Discerning God’s Will

God, am I doing what you want me to do? That is the question I have been asking the Lord the past few days. I have felt for a long time (6 years to be exact), that God has called me to church planting. The idea was birthed in my heart in 2002 on a military deployment. I prayed to God and asked him to help me by sending me to a place where I could learn church planting. When I returned from deployment, my family and I joined Mountain View Community Church (a 7 year old church at the time led by its founding pastor). I served there 4 years. In 2005, my family and I became core members of Diamond Valley Community Church (a daughter church of Mountain View Community Church). We served there for 2 years in key positions. I loved both churches and felt that God was preparing me for church planting along the way.

Now I am unsure. I have been asking God if church planting is my assignment, or did I misread Him. My uncertainty has been brought on by conversations with family members that I love and respect. In the face of this uncertainty, I have decided to ask God for confirmation of His will. At my best, I can be stubborn and single-minded. I want to know that I am following Him and not my perception of what I think He wants.

“The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17 (NASB95)

Spiritual Encounter with lasting effects?

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Spiritual Encounter 2008 at New Light Christian Center Church in Houston, Texas. It was a blessing to see the thousands of teenagers from all parts of the country decend upon that place. I was chaperoning my own group of teenagers (I am a Student Ministries Pastor) to the event. During the two nights that we went, I often found myself wondering what kind of impact would a huge event like this have on the thousands of teenagers after the event. To be honest, I was very skeptical of any lasting spiritual impact. I know that many experienced the presence of God. I know that many enjoyed the contemporary music (Christian rap and modern praise). I did not know that things would be truly different in their lives on Monday.

I was surprised that, at least among my group of teenagers, they really had a new zeal to serve God. A few talked about how awesome the experience was. More important, a few volunteered to help plan activities to reach their friends during our up and coming Youth Month. To God be the glory that my skepticism was proved wrong among a few. I hope many youth workers and pastors around the country are experiencing the same thing.