Pastor Calvin Casey
I want to take a minute to thank Pastor Calvin Casey for the diligent work in our urban youth ministry. He has served with much perseverance. The terms of his internship through UYI (Urban Youth Initiative) have come to an end, and Pastor Calvin has chosen to seek other opportunities in ministry. Lets join together and pray that Calvin and his family find God’s perfect will for their lives and ministry. Many blessings bud!
PeAcE
P. Shane
Perspective
Recently, Stacy and I went to visit some friends of ours. Anytime I get to fly in an airplane I get excited, especially during the take off. Stacy laughs at me because I like to put some bumpin’ music on my ipod and turn it up really loud. I pretend like I’m in a hot rod as we take off, changing gears with my hand and poppin’ the clutch and gas. It’s so amusing to me. I feel like a little kid every time.
But as we lifted up off the ground I stared out the window and watched everything on the ground get smaller and smaller. The city that seemed so BIG just moments before suddenly seemed so small. Through that moment, and words of others, I began to think about “PERSPECTIVE”. I have pondered this word for weeks now. If you get on dictionary.com and search the reference section for the word ‘perceive’ you will get a very scientific look at perception, but I want to look at perception or how people perceive you through the eyes of the Lord.
God is speaking to me about perception on an individual level so I thought I would share it with you. I hope that it will help you. As a leader in ministry, I am looked at and studied by many individuals. My every move and word seems to be under the scrutiny of someone. So how this will apply to you is this: the moment people find out we are Christ followers we,too, are under the scrutiny of others. Our words and actions are put under a microscope. So what does perception have to do with all this? I’m glad you asked.
In most situations, the way people perceive us is what they believe us to be. This is the reason that we as Christians must be so careful about how we live our lives. Every relationship that we choose to have, every action and choice we make, and every word spoken is under the microscope of someone who is watching you. We have all heard about, and probably know, some people that do not go to church because of the way we behave as Christ followers. When they went to church, all those people did was fight or acted like they were better than everyone else. Their “lost” friends acted better than those who claim to be Christ followers. We wonder why we as Christ followers can’t seem to change anything. Why we as Christians don’t seem to grow. Why our churches never grow? It’s because people want to see Christians that act the same way in public as they do at church. They want someone to actually be as concerned for them as the Jesus that they hear us preach about.
Now a lot of times we unintentionally send out the wrong signal. This has happened to me recently. We have done nothing wrong in the eyes of the Lord, and we go into certain situations with a mindset to help, but because of the perception of the situation, it looks as if we are doing wrong. I have had to take a step back lately and take a look at some of the decisions I have made. I have put myself in the shoes of others and thought, “what did this look like to someone else?” And through that, I’ve had to change the way I do a few things. So I say all of that to say this: take a look at your life. How are you being perceived by others? Though you may have good intentions, what does it look like to someone from the outside looking in? My prayer has been for God to give me wisdom in the relationships I make and the decisions that I make. So I pray today that you, too will take a step back and ask God to help you along this journey. That He will help you make the right decisions at the right time, and that people will perceive you as a REAL, TRUE Christ Follower!
Much Love,
P. Shane
We are Marshall
I’m sitting here watching “We are Marshall”, again. I haven’t seen in it in a while. Wow, what a movie. It’s amazing to see how fast tragedy can affect an entire town. Great movie. If you haven’t seen it or it’s been a while, watch it. And then thank God for your many blessings.
Shane
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Youth Pastor Shane Ivy
