One Hard Night

Now for those of you who have been waiting with anxious anticipation for me to update; this one is for you. I have intentionally waited to blog due to my preoccupation with the current events of my life and ministry and I simply thought that it would be best to wait until I could write about what has been going on. Brenda and I are leaving Guymon. Our Journey with the youth of Poured Out Ministries is coming to an end. November the 5th will be our first official Sunday as the senior pastor of the Butler Church of the Nazarene in Butler, MO. We are headin back to the "Show Me" state. We are very excited about the opportunity that we have to help shape a community of faith using the gifts that God has blessed us with. The Holy Spirit has been very real to me in making this decision and I believe that I am ready for the transition in pastoral role.

Now this leads me to the main thrust of my post today. Wednesday night I told the youth that I would no longer be their youth pastor after October 29th. I was most definately not looking forward to this night. Not just because of the crying faces that I knew were inevitable but also I knew that it would present a challenge that I had not yet faced. Leaving a place because you are going back to school or because your senior pastor resigned is difficult but people understand. Telling teens that you are leaving because you feel God is leading you ministerially in a new direction is difficult to explain to them. You want them to realize that God's leading is not just for good in our lives but theirs as well. You want them to believe that God will lead the church to make decisions for their best good as well. Unfortunately they usually do not see this right off. They only see someone whom they have counted on for the last 5 years of their lives leaving them. They do not think they have room in their hearts or lives for another pastor. They may even think that noone could love them more and pastor them better than I. I spent a good deal of time talking with several of them after the service and I am certain the talks will continue until the day we depart.

Inspite of all the pain it is still a blessing to feel the peace of God during this process. I preached to the youth this night from I Thessalonians 2:17-20. Paul is speaking to the church at Thessalonica and he is singing their praises. His pride in them is great and he calls them his "proud reward and crown" and later his "pride and joy". I could think of no better scripture to proclaim to my teens on this night than this--"You are my Pride and Joy". I recounted so many times that they have demonstrated how amazing they are and the growth in grace that is apparant in so many of their lives. I told them of the number of times that I proudly proclaimed that I am the youth pastor of the best kids in the denomination. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to lead them. One of my teens (one of our student leaders whom I have a great deal of faith in) said to me, "John you have been huge in my life." I choose to believe that he was not speaking about my physical girth but was commenting on the consistent time that I have spent investing in him. Those are the moments that bring all the days of ministry into perspective. It is my job to be present in all the days of their lives as constant visual reminder of the spiritual reality that God is always with them. If I am successful in this then they look back and see the constant physical presence of Christ who has been with them each step in their journey. It has been my joy to be their shepherd. I thank God for the grace that this ministry has consistently been to me. I look forward to the days ahead.

My prayer today Lord is that you would grant peace to the youth I love and that your presence will continue to be with them as they look for answers and comfort during this time of transition. Grace and Peace.