Wednesday, February 27, 2013

the Presence Tour...

I had the honor of spending last weekend returning to my wife and I's first home, Cincinnati, OH, to attend the Believe Conference for Junior High students.  God blessed us with 9 students that joined us for an amazing weekend of growth and fellowship. 

This was not my first rodeo as this was my 8th time at Believe and 3rd in Cincinnati, so like before, the conference was top notch.  High level illustrations, great worship, awesome graphics, not to mention amazing, practical speaking.  But it wasn't all of this that made the biggest impact on my wife and I this past weekend.  What made the biggest impact is what makes ministry life so great and that is the relationships that are formed.  

If you had been following my tweets over the weekend, @normallyINDIE, it seemed as though we were running into someone left and right.  And I know what you are thinking, "what else is new? Any pastor runs into tons of people he knows at christian conventions?"  But this time was different.  I feel God placed these people in our path this past weekend to remind us the value of relationships as well as the value the people have in our lives.  The weekend was like an impromptu family reunion.  My wife and I got to see one of our best friends Sarah Brown, who was integral in us getting together, my brother & his awesome girlfriend Lindsay, Ash, J-Trav, Reverend Katie Brown, Papa Brown, Court, Post, not to mention the GUMC crew and the giant crew from Eastview (just so happens to be my home church).  All of these people have had such a huge impact on our lives and it was so fitting to see them in the place that Jenny and I called home at the beginning of our marriage.  It was a weekend of memories that will not go forgotten and all I can do is thank Believe for making it happen.  

I learned so much this past weekend and have seen a huge change of heart in our student's lives through the testimonies that were laid out by God this past weekend, but in the midst of that, what God continued to speak to me was that ministry is all about relationships.  Not only ministry, but life is all about people and Jesus came to this world to save people.  So often we can get focused on numbers, budgets, church sizes, logistics, when God may be screaming at us to say "time to seek after my people who are lost".  

He has placed so many people in our path both to have an impact on and for them to have an impact on us.  If we are willing to take to time to stop and listen.  God is bringing his people to us and I am so thankful to be a small part of that.  



till another day, 



normallyINDIE. 

Thursday, February 21, 2013

#C3Conf...

If you have been following my twitter (@normallyINDIE) over the last week, you would have be bombarded with posts regarding the C3 Conference in  Dallas, TX.  It is a church conference designed for church leaders to come together, ask questions about the Real & the Raw and most of all understand God's calling on their to be held at a higher standard.  Sadly, I wasn't able to bring my team with me, but despite all of that God seemed to do so much work in my life personally as well as my ministry life. I would like to share with you some of the big insights that he shared with me during my time in Dallas.  

First being, the God is working through our struggle.  An amazing pastor named Greg Rohlinger (@gregrohlinger) spoke on this idea as he was diagnosed with a terminal illness that is gradually taking his life.  Everyday tasks seemed to become more and more difficult and he could have either cursed God and walked away or continued to follow him because his ministry was not over.  But God was preparing him for what he had to do in the future through the struggle he was facing today.  That is the big take away, that God is allowing you to work through this struggle because you have to work through this in order to be prepared for what is to come.  

Next, Pace Hartfield (@pacehartfield) shared with all of us that "Your Pastor is not your Lord, but your Pastor's leader is your Lord."  This is an amazing idea because so often do we treat our senior pastors with too much respect or very little respect.  What he called us to understand was that if you are not willing to respect your senior pastor for whatever reason, you must respect the calling & authority he was given by God to lead your church.  It is an amazing thing to understand because so many of us either disrespect or undermine our pastors and that is not what God is calling us to do when we step on board as a team staff at church.  

These are just a couple insights from the amazing week that took place in Dallas and I am so excited to go back next year and bring as many people on our teams as possible.  

Below is a recap of the week if you would like more info or to register for C3 2014 then go to click here 



till another day, 




normallyINDIE

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Going on a Trip...

I have been blessed over the last 7 years of my life to visit the Dominican Republic/Haiti Island three times, two of which included trips with G.O. Ministries and their amazing staff.  These are opportunities to both grow spiritually as well as serve the Dominican People.

I am so excited to announce that we will be taking another trip to the Dominican this August with 5 High School Students from Twin Oaks CC.  It is our first trip with the Uprising and it is going to be an amazing opportunity to again serve these people and grow together as a group.

Some of what I am so excited about it:

Reconnecting with Missionaries
Meeting new Friends in DR
Remembering my 5 years of Spanish
Sharing God with our Students
Telling stories of life change with our Families

We leave for our trip August 6th - 13h and I could not be more excited about it.  I have attached a video below that was created by GO Ministries.  It only excites me more to join them in August.




till another day,




normallyINDIE