When I was younger, I used to write a lot of poems. Sometimes it’s fun to just sit down and write as I reflect on life. So I did that last night for the first time in awhile…

Growing Pains

Growing is a part of life.
It comes and goes in diff’rent ways,
It comes and goes at diff’rent rates.
You cannot skip the growing phase,
For when you do life dissipates.

Growing is a part of life.
For most nine months before their birth,
They grow and grow in wondrous ways.
But growth continues on this earth,
Until in graves each person lays.

Growing is a part of life.
It brings us joy to see a child,
But greater joy to see a man.
It makes us smile when kids are wild,
But greater things are in God’s plan.

Growing is a part of life,
And growth is more than physical,
For life is more than flesh and bone.
Yes, growth is somewhat mystical,
A foggy path to life unknown.

Growing is a part of life.
Sometimes it’s great; sometimes it’s not.
Sometimes we wish to just ungrow.
But those with life must grow a lot,
Despite the change that makes them grow.

Pain is also part of life.
It comes and goes in diff’rent ways,
It comes and goes at diff’rent rates.
You cannot skip the pain some days,
For when you do growth dissipates.

Pain is also part of life.
For most nine months before their birth,
They know not pain at Mom’s expense.
But soon that pain turns into mirth,
As baby on her mama lays.

Pain is also part of life.
It makes us glad when children play,
And makes us cry when they’re in pain.
Their tenderness brings smiles today,
But carefree they will not remain.

Pain is also part of life.
For hurt must come as bodies change,
And likewise too when Christians grow.
Yes, growth asks more than we arrange,
Much more than we will ever know.

Pain is also part of life.
Sometimes it’s great; sometimes it’s small.
Sometimes we wish it wasn’t real.
Sometimes we wish to hide it all,
So that it may in secret heal.

Growing is a part of life,
But so is pain, so what’s the deal?!
Why must we thus anticipate
To hurt and cry and sorrow feel?
Why, growing is a dreadful fate!

Growing is a part of life,
A part of God’s first perfect plan
When all was good and all was right.
Pain later came from sinful man
Who scorned the good and left the light.

Thus pain is now a part of life.
“So pain is bad, just like I said!”
But wait, for God’s not finished yet.
He takes the pain from which joy fled
And uses it so needs are met.

Yes, pain is now a part of life.
Where sin remains, pain lingers still,
As God breaks hearts and makes them new.
To make us more like Him- his will;
For this to come, pain must ensue.

For now pain is a part of life.
You want to grow? Then pain embrace.
Someday you’ll fin’lly understand.
Perhaps not till you see Christ’s face;
Perhaps not till you see his hands.

Growing pains are part of life.
You’ll never grow without some tears,
But through those tears give thanks to God.
Let pain be not a source of fears,
But grow through it as earth you trod.

McDonald’s. Text messages. Amazon Prime. ATMs. Google. The retired Concorde. What do all these things have in common?

They are all spelled the same way: F-A-S-T

In the United States of America, we put a special emphasis on receiving things and accomplishing things as quickly as possible. On the one hand, that’s okay, since our life is a vapor and will soon be gone. On the other hand, we tend to settle for less than the best when everything is done as quickly as possible.

Most notably, we forget that some of the most precious things in the world require lots of time to produce. Of particular interest to me as a photographer is the high-end professional photography lenses that Canon produces. Some of the more expensive lenses have special glass elements made of flourite. Canon grows their own flourite crystals for these lenses, and some of them are so large they can take a whole year just to grow them.

For the parents out there, think about the 9-month wait required to give birth to a child. Yet I’m sure you would all agree that the wait is worth it.

Pineapples take two years to produce after they are planted. Two years for one fruit!

Wait…why are we talking about pineapples anyway? Some of you don’t even like them. Okay, moving on…

I knew for a long time that I wanted to go to Faith Baptist Bible College & Theological Seminary to get a 4-year degree, and I also wanted to get a 3-year seminary degree. But after finishing high school, I made the decision to stay at home, take some online classes, and wait a year before going to Faith.

