Tag Archives: acts

thoughts on God

Preservation Empowers Perseverance Through Family

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We see restlessness all around us don’t we? Violence and words of malice that strike at the very core of who we are. At this point I sort of a dread having to open my Facebook page to see the hate of everyday. For whatever reason, each of us can so quickly be spun into this web of poison.The funny thing is that as I describe this situation, several things may pop into YOUR head. It may not necessarily be what I’m thinking about. Because each of us have a bone to pick with something.

We all have THAT THING that really gets us all riled up.
WE all want to WIN or persevere. Not only that, we all want OUR way preserved. We want the world to think, act and feel the way we do. We want to be preserved and persevere.
We wonder why we are in the situation we’re in and it cause us to be full of fear. If we are honest with ourselves. Am i the only one that feels this way? Don’t you at least feel it around you if not right here, right now. That is if the situation you are currently doesn’t pan out to be the way YOU want, well everything must be wrong with the world.

We so quickly forget who truly preserves us. We so quickly forget the promise. Jesus. Jesus, preserves us. And that preservation is what motivates our perseverance!

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be looking at the ‘3 Characteristics of How God’s Preservation Empowers Perseverance And Witness’ based off of Acts 18:1-17.

PART 1 – Through the Faith Family
PART II – Through His Providence
PART III – Through His Word

God Empowers Through the Faith Family

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. – Acts 18:1-8

Presence (v. 2-4)

If you see in the beginning there was an availability by the saints. Aquila and his wife Priscilla were model church members that were ready, willing and available. People knew each other, or at least they found ways to be involved with each other. Everything will be added to you God will bring you the resources you need, including faithful community to surround you to accomplish God’s mission WITH you. For the faith family to be useful and active they were all readily available.

Power (v. 3 and 8)

It has always been speculated what Paul’s ‘thorn’ is in the passage in 2 Corinthians. But what we do know is that whatever it was, it could not be taken away. Most likely, Paul needing some sort of help and couldn’t do everything by himself. There is help. The body of Christ; Aquila and Priscilla ready in and out of season were ready to be of assistance. In fact, they all had a similar trade.

They did all their WORK for the glory of God – (v.3) Paul being a tent maker uses this profession as a means of networking for God’s glory. In other words, it is not the case that Paul engages in tent making as a necessity so that he can do his “real job” of preaching. Instead, Paul’s varieties of work in the sewing shop, marketplace, synagogue, lecture hall, and prison are all forms of witness. In any of these contexts, Paul participates in God’s restorative project and lives out his new identity in Christ for the sake of God’s glory and out of love for his neighbors—even his former enemies. Even as he is being transported across the sea as a prisoner, he employs his gifts of leadership and encouragement to guide the soldiers and sailors holding him captive to safety during a severe storm (Acts 27:27-38). If he had not had the gift of being a preacher and apostle, he would still have been a witness to Christ simply by the way he engaged in making tents, toiling for the sake of the community, and working for the good of others in all situations.

We must make sure we don’t make distinctions that separate us from the every day, every moment actuality of our faith and the implications it will always present. In every way Paul was who he had to be in order to share Christ. So with out excuse we must be faithful to be Christians, and present to do the work of ministry.

Possession (v. 5)

[9] And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. – 2 Corinthians 11:9

Based off of this coinciding scripture which most likely points to this point in Paul’s second journey, when Silas and timothy ‘arrived from Macedonia’, in verse 5 is probably part of the gift that they bring to Paul.
This piece is always so interesting. But the people in the early church always took care of one another. The piece that is important to note about this community action is the manner in which they help each other.

You don’t have to ‘start a ministry’ to be faithful. Just be it, Just do it. You never know the actions you take, how many years down the line that it’s going to affect someone’s life. In my life, I was only 8 years old. My father had just had been in a real bad place. The cards just didn’t fall in his lap right. It’s the sudden lay-off, the sudden drop in pay and the inevitable hardship that follows when the money you make doesn’t fit the outgoing bills. My parents loved the LORD, they were faithful in sharing Jesus with their friends and the LORD provided so many resources through those around us.

There are always those people right. All of us a story or two that carry examples of servants that really went out of their way to be like Jesus to us. Be like that. And i think more than ever these realities hit me as an adult knowing the risk families took by allowing us to live with them and take us in.
Even now, there are people in this body that love us, my family, in ways that truly speak to us and care that helps and motivates me to speak truth boldly. For them I am so grateful.

Are you ready?

