Discerning the Lord's Leading

Here is the thought process the Lord took us on in this transition. This was written probably 6-8 months ago

RATIONALE – WHY I AM RAISING SUPPORT TO PASTOR AT NORTH CHURCH
On February 12, 2000 at a high school youth conference, the Lord called me into full-time vocation ministry. The very next day, February 13, the Lord gave me the person who would be my biggest partner, supporter and encourager - the one who would be called to walk beside me in ministry - my wife – Danielle. Since Danielle was a teenager, she always knew the Lord was calling her to be the wife of a pastor, and here we are 9 years later, seeking to walk out what the Lord started so long ago.

Why not continue my ministry at North County Christian School?
I am finishing my 5th year at NCCS. It has been an incredible ministry to say the least. The Lord has used this opportunity to shape my gifts of leadership and teaching. When I began teaching in the Fall of 2005, I was terrified. I really had no clue what I was doing. I wasn’t sure if this was for me. When the Lord called me into full-time vocational ministry, my mind immediately went to the local Church – for that was true ministry, I thought. I really had no clue, not only about what ministry was all about, but even about how to go about doing it. True ministry can only be defined as being faithful wherever the Lord has me, and for the last 5 years that has been NCCS.

I have really grown to love that place. The relationships I have built with the students and staff over the years, and continue to build, have been nothing short of a blessing. There are very few days that I don’t get in my car at the end of the day saying “I love my job!” Working at NCCS is absolutely a dream job. There are so many rewards in being a Christian school teacher, especially teaching the Bible.

But what I can’t get past is what the Lord is doing in my heart. There are numerous reasons I could list for why I would never want to leave NCCS, but none of them trump obedience. I have come to a place in my ministry here that is very comfortable. Not to say there aren’t challenges that present themselves everyday, because there are definitely days I don’t think I’m gonna get through. But on a whole, my job does not present the challenges it once did. If I’m not careful, I could easily coast through each day failing to beg for God’s help. When I started, that was all I knew to do.

The Lord is calling me to a place of greater dependence upon Him. He has more for me and wants to stretch my leadership in a scary way. What I can’t deny is the incredible burden he has given me for his Church. Yes I have come to love Christian school education, but even more my heart beats for the Church.

Why North Church?
Danielle and I began attending North Church in 2007, just a few months after its inception. There was some great excitement about branching out from the church I was born in, to being a part of something new, brand new. The early stages were difficult to say the least. From trying to build new relationships to trying to figure out how to do church, there were many days I thought we made a mistake. Ministry just didn’t look the same as I always knew and I didn’t like that. I wanted to run. Little did I know that it was all apart of the process in what God wanted to transform in my own heart. He wanted to bring me back to a Christ-centered, gospel-centered reality. He wanted to rid me of myself – my pride, my legalism, my fear, ultimately my sin.
I am currently serving as a pastor/elder at North Church. I lead a community group and preach pretty consistently. As the only other elder with Rik Maxedon, the planting pastor, I am helping cast the vision and direction for our church, as well as seeking to shepherd our people. I have come to love our community at North Church. Since I came to this church, the Lord has revealed the pastor’s heart he put within me. Everyday my longing to lead and shepherd our people grows more and more. I am currently torn between my ministry at NCCS and my ministry at North Church. Because of the commitment and demands of NCCS, I am able to give little time to pastoring at North Church. This is very difficult considering where we are as a church.
We are currently a small, young church that has a ton of potential but needs a ton of leadership. Rik, is not able to carry the load by himself. Because we are a small church, we are not at a place of financial self-sufficiency. The church isn’t even at a place of offering full support to Rik, which requires him to raise support and work part time. This greatly limits the time he can give to the church, demanding for more of my time.

North Church is a community driven, gospel-centered church. We are a broken people, leaning on Christ alone as our sufficiency and significance. We long to continually allow the gospel to impact us as we seek to impact our community with that gospel. Our church is located in North St. Louis, an area that seems to have very few churches seeking to reach out to the unchurched 20 and 30 year olds.

In seeking to raise support to pastor full-time at North Church, it would allow our leadership to assess each others gifting and determine our roles and responsibilities as leaders. Danielle and I have grown to love the Maxedon family. We desire more than anything to help them grow what God has started with their family. They have made many sacrifices to start this church, and we believed the Lord is calling us to come along side them and help them continue to move forward in being the Church and doing Church in North St. Louis.