Once I finally arrived at Faith, I made the decision to take several classes that were outside my program of study, thus taking an additional year to finish college. After college, I went straight to seminary, whereas many of my friends graduated and got jobs or went straight into ministry positions.

Theoretically, I could have been working in a church or a church plant already in the fall of 2012, but I decided to keep waiting, getting more training.

Now, even though I have graduated and want to go into church planting, God has led me to an established church as an assistant pastor, and I have no idea how long God will keep me there. Nevertheless, I am not in a rush to leave because I know that God has a plan for me at this church.

To some people, all these decisions may not make much sense. Why not get a Bible degree and jump into pastoral ministry as soon as possible, doing what I believe God has led me to do? Because I believe there is value in waiting and using that time of waiting to keep preparing.

Today in my devotions, I read Luke 1:57-80, the account of John the Baptist’s birth. The verse that really stuck with me was the last one, verse 80: “So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.” John the Baptist waited in the desert until God was ready for him to prepare the way of the Lord…a wait that lasted about 30 years.

Likewise Jesus, the Son of God, was 30 before he began his earthly ministry, a ministry that only lasted 3 years.

What’s the point? I’m only 26. There’s no reason to rush into such a heavy responsibility.

Another question people often ask me is “Are you dating anyone?” The answer is always no. Why? Because there’s no rush. I’m still single because I am joyfully serving God where he has placed me, and he has not yet given me that urge to pursue a relationship. “But you have to be married to be in full-time ministry.” Well, yes, it can be a huge benefit, but for now, God hasn’t led that way. So I’m waiting, and I’m extremely thankful for the many people in the last year who have assured me that it is good to wait. They have all told me that I won’t regret it, and I feel the same way.

I am also thankful for so many people in my life that God has used to stretch, challenge, and encourage me in ministry as I have waited on Him. At my home church in Mason City, IA, I am thankful for Pastor Grismore who got me involved in ministry when I was barely a teenager. Before I finished high school, he had taught me how to preach, lead music, and perform other ministerial duties. Pastor Junior Miller got me involved in youth ministry while I was still in youth group, and he imparted to me a high regard for studying the Word of God and training young people for ministry. Pastor Derek Phillips was another youth pastor of mine, and he also worked with me in the areas of youth and music ministry.

During the 11 summers that I worked at Iowa Regular Baptist Camp, Pastors Phil Betz and Dave Callison took me out of my comfort zone and taught me how to serve with humility. They also taught me how to pay attention to details, look out for the needs of others, and equip myself for as many avenues of ministry as possible.

When I attended Faith, I was active at Heartland Baptist Church in Ames, where several pastors continued to build upon what I had already learned at home and at school. Pastor Russ Dennis gave me practical tips for managing one’s personal life in ministry, and he also gave me great advice for working with children. Pastor Ernie Brown gave me many opportunities to expand my horizons in music ministry. Pastor Randy Abell provided me with many unique ministry opportunities and also challenged my thinking on many occasions in the areas of preaching, evangelism, missions, and church administration.

For 8 months in 2012, I got to work with my grandpa, Pastor Gary Gonnerman, at St. Ansgar Baptist Church. During that time I led the song services and preached on a few occasions. Perhaps I will never fully understand how privileged I was to work with my grandpa at his church. It was definitely not something I had imagined would be possible as I was growing up.

On two summer ministry trips to Brasil, God used Pastor Jim Leonard to give me a greater understanding of missions, not only on a foreign field but also back at home with the people I come into contact with every day. Over the course of 6 years of involvement with church planting in Omaha, Nebraska, ultimately culminating in a 12-month internship at Bennington Baptist Church, God used Pastors Eric Wilmeth and Peter Jenks to demonstrate to me the joys and challenges of church planting. I will never forget this advice that was passed on to me, “There are two ways to learn the right way to do something. When someone does it right, and when someone does it wrong.”

