Serving is not a Spiritual Gift

I have really been chewing on the fact that Paul does not list "serving" as a spiritual gift. He says spiritual gifts are given for the purpose of service. This is funny because often times I we as Christians choose when we should serve and when we should not. I do this far too often. When I am at work at Verizon it is easy for me to turn off my "servants heart." If we are called to be like Christ, we are never supposed to turn off our servant's heart.

This all really began to sink in when I started reading Philippians. In Philippians there is a well- known verse that says, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Later on Paul goes into a little more detail on what he means by this. He states that he would rather depart and be with Christ, but for now he will stay here on earth for the sole purpose of serving others. He says specifically, "I will continue will all of y0u for your progress and joy in the faith..." I think that it is crazy that he doesn't say, "I will stay here so that I can worship God more, or fellowship with people more", but he says "for all of your progress". He stayed here on earth to serve others so that they would progress in the faith. Service.

When I find myself deciding to serve when I want to serve, and not serving when I don't think I should, I am deeply convicted by Paul's absolute selflessness and servitude. My prayer is that I would never stop serving and remember that my life is not my own, for I was bought at a price and I am now a slave to righteousness. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that, "God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him." God gives us victory, but what is that victory if it is not for the glory of God? We are not our own; everything we do should be in the service of God and others in order to advance the kingdom of God and to spur each other on toward love and good deeds.

A Dream 10 Years in the Making

When I was 15, God laid it on my heart to start a church. This was very strange to me considering when I was 14 I was high all day long. It was in the matter of a year that God radically changed my life around. I had started pursuing a relationship with God because of my struggle with drugs, and from there I have gone on many adventures. My first was at the end of my sophomore year, when I went on my first youth summer camp through the church I had started attending, and in that same summer, I went on a mission trip to Russia. The combination of being poured into and pouring into others changed me in a way I would have never imagined. During that time is when God embedded the dream of being a church planter in my heart. For nearly 10 years now I have been praying for that church- how I'd like it to be, where I'd like it to be, who would be a part of it, and for vision and wisdom to fulfill such a dream.Within that 10 years of praying, God has taken me from a church and youth group in San Diego to being hired on to serve a youth group in Colorado. During the course of serving the youth group at Grace Church of Arvada, God has brought some amazing men into my life- men that I consider my closest friends, and have enjoyed teaming up with in ministry for years.

It wasn't until 2 months ago that this dream started to become a reality. I had never discussed with these men in my life about the calling that God had for my life, but in the course of 48 hours God laid it very heavy on all of our hearts to start a church. We all began to pray and seek God in what seemed like a crazy idea. During this time of prayer over the last 2 months God has given me confirmation after confirmation revealing that we were heading in the right direction. One of these confirmations involved sharing this calling with the pastors of Grace Church and receiving their full approval. This last weekend, March 27-28, we announced it to the congregation. Now we are on our way to establishing Two Rivers Church.

I have always questioned the calling that God laid on my heart 10 years ago- Why me? Now looking back I know that it wasn't just me, but God was leading me to these men in my life so that we can all pursue the calling that God has laid on our hearts as a team. We still have a lot of questions unanswered, but if anything I have learned we should never doubt a calling that God has given us no matter how God-sized it may be.