Sometimes You Have To Wait...

Mark 8:1-10 (MSG) says "At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, “This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they’ll faint along the way—some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples responded, “What do you expect us to do about it? Buy food out here in the desert?” He asked, “How much bread do you have?” "Seven loaves,” they said. So, Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. After giving thanks, he took the seven bread loaves, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples so they could hand them out to the crowd.

They also had a few fish. He pronounced a blessing over the fish and told his disciples to hand them out as well. The crowd ate its fill. Seven sacks of leftovers were collected. There were well over four thousand at the meal. Then he sent them home. He himself went straight to the boat with his disciples."

This scripture has several points to be made but what I would like to bring out in this short blog is a portion from the very beginning of this scripture.

Jesus is talking and he says "This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat..."

and then later in the chapter we read where Jesus blessed and miraculously fed "well over four thousand" people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish!

The thought that I want to bring out in this is the idea that after three days of listening, after three days of going without food the people began to break the heart of Jesus! He knew they were hungry physically and that they had to be fed...

You see a human body can only go so long without food and water!

And I believe Christians must be fed spiritually as well! I believe we must feed ourselves daily, in fact the Lord's prayer teaches us to pray "give us today our daily bread.." and again in Matthew 4:4 it says

"People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

So, by the words of these scriptures you see it's very important that we are fed spiritually as well and now to our point!

Sometimes, we have to wait on God before we get what we need!

You see I feel like there are a lot of so called Christians that want God to feed us like a fast food restaurant! We go to church, we get our miracle and then we leave! All on our time and when we want it!

But God don't work like that..
You see his ways are higher than ours, his thoughts are higher than ours and he knows the plan he has for us!

God wants us to make him a priority! God wants us to show him that we need him! Because we were made to worship him and give him glory, and by waiting on him we can show him our faithfulness and commitment!

God doesn't always ask us to wait upon him but sometimes he does and just like these scriptures when we reach the heart of God then he meets us where we are. Then he feeds us, then he does miracles and changes our lives!

So, my challenge for you is this, if you've been waiting on an answer, if you've been praying for a loved one, if you've been looking for that miracle, don't give up, GET HUNGRY!

Because when we get hungry we will move the heart of God and then he will move in our lives! So, don't give up, wait on God and maybe today or tomorrow will be your "third day"

-Pastor Phil
One Way Student Ministries
www.onewaysm.org

Leave The Past Behind You

That simple phrase right there is powerful! "Leave the past behind you" don't look back!

Today, as I believe many people do I begin to think about my past, from the time I was a child until now, the things I've done and the things I want to do...

The is a hard subject for most to discuss, I think it's because we regret so many things we've done or maybe failed to do...

Going to college, ending certain friendships, walking away from family who needs us, witnessing to the lost and making poor choices that cause a lot of unnecessary heart ache...

Today, I found this scripture in the Message Translation, it says

3-5 "You’ve already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it’s time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself." 1 Peter 4:3-5 MSG

"Now it's time to be done for good...
You don't have to give an account to THEM...."

This is one of the very personal, selfish reasons you don't wanna live in the past, this is why you don't wanna live in sin...

Because those who do will have to offer an explanation! They are held accountable, so leave your past behind you! It doesn't define you! Give your life, everything to God! He knows your past, present and future! So, stop hiding, stop running and surrender to God!

Proverbs 3:5-7 (MSG) says
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!

Father, help us leave the past behind us, God forgive us of all of our sin, Jesus we believe in you and we know you are the same yesterday, today and forever! You hold our world in your hands! Help us draw closer to you and live for you everyday! -Amen

-Pastor Phil

Stand Up

Today, I was thinking about the scripture in Daniel Chapter 3 where it talks about three men; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The scripture talks about how they took a stand in worshiping and serving the one and only true God. When it seemed like everyone else was giving into the worship of a false idol these young men stood up, they stood up for their beliefs, their God and their right to worship him.

Thinking over this set of scriptures, I realize that I have heard this story multiple times growing up but never before have I realized how relevant this story can be when compared to our world today!

You see in a very similar way, the world around us is changing, we are facing more and more pressure every day to worship and serve the things of this world. We may not see it as that but the pressure is there, with social media and peer pressure and just the way our culture has shifted, the world is trying to force their beliefs and ways of life on us.