I often look back on the last 14 years of my life and realized that by waiting on God while still being involved in ministry one way or another, God gave me the privilege of working with all these men (and more). It has been a blessing to work at camp for 11 summers, do three pastoral internships, work at four different churches, and spend 16 weeks in overseas ministry. If I had rushed into ministry or marriage somewhere, my life could be a completely different story right now.

“So you want to be a church planter, eh?”

Yes. But not until God is ready. Sometimes it’s best just to wait in the desert for God’s perfect timing. From personal experience, I can confidently say, the wait is worth it.

Today, August 22, 2016, the fall semester of classes begins at Faith Baptist Bible College & Theological Seminary. Since 2009, I have been enrolled as a full-time student every semester, always enjoying this first day of classes.

But today, August 22, 2016, I am in Crato, Ceara, Brasil, finishing up an incredible summer of ministry in the Southern Hemisphere. No, I am not missing any classes. No, I will not have any homework to make up. I officially finished my last Faith assignment two weeks ago, and I now refer to FBBC&TS as my alma mater.

For seven years I kept telling myself, “Here we go again!” The buzz of returning students and new students was always mixed with the sadness of not seeing old friends back in the classroom. For six years I returned to Faith,  missing someone (or many someone’s) who had graduated the year before. This year, I am one of those “someone’s” and I am now proving to my friends that no, I haven’t been at Faith forever…because forever never ends 🙂

Yes, I miss the school, but not because I’m an avid homework hog. I miss Faith because of the people. This summer I had three weeks of classes at school after almost everyone had left, and it wasn’t the same. Yes, I am extremely thankful for both the education and the experience I received at FBBC&TS. But at the same time, it was the fellow students, faculty, staff, and administration that made the school what it was and what it is today.

Most of the people that attended Faith in 2009 have now moved on, and so have many of the professors and other staff. In fact, some of them have even moved on from this world and are waiting for rest of us to show up. A lot has changed at school since I first started classes there, but they were good things, and the school is still holding fast to the standards that has made it such a wonderful institution for 95 years. I am excited to see where the school goes in the future.

So today as people go back to school at my alma mater, I sit 4,813 miles (7,746km) away, thankful for those seven years God gave me there. I will miss the people, the chapels, the Bible discussions, the music, the soccer team, the Student Missionary Fellowship, the conferences, the random trips to Des Moines, the free pancakes, the ice cream in the student center, and the creeper pictures in the library. I could list more, but time would fail me to tell of all the things I will miss.

Yes, it’s easy to think back at those things I love and miss, but I also have to be careful not to look back and linger. God has more things planned for the future, more things that will also include people! So I’m thinking back but looking forward.

…and to all my friends still at Faith, and to all the new students who I will never have the privilege of meeting: Enjoy it, embrace it, and make the most of it. Because it is SO worth it, but it will go by fast, whether you are there for one year or seven years…and once it’s gone, you can’t go back. Unless, of course, you’re Noah Kephart, and all the blogs in the world could not contain his story 😉

I love little kids. They love life. They love to explore what life has to offer.

They also know that there are many things they cannot do or experience on their own, and they are often humble enough and carefree enough to ask for help.

I love it when kids come to me and ask for help or ask for a favour when they know that they are helpless to do something themselves. I love it when my little brothers go up to a man at church and ask him for candy because they know he has a lot and is happy to share.

There’s just something about a kid coming up to you and asking for something that makes you want to grant their request! The way they ask, the way they stand there, the way they look at you and wait…

This is what I think of in 2 Chronicles 20 when King Jehoshaphat cries out to God in the face of danger, and then the nation just stands there before God.

They did not know what to do, and rightfully so, because they were powerless to withstand the armies that had come to attack them. But they did the best thing they could do in that situation: “Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD” (2 Chronicles 20:13).

God loves it when we humbly come to Him and offer up our requests (Jeremiah 33:3). God loves it when we come to Him knowing that good things only come from Him. God wants to guide us and help us and provide for us. The sooner we acknowledge our dependence on God, the better.

