P.S. See if you can count how many characters my buddy David Ham plays. lol!
My goodness and achievements don’t qualify me for God’s service, therefore neither can my sins, shortcomings, and failures disqualify me.
I am qualified to serve God only because of Jesus; and only because of Jesus am I not disqualified.
I Corinthians 1:26-31 – “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.'”
Romans 11:29 – “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
Please pray!
GRAND RAPIDS — Derek Taatjes, a youth pastor at Crossroads Bible Church, and his infant son, are the victims in the fatal overnight house fire on Mayfield Street NE in Grand Rapids, church leaders said this morning. Read the full article here.
It’s that time of year again. Time for Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle’s Passion Play. Be sure to watch this video before you go to get the most out of your experience.
Yesterday I had a bit of time to kill in between appointments. I was too far away from the office to return, so I decided to hit up my second home, Barnes & Noble. As I was sitting at my table doing some work I saw a group of people coming in with matching t-shirts and name tags. After staring awkwardly at a few of them, I finally made out what their shirts said: “Teen Challenge.” Teen Challenge is a ministry that helps people struggling with addictions.
I then spotted a fella that looked familiar. He had ducked just around the corner of a bookshelf where I didn’t have a clear view of him. After a minute my curiosity got the best of me and I got up to have a look. As I did so, we made eye contact. “Joe?!” I said. A smile came across his face, and I knew he was who I thought.
A few years ago a young man about 20 years old came to our church. He was a really nice guy and like all of us, he had a problem. But his problem could have cost him his life. Literally! He was addicted to heroin. After some small talk I invited him to lunch the next day. We had a good time conversing. I encouraged him and prayed for him. For a few weeks he came around but then he disappeared.
Yesterday we ran into each other at Barnes and Noble. I bought him a cup of coffee and Joe began to tell me his story. He’s been clean for a few months now and has been in Long Island Teen Challenge for two months. He is being given a sense of vision and value, is learning the disciplines necessary to live clean, and most of all (in his own words) learning that God really loves Him and has a plan for his life. Recently Joe was baptized and is discovering what it means to depend on God and follow Jesus. He is in a year-long program.
I was so blessed to have this encounter with my friend Joe. I told him how very proud of him I was. I offered him words of encouragement, and I told him I know God is going to do great things in His life. Would you pray with me that Joe would know the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray that he will make it through the program, and most importantly that he will learn to live in God’s love and grace and follow Him all the days of His life.
Six years ago I was sitting in my home in Chesapeake, VA watching the closing date on my house rapidly approach. God had called me to step down from my position at our church without telling me where we were going. After lots of interviews and even turning down some job offers, I was on the house phone with a church in Chicago – the last on my list – when suddenly my cell phone began to ring. Not recognizing the number, and in the middle of a conversation, I let the caller leave a voicemail.
When I hung up my wife asked me how the interview went. “OK,” I replied. “I’m not sure. It could possibly be a fit. They’re talking about flying me out.” She then told me I needed to listen to my voicemail because a church on Long Island had called me. Long Island? I didn’t know anybody on Long Island, and I certainly hadn’t applied to a church there. The message said, “Kevin, this is Roger Erdvig. You don’t know me, but I heard that you are searching for a new ministry position, and I would like to talk to you about an opening we have for a youth pastor.” Within just two weeks or so we had flown to Long Island twice and two days after closing on our house we were en route to work at Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle. The rest is history.
For a while now my wife and I have felt God was moving us on from SGT. Back in November I had some conversations with Pastor Zarlengo about the restlessness in my heart, and I decided it was time for me to resign from my position. For the sake of my family and seeing that the senior class (the kids who were in 7th grade when I arrived) had the experience of only having one youth pastor during their youth ministry years (A rarity! The average American youth pastor lasts less than 2 years), I committed to finishing out the school year.
I want to thank my leaders, students, and the SGT church family for the incredible friendships and memories you have provided us with. Some of my most cherished memories are: raising up an incredible team of caring adult youth leaders, getting our students outside the walls of our church and seeing so many of them step up as servant leaders in our own community, beginning youth small groups (today there are 14 different small groups), leading 11 missions trips, winter retreats, connecting the youth of SGT to the Long Island youth network in a deeper way, all of the one-on-one conversations, and the opportunity to grow as a husband, father, and leader through all of the ups and downs.
At the time of this writing I am exploring a few options, but I am still not certain exactly where we will end up. Here we go again! I would appreciate your prayers as we seek to walk the life of faith and enjoy the adventurous life of following Jesus. We look forward to staying in touch.
REVKEVJR.COM 