Ch-ch-ch-changes

Cue the David Bowie music…..”ch ch ch changes!” Bet you thought I was too young to know that one huh? You may have noticed that my info changed. Or you may have not noticed at all. If you didn’t shame on you! Gotta get you reading more often. If you did, Props to you! I recently left the church that I was Minister of Youth at for close to three years. It was a change that was going to happen eventually due to feeling God was calling me into vocational youth ministry. I was planning on waiting until after I got my degree but God has a way of making things happen in His time not ours. I was a volunteer minister of youth at Park Ave. Baptist Church since 2009. Park Ave was a wonderful church and if you’re in Madisonville KY and looking for a home church Bro. Matt Fowler is one of the best young pastors around. He has a great vision for the church and is leading it in a great direction.

But it was time for me to go. I was feeling restless and was getting some feelings that the youth ministry there was better served by me leaving. After financing the youth ministry out of our pockets for some time it was time for Jackie and me to do what was best for our children and look for a church that could support a youth ministry on its own. The financial strain on our family was too great and it had no indications of getting better. So after a church council meeting in which the youth ministry budget that would have alleviated the strain on us was turned down by one person before it ever was voted on by the church body, I sent out a message to my youth ministry peeps on Facebook. I asked if anyone knew of a youth ministry in need of a youth minister. Thirty minutes later a fellow youth minister friend of mine sent a message back saying he did. He was stepping down at the end of November and would put in a good word at his church for me. The next day a former pastor of ours called and talked to my wife. She stated we were leaving Park Ave. He told her of a youth ministry position that was open and he happened to be good friends with the pastor. It happened to be the same church. After praying about it A LOT! I decided to turn my resume in. I met with the search committee and the rest is history. I start this Sunday and really cannot wait. There are some many ministry ideas that I had that would not work at Park Ave but I will get the chance to try at my new church. The church is Dawson Springs, KY First Baptist Church.

Enough about me, let’s get to the point. When do you know it’s time for a change? With me it was a longing in my heart. I’m not sure if it was a longing for a larger audience that I could reach at the smaller church I was at. I’m sure the financial strain was part of it, but I’ve always trusted God to provide for us when we bought that extra pizza or took that extra trip. It was just an unexplained feeling I had. I knew God was in the move. Everything felt right, both people that talked to us were very godly men and I knew that had not only our best interest at heart but also the best interest of that youth ministry. I constantly would get impressions that God wanted me to go when I would pray for his will to be shown to me. I do know there is something to be said for perseverance. I had actually prepared a sermon on that topic for a Sunday evening service that I did not get to deliver. God doesn’t want us to tuck tail and run when it gets rough. He granted us a spirit of strength and power. But when God calls you to go, you better listen.

^“1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NLT)

I truly believe that any type of minister; youth, music, education, or senior pastors, go through seasons. Some seasons will find them at a particular church. Then following a call from God the next season will find them at another church.

So I will leave you with some lyrics and a reassurance. The reassurance is that if God is truly in a move, the feeling that you’re letting your old youth ministry down and your old church down matters. You and your old church should feel excited for your new opportunity. It should be a celebration. God bless all of you and just keep swimming!

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Turn and face the strange

Ch-ch-changes

Don't want to be a richer man

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Turn and face the strange

Ch-ch-changes

Just gonna have to be a different man

Time may change me

But I can't trace time” David Bowie “Changes”