Following after such great examples like Aquila, Priscilla, Silas and Timothy. There are so many arenas that right now you can help your faith family with. That you, can help advance the kingdom and make a difference. Really there are three main things most churches do. Consider the following

1. Sunday Mornings

– Prayer Team
– Hospitality
– Kidz Program
– Stewardship
– Audio & Visual Tech Team

2. Community Groups

– Authentic Friendship- Hospitality –
– Discipleship & Leadership
– Mission Organization

3. Bible Study

– Youth Advocacy
– Children’s Bible Memorization
– Bible Study Leader
– Communicator

I believe that if we as a local body does 3 things really well, we can be most effective at accomplishing the great commission in your city. This is our field. Your city is your inheritance. AS a team that is filled with the fire of the Spirit to be witnesses to your hurting community, we can do it together.

life, thoughts on God

Reasons To Pray When Things Don’t Make Sense

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I vividly remember the phone call I got late that night. I knew that at some point my brother was to come home. I was just hanging out watching TV and, “ring ring…”. I answer the phone call and it’s the authorities letting me know that my brother had gotten in an accident and is unconscious. It was me and my parents at home that night. I remember us and people from the church praying and asking God to have mercy and deliver him, there was no script, there was no perfect way of saying it, but what we were saying was, “God, spare my brother’s life… please God, Spare my brother’s life.” I knew, somewhere deep inside to pray, we had nothing, there was absolutely nothing to grab a hold of at the moment except God. For this particular story, my brother was miraculously spared. I know this is not always the case, but we were overjoyed that he was conscious again by the time he reached the ER.
We all have a story like that don’t we? Sometimes it is filled with doubt, maybe you don’t have all the facts, but you are begging God to deliver, you, a friend, maybe a marriage for deliverance from danger. We want God to move, we want Him to change things. We want Him to move on our behalf.  So what are some reasons to continue to pray when things don’t make sense?

1. Because God is Sovereign

The whole concept of God’s complete sovereignty is a hard one for a lot of people to swallow. We want some sure way of understanding everything we see.
“Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Ps. 115:3). “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Ps. 135:6). He “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). “For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (1 Cor. 8:6).
Long story short here is that God does what he wants and the early church understood as the context of their prayers. Even in times of uncertainty, they trusted God to do His work, His will and in His way. We know this was true because we see a prayer in the midst of persecution early in the Book of Acts.

“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,… for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

(Acts 4:24, 27-28)

The people knew exactly what was going on, and they knew it’s been part of God’s plan all along.
There is no “secret way” of knowing how God will judge. Fervent prayer is how the church must operate in our core. It is this kind of faithfulness that will spread the church to the ends of the earth.
In a way, by God being Holy, by very definition, He does what He wants. There will not be expected conclusions to how God interacts with us, but we are to pray for God’s revealed will since we don’t know His hidden will.

Yes. Pray. God is sovereign. Pray. Remember, the communication we have with God is one that should be unceasing. Pray when you want God to move in your life and in your community’s life. Pray for the souls of those you are reaching for Christ. Pray in the context knowing that God has a plan in the midst of your confusion.

2. Because We Are Not Alone

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church… When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place. (Acts 12:5,12-17 ESV)

Within the context of what was spoken of earlier in Acts 4, and the prayer that the community of faith said together, there is just something about all of these passages that make the most difficult things just a little easier to swallow; it is that we are not alone.

And if it’s a true community, it’s gonna be real. It’s gonna be messy, and it’s not gonna be perfect. A community full of faith in God and love for one another is a community that is authentic. You can see this authenticity here in this passage when you get to the nitty gritty of how the community responds… during a prayer meeting on behalf of Peter seeking God’s provision.

There are people that are dealing with doubts, fears, and uncertainty. Here, they definitely made it obvious in scripture. Are you being this honest? This how we edify and build one another up.

3. Because He Always Hears Us

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. (Acts 12:5 ESV)

In Verse 5 the ESV reads as ‘earnest’ prayer, This word is only used a few times in the NT. It is a very strong word meaning “to reach out in a tense, resolute eager way” or “Prayer was going up”. This means they were praying intensely, with resolve and had an expectation to see God answer. Nothing else mattered but God and His everlasting kingdom!
Fervant or earnest prayer is how the church must operate in our very DNA. It is this kind of faithfulness that will spread the church to the ends of the earth.
Luke, who is the writer of Acts uses this word in another place in scripture.

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44 ESV)

Hopefully we can see this intensity noted by our Lord as He is praying earnestly before getting betrayed and all the emotion that is tied knowing is to become of you being in the governments hands.
The important aspect to note about the Lord listening to His children, is noticing that our Lord prayed earnestly, but He earnestly asked for His Father to do His will. In this prayer Jesus did not sin by asking God to take the cup from Him if there was another way.

