Sin affecting ministry

It's not a rare occurrence for Brian and I to have a tiff before our many ministry events.  I see this as Satan trying to make our ministry less effective and wanting to altogether stop it from happening.  If there isn't an issue between the two of us then you can bet one of us is allowing our own sin to affect ministry opportunities.  Well, this past weekend, that very clearly happened to me.  I allowed my sin to influence how I was ministering to some students at an event.  We had around 50 of our own students with us and close to 50 others from different schools.  I began to feel anger towards some students and the way they were behaving; to me they seemed very disrespectful, and I was not a fan.  What some people may not know about me is that I am very passionate and opinionated and will let people know what I am feeling if I see the need.  So, I decided that I needed to let these students know exactly what they were doing wrong.  Yes, they may have been wrong in their actions and words, but they also may not know who Jesus is yet.  They may not see their actions as sin because their eyes have not been opened.  These big events are supposed to be times where we show Jesus to these students and for them to know we are not going to judge them but that we will show grace because we have been shown grace through Jesus.  Grace was the last thing on my mind that night...until we got on the bus to leave.  I could feel the weight of what I had just done.  I allowed my anger to cover up the real reason I was there.  I couldn't see the opportunity I had right in front of me, the opportunity to hang out with girls from Gretna and get to know others from different schools and to HAVE FUN!

  

I had finally seen an issue that I allowed to happen a lot.  And thankfully the next morning God affirmed my sin at church through a guest preacher.  He preached on John 4:35 "Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." He challenged us to always "Think Evangelism"--to always be ready to show and to tell people about Jesus and what He did for us on the cross.  The fields are ready to be harvested, we just have to look up and see those people who are ready to hear about the Truth.  I want to always be anticipating the next time I can do that, but I often allow my sin to turn me away from that and wallow in myself.

I don't want to look back on this past weekend with regret, but with hope.  Hope that God will guide me in showing His grace and love to those who it seems hard to give it to.

Redeemed

This post is kind of a personal one for me.  I just wanted to share a song that has been good for my heart.  For me, music has always been a great way for me to worship God.  I love lyrics that challenge and encourage me and quote scripture when I don't even realize it.  This one, "Redeemed" by Big Daddy Weave reminds me of the freedom I have in Christ.  There are many times I don't feel that redemption and freedom because Satan is trying to hold past sins over my head, but it's songs like this one that help me along the way and take each day as it comes.  I am so thankful that God uses His word and truth-filled songs to communicate with me.  I hope you can know the freedom this song talks about today.

We are just the sheep dogs

Welcome to Brian and my blog!  Through it, we hope to share about life, ministry, and how God is moving in our own lives and the lives of our students.  Brian has now been on staff with Omaha Youth for Christ(YFC)/Campus Life as the Gretna Campus Life director for over a year.  And now, it is so exciting to say that I too am on staff part-time to help Brian with a few things!  God has called us so deeply to Campus Life.  I wanted to share the moment that we both felt it and knew this was where God wanted us.

Every year Omaha YFC hosts a banquet called "See the Story".  It's a time where people can come see what the organization is all about and how God is affecting lives of young people all over the Omaha area.  Two years ago was the first time Brian and I had gone to this event.  We had the privilege of hearing the president of YFC USA, Dan Wolgemuth, speak.  He gave this amazing picture of the job of a sheep dog.  It is the duty of a sheep dog to gather up the sheep and bring them to the shepherd.  He related this to the mission of reaching young people through YFC (and really any type of ministry).  We are just God's sheep dogs and it is our job to bring the sheep to Jesus' feet so that they can know he is their Shepherd, the one who will never give up on them.  Christ is the one who can give them "True Life".  So many things in this world have told so many kids lies.  The only place they can find truth and what their life was meant to be like is through the love of Christ and knowing Him as their personal Savior.  Brian and I feel so humbled and honored to bring this message to the students we minister to.

We hope you can just rejoice in the many stories we will share here and praise God for lives being changed.