morethandodgeball.com

GUEST POST: How Do You Know When God is Moving You?

This past weekend I shared breakfast with my YS roommate. Bruegger?s Bagels and chocolate milk, case you were wondering.

Our discussion centered around the question, how do you know when God is moving you? It a good question and often asked when we feel the push to move on to something else. As we talked, I thought about my own experiences and knowing when God was moving me from one spot to the next. Here’s what I learned:

1. Prayer. Without a doubt, prayer is the most important part of the process. Seeking God diligently is a must. Each time we thought a move was coming, my wife and I bathed the possibilities in prayer. We pray together, we pray separately, we pray for specifics, and we pray for the unknown. We?re not afraid to ask God to answer and provide the details. Like Gideon, we put out the fleece and ask God to send the dew. And don?t forget, prayer is a two way street. Spend as much time listening for God as you do listing your requests and demands. God still speaks, we just have to learn to listen.

2. Godly Wisdom. Wise counsel is priceless. Surround yourself with trusted, Godly men and women, who can give you unbiased and confidential advice and support. These need to be people who love you and can be strong enough to say no. Tell them what they need to know. Ask them to pray specific for you for a designated time frame, then set up a time when you can meet and hear what they think God is saying. And listen! The counsel they bring might not be what you want to hear.

3. Watch and Know. God speaks through what happens around us. Events and circumstances help to push us the direction God wants us to go. I am a firm believer that God opens and closes doors as He deems necessary. Watch what?s happening around. Too often, irony is the hand of God turning a door knob. And know your history. How has God moved you in the past? How has He moved in others lives? How did He move people in the New Testament? How did He move people in the Old Testament? Our God does not change. The same God who moved Abram to an unknown country is the God who might be moving you into the unknown. Knowing how He works will help you recognize when He is moving in your life.

I can?t say that these three things were my own brain child. They were shared with my wife and I many years again when we were considering our first full time call to serve a ministry. We practiced each of these three points then, and God was faithful in revealing what we needed to know and where we needed to be. Since then, we have applied each point for every move we?ve made and we have been blessed.

The only other suggestion I would add is idea of total surrender. [...]

marriedtoayouthpastor.com

God runs through it!

youthministrygeek.com

Crowd Sourced Video Projects

Over the last week, I’ve come across two different video projects online that are using or used the power and reach of the internet to produce them. The first one is a group that setting out to remake Star Wars, but letting people pick their favorite scene and recreate it however they want. The second is a music video that that was written, produced and shot by user submissions to the creators youtube channel. He also has a bigger vision of getting this song on the UK music charts to raise money for charity.

Here are the videos:

Star Wars: Uncut Trailer from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

I just love the idea, and really enjoyed the results. I was thinking this could be a fun youth group project. Getting different groups of kids to shoot different parts of video and putting them all together could be a really fun activity. I used to volunteer in a ministry that had a film festival of student made films every year and something like this would have been a great addition. And with the availability of cameras like the Flip

collegeministrythoughts.com

Envy, Articulated Honestly

Almost a year ago now I did a message on the sin of envy in my church. It’s deep rooted in all of us. But there seems to be a whole other level for women. Jealousy and envy is a huge issue – for some reason more so than most guys. I’ve tried to talk to numerous women about this issue, all say it’s a massive problem, but few have answers or can articulate the issue in their own life concisely and with complete honesty…until I read this article. If you’re working with college age women, you have to read this article entitled, The Sneaky Trick of Envy.

simplyinsider.com

Episode 116: Who Doesn?t Like Free?

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Doug Fields, Matt McGill, and Josh Griffin are back, but no Jana.

simplyurbanministry.com

Soul Food! If you love yourself, feed yourself!!!