"Leaving" the Ministry?

Brett and I have served in "paid, professional ministry" for all of our adult lives. (Well, he has for all of his. I, myself, have worked in the church for the majority of my adult life.) I fully support the concept of paid church/ministry staff. In our world today, paid ministry staff is an important part of the Church, and I don't see any biblical reason that a church shouldn't have paid staff.

However, I don't buy in to the idea that being a paid leader in a church or ministry somehow makes a person more spiritual. I am in not better standing with God than my brothers and sisters at The Grove because I happen to receive a paycheck for what I do there.

As we are making a career change from paid ministry to self-employment, we've had a few people wonder aloud, "Why are you leaving the ministry?" Even though we will no longer be paid for our work at a church, our family will always be involved in ministry. Ministry is the call of every Christian, and we intend to continue to pursue a lifestyle of ministry.

I am looking forward to exploring options in our new neighborhood and community. Will we share Christ with our neighbors? Will we welcome international students into our home? Will I have the opportunity to be a Titus 2 woman in someone's life? Will we serve the poor? All of these things interest me, and I am eager to see what opportunities God presents to us in our new home.

As we continue to abide in the Lord, ministry will be an integral part of our lives. It'll be cool to see how that plays out.

God's Will and Leading

Someone asked me a very good question this Sunday at church, "Do you feel that God is leading you to move to Colorado? Or do you just want to move to Colorado?" The answer to both questions is a resounding, "Yes!"

For some reason, we have this idea that following God's will for our lives means opposing our wills. If there is something that we want to do, about which we feel passionate, that we enjoy, we think that God wants us to do the opposite. We believe that He wants to ruin our fun, test us to see how much we love Him and make us miserable.

I do not deny that God sometimes calls us to do hard things. But I have come to believe, over the years, that God uses the way He made us to bring glory to Himself. What I mean is this: God made me. He gave me certain interests, desires, likes and dislikes. He gave me spiritual gifts and natural abilities. As I walk with Him each day, I can honor Him by being who He made me to be.

Our family has had a love affair with Colorado for some time. Brett has had a growing interest in landscape photography. We believe that God gave us these interests and desires, and we've chosen to act on them. We know that God can work in and through us wherever we are and in whatever vocations we chose for our lives. And more than that, we think that when we act in a way that embraces the way that He created us, we give Him more honor. We are happy servants, cheerful givers, fulfilled people. By our actions, we say, "God, thanks for making me exactly who I am. I am enjoying who You made me to be. You are the master Creator and You don't make mistakes."