The big difference between our sometimes fleshly prayers and that of our Savior King Jesus is that He desired His Father’s will above anything else, yes, even if that meant dying a cruel death on a bloody cross for us while we were still sinners.

Praying according to His will is the key. Praying that God has His way. It’s the heart of the matter where we don’t expect God to align to our desires but our desires to be aligned with His.
When you pray, and the answer doesn’t turn out for the good you expect, does not mean that God is mean, nor does it always mean you don’t have enough faith. It just means that sometimes the answer is no, sometimes it’s yes and sometimes it’s wait.
You might feel like the father in the Gospel of Mark with the sick son.

…“I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

It’s all about Jesus and caring for one another.

He is a good father and He listens to His children. He doesn’t always answer the way we want, but He does hear us.

thoughts on God

Having Eyes to See – Part 2

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Last week we talked about opening our eyes to see windows of opportunity to share the gospel. This week is Part 2 to that blog post as we learn how Jesus and the apostles chose to walk through those doors opportunity presented to them.

See in Acts 3, shortly after Peter and John heal this beggar, they continue to use that opportunity to share the gospel with courage as the crowds approached to see what was going on after the beggar was miraculously healed.

Sometimes for us, the most difficult things could be knowing what to do when you finally see an opportunity you may have been praying for.

Walk Through Doors of Opportunity

1. Break the “us-and-them” mentality.

Concerning Acts Chapter 3, Peter and John could have done anything to avoid this situation with this expected beggar, but they didn’t avoid him. They stepped into this man’s life. Every human being deserves the dignity to be engaged. and more importantly, the opportunity to see the church at work in loving in extraordinary ways.

I had to break through my ‘us and them’ mentality the other day as I passed a beggar on the street.  Immediately there seems to be that feeling you get and all that self-talk about why, how, and for what purpose is this person here asking for money, food, gas…. I think we all know what I’m talking about. There are so many different reasons why our minds race during this moment of questioning; I would even argue that this feeling is not necessarily a ‘Christian’ self talk. You know… ‘do I roll my window down to say hi’… ‘well that’s stupid’… ‘do I ask what they will use the cash on?’… ‘nope’, …’can I ask them about Jesus in 22sec before the light turn green’?… ‘impossible’. So…. what do you do?

What I do was sorta weird. I pass her, with all those knee jerk responses in my mind, I drive away. It wasn’t really till a few miles out that I really felt conviction and knew that I could not justify my way out of this. I need to preach Christ to her and give her food. I have to confess that I have been jaded and therefore I have not always listened to the Spirit as He asks me to respond.

So, and this point I felt quite compelled at this moment to stop, get her food and get her permission to talk about Jesus. The truth is, is that there is no ‘us-and-them’. That idea of this feeling is the root sin of class and racial divide and needs to be quenched by God’s love. Believe me, none of are as special as we may think.

Anyway, there was no real profoundness about it at all. God does the saving, we just obey and go into the world to preach good news.

2. Listen like a friend

I’m convinced that most people don’t just want someone to be courteous and friendly. People want friends.

When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, you can just imagine His level of engagement as He meets with her at a place that Jews and Samaritans would not normally cross paths. (John 4:5-32)

If you ask someone how they are doing, mean it. Don’t just ask then walk off. You never know whether this conversation may have content and value that could greatly affect your life.

Be vulnerable, listen, respond and interact with people that is categorized by authentic engagement.

3. Give hope for a future

Jesus or the apostles did not excuse sin, instead they practiced mission living by offering compassion –into-repentance. Through relationship we can best understand how we can assist in need, pray, and walk with people through their sin as well as our own.

When Jesus visited the woman at the well, He didn’t just leave her hanging after bringing up her obvious sin and brokenness. He let her know that there will be a time when people would worship in Spirit and in truth. That even as she was hopeless without Him, that He is the living water, and without Him she would dry up.

Do we leave hopeless those we are helping? It’s like when mission trips and service projects are done with no end to the means. The greatest gift we could ever offer those is the love of God by letting them know of a Savior in the midst of our and their wretchedness. Don’t just string people along. There should be a genuine concern for one’s well being, and ultimately one’s soul.

4. Contextually convey the Gospel

Sometimes we get tied up in method when most of the time you will get to share the gospel in ways that are directly associated within all the normal rhythms of your daily life.

The most prominent questions I get from stay-at-homes mothers is how do they live this out when their around only their children 24 / 7? My response is this. “Be the most loving mother and fill your children with faithfulness by allowing the grace of God to be most evident in your life. Then as you mess it up, share the Gospel of grace”.

