Today marked 5 years at Harvest Bible Chapel. 5 years since I took my first Worship Pastor position. 5 years since my wife and I followed the Lord and moved to South Bend, IN.
A lot has happened. All of it is a testimony of God's grace. In the past 5 years, we've been blessed with 2 beautiful little girls, we've made incredible friends, and we've seen the Lord build our church. What started as about 100 people in a gymnasium has turned into nearly 1,000 people in a permanent facility. God is good.
It is such a blessing to serve the Lord in ministry, and follow His leading as a Pastor. It is for sure accompanied with questions, doubts, high times, and low times, but the Lord's call on my life has not changed. 8 years ago, the Lord laid on my heart a desire and a passion for biblical worship, and for the Church. My prayer has been that wherever the Lord chooses to lead us, that He would use us to help produce passionate, contagious worshipers of Jesus Christ, who seek to glorify Him alone. My heart was full today as I read some cards and emails from people in my church, and as I worshiped loudly and passionately with our church. It's so encouraging to hear about and see worshipers being equipped, made, and changed.
Lastly, my incredible wife has made following the Lord in ministry as easy as it could ever be. Her faithfulness to trust me, to follow me, to endure with me, to persevere with me, and to worship the Lord with me speaks so loudly of her dedication to Jesus Christ and the importance of advancing the Gospel and making worshipers. She is so sacrificial when it comes to our family, our church, and our home. I praise God for her faithfulness and prayers that are vital to my ministry...it is more than anyone could know.
All the glory belongs to Jesus Christ. "I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service..." (1 Tim. 1:12)