MIM Ezine, December 23, 2008

-- Running A.M.O.K. Creative Arts Ministry- Balancing Your Life: It’s a Question of Priorities, by D.C. Weiss.

-- BOOK REVIEW: My Life Unscripted: Who’s Writing Your Life,by Gary Bredfeldt, reviewed by Teena Stewart.

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It’s hard to believe how quickly time rolls by. It seems like just weeks ago our family was in turmoil over our move from our traditional ministry in California to our innovative ministry in North Carolina. When we sensed God’s call for us to leave our church to set up a coffee shop ministry, we sold our house, packed up our belongings and on the day after Christmas we loaded a semi-trailer and headed cross country to North Carolina.

It was a memorable Christmas, but not the way one would think. We celebrated one of the bleakest and abbreviated Christmases I ever remember. (We didn’t even put up a normal Christmas tree.) After arriving in North Carolina, we lived with my mother in Lewisville for a month until we could locate a home in Hickory where we planned to launch our ministry.

Silly me. I was so naïve. I thought it would be just a matter of months before we had the shop up and running. Looking back in retrospect over the past year I can relate to the words of Charles Dickens who wrote in “A Tale of Two Cities” -, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” And it certainly was quite a roller coaster of a ride. From week to week we never quite knew what was going to happen.

1. Celebrating Christmas Dinner at McDonald’s in California after packing the trailer and saying good-bye to our grown children.

2. Driving five solid days across country in the dead of winter. At our first rest stop I remarked about how nice it was not to have to deal with anything thing “kid” related. As if in response, our aging Scottish Terrier promptly barfed all over the back seat.

3. Living temporarily with my mom and having to sleep on a trundle bed with my husband. It really is true. You can’t go back home. Mom wouldn’t even let us eat in the bedroom. Ah, dear Mom!

4. Writing a business plan for our new coffee shop ministry. Because we were doing this in our spare time between jobs and were relying on free help from the Small Business Development Center, it took several months to complete. Then came the revisions which took several more months. It was about as enjoyable as a root canal while lying on a bed of nails and having your toenails plucked out. But the Small Business folks did an excellent job and the business plan was a crucial tool needed to secure badly needed loans.

5. Searching for just the right location for our coffee shop. We started with a sizable list of prospective places and God crossed them off our list one at a time. In the process we learned that: 1) rezoning a building, no matter how much it looks like it could work as a coffee shop is not a good idea if you want to use the building during your life time, and 2) if it sounds really cheap, there’s probably a reason. The older the building the more it’s going to cost you.

6. Piecing part-time jobs together to support ourselves. It was a far cry from steady employment in California and a lot less glamorous. Jeff now knows all about the ins and outs of U-haul rentals, and I know how to properly resurface storage facility doors.

7. Becoming official empty nesters with no kids within driving distance. We left two grown children in California and one in Colorado thinking we had prepared ourselves for the separation, but when Christmas and Thanksgiving hit, we felt the separation very keenly. We understood anew the biblical principle of counting the cost.

8. Losing two pets within one month’s time. We no sooner had a cute stray kitten adopt us and completed the paperwork with the Humane Society to properly adopt her, when she decided to sample some poisonous berries outside. A month later we had to put our ailing Scotty to sleep. We never felt so isolated and alone; even our pets had left us.

9. Trying to get business loans while banks, Wall Street, and the housing market were rolling like Sunamis over the country, with gas prices skyrocketing and our own finances exposed and most volatile.

10. Finding out that most Christians rely on their own resources more than they do on God. Many questioned both our sanity and ourcalling. Of all the difficult circumstances, this hurt most.

2. Experiencing actual miracles for the first time in our lives. When we announced we would resign our positions at our California church and explained we would be selling our home, many people looked at us like we were fools. It was fun to smirk at them three months later when we announced that God sold our house. I realize it is even more of a miracle now because the housing market tanked right afterwards. It felt a lot like the hero in the movie who runs out of the apartment building just as the walls crash down behind him during an earthquake.

3. Another amazing miracle…After we announced our ministry vision and call, someone in California told us he had purchased a storage rental facility in Newton, just 15 minutes from Hickory where we planned to launch the coffee shop. He needed a part-time manager just at the time when we needed part-time work. A coincidence? I don’t think so.

4. Buying a house after living at my mom’s for a month and having enough money left over to put toward coffee shop equipment.

5. Landing a new administrative assistant job at a church just one week after submitting my application in response to an ad in order to find steadier income.

