Back in August I shared the news here on the blog about a big transition that we were making in our lives as I was stepping out of “vocational ministry”.  It was this time last year that we began to actively pray and plan towards our transition, and now, being on the flip side of it a year later, I’ve been thinking some back through that period of time.

If you do a search on “leaving vocational ministry”, you won’t find a whole lot of helpful insights and articles online.  There are some, but I guess for one reason or another the topic is just not widely blogged about.  One of the gems I did find was written by Ron Edmondson.  You can read the full blog post on his blog, but I wanted to share his thoughts on when it is time to leave a ministry position, an organization, a job, etc.  Not all of these were applicable to my own situation, but several of them were really helpful to me.

• When your heart has left the organization and you don’t plan to stay permanently. Sometimes you have to reenergize your heart. If you are in a marriage, for example, you have to find a way to make it work. If you are working for an organization you shouldn’t harm the organization by staying when you no longer have a heart for the mission. If you’ve quit having fun, don’t make life miserable for everyone else.
• When you can’t support the leadership and the leadership is firmly planted. You need to know who the power brokers in your organization are. It’s nearly impossible to change the organization working against that ingrained power structure. Ask yourself, “If it’s always going to be like this around here, would I be content staying?”
• When your family or personal life is suffering, because of the demands of the organization. If you have to neglect one of them, your career or your family, in twenty years which do you hope it will have been?
• When your mind starts working against the mission and vision of the organization. If you would rather see the place fails than succeed; it’s clearly time to go.
• When your relationship with co-workers or leadership is damaged beyond repair. You should try to work out these differences, but when it is obvious the relationship cannot be mended, it may be time to move on. Life’s too short to be that miserable.
• If the organization is venturing into immoral or unethical practices. Don’t get caught in the next news scandal.
• When you find yourself physically ill if work crosses your mind on the weekend (or when you are off work). If the emotional stress is greater than you can handle and you must protect your health over the career.
• You are no longer pulling your weight. For whatever reason, whether it’s because you’ve given up, you are bored, or just can’t keep up, if you are dragging down productivity and you don’t have the incentive to improve, perhaps it’s time for a change in your workplace.

From time to time I’ll be sharing some of the thoughts and resources I used and came across that were helpful in making the right decision.  Quitting isn’t always the right decision nor should it be our first decision, but sometimes it is best to move on.

PS: I’m loving what I’m doing

I’m having to dust the cob webs off of this puppy as it has been so long since I posted anything.  That’s what happens when things happen really fast, and you’re doing good just to hang on

Much has happened in the life of my family since my last blog post.  Here’s the latest on the world of Jones and some commentary on it:

• In November we finally got a contract on our house in Aiken.  We feel very blessed in that so many home sales fall through for one reason for another, but the sale of our home made it through.  It ended up taking right at 6 months or so to sell which isn’t too bad at all.
• With a contract on our home, we started looking for a new house in North Augusta.  We were wanting to move to North Augusta for a number of reasons including we love the place, wanted to get more central to the rest of the CSRA (for those outside of this area, that stands for the Central Savannah River Area and includes areas in both Georgia and SC), and wanted to be closer to our new church community at True North.  So, we started looking around and didn’t find anything.  We had pretty much began to think we would end up renting until the spring.  We had two homes on a Sunday that we were scheduled to look at.  The second house we went to look at was the one we ended up purchasing.  We love the space and the location in North Augusta and are working right now on a number of remodeling projects.
• We ended up closing on both homes December 20th which as you can imagine had a number of challenges.  Moving is hard enough.  Moving during the Christmas season is borderline insanity.  Yet, that’s the way it worked out, and we ended up making it through.  We’re still wading through the boxes, but it’s getting less and less.
• Business is going well overall right now as we’re working with a number of previous and new clients.  Excited for the coming months for both Alive Media and 4Thought.
• It’s been right at a year since we began praying and planning where we thought we were headed.  This time last year, we began to put down on paper where we wanted to be in life a year from now.  We were specific as we could be in some areas of that plan and general in others.  The order in which things happened changed a bit, but it’s amazing to me to look back and see that almost every single one of those goals has been achieved.  That’s a testament to the grace of God.
• My encouragement to you would be to not just have a goal in mind but to actually put it down on paper.  Type it out, be specific as specific as you can, set out a plan of action and move forward in taking steps to accomplish it.  Spend some time in prayer as you do that and ask God to give you wisdom and direction.  Then, share your plan with a trusted friend or two that will 1. Keep it in confidence and 2. Be real with you and give you honest feedback both positive and negative.
• That’s it for now.  Gotta go….there’s a box of stuff calling my name to be unpacked still. l8r

Here’s an update on things from the world of Jones:

• I’m about to enter my 4th full week of being on my own in my businesses.  I’ve had several people ask me “how’s it going?”  It’s going well as we’re still adapting to the new setup.  I’ve been spending the first several weeks beginning to network more and do a lot of laying the ground work for business down the road.  Still a ways to go on that, but I think that it will pay off.  Not huge on the cash flow end of things but a necessity in building for the future.
• The rest of the time has been spent on finishing up on some existing projects that got put on the backburner because of the time demands in transitioning out of Cedar Creek.  In other words, I’ve been playing catchup on those items.  We’ve wrapped several projects this week so I see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I’ll be posting about those here and on my facebook/twitter accounts.
• We’re also starting to piece together our video production equipment for shoots.  The next step after that is to develop some script ideas and begin to move them from ideas to execution.
• I know it’s early on and there will be times where it will be difficult, but as I’ve been working for myself over the past month, I have no doubt that we made the right decision.  I’ve been putting in a lot of hours (some late), trying to network more, dreaming a lot, working to meet deadlines….. and I’m really loving what I’m doing.  It’s been a long time since I could honestly say that.  I’m very thankful for that.
• The housing market in Aiken, like most places I believe, is REALLY slow right now so not a whole lot of action on our home selling.  October offers a little more promise so we’ll see how things go.  Really looking forward to selling our home and moving into that next phase of our ongoing transition
• Totally random: we’ve been doing the song below at church for the last month or so.  Has really spoken to me and where we are.  Good stuff.
• Excited for the days ahead.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the latest in the world of Jones:

• So, it’s been a little over a week since we made our Big News public (see below).  It really was a weight off to make that public.
• We told the staff last Tuesday afternoon at staff lunch.  That was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.  I told them I would have to read the letter to them or I wouldn’t get through it.  I was doing okay until I hit the the thank you’s….then it went straight to ugly crying LOL.  When you’ve invested so much of your life in a place and had some incredible people invest in yours, it’s incredibly emotional making the break.  It was a hard day but a good day.
• The reaction we’ve gotten from most people has been very positive.  In fact, no one has been negative…to our faces anyway
• Since I met with Phillip in May, I’ve had a few “What have we done moments”.  Most of those are times when I briefly forget that God’s got this.  The fact of the matter is that if our security is in anything other than Christ, it is misplaced…even for those that work for a church full time.
• Found out in my research for getting ready to make the jump to being self employed that more businesses are started during economic downturns than any other time.  For us, we’re not starting from scratch but rather building on what we’ve been developing over the last decade.
• Wow, is this is a bad housing market or what?  For sellers anyway.  I’ve been surprised that we haven’t had an offer yet on our home, although in this economy it’s not a total shock.  The only thing that concerns me is taking advantage of the low interest rates right now.  Just hope we don’t go to buy a home and the rates have jumped up.
• I think as I look ahead, one of the biggest challenges is which projects to begin with, other than the current and ongoing work we have with our clients.  I’ve also been thinking a lot about what my work week will look like.
• My hope is to establish an office presence in Aiken (which that’s looking good right now) and then also in the Augusta/North Augusta area.  We’ll see what happens with that.
• I’m looking forward to football and fall weather but that has been on my mind a lot less than in previous years.  September 1st is approaching fast.
• That’s all for now. l8r

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

I was in my early 20′s when someone first asked me “Are you planning on being a youth pastor forever?” My response was typically “Well, I think before it’s all said and done, I’ll end up doing a little bit of everything.”  I always thought that was an odd question to ask.  Not because  people don’t stay in student ministry for life, but because following Jesus and belonging to Him means that I didn’t just surrender to an area of ministry, I surrendered to Jesus Christ.  At some point He may call us to something that doesn’t look like student ministry.  I didn’t realize in my early 20′s how true that would be.  I’ve had the privilege of serving in student ministry, church media and a whole lot of different experiences that run the whole gamut of ministry.  And now, we’re about to take another turn in the road.

In May of this year, I sat down with Phillip, my pastor, and told him that our season of ministry at Cedar Creek has come to an end.  I asked him if he would be willing to work with us through a transition period, and he very graciously agreed.  So, that transition period is almost up as my last day as Creative Director at Cedar Creek Church will be August 31st.  This wasn’t an easy decision for us, and it came after much prayer, counsel and A LOT of soul searching.

Now, let me just say a few things: Jesus and I are good.  My wife and I are good.  Cedar Creek and I are good.  This has been a process in me that has been developing over the last several years.  So, if you’re looking for some juicy details, I got nothing for ya   While the last several years have been really difficult at times, I think that is the process that God often uses to move us on.  If we were always comfortable and content, none of us would change or move.

Here’s what’s up next for us:
Over the last decade plus, I’ve developed 2 businesses that I have operated in addition to my work at Cedar Creek.  Alive Media is my web, graphic and video production company that caters to businesses, churches and non profits.  4Thought Media is my company where i develop media (sermon illustrations, video countdowns, motion backgrounds, powerpoint games, and still images) for churches to use in varying ministry settings. I will be launching these businesses into a full time capacity.  We will also begin expanding our video production for businesses as well as partnering with churches to serve as a “Creative Team” for churches that may not have that or even to be a creative resource for those that do.

Also, as I’ve been praying over our next steps, the words “leave margin” keep coming to mind.  I believe that there is another piece to the puzzle that isn’t fully in focus yet, but as we go along, we are trusting that the Lord will make that clear.  I do plan on doing some fill in speaking for pastors and churches that need a break or need a fill in guy, maybe some speaking at student ministry events if that opens up. I’m not sure exactly what that looks like, either, but it sounds fun to me.