The sooner I leave my plans with God instead of trying to figure out everything on my own, the better.

Imagine what God would do in our churches if the men of our churches “with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD.”

Praise the Lord for His infinite wisdom and strength!

Has there ever been a time in your life when you just didn’t know what to do next? I’m not talking about last week when you woke up with a cough and didn’t know whether you should go to work or school. Nor am I talking about the other day when you ate a huge supper and didn’t know whether or not to have dessert.

No, I’m talking about those times in life when you’re faced with bigger life decisions and don’t know which direction God is leading. I’m talking about those times when your finances have run out and your next car payment or house payment comes a week before your next paycheck. I’m talking about those times when you’re deciding where to live or go to college.

Yes, I’m talking about those times when you’ve finished one ministry and don’t know which ministry to do next. Those times when you can’t find a new pastor for your church. Those times when your church has to close.  Those times when God does things that appear to be contrary to His will but you know deep down they are perfectly in line with His will.

So to answer my opening question, yes, I know there has been a time like that in your life. Probably several.

Last Saturday I had the privilege of attending the Fall Bible Conference of the Nebraska Association of Regular Baptist Churches. It was held just over the Missouri River at a church in Council Bluffs, IA, so I had less than a 20-minute drive from my house in Omaha to get there.

This year’s theme was “Co-missioned: Refreshing the Great Commission.” Pastor Bob Sauser spoke several times, and there was also an “Outreach Round Table” where we discussed practical ways for our churches to become re-energized about sharing the Good News. It helped me think through my own personal witness as well as what I should desire to see in the churches that I attend.

There were other great things about the conference, but one of the things I enjoyed most was meeting a church planter named Jerry Miller. He is working in South Dakota in a town of 1,000 people, and he talked to me for awhile after I expressed to him my interest in church planting.

He had many helpful things to share from his own experience, but what I appreciated the most was what he said to the whole group during a brief presentation of his ministry during one of the sessions. He told us that although he’s doing God’s work, he doesn’t always know what to do and how to do it. He then shared his life verse, and God encouraged and challenged me greatly from that passage: “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (2 Chronicles 20:12).

Wow! What a fantastic passage! A huge army has come up against Israel, and King Jehoshaphat doesn’t know what to do next. So along with all the people he prays to God, and admits that there is literally nothing he can do. He admits that they are powerless in the face of this trial and that they do not even know what to do.

But there was one thing they did know how to do, and it was the only thing they did: They focused on God. They fixed their eyes upon Him.

Jerry Miller feels the same way in his ministry. He doesn’t always know what to do, and there are times when he can do nothing. But when his eyes are upon God, his inadequacy is irrelevant.

I read through rest of the passage, and it was so exciting for me that I want to write about it some more later. Actually, I want to preach a sermon about it, and I probably will soon.

But for now, what a great reminder. May my eyes, oh God, be upon you.

Well, I just realized that I never wrote about rest of the Family Fun Nights that we had at Bennington Baptist Church this summer. I wrote about our Western night and what a great evening it was. We had an amazing turnout that we had prepared for but were definitely not expecting, and it encouraged us greatly as we moved on to our other three events.

But God surprised us again the following week when we hosted our family game show night. Because we had about 60 visitors show up the week before, we were expecting to see a similar number, especially after several people told us they planned to return. Interestingly enough, though, we had less than 20 visitors, and several of them had not attended our Western night.

So adjusting to a much smaller crowd was not only a challenge but a good learning experience. Overall, the evening still went mostly as planned, and by God’s grace we avoided having any major issues with our setup and the program we ran.

We played a few rounds of Family Feud and several rounds of Minute to Win It, and we had lots of fun cheering, laughing, and giving away prizes.

The next week we brought out several yard games and table games and planned to just have some “good old-fashioned fun” with our visitors. We brought out the large Connect Four game that we built for the Bennington Daze parade, imported a Ga-Ga ball ring from Gretna Baptist Church, and set up several tents with tables, chairs, and table games.

