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Confessions of a Campus Pastor series

I have always envied those who seemingly live their lives without concern of what others think.  Because I care way too much about what people think.

I have let this concern influence many decisions in my life,  probably too many.

It feels like handcuffs at times because I want to find out what others think before I even express my opinion.

Yet, God has worked in this area of my life as well.  He continues to teach me that ultimately the only thing that matters is what He SAYS about me.  It’s a matter of faith really to trust Him in this.

I remember reading in Wild at Heart that some men who struggle with this need to say NO more often and let others feel the full weight of who you are.  This inspired me to be more upfront, more candid and concern myself less with what others might think.

This “problem” of mine is magnified because I’m a pastor.  “Life in the fish bowl” means that more people are watching and more people have an opinion.  It has been a journey for me to work forward on this matter but God has been faithful to remind me of what matters most each day.

Here is my theme verse for this particular issue.  I read it often:

We speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed-God is our witness.

We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

1 Thessalonians 2:4-6

Confessions of a Campus Pastor series

There I said it.  It won’t surprise any ministry person because they undoubtedly worry about attendnace at their events as well.  But I have to tell you that ever since launching Suncrest-East I worry more than I ever used to.  I wake up in the middle of the nigh Sunday mornings worrying that non one will show up….worrying that there we will be in the movie theater that we pay too much for with no new people…that everyone will be asking me what we should do because everyone has stopped coming…worrying that the whole thing is going to fall apart.

I wouldn’t say it is a chronic problem because this past weekend I didn’t wake up at all…okay I did wake up but that was because of my son who was sick. My response is to pray through it and ask God to help me have the right kind of focus.

You have to understand that this weakness is tied to my identity.  It affects how I look at myself.  If attendance is down, I tend to take it personally.  If it is up, I feel great.  I’m not proud of that.  That is just my struggle.

Someone twittered on December 28th (a notoriously low attendance Sunday) a prayer that God would help us focus on who IS there rather than who IS NOT.  As I read that I thought it was exactly the kind of prayer I needed to read and the kind of prayer I needed to pray.  So I did and I have.  And my “natural” focus has begun to shift from attendance (the  numbers) to what matters most…people.

I’ve been thinking for some time about doing a series of posts inspired by Craig Groeschel’s book Confessions of a Pastor. My purpose in doing this is let you see how I deal with some of these things.  Candidly, I deal with some of them very well.  Others?  Not so well.  That’s why it’s called a journey.  Hopefully, they will help you in your journey if you deal with similiar things.  I don’t anticipate that any of them will be overly shocking but the more I grow the more I realize the truth of 2 Corinthians 12:9:

But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

I’ll share the first one tomorrow.  Yep, going to make you wait.  🙂

I saved and I whined and I saved some more until I finally fulfilled a life long dream…okay  not a life long dream but maybe a year’s long dream to get an iPhone.  My friends and wife were relieved when I finally got one so they wouldn’t have to hear me talk about it anymore.

You know the familiar feeling that after you get something you have this let down because it did not live up to your expectations…I did NOT have that whatsoever.  It has exceeded every expectation.

Here’s my top 3 reasons for why I love this phone/PDA:

1.  I have tried several different gadgets to keep everything (calendar, to do list, notes, etc) in ONE place to stay organized and the iPhone is the only thing so far that has helped me accomplish this.  Chief among it all is having my calendar with me everywhere I go.

2. I love the social media connectivity…being able to stay connected on the go to twitter and facebook have been huge.

3. The interface of the iPhone is the slickest thing I have ever seen.  It is just so…well…slick.  Other PDA/phones I’ve tried were very clunky in the interface.

Honorable mentions…

…having my music with me without having to carry my phone and ipod is a plus…I know…I’m a diva…and I like to use…a…lot.

…IT ACTUALLY WORKS IN ALL ITS FEATURES.  I can’t tell you how awesome it is to have a gadget that actually does what it says it will do with a streamlined interface.

I’ve been waiting to break the news on here until we told everyone we really needed to tell in person.  It’s official I’m going to be a father of 5!

Wow!

I’ve never really pictured myself as a father of 5 but was always open to it.  Then again before I even had one I never really pictured myself as a father.

It’s been such a remarkable thing for my family since we found out even though it’s only been a short time.  The very news of a new baby has somehow drawn us closer.  It’s led to conversations that we needed to have but just hadn’t.  And it’s reminded me of how much I really love my children.

