Envision culture shock

This past year I graduated from Nyack College with the hopes of going into Pastoral ministry which I still do, but when I graduated I was thrown for a loop by a friend with works with the Christian & Missionary Alliance (CMA) with what is known as....Envision culture. This is all from the national youth office and focuses on young adults ages 18-30 in the CMA to help them get acquainted with there calling in the kingdom of God and to help build the Kingdom of God. This is the past thing I thought I would be doing but it seems like with my past ministry work God has placed me places I never thought I would end up, but God is good so I'm cool with it!

I titled this partly "envision culture" cause that is who I work with and partly "culture shock" cause thats what it was a culture shock. In the previous months to me coming out here I interviewed with three separate churches about possible Youth Pastor positions, all three were in the state of NY. As I went through each of the interview process I was excited about all three since I really want to do ministry in the local church. This has been my passion and burden for about the past 6 years (about a year after coming to faith in Christ). So for the past 6 years I have been looking and longing for opportunities to serve in the local church. I've done various things from preach in sunday, to teach and lead youth groups, to teach and leading young adults, to sunday school, to picking up chairs on sunday morning after service. Basically I've done what ever I can to serve and thats what I was looking towards for when I graduated but obviously God had other plans.

In the book of Job it says that God''s plans can't be stopped (42:2) and that Ephesians says that God works everything after His will (1:11). We see that in scripture there are many other places that talk about God's will and what he does is up to him and it seems that I have very little say in what happens. I hate to say it but I fell into the trap of thinking that as long as I was seeking God and he was first I would get the desire of my heart (Psalms 37:4). The issue that I forgot is that in seeking God I will then give up my desires and seek God's desires for me to build His kingdom not mine (Luke 9:23-25; Romans 8:28). This was big for me and very convicting, even though I knew it biblically, I forgot it practically and in a round about way expected God to give it to me cause of what I believed he called me to.

Through this all I was brought to the CMA national office with Envision and doing something that was not ministry in the local church, to which I was dreaming and looking forward to after I graduated. So as I talked with a gentlemen in the envision offce about what I would be doing in Colorado, seeking council and praying about it, it seemed as though this is where God wanted me. Like when I went to school in NY I didn't understand as to why but I walked by faith and not sight as we are told to in 2 Corinthians 5:7. I was at another point in transition from state to state, among other things and just plain having to up and move again; this would be interesting I thought!

As I got to to Colorado I was in the one state I wanted to live in before I died so that was cool, but the thing that toped it off was that I got to do ministry and was seeing that God waanted me there. As things got moving I met people in the office and then within my first week got on the road the snowy wisconsin. I rode up there in a 16 ft box truck with my boss and it was long and tedius, but the goal and purpose was the important issue at hand. People seeing the need to build the kingdom and getting involved with that is the goal anytime the project experience goes anywhere to anybody. I have had the pleasure of going to "no where" wisconsin (to which I would not want to live), Portland, OR (awesome place), Omaha NE (another awesome place with really good food), NY (not bad...haha) and I leave for Ohio tomorrow for about 1 week (grow up 1 hour away from where I'll be).

Overall my life has been turned around for the good, I haver seen how blessed we are in America and even the freedoms that we have in that luxuery. I have been able to talk to people about the developing countrys around the world and the issues that go with it from 1 in 6 people don't have clean drinking water in the world, to 1 in 3 children in africa don't make it past the age of ten all because of starvation, to a girl every 2 seconds getsw stuck in the sex slave industry (oh and guys you also get caught up in the industry, your not excempt). In the end through when  I tell people about it is then that we talk about the ultimate issue of sin in the world and the hope of Jesus Christ, His cross and resurrection from the dead is the means and we are called to take this hope to the nations.

Now the gospel message wasn't the initial shcok (the developing countries stuff was) but as it set in and I continually talked about it and took people through the experience it would hit me harder and harder about the personal work of Jesus Christ and the depth of God's grace through the cross. God through this all has brought persoanl healing in my on some issues that was struggleing to get through and as always God is faithful and good! The overall impact of working with envision in the national office has been huge in scantifying me towards God and away from the world. My heart for this blog is that as you read it you to will take steps of faith towards the unknown. You may not always see God in the fog but his light shines through the darkenss, and remember that the scripture holds true in that....

"I have been crucifed with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Chrsit lives in me. The life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20)

"He who begun a good work in you will bring it to completion untill the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6)

"We are God's workmenship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10)

I would love feed back on this....