This blog has been a little light on posts lately and I’m very sorry about that. I’ve just been busy with Christmas and spending time with my family.

Normal service will be restored soon, but not quite yet. Here’s why:

1. My wife’s Grandmother just died and we are down visiting with the VERY large family and getting ready for the funeral.
2. I am NOT okay.
   1. In church this weekend I realized that I have lost my joy. I am tired and grouchy and stressed constantly. I no longer even have any joy or comfort in my salvation.
   2. My wife’s Grandma’s death has hit me hard. I wasn’t at all close to her or anything but it has made me very aware of my wife’s mortality. I can’t imagine losing her. I don’t know what I would do!
   3. All these thoughts of death have made me question again my own ‘achievements’. Really, what have I ever done that really matters? When I stand before God and give account for what I did, what will I say? I learned how to make a pretty mean chocolate cake… and eat it all in a couple of days? I’m feeling like I’m missing my calling, not achieving what i should be achieving.

The blog carnival tomorrow should have been hosted here but instead will be hosted by Bridget over at Bridgetchumbley.com. I’m sorry I haven’t read all of the posts from the last carnival yet. I can’t guarantee that I’ll read all of this week’s – or even participate but I sure appreciate everyone who gets involved. You all are wonderful!

Hopefully I’ll be back with something a little more positive soon!

God bless you all in this coming year,

Peter

Arguably one of the most important (and difficult) ministry positions of all time was given to a very young couple who had none of the required experience.

When I say ‘young’, I mean probably teenage.

That young.

When they were first given the job they weren’t even married but yet God decided that they were the perfect couple for the job.

Their preparation looked like this:

1. Be born
2. Be raised like any other kids
3. Learn the family business
4. Love God
5. Find a good spouse

As far as we know, that was it. We have no record of any ’special’ preparation, no big plans to be the most important couple of their time, no intense training courses – they were just a couple of kids doing what kids do.

Then, with no warning, angels start appearing to them and tell them that out of all the people that would ever live, they had been chosen by Almighty God to be the parents of the Messiah.

Yikes.

From that moment, their decisions became harder than most of us could ever imagine and their lives became more important than they could even comprehend.

They were to raise, protect, teach and love the single most important person of all time.

Here’s a quick look at some of the choices they had to make in the next couple of years:

• Do we get married now she’s pregnant even though it’s socially unacceptable?
• In a dream we were told to flee to Egypt. Do we travel to Egypt or was it just a dream?
• We’ve had another dream. Do we go back to Israel? If we do, where do we settle?

This was difficult stuff – and they had no special training to enable them to do it.

It really hit me today as I was reading the Christmas story that Mary and Joseph were just average folk, just like you and me. Yet God used them for one of the most important jobs ever.

Could you imagine knowing that if you messed up and let something bad happen to your kid, the entire world would miss out on salvation?

Heavy stuff.

If this kid drowns in the bath, the whole WORLD is in trouble.

And how do you raise someone to become the Messiah anyway?

Yet God had searched through the whole of Time to find the perfect couple and no matter how out of their depth they may have felt, He knew what he was doing.

As you think about Jesus’ birth today, think about his young, untrained, unprepared parents and remember that no matter how small and insignificant you feel, no matter how unprepared you think you are for what God is calling you to do, God doesn’t make mistakes. He calls the right people at the right time.

You are the perfect person to do what God has given you to do. You’re the right one. God searched and found Noah. God chose David to be king, God picked Mary and Joseph to raise his son and he picked you for the task he’s given you.

You are the right person for the job, trust him. All you need to do is obediently listen to Him and walk the path he puts you on. It’s as easy as that!

Question: Do you ever feel like you’re unprepared, unskilled and inadequate for the tasks that God is giving you?

I’ve had a couple of people comment to me over the last couple of days that I’m a prayer warrior, or something along those lines.

I’m sorry to disappoint you guys but it’s just not true.

You see, a prayer warrior is someone who senses the call of the Spirit to pray and does so both often and with a strong desire to.

I’m not that person. I have the hardest time praying. Really, you don’t want to hear me pray out loud, it’s not pretty. I pretty much have to force myself to pray and even then, Irush through my prayers and get distracted very easily.

It’s only in times that I set aside to fast and pray that I come anywhere close to what should be a ‘normal’ prayer life.

Now I can already hear some of you objecting but let me continue…

My gift is that of Pastor.