This will probably sound weird but I have loved ALL my children more with each child that I have had.  I’ve heard people say that they didn’t want any more children because they didn’t think they would have the ability to love them as much.  Honestly that is a load of bunk.  My experience is that my CAPACITY to love has grown with more children.

AND

I love my children BETTER.  I’ve always loved my kids.  But I feel like I love my oldest two better now that I have 4 and now 5.  In the early days my focus was so much on work and OTHER things.  Not that I don’t struggle with that at times, but it is more natural for me to focus on my kids first, placing them in the priority spot God intended.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. – Psalm 127-3-5

The first full week in January my wife and I felt convicted that our family should  fast from media.  For us that meant specifically comuter, TV and video games when using them for things not associated with work or school.  Through the Christmas break we saw how easy it was for all of us to flip on the TV or the Wii instead of doing something together.  Now we have had a lot of family fun with the Wii but a lot of our media intake was individual.

So we took 5 days partaked of none of it.

It was a great experience as we talked our kids through it.  Our focus we said should be on Jesus always.  Video games and TV are fun but shouldn’t be a distraction from Jesus. And they had become so.

It honestly was not as tough for them or us as we anticipated.  I saw great things happen…

…my oldest son who’s 12 initiate playing with his younger sisters…

…attitudes of the oldest two change almost overnight to be more respectful and fun…

…desire by all my kids to be together, play together and have fun together…

…my own natural response at the end of the day become to read instead of catching up on a show.

It truly was a great experience.  We have since waded back into use of all things entertainment.  However, we have put some better limitations on our kids use of it.

As for me I’ve decided that no TV during the week is a good thing.  It will focus my time more on things that matter.  Practically speaking that just means instead of watching TV after 9pm (only time I really do anyway during the week) I will read or interact with my son.

Okay not a word but I needed something up there so I could actually INCLUDE my own twitter address.  Forgot to do it on the previous post.  Here it is:

twitter.com/douggamble

Look me up if you are on Twitter.

Last year I jumped onto the Twitter bandwagon.  It was mostly due to an experience at a Group’s conference I attended with fellow staff, Mary Beth.  When we showed up to the conference it was like MB had instant friends.  She was connecting with all these people that she basically met through Twitter.  So I decided to give it a shot…

And I’ve loved it.

The biggest benefit for me has been that I’ve been able to connect with other Campus Pastors around the nation as well as stay connected to friends and ministry colleagues.  Yes, it could be a big waste of time if someone only uses it tell the world when they go to the bathroom or other meaningless information.  However, if you use it to connect with others online then it can be a powerful tool.

Mary Beth in fact just blogged about it today as well.  Read her post as well as click the link in the post for more reasons to try twitter.

AND check out these tweeps (peeps on Twitter) from Suncrest:

Mary Beth Stockdale

Greg Lee

Kevin Richardson

Jeff Sanford

Laura Moseng

Mike Moseng

Rebecca Jackson

I read this article and just had to pass it along. I think it expresses great thoughts on where we are at with the church in America. I also appreciate his approach that critiques without condemns.

He asks some great questions:

Is there more than a “Sunday only experience” for church?

How can we create a more biblical environment where people see and experience God?

A part of the answer for me is that church IS NOT Sunday morning.  That is an obvious statement to many but yet don’t we live like it is in so many ways?  Don’t we pour most of our resources and energy into a Sunday morning event? Don’t we plan the life of a church organization around Sunday mornings?  These are questions I am wrestling through.

I’m not concluding that Sunday morning isn’t necessary NOR that we shouldn’t put focus on it.  I’m just wrestling with the thoughts expressed in Chan’s article that Jesus intended HIS church to be so much more than a Sunday morning event.  And to lead people to see that means we have to do things differently than we always have done them.

Here’s the article link:  http://www.exponentialconference.org/there-must-be-more-than-this/

1.  Think about running for a very long time.

2. Talk about running.

3.  Subscribe to Runner’s World for the killer price of $12.00.

4.  Think about running some more.

5.  Map out several runs you would like to do if you could get your lazy rear off the couch.

6. Talk aboutt running some more.

7. Plan a day to start running again…close enough to feel like you have a goal but  far enough out to be comfortable.

8. Lament the fact your treadmill broke.

9. Decide if 1000s of other people can use the Y so can you.

10.  Run at the Y with 30 of your closest friends.