6. Becoming reacquainted with extended family after living away from them for years due to ministry responsibilities.

7. Experiencing the birth of our first grandchild just days after losing a beloved pet.

8. Locating just the right storefront for just the right amount after a long, hard search.

9. Watching God send workers to us as we are on the cusp of launching the coffee shop.

10. Understanding what it means to live by faith. Because our financial safety net has been stripped away, we have keenly felt God’s hand on our lives and have seen miracles that otherwise may never have happened. When you have all you need, you have no need for God and you are blind to His workings. When you have little, it forces you to your knees.

As of this writing, we are two thirds the way to opening our coffee shop. It has taken many more months than we anticipated in the worst economic times we have ever seen but as we enter into a new year, we feel God’s hand on our shoulder. The one thing we have learned, above all others, is that if you feel God calling you to do something, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be easy. Just because the going gets difficult does not mean you are on the wrong track.

Over the past few months, Jeff and I have developed a new motto - “Die Trying.” I urge you to do the same this coming year. Press on toward the goal and remember, God, the Great I AM, has a completely different time schedule than finite human beings. If your vision is taking longer than anticipated to establish, it may very well be because He wants it done with excellence and in His timing.

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Maybe it’s just me, but as an artist and a Christ-follower, I wrestle with priorities. There are usually a thousand ideas running through my head and with the ideas are almost as many questions? Which is most important? What should I do first? Which are the “good ideas” and which are the “God ideas?” and on and on. Where should I place my focus?

Recently these questions and ideas became too much and I felt led by the Lord to take a fast from my art and just seek him to answer my questions and set my priorities. What I found was shocking and yet should have been crystal clear. My main question going into this fast was, “Should I place my focus on my art or my speaking ministry?” It’s a good question. After all I’m a bi-vocational pastor who also feels a call to minister to artists and through the arts. I’m also a husband and a father so my time is very limited. The problem is, my fast revealed I was asking the wrong question. Oh, the part about where I should place my focus was okay, but the part about my speaking ministry or the art ministry was the wrong question. You see as a Christ-follower my focus should be on Jesus first and foremost and so should yours.

In the process of my fast, I began to see that there were several points between which I needed to divide my time. I have several talents, which are really nothing more than tools God has given me to use. And I have many ideas, some of which God has given me to advance the Kingdom and some of which are really just me thinking “wouldn’t that be cool?” I love using my talents to serve the Lord and I love that I have many ideas but I often find myself scattered between too many things. Prioritization becomes difficult. Can you relate?

After much prayer, I came to a realization. Perhaps the key to finding the right priorities is to make a primary focus on the most important things. After all, I have several talents and many ideas, but there are four things in my life (and in the life of the church, for that matter) that are each the only one we will ever have. These four things are so precious that were we to lose them, nothing else would matter. These must be the first and foremost priorities.

One God: If your ministry is not focused on Jesus Christ, it’s not a ministry. He must be top priority, period. The Bible reminds us that, “You shall have no other gods before me,” (Exodus 20:3 NIV) so if your ministry is not focused on Jesus Christ, it’s an idol. God must be number one.

One body: You only have one body and if you wreck it, you don’t get another one. You must devote time to caring for your body. You won’t necessarily get a pass on your health because you are “busy for the Lord.” Take it from a minister who had a heart attack at age 40, you need to spend time exercising, eat the right foods and sleep. If you don’t have time for those things, your ministry is out of control and you need to lay something down. I used to say “I’ll rest when I’m dead, right now I’m serving the Lord” then one day I got a little too close to death and I realized rest is a gift from God so that we can serve Him for the long haul.

Of course the church is also one body and basically the same rules apply. There are a lot of unhealthy churches out there that are really busy and think that the way to be healthy is to work more. In the church, as in your personal life, you’ve got to care for the body.

One life: Life is not a dress rehearsal. This is the only one you get, so use it wisely. Care for the ones God has given you to love and serve, and if spending time with family starts to feel like a burden, you need to step away from other things until it doesn’t. Spend time with God. Study the word of God and pray. If you find things pushing those two things out of your life, you need to lay something down. Enjoy your life (in a godly way, of course). If you’re too busy to enjoy your life, you’re too busy. Remember, God has a purpose for this life that you’ve been given. You were created to be a part of His plan for the universe. You were given gifts and talents and opportunities and experiences to prepare you for that plan. Your whole life counts so don’t lose track of God’s blessings trying to make something happen. Trust, obey and really live because in the end, no matter what your gifts, talents, abilities, call, ministry, church, denomination, emphasis, style, etc. are, we all have...one purpose.

One purpose: No matter how it manifests in your life and ministry, no matter what tools God has given you to use, we all have the same purpose. To honor and glorify God, worshipping Him and drawing others to him through the power of the Spirit.

