An update for Florida.

Hey guys, it's been awhile since I've posted and I apologize it's been a really busy summer and I'm just now beginning to catch my breath, for those Youth Pastors out there you know what I'm saying here. Anyway this past week I was called out on not posting by a dear friend of mine and decided it was time to post something new, in particularly to those of you down in Florida who have been asking me questions about how the internship is going. So I thought I'd use this post to just share some about my life up here, how it's going, and to share some of what I've been learning these past few months.

When I got here I didn't know how I'd adjust or what life would look like, the biggest question I had was who would I live with and would we mesh well or not. All of that was put aside when I met Judy and Justin who have become like Parents to me, They are both locals who have pretty much lived here there whole lives. Justin owns a plumbing business in town and was an elder here at Northview until about a year and a half ago, he loves to play Church softball, loves to hunt, and loves a good evangelistical sermon. Judy is your classic house wife who takes care of things on the home front, she is also very out spoken in other words your not gonna run all over her at all she can hold her own, I really loves this about them. Needless to say I live in an upstairs room in there home and interact with there family whenever I can, 2 of there three kids live here in town which means the house is joyful with the sounds of anywhere from 7 to 10 grandkids at a time, it's great I absolutely love seeing good family's interact with each other.

People ask me if I miss Florida at all, now usually I don't know how to answer that so I'll say this. I miss certain people but to be honest I've been to busy to really dwell on that, plus too many people have made this place feel like home for me to really miss it. Not a day goes by however that I don't think of most of you, every morning I wake up and I look forward to what I get to do, I really love my job and I love those I get to work with both staff and volunteers. What's weird is here I am doing ministry full time and no longer in the class room for the moment, the thing I fear most is struggling back into the last year of classes, I really love doing ministry everyday full time. I get to preach, I get to disciple, and I get to interact with fellow pastors in the area I love it. I will miss not doing ministry full time when I return, so in this I ask for accountability and encouragement to finish, it's important and I know for a fact that I still have more studying to do in order to be as effective as I need to be in the local Church. Terry Allcorn says that there is something to be said about finishing a degree, Terry is correct, Mike Baker told me that it's important to be able to show churches that I did the work and I have a Bible College degree. But let me tell you something there is a different type of education out here than there is in the classroom, it's just as important but different so I encourage all of you to be aware of this. Don't expect Bible College to prepare you for everything, the best education out there for someone who wants to be in ministry full time is this, learn to fail try things and find out if you like it or not and when you fail try try again, please don't fear this practice. Also learn from those who are older than you, those who have been there before and know what's it's like to be fresh out of school, I have about 10 of these type of influences in my life that I can go to at any given time this is important!

Now being in ministry full time I was asked about a week ago by a dear friend in Tennessee about what my week looks like, now I don't know why but we in ministry are obsessed with Pastors and how they function throughout the week, I do it too I was listening to a Mark Driscoll interview once when he was asked about his average week, I was glued to my computer listening to him talk about each day and what he does, so here you go this is my average week.

Sunday: This is usually a 10 hour day for me, it starts at me arriving at the church around 7 in the morning, for one hour I look over my sermon to the middle schoolers and get the room set up, from 8 to 9 I interact with people and just be available and visible. From 9 to 10:15 I'm in Middle School X teaching and hanging with Middle School students and sponsors, it's a great time and my favorite part of Sunday morning, at night I do the X High School and afterword usually go get coffee or food with some students. On Monday I come and detox from the long day before with some coffee, this is my heavy devotional day, I listen to sermons read and start studying for my lesson the coming Sunday, I also do production for the up coming Sunday. Tuesday I do all the Discipleship stuff for the coming Sunday, small group questions if it calls for a game then I prepare a Game. On Wed I finish my sermon and send out emails to my sponsors about what they need to know for that Sunday, Thursday is my day off which means I rest, read, study, and Golf whenever I can. Friday is my errand day and my detail day for Sunday. Saturday is a day of study and rest in preparation for Sunday. I try to work about 50 hours a week, this is because I have sponsors who work at least 40 hours if not more a week and then I expect them to come and volunteer for an extra 3 to 4 hours on a weekend. Now if I expect them to put in the time then I should lead by example my self so I've arrived to the 50 hour work week.

I hope this email wasn't boring but informative, I thank all of you for your prayers and look forward to seeing you all before too long.

Grace and Peace,

Clayton Wheeler.

