Rochester has been good to us...

This is our last Sunday at Calvary E. Free church here in Rochester.  It has been a wild ride for the past 7 1/2 years and the ride has been a blast.  It is so hard to leave.  Many tears have fell from my face both private and public.  As I have told my own kids on more than one occasion, sometimes it is hard to follow Jesus when he asks you to make a big change.  Especially when you have so many close friends in the place you are being called away from.  So, today is going to be difficult.  This whole last week has been difficult and in a way, paralyzing.  I have so many goodbyes to say that I have not really said any.  So if you are wondering why is Darin so silent....that is why.  I don't do well with goodbyes and emotions other than happy.

So, thanks for all the love and support for me and my family.  But also remember that we are called not to be comfortable and enjoy life but we were called to enjoy God and to make disciples.  We are here for only a short time and that time is getting shorter as we live it.  The world needs disciple makers.  So pray for the Brown's as we drive out of town on Tuesday.  Pray for Harvest Community Church as they do their best to receive us from our journey.  Pray for Calvary as they grow into the next phase of ministry.  Pray for your own families that you will become the disciples you are supposed to be so you can go and make disciples.

unable to accept your refusal

Digging through my files I found this little treasure.  I am not sure who sent it to me originally but I do know that I cannot take credit for the idea, though I do think it is really funny and if you choose to use it please tell me what response you get.

Dear[Interviewer's Name]:
Thank you for your letter of [Date of Interview]. After careful
consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your
refusal to offer me employment with your firm. This year I have been particularly
fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters.
With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for
me to accept all refusals.

Despite [Firm's Name]'s outstanding qualifications and previous experience
in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet with my
needs at this time. Therefore, I will initiate employment with your firm
immediately following graduation. I look forward to seeing you then.
Best of luck in rejecting future candidates.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Yep, it is really happening....

For those of you from Calvary here in Rochester who missed church yesterday or if you are from out of town here is the story I read (Yes, I read it because I was sure I would choke if I just told the story) yesterday in the services.  I actually made it to the end in the second service but choked in the first.  Please be praying for our family (emotions, finances, housing, transition, finances, ending well, oh, and finances) as we move down this road that is sure to be difficult.  Thanks  --  Darin

The letter:

Many of you know that when I came here back in 2007 I came here a little bit damaged from my previous church experience.  It was not a healthy situation and it actually made me question my calling into ministry but Calvary has been an incredible place of healing and restoration.  I remember one of the statements that Dave Genberg said to me after one of my first staff meetings.  He said, “Calvary is and has been a pastor making type of church.”  He was right.  Through all the many transitions we have gone through this has been a great place to heal and to grow.

About three years ago someone from back in Washington asked me what it would take to get me to move back to the area.  I told them I was in a healthy church and knowing most of the churches in the area there in Washington I knew none could provide the health I needed and was getting here at Calvary.  I did say that if one particular friend who was planting a church in the area called I would consider it because of what he was doing and how he was doing it.

On April 30^th I got an unexpected phone call from this friend who was planting the church that is now 5 years old and looking for a youth and family pastor.  This phone call was very disruptive to say the least.  I was not looking for any changes especially after the other transitions happening here at Calvary.  He proceeded to fill me in on what they were doing and what they were looking for and asked if I was interested in it at all.  I asked him why he was calling me.  We had not really communicated at all since moving here but for a few short interactions on social networks.

He said that after looking at all the resumes he had received he was not really impressed with any of them and then felt like the Lord put my name on his heart to call.  So he called, then he came out to visit.  After he visited here I spent some time up at Camp Victory to process and pray.  Then after that short visit to camp I decided to move forward in the process to see where the Lord was leading.   Shortly after this my whole family was flown out to Washington for a visit to see if this was going to be a fit.  We were there for a fast weekend, met the leaders, the families and some old friends who now attend this church.  There is a great need for a shepherd to lead them as they strive to help equip families to make disciples. 

So, to make a long story short after much prayer, tears, loss of appetite, sleepless nights and stressful days I have decided to accept the position at Harvest Community Church in Selah, WA and will be leaving Calvary at the end of the summer.

  

So, thank you for allowing me to heal and grow and serve as your high school pastor for the last 7 years.  It has been my pleasure to serve you and your families.  Thank you so much for your support and prayers.  I only ask that you continue to pray for me and my family as we go through a difficult transition this summer.

MOMENTUM>>>>>>

Ever felt like you were so far stuck in a pattern of sin and disobedience that it seems impossible to get out of it?

