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What's up with my brain?

So here's the story...

Monday or Tuesday morning before work, I was doing my email/internet surfing thing, and I decided on a whim to stop by www.youthspecialties.com and look at their job postings for ministry positions. To my surprise, there was one position that really intrigued me. It was a surprise for many reasons. Allow me to share those reasons with you:

1. I wasn't expecting to be interested in a "church job" this soon.
2. It's in Tempe, which means, if I were to be offered the position, I would have to move back to Phoenix.
3. It's a big church (probably 2,000-3,000 members, if not more).
4. The position itself is something I've never felt drawn to before, but now all of a sudden it sounds interesting.

So, what's the position, right? "Worship/Creative Arts Pastor." Obviously, some of my talents would insist that I would be interested in this field of ministry, but I've never actually wanted to do this kind of thing as my job before. I'm still a little unclear as to whether they are looking more for a new "front man" for the band, or for a person to coordinate and oversee the whole worship/creative arts department at their church (though it sounds like the latter). If they want a front man, I'm probably not the guy. Instrumentally I think I can cut it, but not so much vocally. I have a decent voice, but not a great voice.

One of the main drawing points to this church, for me, is the fact that their theological leanings are very similar to my own (which is honestly kind of rare). Furthermore, often people who share my particular theological leanings (that is, Oneness Pentecostal) tend to be kind of old-fashioned in their approach to ministry, and sometimes a little exclusive, which annoys me greatly. I like cutting-edge ministry, and I feel that theology is one of the stupidest reasons for churches to divide. This church appears to have similar ideas. That excites me.

What sounded so interesting about the position to me, was the simple fact that before Hope Chapel and I parted ways, I was finding great pleasure in the process of planning services, looking for new and creative ways to do corporate worship, fine tuning things like lighting, sound, media, etc., and this appears to be exactly what this church is looking for.

So, I sent a resume. They want to meet me. We'll see what happens.

Praise God!

So, I finally heard back from the HR lady at La Frontera, who had caused me to question whether I would still have a job this week. The president of the school I graduated from and she finally got in touch, and she said that I was all set. Praise God!

When I talked with her yesterday, she said (without saying it), that she was going to turn a blind eye to the fact that the accreditation status of my degree was a little sub-standard. She said something to the effect of, "All I need is verification that you were awarded a degree." So, I get to keep my job, and since I got everything out in the open, I can go on with a clear conscience, not worrying that soon they will discover that I'm not truly qualified.

What did I learn from this?

Honesty really is always the best policy. I really felt a wonderful peace from God when I decided I was just going to lay it all out on the table for them, and then let the chips fall where they may. I knew there was a possibility that I would lose my job, but I knew that God would honor my obedience. As it turns out, He honored it even more than I expected! I basically did everything I could to give them a legitimate excuse to fire me, but they didn't. God allowed me to keep my job. God is an awesome God!

The Mightyrandomthought #5

Yesterday there was a dead bug outside my office - it looked like a cockroach or something. The first few times I passed it, it was on it's back. Then, around 11 or so, I passed it again, and it was on it's belly. Then an hour or so later I passed it again, and it was on it's back again. Then, around 2 o'clock, I passed it again and there was this swarm of tiny ants all around it, most of them crowded right around its body. The next time I passed that spot, the cockroach was gone. Rest in peace cockroach.

Interesting Turn of Events

Last Thursday I received an email from the HR Generalist at work. In it she said she was attempting to verify my degree, but was having trouble finding any contact information for the school, and asked if I could help. So I looked - for sure, there is not even a hint of a website for the school I graduated from. It's a very small school, so I guess it's not completely surprising. So I had to email the nice HR lady back and say, "I'll have to get back to you on that one."

So over the weekend I tracked down the number for the President of the school, and had a little chat with him...Let me back up a bit...

When I graduated from Freedom Seminary with a B.A. in Biblical Studies, I was told that the school was not yet accredited, but was working toward accreditation, that they were in the tail end of that process, and that when the process was complete, I would be grandfathered in. Since I had spent the previous two years at a non-accredited Bible School, the prospect of a school accepting all those classes toward an accredited degree sounded great! I knew it wouldn't be a prestigious degree, but what do I care?

