Ernest & Carmen

I have been taking a back step and looking at my christian life and my ministries, and I was surprisingly disappointed...Head down, focused on the task, I've been going hard and going strong for so long that I've forgotten one of the most important thing in ministry - my relationship with people!! I suppose I hadn't completely forgotten it, but it's definitely blurred.

I had always known that my relationships with people were rather awkward, but I convinced myself it was because it's a new church, new environment, new people, different age gaps, lack of time, etc, etc. I allowed myself to accept it and to plod along without trying too hard to change it. But it's really starting to hit me now. I'm becoming ineffective because most of the teenagers (and even some of the older ones) can't relate to me.

I don't know what to do.

Am I being too hard on them? Too serious? Too many changes? Too many new ideas? Too radical? Too long-winded? Too...what? I wonder what God was thinking when He put me into this church...

I dunno...but I trust that He knows what He's doing.

<< Pray that I can build better relationships with the people I am serving so that I can build them up in the faith effectively. Pray for a heart and mind of understanding and genuine love amongst us so that we may grow and mature together as the body of Christ. Pray also that I may not be dishearted by the hardships of being a slave of Christ but to persevere so that I may present everyone perfect in Christ. >>

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:28-29)