We also had dozens of homemade sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles so that people could decorate their own desserts to go along with their hot dogs and chips.

Setup went smoothly, and we were all ready to start entertaining our guests.

We waited…and waited…and waited…

Eventually a few people came, and then a few more, but we only had about 14 visitors total. I even went over to the playground to invite the parents who were watching their kids play there, and they weren’t interested. So we engaged the few who came, ate extra hot dogs, and did our best to remain joyful even though some of us were visibly disappointed by the lack of a turnout.

Near the end of the evening, a boy from across the street came to see what was going on, and he joined in the fun and even helped us clean up at the end. He was extremely talkative and obviously had nothing else to do, and he told us he’d come back next week for our movie night if we reminded him. He said his family moved to the area a few months ago and he was looking for things to do and people to know. So meeting him was one of the highlights of the evening for me.

So now for three weeks in a row, God had taught me some valuable lessons as I planned these Family Fun Nights. He taught me to always give my best effort, plan for the best, and be grateful for the blessings He provides. He also reminded me that His timing is not always my timing and that results are always up to Him, not me. Most importantly, I always need to keep God the focus and trust Him to work His perfect plan.

On August 6 we had our fourth and final Family Fun Night, and we showed the movie “Up.” I had never seen the movie before, but at each of the previous Thursday evenings we had given our visitors the opportunity to vote for which movie we would show by way of carnival tickets and voting boxes, and “Up” won the vote by a large margin.

Of all the activities we hosted, this was the one with the least setup. We set up a large 7’x12′ outdoor movie screen, a video projector, and we had popcorn and drinks on the side. People started arriving long before the publicized start time, and by the end of the night, we had about 70 non-church visitors come to join us! Once again, God had surprised us! It was so encouraging to have all those people after the previous two weeks with such low numbers.

We had 15 minutes of “commercials” prior to the start of the movie, and we also mixed in some short gospel videos. Between the commercials and the video I thanked everyone for coming and invited them to talk to those of us in the church if they had questions about their own salvation. I told them that although we liked having fun with them, we also wanted them to know for sure that they were going to Heaven someday!

The movie commenced, and we all enjoyed it. God gave us beautiful weather and kept the bugs away, and almost everyone stayed until the end. The boy who showed up at the end of our game night returned as promised even before I was able to make the trek to his house to remind him. He brought his mom as well, so I got to meet her and welcome her to our community.

During the last half hour of the movie, the boy came over to where I was standing in the back of the crowd and just started talking to me. For awhile it was a one-sided conversation as he told me all these things about his life. He eventually told me about his grandma, an extremely religious person, who passed away earlier this year. He told me how she was such a good person and prayed often for him and his family.

As a result, I got to talk to him about spiritual matters, specifically sin and death and Heaven. He told me he believed he would go to Heaven because he was a really good person, and everyone told him that good works were the key to being saved. So God gave me the wonderful opportunity to discuss with him how good works are not sufficient because of how terrible even a single sin is.

By the time the movie ended, I did not get to go through the whole Gospel, but the seed was planted! As the year progresses, I look forward to having more opportunities to talk with him.

So that’s a summary of the Family Fun Nights we hosted in Bennington this summer. It was a great experience for me, especially since I was in charge of most of the planning aspect. We were able to make some good connections and renew some relationships in the community.

Specifically, I’m excited to see what fruit comes from the life of the kid who showed up late during the night when we had barely a dozen people. At the time, it could have been very discouraging. But time will tell what God will do because of our efforts that evening.

The sweltering heat gave way to the cool evening air as the sun quietly made it’s way down the horizon. Wiping the sweat from his brow, the cowboy-looking figure carefully dismounted his camera from its tripod and gently reloaded his backpack. “Home on the Range” had been a success, and now it was time to pack up the range and head home.

