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Sorry for the lateness of this post, but yesterday was a day where my soul was filled with the presence of God all day long! Yesterday was Tuesday and by our tradition at Annual Conference every year this is the day that we listen to final words of the clergy that is retiring this year and Tuesday night we experience many of our colleagues receive commissioning or ordination as a deacon or elder.

I would really like to focus on those two in this post.

The same day that many clergy were hanging up their clergy robe and stoles many were being given theirs. There is something so powerful about that.

One generation passes on the baton if you will. The mission of God is something that is not limited by church buildings, generations, or anything else in this world. The mission is still the same. His mission continues on because the Lord God is the beginning and the end and because of that simple yet amazing truth His mission goes from the beginning to the end as well.

It is very important to mention that God has called us all in service of Him and we are ALL apart of HIS MISSION. We are all his beloved children and we are all ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ. In Colossians 3:17 it says we are all called to do all things whether word or deed in the name of the Lord Jesus.

All things!

That is more than Ordained Ministry that is all ministries!

Doctors, Construction Workers, Lawyers, Computer Programmers, Politicians, EVERYONE IN EVERY FIELD ON THE PLANET.

So no matter who you are and what you do you are called to do whatever you do for God.

So Go! And Do ALL THINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

A thought hit me today as Dr. Gil Rendle was teaching his second session here at the Annual Conference for the Central Texas Conference. Here is what I tweeted:

“Does being a disciple imply that you are a wanderer? Because we are called to not a church but the world?”

This might be a controversial thought, but are we really called to church or is church the method through which God moves his mission and message?

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 CEB)

What is interesting about this passage is that this passage occurs in the bible before the “Early Christian Church” even started. It is written before Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit showed up). Now before you argue with me as to when it was actually written let me clarify even further.

In that passage what does Jesus say that we as disciples are called to?

The world.

More specifically the people in our communities and in this world.

The church is just the method as to which God is using the message to be sent. Even further let me clarify that when I say the church I am not referring to our buildings, but really when it comes down to it these buildings dont mean much when it comes to eternal life. They will pass away and yet if we have eternal life we will move into a new community with our Savior.

May God bless you and the message you project to the world.

What a spirit filled day! Annual Conference is off to an amazing start and leaves me with great hope for the future of United Methodist Church! Today had many great things but I would like to highlight the parts where I felt God was moving.

Day one of Annual Conference is always that day that starts things off gradually so today was quite a light day. However it was a great day for the Youth and Young Adult Ministries.

Dr. Gil Rendle – Conference Teacher

If you have never heard of Dr. Gil Rendle you are missing out on one of the greatest speakers and visionaries in the Christian movement today! He has an amazing way to say the simplest things that have huge ramifications. Here are some “tweets” that were shared today:

“When people go through the wilderness God changes them. He transforms them. #ctcac2012”

“We have to learn a new way of life as the UMC. We have to be open to wording the gospels in new generational languages. #ctcac2012”

“We have to cease to be a “member oriented” church. #ctcac2012”

A lot of what Dr. Gil Rendle taught us today surrounded around the idea that the Methodist Church has been working so hard to do things that have been proven don’t work. It reminds of the quote from Albert Einstein once said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

What resonated with me today was the last tweet that I mentioned above: “We have become a ‘member oriented’ church.”

The church was never something that was intended to have walls. Even though we have church buildings the church is something that goes beyond a building. We must realize that today! If we go to church on Sundays and praise God and then our lives don’t radically change we are radically missing the point. God desires to radically change the way we view things and its time that we started living that!

Center for Evangelism and Church Growth

Probably the biggest part of the day was the “Center for Evangelism and Church Growth,” which focused mainly on how to allow our churches to be more successful and productive through Vital Signs and The Healthy Church Initiative. What is most promising to me is that the United Methodist Church is trying to provide help not just for the big churches but also specialized resources and help for the smaller churches as well.

Youth and Young Adult Ministries

I had the extreme honor and was incredibly humbled by being interviewed by the Conference for a video that was about being more connectional and helpful to our youth leaders but also for our youth. This video was shown during this time, and I have to say that I was incredibly humbled to be featured in this way. During this report our CCYM President, Kevin Gregory also gave the “Student Leadership Address.” Kevin did an amazing job forming what the Student Leaders on the Conference level were all about and this was actually the part of the day where I felt God moving through Kevin. He worded that we, as the Conference Council of Youth Ministries are in the business of “Changing Hearts.” It was like a breath of fresh air to hear a youth in the church speak with such passion about his faith and desire to serve God and God alone for the transformation of the world.

Needless to say there is much HOPE!

There will be many other things to share with you throughout this week, but for now I am a Youth Minister that is very proud to be doing what I do, working alongside some of the best ministers I know, our youth.

May God bless you all in and around the Central Texas Conference by this update and remember you can follow all the action on Twitter by searching for the hashtag: “ctcac2012.”

All over the Central Texas Conference Delegates from all over Central Texas have descended on Waco, TX to discuss the current state of the United Methodist Church of the Central Texas Conference. I have the incredible honor of representing the North District as one of two young adult delegates. I am humbled to be given the opportunity to be a voice for the Young Adults. I simply ask that all of you keep all of us in your prayers as we discuss how to energize, equip, and connect our churches together for the common goal of discipling others for the transformation of the world.

Throughout the week I will be posting updates about the activities of the Annual Conference. I am very excited to see what God is going to do in and through us and even in spite of us. My God be glorified in all we do together this week!

“Relax in My Healing, holy presence. Be still, while I transform your heart and mind. Let go of cares and worries, so  that you can receive My Peace. Cease striving, and know that I am God.” (Jesus Calling, June 2 Reading)

Do you ever think that it’s not anybody else, or thing, or anything that gets in the way of experiencing God but it’s simply you?

Seriously think about your life right now.

I’ll give you a moment to seriously reflect on your life.

What things in your life are forcing you from Experiencing God?

As human beings we let the smallest of things throw us off our course. I don’t know about you but sometimes it really is astonishing how fast I can go from, “I am going to truly experience God”,” to “Naw I will just spend hours on end on Facebook.”

Not everyone is that specific, but it happens just like that. In an instant our priorities flip on each other. It’s astonishing!

So I am going to challenge you to do something right now.

FOCUS.

Turn everything off in the room that you are reading this except for your computer, phone or whatever you are using to read what I am writing.

Be very still.

Take a moment and close your eyes on focus on sitting perfectly still. Erase all things from your mind and just focus in this moment.

It is only when we take time to be still and breathe and focus on the stillness that we truly nurture the very core of our soul. We know that the world moves a mile a minute, but we are not meant to do that. Jesus himself would go off and spend some quiet time alone, because we are not made to go go go. We must take time and rest and relax.

Don’t let anything get in the way of truly experiencing God. Nothing. You in essence must get out of the way to truly to see, and feel God. After all in the story of Elijah God wasn’t in the earthquake, or the fire, or the wind, but He was the still small voice. Focus on that still small voice by GETTING OUT OF THE WAY.

Then you will truly experience the core of who you were created to be.