Balancing Ministry N' Work

May 26, 2010 I was in the operating room for just under 11 hours. Recovery was a bear, especially with the extended stay at Michigan University Hospital due to a CSF Leak. Those first few weeks at home I slept more than I was awake. At 8 weeks post op, I returned to work, today I wish I had taken another week or two as I barely made it through each day. I had to step down from the church I was serving as I did not have the energy to work and pastor. A Lot has changed in 9 years. Today, I continue to work and run the Materials Team for a $300M business. God has opened the door for me to Pastor at Littleby Baptist Church. I serve our town as an Alderman. I continue to write and plan on self publishing my second book this year and have plans for a third in 2020. There was a time that I honestly thought I would have been on disability by now. Having a severed vestibular (balance) nerve was causing significant issues and I was struggling with walking down the hall, let alone driving a

When we last opened our Bibles together, we took a look at the Twelve men that Jesus called and then sent out to care and share. We saw that He put them in a position that required them to trust that God would provide the most basic of necessities. In their missionary journey they also were learning to trust that God would work in them and through them. As the Twelve headed out into the world, trusting in God, and caring and sharing wherever they went we saw that they successfully proclaimed the good news and healed people everywhere. We to have a job to do and need to trust in God so that we can do it. We need to trust in Him to guide and provide, and then we need to step out and care and share as missionaries to the people in our lives.   This week we are going to continue in Luke. Luke 10:1-4 “ 10  After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and he sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2  He told them, “The harve

Last week we saw how Jesus was trying to get people to look past the here and now and focus on eternity. The crowd was hungry for more of the barley loaves and fish used to feed the 5,000, but Jesus was telling them about His amazing gift. They wanted to see so they could believe, but the Bible tells us that if we believe we will see. Believe and our eyes will be opened to all that God is doing. If you have your Bible, please open them to Luke 6 as we continue our series on the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus. Luke 6:12-16 “ 12  During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God. 13  When daylight came, he summoned his disciples, and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: 14  Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; 15  Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; 16  Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”

Last week we looked at how Jesus had compassion on someone who was deemed as untouchable. In doing so, Jesus showed us that it does not matter how bad we think things are, Jesus is still standing there reaching out to us. He wants us to feel His loving touch that breaks through every known barrier. All we have to do is have faith in Jesus, His love for us, and know that our faith in Him has made us clean. It is as simple as that. No need to over think it, no reason to feel guilty, no reason to dwell on the past. Simply have faith. Open your Bibles to John 6, as we continue our series on the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus. The first part of John 6 has Jesus taking 5 barley loaves and 2 fish, blessing them and feeding 5,000 men and who knows how many women and children. When all had eaten their fill, they collected 12 baskets of bread. A miracle that was obvious to many. Jesus then spent some time alone as His disciples got in a boat to cross the sea. As night came th

Last week we started with the woman the well and then jumped around a bit, all to show that with Jesus it was no longer business as usual. Cultural norms, did not matter to Jesus. Who you are, where you were born, the color of your skin, the size of your bank account, even the type of sin you are living in does not matter. Jesus ate with sinners, stayed with Samaritans, talked to an adulteress, healed gentiles, and changed what could be done on the Sabbath. We need to remember that it is no longer business as usual. We need to ask God to show us exactly what we need to do in order to have true heart felt revival. We need to ask God to show us what we need to do to reach that person we are praying for. It won’t be business as usual, but it will be what God has planned for each one of us. This morning just happens to be another example of Jesus doing something that was unheard of. Mark 1:39-40 “ 39  He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out de