I’m not saying that arrogantly or to boast, it’s just a fact. God gives each of us gifts, mine happens to be the gift of pastor.

The thing is, having this gift means I see things differently than many people I see things in a way that makes me think “What can I do to release the Church to do this?”

The apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists are there to equip the saints to do the work. (Ephesians 4:12)

I picture a pastor in two ways:

1) As a shepherd (the literal translation). The shepherd leads the sheep to the pasture, he guides them. Very rarely does he actually carry them, rather he shows them the way, He also NEVER eats the grass for the sheep or grows wool or fattens himself up for slaughter. That’s the job of the sheep. The shepherd just shows the way and keeps them on the right track.

2) A sports coach. Any team needs a coach. The coach shows the players what needs to be done and equips them to do it but then he sends them out onto the field to actually play the game. Yes he shouts encouragement and correction from the sidelines but he doesn’t suit up play the game with them. That’s not his (or her) role.

Pastors, like anyone else have to listen to God and obey. If God calls me to pray for you, I do it – but that doesn’t make me a prayer warrior, it means I’m obeying the call of God and demonstrating what it looks like when we pray for each other.

People often tell me I have the gift of encouragement. That is SO not true. The gift of encouragement means that you have a supernatural ability to be able to speak encouraging words in any situation. I can’t do that. I can give you a “woo hoo” and a slap on the back every now and then but I’m lost when it comes to real need.

The way I encourage is that of the coach shouting from the sidelines and I do it:

a) because I know everyone needs it and

b) because I want to demonstrate what encouraging people looks like and how easy it is.

This post really isn’t about me though… it’s about your pastor.

All too often, the church sees that something needs to be done and expects ‘the pastor’ to do it, when that’s really not his/her job (or gift). Your pastor/minister is there to equip you and the rest of your congregation to do the work of ministry. Their gift is very specific and there are people in your congregation who have the gifts to do whatever it is that needs to be done.

The Church needs to stop looking at the ‘leaders’ as the workers and everyone else as passive bystanders and start thinking about ourselves as a body in which all the parts have an essential function and are all neccessary. If any of us are being passive and doing nothing then the whole body of Christ suffers.

Go, do what God is calling you to do. Don’t give it to your pastor to do – as Nike says “JUST DO IT!”

Oh and you could read 1 Corinthians 12 if you need more convincing!

I hope that I will be able to put my kids in little league sports in the next few years, I truly do. I’d love for them to have that experience.

More important to me than that though is teaching them to love and serve the poor, sick and needy. If I have to choose between the two, I know which I will do.

I am disturbed by the comments I hear from some people about how important it is to get your kids into little league and what a bad parent I would be to not sign them up for every sport in the book.

Here’s my response to those people:

• You think that I am depriving my children by not signing them up for every sport I can find
• I know I’m teaching them valuable lessons by letting them go out and minister to the homeless with me

• You think that children need to be part of a sports team to learn teamwork
• My children learn teamwork by working together to make and distribute lunches to the homeless

• You say that you want your child to enjoy the thrill of hitting a home run
• I want my children to experience the thrill of leading one of our homeless friends to Christ

• You don’t want your children to miss out on part of the American experience
• I don’t want my children to forget what’s REALLY important

• You spend hours cheering your children on from the bleachers
• I hold my children’s hands as we walk across the tracks to reach tent city

• You spend all kinds of money on league fees and uniforms
• I teach my children to give even out of the little that we have

• You hope that sports will help your children develop an aggressive ‘go-getter’ attitude
• I hope that my children will learn to love the unlovable and care for the rejected

• Your children will have memories that will last for a lifetime
• My children will have memories that will last for all eternity

As I said, if I can, I’ll let my kids get involved in all kinds of sports… but if I have to choose, then there’s just no contest!

I mentioned in my update yesterday that God has pretty much made it clear that he wants me and my family to become missionaries.

Passing on that revelation through my blog has caused quite a stir, with people commenting and emailing me so I wanted to take some time today to try to define, in my own words, what a missionary does.

(the picture to the left is of the dump an Honduras where Terri and Marc Tindall minister).