Contextually sharing the gospel doesn’t mean getting cool hipster clothes and always drinking coffee while reading some dead theologian. It means being faithful to open your eyes to see the broken world around you and then approaching it knowing the Gospel can really break any chain of bondage, sin and death. That is how strong the cross is, and I believe with every fiber of my being.

Conclusion

What we learn in Acts Chapter 3 is that God has empowered His people to be witnesses preach and live ‘Jesus’ to the whole world with courage and boldness in the midst of persecution and even death.  At the name of Christ, there is authority when represented with clear concise belief and true faith in Jesus Christ; the way the truth and the life.

Can we put gospel lenses on? Can we view the world through the vision of the Word of God and see lives change? Can we see the pain and heartache? How can we play a role in this process? Through Christ and His redemptive work, we can see the love of Christ for broken sinners evident everywhere we look if we just open our eyes.

In this case (Acts 3) we have a crippled man, probably most of his known life, raised up again to walk. Imagine your whole life (and you may very well have experienced this or take care of one who has physically experienced this) completely unable to do anything without the help of another. Your usual story is brokenness, disappointment and pity. There were probably times, many, where the expectation was higher than what you could accomplish. And walking into the temple would have been something to want to be included in…This man is in need of a doctor, outside help to have the power to do anything. He needs a savior.

This is like us, but more extreme. The bible says we are dead in our sin. Dead. And through the life, death and resurrection of Christ, if we believe in him we can walk in newness of life. In the same way we must be brought back to life again by the cross and the awakening of the Holy Spirit.

Thankfully I am alive in Christ. Do you have Jesus today? Are you dead in your sin. If you do not know Jesus, are than you need of Christ and His accomplished work. Repent, be saved, and walk in newness of life.

thoughts on God

Having Eyes to See – Part 1

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Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. – Acts 3:1-10

Peter and John probably had places to go and people to see, but who they saw here gave them opportunities to share the gospel, as people empowered by The Spirit to be on mission.

In the general sense of the continuation of the Church, this is not just their story; this is our story. If we are to do ministry in Christ’s name, we need to see how Christ and the apostles did the work. The apostles were emulating Christ by the power of the Spirit just as Christ promised. And the whole book of Acts is about Christ!

The beauty and power of the gospel always speaks for itself. Methodically there are always new ways of immersing ourselves in our particular culture, and the method changes. To find these new methods we must have the eyes to see the need.

We see several times in scripture where before Jesus teaches he either heals someone or feeds them. It almost seems to be systematic in a way of understanding missiological method per culture. If we look at this and focus on Jesus we can then use this as a framework for us whether it’s working to build relationships or as a community trying to make change around us.

What are the needs of those needing Jesus. Do you have particular giftings that just come naturally to you?

There are two things you need to know to start. First, you need to see the doors of opportunity, then in my next blog we’ll talk about how you must walk through those doors.

Seeing Doors of Opportunity

Physiological

These needs are things that we need in order to survive. Is there a child that you come across often and seems as if food comes rare? Is there an elderly person that seems to have a hard time getting around because their health needs aren’t being taken care of properly?

Security

This need is connected to the things we need in order to feel secure in our self, jobs and resources. Is there a neighbor that has recently lost a job and you may have connections to start the conversation of new employment? Is there a counsel you could give a co-worker who is experiencing a particular difficulty such as an abusive relationship that you may be able to speak life into because you’ve experienced the same?

Love/Belonging

Making people feel like family is probably the biggest hurdle we have if we are honest with ourselves. I’ve been realizing more and more that people don’t want you to be friendly; they want a friend. Who is ‘that’ person that you may ignore, but you know deep inside they just need someone to talk to? Who is the individual around you that is hurting just because they simply have no one to talk to?

Next week we’ll talk about how to walk through these door of opportunity…

life

A Farewell…

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So the story goes a little like this…

10 years ago or so, I remember leading worship at a youth gathering event in our area where 150+ students came together for the sole purpose of worshiping Jesus under one roof, no matter the denomination. It was around the time in modernism where you would see evangelical ecumenicism a little more often. Either way, it was a good thing. The church that the gathering was held in was a United Methodist Church, from the outside, you would usually expect a totally different vibe, but it was surprisingly refreshing. I guess I thought there would be lots of robes, candles and wood.