Ever feel like there is just too much and it is just not worth the effort to change?

Ever feel like it is just to hard to follow all the rules all the time?

Ever feel like the pattern that you are stuck in has so much momentum that you just can't pull out of it?

Come this Wednesday to midweek at Calvary E. Free and see what you can do about it....

Am I invisible?

So, do I have anything worth saying that anyone else would want to read?  That is a good question and one worth pondering.  I remember hearing Bill Hybels say once, and I will have to paraphrase cause I am not good at word for word quoting, that as a leader you should be able to learn something from anyone.  I tend to agree.  If you spend enough time with someone and you are asking the right questions you can learn something from anyone.

I remember spending time at a shelter for the homeless or struggling and I gleaned so much wisdom from the people that were there.  It may have come from an angry at the world person or a genuine heart of "help me I made some mistakes" but it was refreshing and real.  I can remember learning from children, from teens, from the sick as well as the educated (sometimes the over educated).  You don't have to have a piece of paper hanging on your wall to have permission to pass on wisdom from the things you learn as you walk through life.  You and I are not invisible.  Though it may seem like it at times.  Always remember that Jesus sees you, he notices you, he loves you and he cares for you.  He is interested in what you have to say.

So, Do I have anything to say that may be worth hearing?  Probably.  It may not be what you were looking for but if you have enough patience you could learn from a cricket I suppose.

Tomorrow night we will kick off a series called "The Invisibles" for our midweek program at Calvary.  Come and give us your 2 cents worth.

Get educated on how to search Google better.

What are you thankful for this year?

This year at thanksgiving around the table I asked my kids to come up with two things that they were thankful for.  One had to be about God and the other could be whatever.  My boys both said, "I am thankful that Jesus saved my sins and for my family",  and my daughter said, "I am thankful That God made me and the Bible."  What did your family say?

Comment below....

What is the Gospel and how has it changed your life?

I was recently reading  an article in a journal about the number of college students who grew up in the church that were unable to answer the question, “What is the Gospel?”  The professor at this Christian university knew she might get a few different answers but expected to hear some similar themes but was surprised to hear some students answer this question with the simple “be nice to others.”  Now obviously Jesus did teach to be nice to others by stating love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39) but that is so far from the fullness of the Gospel and that knowledge alone would not be enough to bring salvation to the person.  So then I began to wonder how many of the parents of these students would be able to give a definition of the Gospel? 

At the beginning of the school year I spent a few weeks in our 9th and 10th grade Sunday school class unpacking the Gospel and was still a little surprised at how gun shy our students were to answer the question of what is the Gospel even after I had just given a definition.  Even right after I gave a definition (minutes after) the students were all still so gun shy to proclaim this gospel to a class of churched peers.  What is it about the Gospel that causes us to have a mental block to speak it out?  Why is our confidence in the Gospel so shaken?  Obviously there is a measure of spiritual warfare that tosses doubts our way but is there something more?

Now, if a person is unable to define the Gospel then how will that person live according to it?  Is there a sense of life change that needs to take place in order for the full understanding of the Gospel to take root?  Is there a sense that in our culture our students have not seen the life change in the adults around them to give them a sense of confidence that the Gospel is life changing and worth repeating or proclaiming?  If the Gospel has not made a change in my life then do I fully understand what the Gospel really is?  

This season of Christmas coming upon us is a celebration of the Gospel, the word, the begotten coming to take the form of a human to ultimately become our rescuer.  It is our sin that separates us from our God and it is our sin that causes us to need a rescuer.  The baby Jesus which is the Christ, the messiah, has come to bring salvation to those who believe.  He will experience birth, life, ministry, death and the resurrection.  All those who trust in him alone will receive life that is eternal and will get to be with Jesus forever.  This message of redemption and rescue should be life changing as we spend the rest of our lives doing our best to work out our salvation.  Once we see our sinful state and see the need for a savior and then receive this gift of salvation (Romans 6:23  ) our lives should be different after.  Are our lives any different?  Have we truly embraced the freedom that comes from salvation (Galatians 5:1).

I want to hear more about this from you so I have set up a blog for you to post how the Gospel has changed your life.  Let our students see it, hear it and learn how powerful (Romans 1:16) the Gospel really is so they will have the confidence to proclaim it and live it out.  How has the Gospel changed your life?

Other great links related to the Gospel
Awesome presentation of the GOSPEL

Incredible ministry training teens to share their faith

Founder of the Dare 2 Share organization

Volunteers for ministry...