• A missionary is reminded every day that they are in the mission field just by seeing the people around them. If you’re working in a refugee camp in Africa, it’s hard to forget why you are there.
• A missionary is focused on sharing the love of God with everyone they meet. Sharing God’s love doesn’t necessarily mean preaching, it can be acts of service or many other things.
• A missionary knows that everyone is watching them to see if what they preach is true. You cannot preach God’s love and forgiveness without displaying them yourself. You cannot call someone to change if you have not already changed.
• A missionary is more concerned with taking the good news to those who need it than about their own comfort. They don’t compromise their faith and beliefs just to not take risks at work and they don’t pull back from helping the poor and needy just to protect their possessions.
• A missionary puts the mission and God’s calling before everything else.
• A missionary does whatever is necessary, when it’s necessary. You don’t reach out to people by saying ‘no’ all the time.
• A missionary allows him or her self to be held accountable by others. Reporting back on the work they have been doing helps keep their minds focused on the idea that they should be doing something to report on.
• A missionary gives up something, or even everything, for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is what God started talking to me about. This level of commitment is what he is calling me to.

Let’s say he calls me to the jungles of Borneo. I have to give up all of my comforts and luxuries and go do whatever it takes to reach out to the indigenous people there. WHATEVER IT TAKES.

So here’s the deal. I need to give up everything I have, go wherever he sends me and dedicate my life to reaching people for Him.

Do you want to know where he’s sending me?

Right here, where I live, right now. 

God wants me to give up my life and take up my cross and follow him. He wants me to not just talk the talk but to walk the walk. God wants me to start thinking like a missionary, doing all those things I’ve listed above (and more that I haven’t thought of yet). God wants the all that I would give him if he sent me to Africa, right here, right now. It doesn’t matter to God that I am in the USA. Location is not important – attitude and commitment are

If I could live the missionary life in another country, why can’t I do it here at home?

How about you? Is God calling you to do the same? What has he been laying on your heart as you have been reading this?

Someone told me that there is a beautiful forest around here somewhere but I can’t see it for all of these trees. 

If I could just get rid of the trees somehow, I’d be able to see the forest so much better!

It’s so frustrating to have my view of something that people say is so beautiful completely obscured so I cannot even see it.

 I feel this way all the time. I’m constantly frustrated but I’m frustrated at the wrong thing.

I’m frustrated because I want to be doing great things for God and I don’t have the time and opportunity to do so.

What a bunch on nonsense that statement is though. What I should be frustrated at though is my own inability to see the truth – that I AM doing great things for God, I just don’t recognize it.

I want to be doing ‘God stuff’ and ministry instead of staying at home raising three children.

I want to be doing ministry instead of being stuck talking to other parents while my kids are doing gymnastics, or some school activity.

I want our church to be much bigger so I can minister to more people instead of just having a few intimate relationships to work within.

I am so blind to the truth.

I am raising three children to know and love God. That’s a HUGE ministry. I get to talk to, build relationships with and minister to people that my wife works with, parents at the school, parents at gymnastics and people in my street. I get to concentrate on discipling a few people in our church rather than having myself spread too thin trying to disciple dozens or even hundreds. I have everything I want but I don’t even recognize it.

I literally can’t see the wood for the trees. 

This is an issue that I see not just with myself but with many, many people in the Church today. We are blinded by this worldly idea that ’success’ means doing huge, dramatic, world changing things but God, the one who we should really take our definition of success from, doesn’t see it that way.

I was given a great definition of success once and it goes like this:

“Success is the ability to hear God’s voice and obey it.”

 It’s that simple. Listen to God, obey and you have been successful. It doesn’t matter what He has asked you to do, whether it’s commanding a mountain to throw itself into the sea or writing a ‘get well soon’ card for your neighbor. If we listen and obey, God will say “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

We cannot see his plan and we do not know how what he is asking us to do fits into that plan. Each little thing that we do is one extra tree in the forest – without our trees, the forest wouldn’t be as big or beautiful.

I have been reminded this week of how what may seem like small things to us can be big things to other people.

Three people; my sister, Christina Flagg and Andrea Gruen have been helping me edit my book to get it ready for sending to publishers (if any give me the opportunity). For them, they are just reading a kids book and suggesting little changes that could be made. For me, they are doing something that could be the difference between whether I get offered a publishing contract or not.

To me, it’s a HUGE thing that they are doing. They may not see it as ministry but I feel blessed by it and am so thankful to God that he has brought these three people into my life who are willing to help.

They have really reminded me that working for God, ministering to people and showing His love can take many forms and we need to open our eyes to see that the things we do, no matter how small, have a big impact and eternal significance.

If you’re like me, feeling frustrated that you’re not able to do ‘big things’ for God, take a step back and remember that every little thing you are obedient in is a big thing in His eyes – and His opinion is the one that ultimately matters!