Over the past few months I've trimmed down the list of ministry assignments I'm accepting outside of our church. I've always believed the gifts in my life as well as the experiences I've accumulated in ministry can be traced back to grace. So I want to be open to both of them benefiting the bigger picture. At the same time, I've only got 24 hours in a day and a little less energy than Jack Bauer.
So in the spirit of still breathing when I turn thirty I'm cutting back. I feel an increasing sense of responsibility for the mission field Jesus has sent me to. Our church is thirty minutes from four million people. Transforming a metro area like Detroit takes some concentration:)
I continue to travel some to speak. In addition, I prioritized some of my extra-curricular church planting efforts. Church planting is my sweet spot and where I feel like Jesus has given me the most to contribute. One of the boards I continue to serve is responsible for giving leadership to Assembly of God church planting efforts in Michigan. My good friend Steve Bradshaw leads that charge so I enjoy serving him. I've also valued some new friendships formed on that team.
One of those guys is Jim Wiegand, pastor of The Freedom Center in Fenton. Today he invited me to spend some time teaching his leadership team. I really enjoyed sharing a little of my journey with them. They asked some great questions. Then I got to spend a few hours with Jim. He's a guy I wouldn't mind being like when I hit forty-one. So I got to ask him some of my burning questions:)
It's interesting that even though our churches are different sizes and our communities have different flavors, Jesus is teaching us some of the same heart lessons.
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