I don’t normally speak in third person, but now that I have your attention, I’ll switch back to first person 🙂

As part of my internship this year in Bennington, I have the wonderful privilege of organizing and heading up our church’s summer ministry program. We decided to do a series of “Family Fun Nights” in a neighborhood park, and our goal is to connect with and serve the families in our community.

Rather than just reaching kids, we want to target everyone in the family, so we have designed our Family Fun Nights to include activities that incorporate everyone.

Last Thursday night was our inaugural Family Fun Night, and our “Home on the Range” had a wild west theme. Our activities included a coin dig (gold mining), bobbing for apples, hillbilly horseshoes, a bean bag boot toss, a shooting gallery, and cattle-branding version of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

Prizes were awarded for each activity. Gold miners got to keep the coins they found, bobbers got to keep their apples, and those who branded the cow closest to its original brand won a cowboy hat. Every other activity awarded tickets that could then be used to vote for one out of four different family movies at our welcome table. The movie with the most votes will be shown at our fourth and final Family Fun Night.

Oh, and how could I forget to mention our Old Tyme photo booth? We set up a green screen in one of our pop-up tents and had a table full of cowboy regalia for people to choose from. Our plan is to print 8×10 photos of each family that came through our photo booth and distribute them free of charge when they return to any of our upcoming Family Fun Nights.

Halfway through the night we also had a gold mining relay, a livestock roundup relay, and a misfit cowboy relay which several children and a couple adults participated in. The night ended with a cowboy boot pinata filled with 141 pieces of candy (yes, I counted them as I filled it…and yes, I ate one and that’s why there weren’t 142 pieces).

The Chick-fil-A from Legacy Village in Omaha was a huge blessing to our event by graciously providing their tasty chicken sandwiches to our attendees for supper. Children were also given little plush cows, courtesy of Chick-fil-A. Yum! We are so thankful for Chick-fil-A’s values and their generosity to the community.

We had no idea what kind of a turnout to expect, and we praise the Lord for between 50-60 people that showed up! The Lord also answered prayer by turning down the temperature a little for us, so we were able to enjoy a great evening without anyone dehydrating or overheating.

Please continue to pray for us as we host the next three Family Fun Nights! We want to serve the community by demonstrating God’s love to them, and we really want to build lasting relationships with these families in our community. Ultimately, we desire to see Heaven’s population grow as a result of these efforts!

I hope y’all will come right on back again to read about the game show night that we’re hosting tomorrow!

In the past, I wasn’t the biggest fan of weddings. As a child I went to weddings with my family and a couple times in my “later years” I had the privilege of playing music for the weddings of close family members or friends. But I never was too enthralled with them. I enjoyed the food though, and if I have enough mental capacity to remember any of the specific weddings I attended, I literally can tell you what food or punch almost every one of them served: Chicken enchiladas, pork roast, Famous Dave’s, grape punch with vanilla ice cream- to name a few.

But in the past couple years I started to enjoy weddings more. Part of it is the fact that several of my friends have gotten married, and it’s exciting to see them begin a new stage of their lives. Part of it is the opportunity I’ve had to photograph the weddings for several friends. Yes, it’s extremely stressful, but it’s also fun to preserve those precious memories for other people.

Having attended two weddings in the last two weeks, I suddenly found a new reason to absolutely love weddings: They symbolize the relationship that exists between Christ and the redeemed!

Regardless of how happy I am for my friends when I attend their weddings, it’s even more exciting for me to look past them and remember that someday I will take part in the largest wedding celebration of all time at the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9). In the words of Fanny Crosby, “O what a foretaste of glory divine!”

Last Saturday I photographed the wedding of a good friend from school, and it was one of the best experiences ever. Everyone was so easy to work with- groom, bride, wedding planner, both families- and it just made my job that much more enjoyable because I could accomplish what I wanted to do as a photographer. I even had a couple friends who volunteered to help me, and I assigned them to take more pictures for me.

One of those was the sister of the groom, and she took several pictures of the bride and the bridesmaids as they got ready. Meanwhile, I was at another location talking with the groomsmen and eating fried chicken for breakfast (which, by the way, was very tasty).