Like never before I believe we have a chance to stand up and make a difference, even though we may face persecution like these three Hebrew men did we must remember "That God will never leave us or forsake us" and just like God showed up in the fiery furnace, he will show up in the midst of our trials!

You see God will actually bless us when we stand up for him and he promises that he will not leave our side! So, trust in God and the plan he has for you! And make a stand! Stand up for Christ in our world today, in our schools, at our jobs, represent the one who has never left, who promises to stay with us and who will be with us into the ends of the earth!

Our world needs to see the hope in the people who have enough faith to stand up for Christ! So, stand up and shine your light! Show the world there's a better way to live!

So, I challenge you to read over Daniel Chapter 3 and think about how you can make a stand!

-Pastor Phil

Vision For Your Ministry

Every ministry should have a vision and a mission statement! It's very important that you dream big and that you write down what God speaks into your heart concerning where you are and where you are going!

I thank God that we have always had leaders in our life, mentoring us and pushing us to dream BIG! In fact without that in our ministry I believe we would not be where we are today!

So, dream big and chase after that dream, don't be afraid to criticize yourself and perfect yourself!

Figure out who or what you wanna be like and then begin to watch yourself, begin to record yourself, begin to work towards the person, pastor or leader you were created to be!

Surround yourself with people who will inspire you and help you when you need it, people who will pray for your ministry!

Even though pastors and leaders don't like to have someone tell them the truth or suggest ideas, you will come to the place where you wish you did have someone who would have helped you grow your ministry.

So, my solution is this;

Stay humble and teachable in ministry and don't be afraid to allow yourself to be molded into the great leader God is calling you to be!!

Proverbs 28:18 says "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he."

Pastor Phil
www.onewaysm.org

Sometimes You Have To Be Selfish..

Recently I was reminded by a good friend of mind, a prayer I prayed over him at Summer Camp...
Sometimes during the moment of prayer the holy spirit begins to speak with you and as a Pastor
you can sometimes forget the things you say.

I believe that happens because the bible says that the holy spirit is interceding for us, that he helps us
know what to pray for and how to do it. Anways, going back to what was said during this prayer I
mentioned how we as people in and of the church can get caught up in doing everything, working,
being prepared, talking to people, working at various tasks and we can overlook ourselves.

So, during this prayer I said something along the lines of "Sometimes you just have to get selfish..."
I honestly don't even remember what else I said as I mentioned, my friend reminded me of this, but
what I was speaking was the simple fact as Christians, as Pastors and as Individuals sometimes we
have to become selfish in our own walk, in our needs and in our own spirituality.

You see for me this really begin to hit home after my friend reminded me of this. Because as a youth pastor, husband, graphic designer, worship leader and all the other things and titles that fall under my name, I
sometimes find myself too busy! Too busy to take the extra time to talk to God during the day for me, for
my family, for my wife, for my personal walk.

It's something I believe the church world really deals with and is very relevant, so therefore I am tossing around the idea of writing a book about it. It may never happen but I know for a fact that we as Christians and those who are Pastors, don't really take the time that we need to, for our selves.

Don't get me wrong, every morning I wake up, throw some Praise & Worship on, I begin to pray, but I don't pray for my stuff. I pray for the church, our pastors, I pray for services, staff, people who are in the hospital, but so many times I can honestly say that I don't get selfish!

In fact its rare for me to get selfish... Can anyone else relate with that?

Maybe it's because normally at church, I'm on the stage, leading in some manner...
Maybe it's because I'm praying for someone else or I'm doing some important task for the service...
Maybe it's because I want people to know that we love them and I'm out in the crowd welcoming people
to the church...

Whatever my excuse is, whatever your excuse is, it's time that we get selfish...
It's time that we fill ourselves backup, so we can continue to pour out into others lives!
God has really spoken to me this wekk and reminded me that it's okay to get selfish, it's okay to get what
I need from him, I'm still going to be a youth pastor afterwards, i'm still going to fufill his will in my life...

So, today as I share these thoughts with you and as my good friend Monroe reminded me this past weekend, that it's okay for us to get selfish...

So, take some time for yourself, get alone with God, get alone and worship, pray and medidate on God,
Get Selfish!

Matthew 11:28-30 in the Message translation says “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”