Had an epiphany recently.  Call it an AHA moment.  Each year we pastors scramble to recruit or 'invite' others to serve in our area of ministry.  This is always a stretch and there have been seasons where I panic a bit as I will have way more students in our ministry than I have adults willing to mentor or disciple.  I see this in our children's ministry a lot as well.  So many kids wanting to participate and we have so few workers to develop the next generation of church leaders.

So, now enter the epiphany.

Matthew 9:35-38..
(from youversion.com)

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."


The epiphany comes from the first words in v. 38. "Therefore pray earnestly...."

Yes it is a pastors responsibility or obligation to train the saints to do the work of the ministry (See Eph. 4) but at the same time, since the harvest is so plentiful we hear from Jesus that there is reason to pray and not just pray but pray EARNESTLY that the lord will send out the laborers into his harvest. Is it my harvest? NO. Do I care more about the harvest than the Lord? NO. Will not the Lord send out the leaders where he knows the programs are humble and ready to submit to His will, His leadership, His provision? YES

So, enter guilt trip for me. How often to I pray earnestly for the laborers to come? How often do I pray for the Laborers that have come and helped to work the harvest?

Not Enough. If I was praying enough (how do you measure enough prayer???) then I would not be panicking but waiting with expectation for the answer to the prayer (Psalm 5:3).

Loyalty

When did this new business model of rewarding new customers begin to take root and grow?  What ever happened to rewarding the loyalty of the customer that has been around for a long time?  I see it every where and it irritates me.  All these introductory discounts that only last for 12 months and then go way up.  I don't want to keep changing my services to keep my budget manageable.  IT is so annoying.  Even with my Cell company I can't get the best new phone because I am already a current customer so I have to pay more for it.  If I was a new customer the new cool phone would be free with my two year service agreement.  I would rather stay with a service that really wants me to stay and respects me for using their service for a long time.  Where is the loyalty and why should I be loyal to any service if they don't really care about it?

Anyway, short rant.  If you actually read my blog, let me know your thoughts.

Why do folks leave the church after youth ministry?

Youth ministry creates a certain feeling of community, once the students leave the youth group setting they search for that same feeling of community and cannot find it in adult ministries.  Adults are boring and the students fear that once they leave.  Youth ministry tends to have a more accurate sense of family found in Acts 2 where we share what we have together, go on trips together, go to school together so they are with each other most of the time, share meals together and are generally more involved in the lives of each other.

Thirsty in the normal and the mundane.

In Psalm 63:1-2 where David is in a dry and desolate place and is physically in need of thirst quenching water and yet he thirsts for God.  Am I Thirsty like that?  How do I develop that kind of thirst?  How do i orient my life in such a way that I develop that kind of thirst?  To take that feeling of absolute thirst for water and crave God even more.

Yes I need to have a hunger and thirst for righteousness (matthew 5:6), but on a deeper level I feel like David had a better focus.  To have an intense thirst for God, the creator of righteousness and to recognize his ultimate authority over my life is something to pursue. 

When I am sick and have that stomach thing that feels so awful and like there is nothing to do to fix it.  Then is when I cry out to God for help.  When I am in complete sorrow and feel sadness over the loss of a loved one then is when i cry out for God to come to me an be by my side and give me comfort.  How can I create that same craving in me on the other days?  The days when I lose no one to tragedy, how can I have that same craving?

Often i will run to him in praise when the great things happen.  On the days where he answers a prayer the way I want.  when I get the mysterious check in the mail to help with my family needs I give him praise and thanks.  When I get a note of encouragement from a student impacted by my lesson, words, ministry or whatever.  I then say a thanks to God.  But what about the normal day.  Do I thirst on those days?  Do I have the constant sense of awe in how great God is that the sun is shining or the sky is raining?  Do I appreciate the fact that he is performing miracles on the other side of the planet while I am answering emails in this side?  Do I realize the impact on life that He is Holy, that he is almighty, that he is loving, that he is?  I recognize this on the ups and the downs, but what about in the middle?

I want to crave him, thirst for him in the normal and mundane. 

Just a thought

As churches grow they seem to lose sight of the lost as well as the community in which they serve. At some point many churches will reach a size large enough to the point where there are enough frustrated congregants who notice this and do something about. They refresh the flame of serving the community and go at it as if it is a brand new idea that they came up with when really it is just a recycling of what they intended to do to begin with.