I’ve noticed a trend at the weddings I’ve photographed. The guys get ready by themselves and take about 10-20 minutes to do so. The girls all help each other get ready, and they take at least an hour to do so. If you know anything about weddings, you know this is the norm, at least for American weddings. I don’t know what everyone else does.

Anyway, as I was driving home last Saturday night, I thought about all the work that goes into preparing the bride for the ceremony. Then I realized, “Hey! That’s what I’m doing! I’m preparing the bride for her husband!”

Think about it. If the Christ is the groom and the bride is believers, any and every effort to win people to Christ and prepare people for heaven is also prep work for the big wedding day! Now, obviously, it’s more than that, but it’s no less than that either.

Every believer should strive to be ready for that day when Christ will return for us. Jesus said in John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” If you study John 14 in-depth, you will discover that the context is deeply rooted in the Jewish wedding culture.

Furthermore, every believer should seek out the lost and point them to Christ. Even more so, if I want to plant local churches, I should put an extra effort into reaching the unsaved. By planting churches we are preparing the bride for the Lamb, her Savior!

What a long, painstaking process. But how do those brides look when they walk down the aisle? Beautiful. Breath-taking. Heart-stopping. What does that mean? The process is worth it in the end. The rewards are worth the effort.

Especially for Jesus, who alone makes it possible for the Bride to approach him.

One of my weaknesses is my tendency to do things slowly.

I like slow. I like deliberate. I like to think about what I’m doing and enjoy the moment.

When I worked at IRBC, I loved my job as the photographer because I was never in a rush to be anywhere after meals. I could sit down and eat for 50 minutes. Dining hall girls were gone after 15 minutes, dishroom guys were gone after 22, and lifeguards departed around the 30-minute mark. I’d eat until I got lonely and then I’d leave. Being given 20 minutes to eat as Contender last year was so painful.

When I took exams in college, I always used the full hour, carefully thinking through each answer and re-checking them all at the end. I never could figure out how people finished exams in 25 minutes.

When I’m driving, I drive the speed limit or a little under when I have time to spare. I like looking out my windows and observing everything and everyone as I travel.

But being slow also lends to procrastination and a failure to show up on time for various events. It’s also really hard to do 1,600 pages of reading and write 20-page papers in seminary when you do everything slowly. Obviously, these are things I need to address and seek to improve.

Nevertheless, I have learned that the adage, “Haste makes waste,” is often true. In the past I have done many things quickly and overly ambitiously only to experience wasted time, energy, and resources. That’s one of the reasons I tend to take my time today when I do things.

So although being slow is a weakness, I think it’s also a strength. Obviously, almost any strength can also be a weakness when taken to an extreme.

God has especially used the last 7 years to remind me that He also is in no rush. After all, God literally exists outside time because He created it, and He has complete control over it.

2 Peter 3:8 says, “But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Imagine if time was like that for us. Imagine if only one hour was like a single minute to you. Every restaurant would be a fast-food restaurant!

But in our fast-paced society with fast food, Amazon Prime, and 4G data, some things still take time. A LOT of time (at least from our perspective).

After graduating from high school, I took a year of online college classes before attended Faith Baptist Bible College. While most of my friends went off to college right away, I stayed home. It’s a decision I don’t regret, and God used that year at home to provide me with different ministry opportunities I otherwise would not have had.

In my blog post, “Sports at a Bible College? Why? – Part 1,” I explained why I chose not to play soccer during my first year at Faith, even though I really love sport.

Even though I transferred 43 hours of college credit into Faith, I still took four full years of college classes there before graduating with my bachelor’s degree. Why? Because there were several other classes that I knew would benefit me, even though they were not in my program (Pastoral Studies). In fact, I was only two classes away from getting a music minor because I took so many music classes.

Whereas most of my classmates graduated and went directly into the workplace or full-time ministry, I stayed behind with a few others to take three years of seminary. Why? Because I believe I will be best equipped to study and disseminate the gospel in my life and ministry by receiving an additional three years of quality Bible training.

