In honor of my 4 year anniversary at work, I am writing a 4-part blog series reflecting on the past 4 years. You can view all of the blog entries here on my website.

Part 1: Why I Stepped Down as Senior Pastor
Part 2: How God has Shaped Me Over the Past 4 Years
Part 3: How God Has Used Me Over the Past 4 Years

Here’s the final part:

I love how God has shaped my life. I love the relationship I have with my wife. I love the time I get to spend with my 2 girls. I love my job. I love the teaching ministry I have. I love all of the various mentoring relationships I have. But with everything going great in my life, I realize that I cannot be complacent with the present reality. My hope and prayer is that over the next 4 years, I grow in all areas of my life.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I will pursue a deeper relationship with Him. As a husband, I will learn to love my wife in greater ways than I do now. As a father I will make every effort to be a present father figure in my girls’ lives. As a minister of the Gospel, I will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and not my own.

But what will the next 4 years look like in a practical, everyday sense? First off, I believe that God has not shut the door on full-time church ministry. When I first left the pastorate 4 years ago, I saw the door to another ministry position closed. But as God has shaped me over the past few years, I see that door opening a little wider. I can completely see God calling me back. Where? Not sure. In what capacity? Not sure either. All I know is that I am willing to pursue that path if He leads me.

If you have been following this 4-part series from the beginning, thank you for your support. If you missed any of the previous posts from this series, I encourage you to go back and read them.

In honor of my 4 year anniversary at work, I am writing a 4-part blog series reflecting on the past 4 years. You can view all of the blog entries here on my website. Here’s part 3:

When we made our drastic life change 4 years ago, we believed that we should wait out a year before we got involved into ministry. We never intended to jump into a church and try to “put our mark” on ministry there. Our goal was quite the opposite. I came in really quiet, never really letting out my ministry background. I wasn’t ashamed of having a Masters of Divinity, nor was I ashamed of being a Pastor; I simply wanted to be treated like everyone else and go through the process of church assimilation. 7 months after leaving our old church, God called us into serving at our new church, which has been an amazing experience. Some of my greatest experiences in ministry has been in the last 4 years. This has truly been a growing experience for me. The funny part of all of this is that the most amazing fruit I have seen from serving God came after I stopped working as a pastor. I’ve come to realize that I am teacher, pastor, and leader – regardless of who gives me my paycheck. The beauty of these last 4 years was discovering God’s call on my life – regardless of what my “job title” is. Too many times Christians only see the full time pastors as being people who impact the Kingdom of God. But in fact, God has called each one of us to fulfill specific ministries. I encourage you to keep seeking every opportunity God may have for you.

Below is just a summary of how God has used me over the past 4 years….all while working a M-F, 40 hours a week job. I know that every opportunity is a gift and that I do not deserve any of it. It is only by God’s grace that I am able to serve the Kingdom.

Grace Fellowship
To be completely honest, I was a little wounded after leaving the pastorate. For my entire life I believed I was gifted by God to make a serious impact in the church. But after I left the church 4 years ago, I was wounded emotionally. The question came into my mind, “if I can’t succeed with a small group of people, how could I possibly do anything else?” With that false mindset in place, when I started attending Grace Fellowship Church, I did not think I was “good enough” to serve. God has slowly been teaching me that if I’m willing to let His Spirit guide me, it doesn’t matter what context I am in. I can still have Kingdom impact.

At my current church, I have been able to serve as a small group leader, a teacher for the 2-year olds, and a planner for large special gatherings. In between all of these things, I have the privilege of assisting and consulting with various projects in the church – both small and big.

But by far my biggest joy in serving is the ability to teach for Wednesday evening Move Classes. These classes range from 4-10 weeks and I have witnessed God do amazing things. I am humbled by the fact that I have been a part of 7 different classes, with tremendous positive feedback from people. I continue to do operate in this ministry and truly value this opportunity.

Various Churches in the Region
Ministering to other churches in the area is one of my greatest joys. I love see the Church in all sizes and forms. I appreciate visiting churches in rural areas and churches in cities. I value ministering in small churches as well as larger churches. I find enjoyment in meeting people young and old. Over the past 4 years, I’ve had the opportunity to lead worship/music, teach classes, and preach. Out of everything I do at churches in the surrounding areas I love the most is to preach. What I’ve come to realize is that I am not there simply to preach, but to minister to the people as well (slight difference). That mindset has drastically changed the way I come into a church.

Mentoring Relationships
I believe that mentoring comes in 3 forms: 1) Having someone mentor you, 2) Having a peer mentor, and 3) Mentoring someone. The reality is that we cannot do life on our own, we need others to come alongside the journey with us. God has called us into relationships so that we can help each other grow. Over the last 4 years, I have had the opportunity to constantly experience all 3 levels of mentoring. I am thankful for all the individuals who have poured their life into me and the individuals who continue to pour their life into me. I am blessed by all of the of the people who have let me speak into their lives and value the insights I bring.