It's like a Shadow

I have this vision that I can't seem to get rid of, I had it in Florida and it still remains with me here in my office in Danville Indiana.  It's not an annoying thing but is something that makes me re evaluate almost everything I do from time to time, I think it's healthy but is it productive?  I feel as though God gives us these questions to make sure we still have a pulse, this is almost always the first thing a nurse will check when you go in to the ER they want to know that your still breathing that you still know how to function as fully human.  Is God the same way with the birth of vision, mystery and wonder?  I believe so and it doesn't bother me at all, what does bother me is when people tend forget that they are alive and ignore these feelings that are clearly God ordained.  So what does this look like, what are these questions of which I speak, here's a few examples.

I don't want to start a capital campaign it's too risky, let's just put that under the rug and burry it?

I don't think Seminary is for me, I'm not smart enough and it's too much work?

Africa why would I go to Africa I wasn't trained to be a missionary?

Plant a Church your crazy God, do you realize how many Church plants fail in the first year?

It's those type of questions we get every single day, there holy yet kind of annoying some days.  By answering one of those questions I find myself here working at a Church in Indiana 2 days away from my hometown, it doesn't bother me but it excites me.  so what are the questions you've been given?  What is it that just tends to follow you wherever you go?  Maybe it's time to answer the Call of God?

Grace and Peace be with you.

C-DUB

The Move day 1

Hey guys, as you all know I set out this morning for my new home, Danville Indiana.  On my first leg of the trip I made a stop in Columbia South Carolina to visit my good friends the Huston's, Kevin is the new Campus Minister at the Shack on the campus of the university of South Carolina, it's seems like a really great place and I can tell that they are really excited about this opportunity to minister here.  

You know as someone who is very young and very early into ministry I already love to see the passion that can run through a person who finds themself in a place that fits there vision, a lot of people find themselves in a place where they never really see themselves and it shows to people like you and me.  People lose there vision and live a life that is filled with no passion, as I drive and get closer to Indiana my anticipation grows as I begin to think about what I will be learning and putting into practice in Student Ministry.  So tomorrow I head on to East Tennessee for my day two stop, Goehners here I come.

Grace and Peace,

Clayton Wheeler.

Much ado about what?

This past week and really for about the past year or so I've been coming across blog after blog on these issues, Barack Obama, Gay Marriage, and Abortion.  Now I'm not going to mention each of these in this blog but I will take on the issue of Barack Obama's behavior and early presidential decisions, Gay Marriage, and throw in a little Rick Warren based on what he has recently said about gay marriage.  So in the words of the Joker "And here we go."

On Sunday night I don't know if you heard but the USA pagant was on, miss California was clearly in the lead when it came time for the interview.  Her question came from Perez Hilton a gossip collumnist and yes he is of the same family as the famous hiltons, his question was very much direct and to the point.  "Vermont just passed a law that says it is legal for a gender of the same sex to marry, how do you feel about this issue?"  Now California was a devout Christian and Perez knew this very well, she answered from a personal point of view that she believed that marriage was for a man and a woman only.  Now hows that for your controversial headlines, needless to say her answer would forfet the crown, what kind of world do we live in when we no longer have freedom of religion?  We can no longer speak our own mind?  What's frustrating for me is that most Christians actually care about how the world treats us, now here's what I mean by that.  In the New Testament you here story after story of men like Paul and Peter going to prison because they just wouldn't shut up about there resurrected savior, you see it didn't matter to them what the government said or popular demand they kept on preaching.  All I've been hearing lately from Christians has been "well there taking away our freedom of speech."  That may be true to a point but you have to understand that if you are a disciple of Christ you are not an American, German, Canadian or whatever country you call residents.  You see your residents is in the New Jerusalem with Jesus himself, so it shouldn't matter what happens here as far as freedom goes, if it's truth according to scripture I don't care if it's Hitler or Obama never be afraid to speak the truth of Christ.  It says to count it a blessing whenever you face trials and persecutions of many kinds.  If this verse is true then I think Christ for the persecution that came about Sunday, thank you Jesus and may this be the first of many times in which one of your creation stands up and proclaims your name, maybe it will be like during the stoning of stephen when you stood and clapped for your disciple Stephen when he was being persecuted and yet still preached your word.

Now as far as Obama goes do I think yet that he is the anti Christ, my answer is still the same NO!  Am I concerned with some of his decisions yes, but let's look at something positive that happened this week at the forum.  Barack Obama sought out the president of Venezuala and shook his hand, this has been a man who has had a bad relationship with the US during Bush's administration but after words he said to Obama thanks for the gesture and know that I want to be your friend.  Now I know this is something little but I think we can take some positive away from this.  