So, over this past weekend I spoke with the President of the school to let him know that someone might be calling to confirm my degree, and while on the phone I asked him where the school was in the process of becoming accredited. I wish I could say I was surprised at his answer, but I wasn't. They're still in the process. According to him, the big thing that is standing between them and accreditation is some specific type of external audit that takes a couple of years and costs $25,000. Needless to say, this small school doesn't have $25,000 sitting around.

Long story short, I have to go in to work today and tell them that my degree is from a currently non-accredited school. Chances are, this little revelation will cost me my job.

::Surprising spiritual twist::

Since Thursday I have had a knot in my stomach about the whole thing. Then I went to church on Sunday. The pastor preached about faith, and about trust. The title of the sermon was "Focusing Your Faith." The worship was wonderful, and I felt wrapped in God's presence. Then the sermon just brought me to a wonderful place of calm trust, that whatever transpired with my job, God was going to take care of me. I just had this wonderful peace that I was in God's hands, and in His plan and nothing was going to change that. God is awesome.

A few more reasons why I love my church...

Went to Home Group last night. They asked me to lead some worship for them before the discussion. We sang 'Open the Eyes of My Heart,' 'Indescribable,' and 'From the Inside Out.' Even though we were a small group, maybe 8-ish, everyone still worshiped with all their hearts, sang out loud, etc. And that's reason #1 for this blog...The people of my church are true worshipers. It's not a Sunday morning thing for them, whenever worship is happening, they are fully engaged. Awesome.

The other thing I love, which I also noticed from last night's meeting, was how everyone is genuinely committed and totally sold-out for Christ. I was so convicted last night by this older lady who shared about how she had hired a young man to work for her (I don't know what she does). She said that she got angry at him because he was texting the whole time, and not really working. She said that she got kind of short with him, and was mean, and sort of yelled at him. Here's what impressed me...This woman started crying. She talked about how the Holy Spirit had convicted her as she realized that she was not being Christ-like in front of this young man. She said she knew that he couldn't see Christ in her or in her attitude or actions, and it tore her up. So she called him and apologized...

This whole scenario last night showed me what it looks like to be totally sold-out, totally committed to holiness. This woman did something that probably most of us would do, and we would justify ourselves afterward. This woman had a very soft heart, and was troubled by even the slightest straying from the path of holiness. God, make me like that. Better yet, help me to imitate you, Lord.

Furthermore, everyone had incredible insight into the things we were discussing, everyone was engaged, everyone was participating, everyone had both Biblical knowledge to share, and personal experiences that added so much to the discussion. It's been a long time since I've been to a discussion-type meeting that was so edifying and uplifting.

I love my church...

Ugh...

Had my first RIDICULOUS day at work yesterday. The morning wasn't so bad, but then I was asked to do an intake around 11 (just so you know, Case Managers really aren't supposed to do intakes, but the intake team is swamped lately, so we get to do some of their work for them). The intake took about an hour and a half, during which time I received a call from someone at the hospital - a client of mine is there, ready for discharge, wanted to know what to do with her - the client was assigned to me late the previous afternoon, how the heck do I know what you should do with her?! I tell her I'll call her back. Then another client is waiting for me in the waiting room (a walk-in), so I meet with her. She's got legal issues up the wazoo, and basically want's be to write a whole bunch of stuff for her to help her case, problem is, that's not my job. Oh, and she has a SERIOUS case of ADHD (I'm not being facetious here) and so has no ability to stay on topic. While I'm with her, another client comes to see me. This one is homeless as of today, and wants me to help her. I take a break from the first client, speak with the second (it's now about 3:30). Oh, but before I do, I have to call the hospital lady back, just to tell her that I don't know anything. So then I talk to this homeless lady, who brought about 6 huge bags full of stuff with her. She asks for a ride to the shelter, 'cause she can't carry all her stuff. I hesitanly agree, then I tell her to scram for a bit so I can finish with this other client. So she comes back in - talks a million miles a minute about - everything - I finally get her out of my office. It's 4:30. I jump in the van with the other client, drive her to the shelter, there's no one at the shelter, but I leave her there anyway (because at this point, I don't care). Rush back to the office. And then I go home.

I went to bed at 8 o'clock last night...

Today's weigh-in

Nothing too impressive. 212.4. It took me about a week to lose six tenths of a pound. Sheesh! But on the bright side, my weight is still going in the right direction. Even if I'm losing slowly, I'm still losing.