One Journey's End is the Beginning of Another

It was eleven years ago that I began a one year wilderness Bible college called, Summit College. Early on in the process I asked God if he could be really clear if he wanted me to move on into another ministry and out of Summit and that the “still small voice” wasn’t going to work. I loved where He had put me and could never see myself leaving this place. Many more years passed and there were super tough times, unbelievable growing times, absolutely hilarious times, learning times, and memories and friendships that will be with me forever.

Then this spring God began to speak … and it was not a still small voice. This whole time, as I fasted and prayed my heart was beginning to look outside of this ministry. Because of some changes that were coming down the pipe from Summit's parent ministry, I fired off a resume to Harvest Bible Fellowship as I knew they were looking for a pastor for a new church plant here in Muskoka.

In June I was asked to apply to the Harvest School of Ministry to be trained to be the pastor of the Muskoka Harvest. Five phone interviews and three in-person interviews later I was on a plane to Chicago (the location of the school) for five more interviews. Even though the interviews were a chance for the big dogs of Harvest to evaluate me, the weekend was also an opportunity for Libby (my beautiful wife) and me to pray and seek God (Lam. 3:25 became our favourite verse) and to ask Him to put up any red flags if this was the wrong place for us. Well, not only did God not show any red flags, he totally took care of the concerns we brought with us about the Harvest ministry and showed us that the heart of the churches was one of love and grace, out of which truth could be spoken.

So that brings us to today … I was accepted into the school and I and the whole fam are living in Elgin, Illinois … anticipating coming back to Huntsville in April to begin a Muskoka Harvest Bible Chapel. Since beginning this journey, my desire has not wavered from doing what He has called me to do and will continue to be my primary passion. “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” (Acts 20:24). As I look ahead to pastoring a church, I am thankful for the main lesson I learned while leading Summit: the fact that a grace filled community is the key to reaching the world (John 13:35; John 17:20-21) and it is the arena out of which comes the ability to challenge people with the truth of God’s Word and His call to radically abandon everything for Him (Luke 9:23, 24).