This has been one of the most jacked up years ever!  My ministry schedule was basically empty for most of the Spring and I only had 2 camps booked for this summer – down from a normal 6 or 7.   For a long time I tried to blame this on “today’s wintry economic climate” because it was easier than admitting that God was trying to get my attention.  Somewhere around March I quit being so ding dang hard headed and accepted the fact that I couldn’t continue to blame the economy for my empty schedule because if God’s hand was still on my ministry then the economy wouldn’t matter.  So I started practicing what I preach and started digging into the Word – searching- seeking- praying- trying to wrap my head around what it was God was trying to teach me.  Over time I begin to realize that at least part of what God was trying to teach me was humility.  Which is not a fun lesson to learn especially the 2nd, 3rd, or 29th time!  Anyway I got it in my head that if I just humbled myself and let people know that my schedule was empty then God would open the heavens, the phone would start ringing, and everything would get back to normal.  So I made a video titled “Runks Summer 2k9 plan B”, emailed it to a bunch of Student Ministers, and waited to see what happened.  Here’s the video I sent out……

As you can probably imagine, it generated a lot of response, just not the response I was looking for.  I got lots of positive feedback, encouragement, and funny emails but no bookings.  What really surprised me was how many of my friends called to see if I was OK.  It caught me off guard because at the time I was honestly just trying to make a funny video, humble myself, and do what I thought God was leading me to do but when I look at it now I can see the reasons for their concern.  I can hear the desperation in my voice and see the fear in my eyes.  I have a tendency to be  glass half-empty guy.  I don’t like it.  I’d pay money not to be that way but because of the abuse in my past when things get bad I tend to freak out and think the world is coming to an end.  I know that’s crazy but sometimes that’s my reality and that’s exactly what was going on when I made that video.  I still think the video is funny and have no doubt that I was being obedient to God when I sent it out but at the time I was literally freaking out.  I was so worried that my days as an evangelist were over and that God was done with me.  I know that’s pretty extreme but I’m just being honest.

The crazy thing is, that stupid video turned out to be the catalyst God used to turn things around. My plan B turned out to be a stepping stone to get me to God’s plan A.  Out of nowhere, God dropped the opportunity of a lifetime in my lap.  A friend of mine, that saw the video, called and asked me to pray about going on a two week mission trip to India in July! I told him I’d pray about it but I knew from the second he called that this was part of God’s plan for me.  The day after that a former student of mine from my Youth Minister days who is an internet marketing Guru offered to help me come up with a new marketing strategy, redesign my website, and start this blog.  I thought for a while that I was supposed to write a book this summer but I think this is taking the place of that for now.  I can already tell that this blog is going to be good for me and hopefully offer some hope and help to others.  Then through a series of crazy events, God made it clear that I needed to leave the agency that had done my booking for 5 years and go back to doing my own booking.  Nothing against the agency, I just wanted to get back to a ministry based approached where we discuss, dream, and plan for ministry before money, contracts, and all that junk ever come up.  This is where lesson number 2 came in:  Re-learning to trust God for everything.  Once again, God has reminded me that I cannot depend on my talent, my gifts, or a big shot booking agency to make this ministry a success.  I’ve simply got to put my trust in Him and not in myself.  I’ve learned this before but somewhere along the way I got wrapped  up in ME and forgot about it.

And then I went to Super Summer Arkansas.  An event that could have easily been an ego trip deluxe but I went there broken and humbled with a renewed trust in God as my provider and it proved to be one of the most humbling experiences of my life.  Every compliment I received, every student that was saved, every life that was changed – rather than stroking my ego brought me to my knees.  The entire time I was there I kept pinching myself because I just could not and cannot believe that God was letting me speak at such an awesome event.   A young youth minister friend of mine that knows my situation bought every one of my meals at the time-honored tradition of late night dining after worship at youth camp.  It was so humbling for him to do that for me but also an absolutely incredible blessing!   And then on Wednesday afternoon of that week, I booked the first event I’ve booked myself in 5 years.  We shared ideas, dreamed dreams and made a plan for what is going to be an awesome event.  Afterwards, I went outside, called my wife, and wept like a baby.  I kept saying over and over, “Its not over. Its not over. Its not over! God is not done with us.  He’s got more for us to do.”  That may seem silly to some but I can’t tell you how awesome it is to know and believe again that God is not finished with me – that He has more for me to do.

Its been a crazy year and an even crazier summer but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  I wouldn’t want to go through it again but I wouldn’t trade for what God has done in my life.   My schedule is still a little thin but God is meeting our needs and I’m not worried about it anymore.  I’m just going to stay focused on being broken, humble, and faithful and do whatever I can to meet the needs of every hurting teenager God places in front of me.

I’ll leave with you with the words of a rap from Will Smith which oddly enough seems to fit here:

“I got my X-ray vision through all in my way. No Plan B, it distracts from Plan A.”

No more plan B for me.  I’ll stick to God’s Plan A.  Its safer there and a lot more fun.

God Bless ya – Runks