MINISTRY- THE EARLY YEARS part 1

It was the spring of 1996 and I was on a trip that included traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma and then onto Pittsburgh, PA.. I was investigating and meeting with a ministry called Teen Mania. Years before the President of TMM, Ron Luce, had ministered in my church and I had a great respect for him and all that God had done with his ministry since 1988. I went to meet about being the host church for Acquire the Fire. Located on a small college campus outside of Pittsburgh, this Seattle native had a run in with God. Little did I know what this trip would hold for the rest of my life.

I have lived in the Seattle area my whole life. Having been a Pastor's Kid (PK) since the age of 14, I was very aware of the church and my calling in life. I knew in 1994 that I was called to full-time ministry as a Youth Pastor and began working in the church that raised me. With no formal internship experience and no bible college to raise me up in the protocol of ministry some seasons were hard and the fruit of the ministry just wasn’t always there. The first Sunday I preached 75 young people showed up: The next week we had 9. I was hardly an expert in church growth and multiplication. At the time our church was in between permanent facilities and the youth was meeting in a parking stall. After 22 months of believing God, preaching the Word, counseling kids, fighting the enemy, planning activities, doing outreach, praying my guts out, working hard, following leadership, reading books and attending conferences the youth ministry only had 14 young people, in a parking stall. Every week we would worship God with the adults, then right after the offering we would grab our chairs by the back door and circle them up outside.

As I reminisce about the first years of ministry I am reminded of all the heartache ,frustration and discontent I was experiencing. It seemed all of the effort I was putting in was to no avail. I focused entirely on spiritual warfare because I thought that the devil had his foot on my young people, my church and my city. What I learned is that the devil had his foot on my vision, methods and ideas. What I learned is that if ministering to young people was a part of God’s plan then He would accomplish it, I needed to take the pressure off. What I learned was that if I yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to have his way with the His church then I would have the great opportunity to be right-smack-dab in the middle of an incredible move of God. As I stood at Acquire the Fire God began to open the eyes of my heart.

To be continued...