Anyway, that night I had the pleasure of meeting Melinda, the youth pastor who spoke at the event for the evening as she was in the rotation to speak. I didn’t think she would remember me since at the time I probably sounded like an underdeveloped guitar player who ‘thought’ he could sing. (Side note. I actually listened to a song the other day that I wrote back then, that if it ever got leaked, I really don’t know what I would do. It is one of the most awful things I’ve ever heard. For those of you who may have a copy, please burn it.)

Years pass, and along the way I am able to build more connections with pastors across the city and more specifically with First United Methodist Church via the Music Minister at the time and Melinda through city-wide youth pastors meetings. The opportunity had arose at FUMC to apply for a new role at the church for professional staff to develop the growing contemporary music ministry at the church. I thought “nah… I don’t have a masters, so I won’t even try.”

Any-who… This was a very difficult season for me and my family five years ago that I wasn’t sure at the time how things would pan out, and out of the blue I get this call from Melinda. She says, “dude, I put in a good word in for you, please apply. You’re really what the church is looking for, at least start the process…”

After that, honestly, my first question was like, “I don’t think I could work at a Methodist church, aren’t they like theologically liberal and won’t I need to play the organ and stuff?” I remember her replying with… “this place is different, just apply man…”

The Staff…

So I applied, did the interview, and got the job. Thank you Pastor Craig Curry and FUMC Staff Committee circa 2009 for giving me a shot at it, I don’t know if you all realize that this big shift made waves for my growth and future as a pastor. I still can’t believe I got it, I wasn’t ready in so many ways, but through the strength of The Spirit, He carried me through  journeys that I will never forget. It would take me too long to describe the valleys and mountain-tops of working and being so trusted to pastor so many people through tears, counsel, prayer and through leading worship.

Over my time at FUMC there has been staff that have come and gone and a few that have stayed. The main-stay through my tenure has been Melinda. What a good friend and partner in ministry you’ve been. From worship planning, Tuesday’s tear-filled prayer, outreach and mission; everything seemed to be in sync. Thank you for your patience with me. So sorry I have to say good-bye in this functional capacity, but if you ever need a wild badger delivered in a manger in your office, please let me know… (inside joke…)

Thank you Pastor Dave for being a patient and prayerful man. Every time you would leave the office to pray, it was so encouraging to me as a young man in ministry to see that diligence. You have been able to navigate our church through some difficult seasons, thank you for that. I will miss our impromptu prayers sessions, your leadership will not be forgotten.

The People…

About a year ago we started community groups at FUMC. I don’t if any of us in our group expected to see such life-giving moments of nitty-gritty christian community. Every week in our home was more than worth it, we couldn’t wait to see every single person every week. It’s been so amazing to see work by The Spirit in people’s stories and lives. Thank you so much to those who have trusted so much of your time and energy to see what God can do when we are mindful about His mission of seeing us reach out and invite others to what we do, love each other. I know Travis and Kory will serve you well, they are generous and passionate about the move of God in our communities.

One of my favorite things about working at FUMC is their encouragement for me to grow through education, and to give me opportunities to feed into others lives. One of my giftings is to mentor teenagers and young adults, and through the past 5 years I’ve been able to feed into so many lives. You all know who you are. Thank you for allowing me to speak into all your lives, and I hope this won’t change even though I’ll be serving someone else. I care for you all so deeply.

The Music…

When I arrived at FUMC in 2009 I knew it would take a little time for me figure out the type of sound, flare and dynamics that would begin to identify the music of the church. ‘They’ say it takes 3 years before you first notice significant shifts in culture and process in anything you do, no matter the type of organization or program. (I believe the standard calculation looks like this in these cycles; 3, 5, 7 and 10 years are the big shifts in vision and culture…FYI) I can verify that at 3 years, all of our bands began to change. I believe they started to see the possibilities that could take place if we focus our attention to Jesus,  expectations of leaders, and excellence in our craft.

The Sound EPIt was at this time we produced our first EP. I couldn’t believe we did it. I was so proud of what we all accomplished in little ol’ Farmington, and how much we all learned together. And of course above you can see the Live Recording we did this last year…

All of you have been so impressive to me. Your consistency, talent, passion and friendships have all been so influential to me. The AAD jam sessions and practices filled with tears by worshiping together with the gifts of music I will never forget. The video will help explain a little bit… but thank you for everything, thankfully our family is staying in Farmington so we can jam here and there together, just call me!

A Farewell…

My prayer is that FUMC in Farmington is faithful to Christ. Never abandon Christ. Love Him and His Word before anything. This local church showed me what genuine friendships look like. Continue to be intentional about local mission. FUMC is probably one of the most active churches in the community that I’ve ever seen, just always remember to proclaim the Gospel by sharing the Good News. Be bold. Be loving. Be the Church.