Now the task is to figure out how to drop the middle of all that and just stay the course doing what we intended to do in the first place.

Memorial Day

I fear that the sacrifices made by all of our soldiers in the past will be 'messed' up or forgotten by the behavior of politicians. Each time I sing the national anthem or see the flag fly or see movies like 'Saving Private Ryan' I remember and feel a deep sense of gratitude for all the lives sacrificed to keep us safe and free in the USA. Thank you so much for your sacrifice and the sacrifice of your family. Many of us remember what you gave so much for. Thanks.

When the Church and the world collide...

After reading bout the recent church shooting in Maryville, IL (just outside of St. Louis) I just wonder if the church would be wise to ramp up security. If our goal is to reach those who have issues with the world, people, religion, God, etc. why would we want to keep them out of our churches? If we are to reach out to them, we should let them in baggage and all, right? But we need to be alive to do so. When the world and the church collide on our own turf we get nervous. When the the church and the world collide on 'their' turf, 'they' get nervous.

So, if we have to choose which side on which to be out of balance, too many of them in our house or too many of us in their house, which do we choose? Honestly, I believe that is the wrong question to be asking and we need to find a better one.

Pray for the First Baptist Church of Maryville, IL and the Winters family. Pastor Winters left behind two daughters and a wife who are asking "WHY?"

We should stand out.....so why don't we?

As I read in Romans 12:1-2 and read in the context of Romans 11 it is amazing the grace that God showers upon us. Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How he made possible for us Gentiles to have access to God the father through his son. The manner in which he allows this access is humbling by itself. Giving of a one and only son to save a wretched people....in the words of YS Seriously Ridiculous.

Now in our world today which is so anti God, anti absolute truth, anti standards for those of us who say that we pursue Christ why don't we stand out more? Why don't we look more different? The more I submit to the standards of God, the more the world will not make sense and the more I will not make sense to the world, but I do. I do make sense to the world. Should I?

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed, be renewed, be different. Am I?

What we have been doing for generations is not working. Baby's die in the place that they should be most safe...in the womb. Sin is sanctioned, allowed, legalized, made permissable... Just because it is permitted does that make it right? Since when does a standard of the world trump God's standard stated in his word?

When is it right to say that a person Loves the Lord and reads his word but yet does not do what it says? Especially in such places of leadership and influence where these statements are said, in our capital and in our media. Are we supposed to be doers of the word not just readers of it?

What we have been doing for generations is only sinking us deeper into a pit of sin, sanctioned sin, selfish desires, selfish pursuits...

We who are followers of Christ are supposed to stand out, so Why Don't WE?

ok, just a quickie

So, why would it seem to be appropriate to spend over 100 million dollars (approaching the 150 million) on a big party to celebrate a new president when our economy is so stretched? I am sure a new president deserves a celebration and a party with plenty of good stuff, but why the elaborate stuff and all?

On the same note, why do we pay pro athletes and actors in hollywood so much to act? When an athlete gets a new 130 million dollar contract to play baseball and then the city for whom he plays turns around and asks the community for 300 million to pay for a new stadium for these over paid athletes to play in, and then will charge them a pretty hefty fee to watch the athlete play in that stadium? Seems a little backwards or over the top to me.

I am just sayin.

welcome to 2009

Debbie reminded me that I never update this anymore, so UPDATE!

....ok, I will work on something a little more witty and informative later.

db

Blame God for the Results?

Why is it that when people make choices that are clearly against God's plan they then blame God for the results? We need to recognize that when we go against God's plan or God's standard that we welcome hard times into our lives.

Even worse than that is when we do our best to make it right we still get upset that it doesn't fix everything. An extreme illustration of this is when a person murders someone, then feels bad and confesses to God, family, Police, etc. it will not make the dead person alive again. That cannot be undone. So we make it as right as we can but we must realize that our choices go beyond an easy fix. Our choices start a chain reaction in the lives of others. That reaction can be positive or negative but once it is started it will continue even when we 'make it right'.

But then we get mad at God for the evil in the world as we commit evil acts ourselves. Who is to blame? We are to blame. When my neighbor makes a choice it impacts me. When I make a choice it impacts him. When God made his choice, it impacted the world.

When I make a moral choice and get good results, I can give God the credit because his plan is working. When I make a bad choice and get a bad result I can still give God the credit because his plan still is working and he warned me that it would. The negative outcome is due to my choice and i cannot blame God for that because, like I said, he warned me.

Just a bit of a ramble there.

president?