You don’t want to miss the final part of my blog series: What Will the Next 4 Years Look Like for Me?

Part 1: Why I Stepped Down as Senior Pastor
Part 2: How God has Shaped Me Over the Past 4 Years
Part 3: How God Has Used Me Over the Past 4 Years
Part 4: What Will the Next 4 Years Look Like for Me?

In honor of my 4 year anniversary at work, I am writing a 4-part blog series reflecting on the past 4 years. You can view all of the blog entries here on my website. My first blog entry was “Why I Stepped Down As Senior Pastor” and has gotten a great response. Here’s part 2: “How God Has Shaped Me Over the Past 4 Years.”

A few days ago my wife goes “Do you realize it’s been 4 years? You’ve really grown and developed over that time.” Even though my wife compliments me all the time, this statement felt like it held a lot of weight to it. It meant a lot to me that my wife acknowledge how God has molded me over these past 4 years. So following my theme of “4”, here are 4 ways God has changed my life.

Prioritizing Family Time
So the core of who I am is a “workaholic.” One of the things I value is doing a good job at something, so much I can find myself completely ingrained into a project. When I look at various individuals in my family, I too have seen unhealthy patterns of work habits (sorry family members, it’s in our DNA). What I’ve come to realize is that the most valuable thing I could give to my family is time.

Before I made my career and life change 4 years ago, I did not seem to find time for my wife. My time was so focused on my job and ministry, I did not provide her the time and affection she needed. One of the first choices we made was to focus on growing our marriage. To do that, we started a small group at our new church, focused on giving couples an outlet to deal with their marriages. There was a great need to have a small group for people to discuss marriage issues as a couple. As much as we were providing a ministry to couples, the fact was that this group was more needed for us. We realized that the only way we could mend our relationship was to be intentional for our marriage. We did this for about 2 1/2 years and was greatly challenged by this process.

Another thing we implemented in our marriage was having regular date nights. We started with doing it whenever we could, then moved it to about once a month, and now we’re at once a week (though, we occasionally take a week off here and there to cut down on spending). We go out on Tuesdays, so I always find myself wishing my work day in the afternoon would go faster so we can go out.

Having Healthy Sleep Pattern
This may sound elementary, but I’ve discovered that my body performs well if I get adequate amounts of sleep. I think sometimes we use so many stimulants (i.e. coffee, caffeine) to get us through the day, when in reality we just need to sleep. When I was a Senior Pastor and working at Starbucks I would wake up at 4am and go to bed at 11pm just about 7 days a week! I would drink a latte before my shift, during my 15 minute break, during my meal break, and after my shift. So if we’re counting espresso shots, I was drinking 4-12 per day! When I left the church and Starbucks, I gave up coffee “cold turkey” (largely due to the fact that I could not afford Starbucks anymore). So immediately after our life change, I stopped setting an alarm to wake myself up. For about a year plus, I woke up whenever my body told me to. I didn’t have to be at work at a particular time and our kids were young enough were they didn’t have to go to school. If you can go for an extended time without using an alarm clock, I highly suggest it!

Living A Balanced Life
Balance is so critical to our lives. Over the past 4 years, I really learned the value of balance. In the 4 years at my current job, I can count on 1 hand how many times I worked from home. Once I walk out my office doors, work stays at my desk (even mentally). I try to leave work at 4:30pm-5:00pm everyday so I can be home for dinner. My wife and I attend every school or church function my kids are at together. I make time to hang out with friends. I walk my dog 3 times a day. I go on Daddy Dates with my 2 girls. I watch a set of TV shows with my wife weekly. I read books. I even wrote a book. The point is, balance is everything for a peaceful life..

Memorizing Scripture
I always thought that I would never be able to memorize Bible passages. It wasn’t until about 2 years ago that I began to intentionally memorize scripture. I wrote a detailed blog about different tools that are helpful awhile back. To date, I have memorized 115 verses, include the entire book of 2 Timothy. Prior to a few years ago, I had only a handful of verses memorized, even being a Christian for my entire life! This has helped me tremendously as the Holy Spirit as used the verses I memorized to prompt me to use them – whether for my own life or when I teach.

Thanks for reading, look for part 3: “How God Has Used Me Over the Past 4 Years” in the next few days!

Part 1: Why I Stepped Down as Senior Pastor
Part 2: How God has Shaped Me Over the Past 4 Years
Part 3: How God Has Used Me Over the Past 4 Years
Part 4: What Will the Next 4 Years Look Like for Me?