Lessons learned from Nathan Ivey

October of 2004 seems so long ago, but it comes to life on a regular basis for me. October of 2204 I was in my first semester of seminary at Southern and trying to figure out how I could load up a U-haul and get my nice little corner cube in midtown Atlanta with BellSouth back. The high point of my week, at that time, was the Thursday night Mexican dinner the guys in Manly (the dorm I was living in) would eat together. Feeling that I was the social director of the third floor, I felt the need to invite anyone I saw.

One Thursday I was sitting in Dr. Puckett's church history class (and it was a quiz day) and Dr. P was going long, which was very rare for him. At the conclusion of the class, a hoard of people blew into the room from the seminary's preview conference. I notice one of the guys name tag showed that he was from Atlanta so feeling the common bond, I introduced my self. It turned out he had lived in Tucker where my office had been and he ended up going to dinner with us that Thursday night. As a result of that encounter, I developed a friendship with Nathan.

Though our schedules were busy and we did not spend a vast amount of time together I developed an admiration for this man's commitment to the Lord. The true mark of friendship was when we became Facebook friends and now that the primary way I keep up to date on Nathan.

Yesterday I was looking at his Facebook page and noticed that his title at Sojourn is Deacon of Mercy. I really like that. Being a new pastor on the East Side of Nashville I have been flooded with request for help. These request could very easily become a full time job but Nathan's tile and job got my wheels spinning. Seeing how Sojourn handles the ministry of help, this pointed me to Acts 6.

As a new pastor and shepherd of Shelby Avenue I need to learn that balance of taking responsibility for issues myself and equipping others in the church for ministry. I am so thankful to be in a church like Shelby where they have a heart for reaching their (our) community and helping the pastor be a wise steward of his time.

So I guess my question is then who will be my Nathan!!

You ask for it, you got it, Toyota

Well, not quite a new Toyota, but a new church. Today was my first official Sunday as Pastor of Shelby Avenue Baptist Church on the East Side of Nashville and what a day it was! Since graduating from Seminary, I have (along with many others) been praying that the Lord would provide me a place to serve and today was the answer to those prayer.

The morning was great, the people at Shelby are very loving and have a great desire to serve the Lord. I can not wait to see how the Lord is going to use me with this church and these great people.

What really hit me today was the fact when I was supply preaching I had the luxury of only being concerned about Sunday morning, now I have Tuesday through Thursday (haha) to contend with. I pray that I will be a faithful leader to this great church and that I am faithful to God's Word. Today I find myself even more grateful for the Godly professors I studied under at Southern in preparation for this day. My their training prove invested in a faithful man.

For the truth, for the church, for the world, for the glory of God!!

So long Jessica Vaughn, hello Mrs. Lt. Sampler

Today was an exciting day, I had the chance to see one my roommates get married. The marriage of Justin Sampler and Jessica Vaughn was truly a worship service. I had the great privilege of living with Justin over the past two and a half years and I had the even greater privilege of spending three weeks with Jessica in China on a mission trip and what I can tell you about both of these people is that they are the real deal.

I watched this relationship from soup to nuts, well actually coffee in the Founder's Cafe, but you get my drift. I watched as Justin worked to ensure that this relationship was honoring to the Lord, and it was. In this day and age of self first and Christians who often date just like the world, it was refreshing to see these two date in such a way that they did not "conform to the pattern of the world."

Dr. Russ Moore was the preacher of the day for the wedding ceremony and, in typical Dr. Moore fashion, he had a very poignant and relevant message. As this new couple worked to keep their dating relationship and engagement period pure, Dr. Moore encouraged them to remember that the marriage covenant they were entering into is an irrecoverable covenant. Wow, how often do we hear this in wedding ceremonies? Dr. Moore pointed out that wedding vows are easy to keep when times are good but when sickness, unemployment, and other problems hit, that is when they get tough to keep. He told the couple that in the tough times, their covenant still remains. This was a reminder to the audience that, for Christians, marriage is not a temporary state, but one that ends only at death.

Knowing Justin and Jessica I know that they are committed to having a marriage that honors the Lord. I found it very refreshing when Dr. Moore reminded the audience that Christian marriage is different from wordly marriage in that it truly is "until death do we part." I have no doubt this marriage will weather all the storms of life and provide encouragement and a great example for others to follow.

What God has joined together let no man put assunder.

Time to Blog

I always wondered why so many people spend so much time blogging, is there really that much worth writing? With that in mind, I have never sought to be on of the many bloggers on the net. Now that I have the great joy of serving as pastor of Shelby Avenue in East Nashville, I figured it is time to share some of my thoughts.

My purpose for starting this blog is to share my thoughts, my struggles, and my dreams as I seek to be a faithful minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as I seek to serve the flock at Shelby Avenue which God has entrusted to me (an imperfect vessel) and as we, at Shelby, continue and seek to reach the people of Nashville and specifically the East Side of town.

I pray that this will be a blog that honors the King of Kings and a site where I can share what the Lord is teaching me and how God is refining me an incomplete work in progress.

Sola Scriptura