Mike Beck helped me find my way
A little over two years ago, I left traditional vocational ministry because I felt a need to be on the "front lines" of ministry. I had grown tired of reminding people of our callings to life like Jesus, and wanted to model it myself... and that was just something I felt incompatible with being a pastor.
Soon after, I was blessed to work on the "front lines," working for a great organization called PATH, working to get homeless off the streets... yet it was soon apparent to everyone, including myself, that my time at PATH was my "Jonah" moment (as mentioned to me by the volunteer coordinator at PATH, a great godly woman). God had in fact called me into the ministry for a reason, and even though I was trying to live out my faith to the best of my ability, I was in the wrong place.
But simply going back to traditional church was unacceptable to me... so for the last two years, I've been trying to figure out what to do. And the answer that I came up with was to merge my two previous experiences together! Things kept coming together, I kept getting introduced to like minded people who also wanted to try to plant a new church... got encouragement from my friends and mentors who offered their support, and to make a long journey short... we started meeting informally as a CORE group in October with the hope to officially launch in January.
So this past week I started putting legs on who we're going to be, identity wise. Had great meetings with Central City Community Outreach and St. Vincent De Paul, organizations focused on ministry in Skid Row... and just dreamed about ways our future congregation could partner with them.
That being said... without having a real "congregation" at this point, it was difficult to grab hold of because all this talk was theoretical... I need to talk to people, hear their stories, to connect. So it was with that void that I met Mike Beck tonight.
It was one of those chance meetings, as I was just taking my recycling out to the recycle bin in the alley... I just noticed Mike sitting in between two parked cars so I asked him if he was hungry.... after he said yes, well actually, I think his exact words were, "Are you serious? Definitely." So I went back to my place and quickly prepared him a plate and a drink from the fridge and sat with Mike and had one of those preordained conversations that just shout out the presence of God...
He shared how he became homeless, how it's been tough to get out of the downward cycle, and the hopelessness that characterizes his daily life. Mike then went on to ask how I was doing and what I do.. and when I told him about how I'm a pastor, he just nodded and told me how that made sense... he told me, "I can't explain it, but I can tell you just care about people." Yikes... pretty hard to explain how it felt to be told that... but generally speaking, it was one of those times when you feel you hear that still small voice of God telling you that He loves you.
So wrapping up my conversation (and this blog post), I asked Mike if there was anything that I could be praying for him... and he said, "Boy... that's a tough question... but just ask God that He help Mike Beck find his way.... yeah, that he help me find my way." So as I pray that prayer for my new friend Mike (and hopefully you can as well as you read this post)... I thank God for Mike Beck, and how God used him to remind me that I'm who He wants me to be, and that I'm doing something that makes Him smile.
Soon after, I was blessed to work on the "front lines," working for a great organization called PATH, working to get homeless off the streets... yet it was soon apparent to everyone, including myself, that my time at PATH was my "Jonah" moment (as mentioned to me by the volunteer coordinator at PATH, a great godly woman). God had in fact called me into the ministry for a reason, and even though I was trying to live out my faith to the best of my ability, I was in the wrong place.
But simply going back to traditional church was unacceptable to me... so for the last two years, I've been trying to figure out what to do. And the answer that I came up with was to merge my two previous experiences together! Things kept coming together, I kept getting introduced to like minded people who also wanted to try to plant a new church... got encouragement from my friends and mentors who offered their support, and to make a long journey short... we started meeting informally as a CORE group in October with the hope to officially launch in January.
So this past week I started putting legs on who we're going to be, identity wise. Had great meetings with Central City Community Outreach and St. Vincent De Paul, organizations focused on ministry in Skid Row... and just dreamed about ways our future congregation could partner with them.
That being said... without having a real "congregation" at this point, it was difficult to grab hold of because all this talk was theoretical... I need to talk to people, hear their stories, to connect. So it was with that void that I met Mike Beck tonight.
It was one of those chance meetings, as I was just taking my recycling out to the recycle bin in the alley... I just noticed Mike sitting in between two parked cars so I asked him if he was hungry.... after he said yes, well actually, I think his exact words were, "Are you serious? Definitely." So I went back to my place and quickly prepared him a plate and a drink from the fridge and sat with Mike and had one of those preordained conversations that just shout out the presence of God...
He shared how he became homeless, how it's been tough to get out of the downward cycle, and the hopelessness that characterizes his daily life. Mike then went on to ask how I was doing and what I do.. and when I told him about how I'm a pastor, he just nodded and told me how that made sense... he told me, "I can't explain it, but I can tell you just care about people." Yikes... pretty hard to explain how it felt to be told that... but generally speaking, it was one of those times when you feel you hear that still small voice of God telling you that He loves you.
So wrapping up my conversation (and this blog post), I asked Mike if there was anything that I could be praying for him... and he said, "Boy... that's a tough question... but just ask God that He help Mike Beck find his way.... yeah, that he help me find my way." So as I pray that prayer for my new friend Mike (and hopefully you can as well as you read this post)... I thank God for Mike Beck, and how God used him to remind me that I'm who He wants me to be, and that I'm doing something that makes Him smile.
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