so thankful that He has decided to bring me to this church; I really have no words to express how I feel right now. I have realized over the past four months of ministry that although I may be inexperienced, that my heart is about as strong as any other believer in Christ. I may not know how to lead or what to teach to keep the attention of those more experienced than me, but I will always love all of them with every ounce of my heart.
So over my head and under my heart has to be the title of my blog, because it is the title of my life. If you have any comments for me please leave them. I would love to listen to what you have to say.

Peace, LOVE, and Soul
Larry

P.S. Old habits die hard.