So where did I end up in my fast? Should I focus on my art or my speaking ministry? No, I need to focus on Jesus and be faithful. I need to care for my body and for His body, the church. I need to really live the life He has given me, develop the tools and talents He has invested in me, enjoy the blessings He has bestowed on me and use them all as He gives opportunity and if my focus is on Him, I’ll recognize the opportunities. If my focus is on Him, I’ll be able to discern the ideas that glorify Dave from the visions that glorify God and pick the right ones. My guess is that sometimes I’ll do more art, sometimes it will be more speaking and maybe, just maybe it will end up being a blending of the two, or maybe it will be something altogether different. What my ministry looks like is less important than my life looking like Jesus. So how about you? Where is your focus? It’s a question of priorities.

DC (David) Weiss is pastor of New Creation Fellowship in Reading, PA. He’s been involved in the visual arts professionally for over 20 years and has combined the two pursuits in founding A.M.O.K. Arts Ministry Outreach for the Kingdom. He has a passion for ministering to artists and through the arts. For more information on Dave’s ministries, go towww.radicallyreal.com.

A lot of odd little customs have somehow become attached to the Christmas season.

Take mistletoe, for example. What an amazing concept! Hang a little twig over someone’s head and you get a kiss. I guess that makes sense. Nothing says romance like a poisonous sprig of parasitic vegetation.

I’m not sure how the mistletoe custom began, but my guess is that it probably was invented by some guy that couldn’t get a date. Just have a little greenery on hand and it’s no longer just a girl innocently standing beneath a tree-weed. It’s an opportunity for a date.

Mistletoe is one of those strange cultural anomalies where one innocently wanders into a behavioral minefield and then suffers the consequences for his ignorance. It’s a lot like getting pinched for not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, or getting slapped for opening the door for a women’s libber. The rule is: If you stumbled into the minefield, then you had it coming.

It’s really shocking to think of all the behavior that is excused because of this one little twig. And many examples of this behavior are contained within Christmas songs.

The song that irritates me most is I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. It’s bad enough that Santa is smooching on this kid’s mom, but the singer is so passive about the whole thing that it just drives me crazy. His family is under attack, and all this kid can do is stand around and sing about it. You’d think that instead of blathering on about the situation, he’d man up and defend his mom and family. I’d like to see something like that in the song.

And then there’s Burl Ives singing Holly Jolly Christmas. The song begins innocently enough, but then Burl slips in the phrase:

Oh ho, the mistletoe hung where you can see
Somebody waits for you, kiss her once for me

Hey, Burl? My love life is none of your business and frankly, I think it’s a little creepy that you’re conveying a wish for me to give my girl some sugar for you. Tell you what, you go get your own girl and leave mine alone. As a matter of fact, if you don’t, I know a kid with a baseball bat who’s not afraid to use it.

And then there’s The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting…) where the singer tells us that…

Wow, there’s a guy down on his luck, huh? You know your life is tough if you are goal-setting for a meal and a little affection.

Wait a minute. That sounds a lot like my life. Well, scratch that last point then.

The point of a kiss, though, is making a connection with another human being. Connection is a good thing. I believe we humans are made for it. There is something within us that fundamentally needs to connect with other humans — to humans and to God.

In fact, the whole point of Christmas is connection. Somewhere around a couple thousand years ago, God made a phenomenal effort to reunite with his kids and because of that effort we now have a choice in our eternal destiny.

It’s not magic. It’s not religion. It’s simply a dad caring so much for his kids that he’d give anything to connect with them.

So, have a wonderful celebration of this amazing connection that we call “Christmas.” Hang the mistletoe, eat some turkey, and, if you happen to see someone standing under the tree-weed, be sure to kiss her once for me.

Life is filled with drama. Sometimes it feels like we are merely actors made to play a part. Sometimes the drama is created as a result of poor choices. As a teen, before entering into a relationship with Christ, Tricia Goyer’s own life was filled with some serious drama. Like many teens, Goyer’s desire to fit in often resulted in compromise and serious complications. In Goyer’s case it led to both an abortion and later an unplanned pregnancy.

Looking back, she admits that her impromptu way of coping resulted in gross misjudgments that tangled her life. We may not have complete control over everything that happens, but we can control much of the chaos by “scripting” our lives and allowing God to be the movie director. Goyer uses real-life scripts and comments from teens to create scenarios many teens face and provide guidance regarding how they might move toward healthier results by making more informed and spiritually founded decisions.

My Life Unscripted, written with teen girls in mind, uses a clever movie script and movie direction format as Goyer directs us in a way to have a better plan and more fulfilling life.

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