Welcome to blogging?

After years of confining my thoughts to my own mind, I have finally decided to start my own blog. I'll be honest, I don't really know where to start. I guess I'll give a little background information on where I'm at right now to better explain why I think about the things I do.

Right now I am the High School Ministry Intern at Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs. This is fulfilling some of my education requirements at Taylor, but it's also just great experience for what I want to do the rest of my life. I'm learning on a daily basis what it really means to be in full-time vocational ministry. I say "vocational" ministry because everyone is going into full-time ministry in whatever profession they're called to. Vocational ministry simply means that ministry is my profession or career that God has led me to. I believe we do a disservice to God's intentions for the body of Christ by differentiating between "ministers" and engineers, businessmen, musicians, teachers, etc. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 makes no distinction as to who should "Go, and make disciples..." If we allow ourselves to think, "Oh, I'm just a (fill in the blank), I'll leave the ministry to the church...", then we've been ensnared by an un-biblical mentality. The first disciples of Christ were fishermen, physicians, and tax collectors... These are the people who wrote much of our New Testament and have forever influenced the Christian faith. Jesus said, "Come, follow me," and they did just that. Essentially Jesus is saying this to all of us. It doesn't matter where we are, who we are, or where we're going. Our first focus should be to follow in the steps of Christ and the rest will follow. Paul, one of the most prominent evangelists, church planters, preachers, and disciples in the history of Christianity made tents! As a tent-maker Paul ministered (and still does minister) to trillions of people if you consider his impact through his writing in the New Testament. The body of Christ is unique and diverse for a purpose, but we are all baptized by the blood of Christ. An important passage to consider is 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. Paul uses the analogy of the human body to describe the body of Christ. Can the ear say to the nose, "I don't need you"? Can the hand say to the foot, "I don't need you"? Absolutely not! So it should be within the Christian family... The church cannot exist and pastors would not be able to effectively minister without the congregation, the body of Christ, the pinkies, and the big toes of the family.

The question to ask, then, is what is my role in the body of Christ? What is your role? In the Bible study my friends and I started here in the Springs, we talked two weeks ago about the unique giftedness we are all endowed with by our Creator. We've all been given gifts to use to bless other people. Our spiritual gifts are not purposed for ourselves. While they can help us grow at times, that is not their first purpose. If you're reading this and haven't taken a spiritual gifts test, I strongly encourage you to do so right now. It will reveal to you incredible information about yourself that you may not have thought of before. It will encourage you in your strengths as well. Are you the mouth in the body of Christ? The eyes? The hands? The stomach? (I think most guys would like to be the stomach in the body... haha).

It doesn't stop at figuring out your gifts, either. If I could encourage the students at Taylor to do one thing while at school, it would be to get involved in some form of ministry. Ministry looks different for every personality and giftedness, but there is always something that you can be making a difference in. A selfish faith is not a biblical faith. Sacrifice some time to bless others. To bring others closer to Christ is truly fulfilling Jesus' commission.

So those are my thoughts. I might enjoy this blogging thing.