Now Rick Warren was quoted as saying this past week that "I'm not anti Gay."  Now what he was saying is that from a political stand point he's not going to be an activist when trying to make Gay Marriage illigal, but know that from a Scriptural Standpoint he is still very much a man who understands God's view on such an issue.  So please don't be too harsh on the man after all countless people have been changed because of his ministry and as his brothers and sisters I think we celebrate that fact.

So may God teach us to be the kind of people who simply wont sit down but will stand up for truth, and may we speak your word even if one day it may cost us our life.  For our residence is not here but up there with you.

Grace and Peace be with you.

C-DUB.

Paradise

Today is that in between day of the resurrection weekend, it's the day where Christ is said to have gone down to hell and defeated Satan and finished the job or was it a sabaath?  I wonder looking back at one of his final words recorded on the cross, he says to the thief that today you will be with me in paradise.  What does this mean?  Last night I spent some time thinking about this phrase and I got this picture of Jesus and the thief spending Saturday together in paradise fulfilling his promise to this unknown man who appears only briefly in the Bible.  

Another thought that came across my head was this, maybe he spent the day with me, and then this new picture arose of me walking with Christ on a Golf Course in paradise with Jesus sipping on some amazing Coffee discussing the significance of what he had just done for me.  Maybe Christ was saying today you will be with me in paradise which perhaps translates into today you will all be with me in paradise, I want to spend time with you I want to have a personal relationship with, I want to partner with you in this thing we call life.  So Christ wants to be with me today in paradise?  What a thought what a creator who would want to be with the sinful person that I am.  so here I stand on the 11th of April waiting for my savior to arise in the hopes that I too may continue to live a life of resurrection so that I too may spend the day in paradise with Christ.  

Maybe Paradise isn't really an actual place but maybe it's when you are spending time with your savior wherever you are, maybe that's paradise.  So may you spend this day in paradise with your creator and may you arise a new creation with him.  

Grace and Peace.

C-DUB 

Is it an oil change or is it something else?

Today has been a rough day but also bright in lots of ways too, this morning I had to get my car looked at which turned out to be a continuing sago that will last through Monday ugh.  As I'm sitting in the waiting room I strike up a conversation with this older man from Clearwater, found out he as in town for his son's basketball game and had to get his car looked at as well.  So since we were in the same boat we decided to pass the time by talking to each other.

As I look back on the conversation I can't help but wonder why it happened, I wonder if there was something more spiritually significant going on?  If there was I wonder if I made the test did I do what God wanted me to do, the conversation did go into what I did for a living and what I'm studying to become?  My prayer this day is for him and his family that maybe a seed was planted and that I have more oil changes like this on.

Good?

I was walking down the sidewalk on campus today with one of my friends, we were just talking and shooting the breeze when he said this "Gosh it's already good friday."  Have I totally forgotten about it?  Well it was the first time all week I had given it thought and I am ashamed to say that, I'm busy but should I really be so busy that I forget what the main thing is?  Sometimes I wonder why they call it good friday, I mean what was so great about it?  My savior hung on a cross for some 9 hours for myself and that's suppose to be good?  It makes me scratch my head cause I think there is something more significant going on here, something that I may never be able to understand.

When I read this in scripture I see this picture of the disciples looking from a cowardly distance with no clue as to what's really going on, if you've been in many churches recently you would get the same feeling.  I walk into the foyer and some people are being real but some are being fake.  "How are you doing today?  Fine! "  Or when translated it would say this "I really don't care how your doing but I'm gonna ask anyway and I will have no idea how you responded cause I'm ten feet down the hall."  People just don't get it, they say they understand but they really don't.  It's just like the disciples on the original good friday, they sat and watched while something more significant than they could ever imagine was going on right before there eyes, I mean Peter even denied him.  Whats happened when some people will only attend Church on easter and the only time we even mention the resurrection is on this Sunday, it seems to me that if he really is LOVE then shouldn't we celebrate this event all the time?  Now don't get me wrong I hold this weekend very dear to my heart every year but if your looking for me to make a big deal about it I won't because I want to see us become the Kingdom that celebrates the empty tomb every day, I mean after all it is an empty tomb still isn't it?  Now that's worth celebrating!

Grace and Peace.

C-DUB