Next week will be my half-birthday, marking 25 1/2 years since my birth, and unlike many of my peers, I’m still single. In fact, I attended a wedding of a good friend last weekend, and I will photograph the wedding of another good friend this upcoming weekend, and both of them are younger than me. Several of my friends my age or younger already have one or two children.

Finally, I believe God wants me to plant churches in the US, a career that is not glamorous. From what I have learned from others and am now experiencing in my internship here in Bennington, NE, church planting is extremely hard work, and often the results come slowly. If I really want to do this long-term, it literally will be long-term.

Most churches these days don’t grow like weeds…they grow like cacti in the middle of a desert.

However, even though my life is short (James 4:14), I am encouraged to know that God has a plan for me, and if He takes His time to accomplish His will in me, I would be foolish to rush ahead of Him (Proverbs 16:9).

Right now I am fascinated by the topic of prayer, and I decided to read about George Muller, a great man of prayer. I am reading Dr. Arthur T. Pierson’s George Muller of Bristol. Published in 1899 shortly after Muller’s death, it’s a great biography, written with the help of Muller’s son-in-law, James Wright. You can read it for free online, and you can also download it for free in Kindle format from Amazon.

Yesterday I came across this quote from Pierson in the second paragraph of chapter three: “He who would work with God must first wait on Him and wait for Him, and that all undue haste in such a matter is worse than waste. He who kept Moses waiting forty years before He sent him to lead out captive Israel, who withdrew Saul of Tarsus three years into Arabia before he sent him as an apostle to the nations, and who left even His own Son thirty years in obscurity before His manifestation as Messiah – this God is in no hurry to put other servants at work. He says to all impatient souls: ‘My time is not yet full come, but your time is always ready'” (Pierson, 25).

Wow.

Forty years of preparation for Moses in addition to forty years even before that.

Three years for Saul, a man already well-educated in the scriptures.

Thirty years for Christ, God in the flesh.

People often ask me what I want to do with my life and when. People often ask me when I’m going to get married and to who. I joke with people at FBBC&TS about how old I am compared to all the students fresh out of high school.

25 years old…what am I waiting for? The answer: God. Why? Because He’s in no hurry.

God has given me peace about where I am and what I’m doing, so I am content.

If you’re trying to rush God on anything, just slow down, and let Him take His time because it’s literally his time. One thousand years to him is only like a day. Perhaps He wants only a few more seconds before doing exactly what He plans to do.

“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

20 years and counting…

Wow, it’s been a long time, but the vapor of the last 20 years has also been fleeting. Praise the Lord there are many more to come!

On this evening on March 15, 1995, I knelt at my bedside and received Jesus Christ as my Savior. It is one of those childhood memories that I can still clearly visualize.

20 years later, after “many dangers, toils, snares” (poetry courtesy of John Newton) I’m still saved. 20 years later after many blessings, vict’ries, and joys, I have yet to be completely sanctified, but ’twill be soon!

Today was the first time in 20 birthday’s that I had the privilege of preaching the same day, and it couldn’t have happened in a more fitting location: in the gym of an elementary school in little-known Bennington, NE. As I leave my “teenage” years as a child of God, I am in the midst of a church planting internship, excited about planting new churches in the future and seeing many more people come to Christ.

If you’re reading this and have never been saved, please let me know so I can tell you why I got saved and how you too can have a personal relationship with Christ!

Last week in my Greek module at school we read 1 Peter and came across this phrase in 1 Peter 5:11: “eis tous aionas ton aionon, amen.” Literally translated from the Greek, it means “into everlasting eternity, amen.” Talking here about the dominion of God, this phrase is similarly used throughout the New Testament to talk about the everlasting nature of God and the lives of believers.

Because of Christ, 20 years are nothing. I am going to live on forever and ever with God. Or, to borrow a phrase from the intergalactic action figure from Disney’s Toy Story, “To infinity and beyond!”