I did want to publicly say thanks to some people at Cedar Creek that have been a part of my 13 years of ministry there and have made an impact in my life:

• Richard Swift – I want to thank you for taking a chance on this really young student pastor way back in the day.  Thank you for stepping out in faith in starting Cedar Creek and for being a leader that others would want to imitate.  You are a giant in my book.
• Phillip Lee – Thank you for your friendship through the years and for working with me as God worked IN me.  I’m excited for you as God continues to lead Cedar Creek through you.
• Wes Holbrook – You were a brother to me in some very dark days.  In the desert, you were God’s mouthpiece saying, “Don’t setup camp…Keep walking.”  Love you bro.
• Danny Neu – You were the first Student Ministry staff that we had in addition to me.  Multi-talented and a servant’s heart.  I’m so thankful to have you as my friend.  Many adventures we’ve had, many more to come I’m sure.
• Kay Stanley aka K-Bird – Still remember those days in the “Old Post Office” downtown where it was Richard, you, Travis and me.  I think you will end up outlasting all of us   Thank you for going above and beyond and being the face of Jesus to so many.
• Susan Reck – I’ll never look at a green piece of paper the same way again.  Thank you for going to bat for my family and for keeping the church’s books on target all of these years.
• Walter Ray – I leave the creative department at CCC in very capable hands.  While I love seeing how God is using you in ministry, the real joy to me is watching you follow Jesus and grow into the man of God you are becoming.
• Kidz Creek and Centerpoint – Thank you for investing in my kids for all of these years.  Thank you that you not only shared with my kids the Gospel, but also “your very lives as well”. (1 Thess. 2:8)
• Samantha Thames, Tiffany Stewart, Terry Lee and the GRACE Kidz Staff and Volunteers – I have no evidence of this from Scripture, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if in Heaven there is a place of honor for those that minister to and care for children and people with special needs.  Thank you that you saw a need, that your heart was broken for that need, that you listened to Jesus and made it possible for my son and other children with special needs to know and experience Christ. I don’t have enough words to thank you.

Here’s how you can help:
Pray – We really would appreciate your prayers for our family, especially over the next several months.  This is a HUGE transition, and we’re leaning in to Christ as much as we know how.  Here are some things that we’re praying about that we would invite you to join us in:

1. Clients and the right projects – Obviously we need clients on an ongoing basis (business, church and non profit) to pay the bills, so pray that we would make connections with clients that are a good fit.  Also, pray that the Lord would bring out the creativity in us as we develop new scripts, projects and ideas.
2. Partnership – I really see working with a group of people (2 or 3…maybe more) with Alive Media and 4Thought Media to move them both toward becoming a studio of sorts.  These people would have to be the right mix of talent, heart and we’d have to work well together.  Pray that God would help me make those connections and raise up the right people.
3. House to sell – Right now our house is for sale…a tall order in this market.  Pray that we would get a good offer, preferably from a pre-approved buyer.
4. Transition – Pray for each of us the next several months will be a lot of transition.  Pray that we will all transition well.

Help us get the word out – The most effective marketing in my opinion is word-of-mouth.  If you know someone that is looking for a new website, video production, graphics help, etc., pass my name on to them.

While this is a big step of faith for us, we’re definitely excited about the road ahead.  Here we go.

It’s been almost 7 months since I wrote my last blog post and shut down my blog for a while.  I shut down the blog for a while for several reasons.  Possibly the main one reason is that I was just at a place where things just weren’t going all that great, and I needed a break.  The last thing I wanted my blog to be was a repository of negativity, and I just didn’t feel like I had much to bring to the table, if I’m being honest.  Being real is a big deal to me, but there comes a point where if we’re not careful, I think it can be toxic.  Not sure if that makes any sense or not.

Some things are different now, some things are not, but where I am at in my mind is a better place.  I’m excited for the days ahead and so I felt it was time to jump back on the blogging wagon.  I started noticing that I would have blog posts and ideas pop up that I wanted to put out there, so that was a clue to get back at it, too.

You’ll notice that some posts will be longer while others will be a video clip, photo or a short thought.  Who knows, might even begin to do a video blog here and there.  Anyway, thanks for stopping by.

• We spent the last week in North Myrtle Beach for some much needed vacation time and had an absolutely great time.
• Love spending so much time on the actual beach.  Last few years, by the time that I got the umbrellas, chairs, blankets and cooler setup, 20 minutes later Spencer would be ready for the pool.  This year we boogie boarded, dug around in the sand and just chilled on the beach for hours at a time.
• I have so many great memories from when I was a kid and we would ride waves all day long.  To see my kids having a blast doing the same was so much fun.  Kind of full circle.
• Internet was sketchy for the week so I was mostly unplugged for most of the week….and it was great.  I think next year I’m totally disconnecting.
• Ummm…I think I need to repent of gluttony for the week.  So much food…and I’m not even going to discuss the late night runs to Krispy Kreme
• People lose their ever-loving minds when driving while at the beach.  It’s like life or death for some trying to find their perfect parking spot at places like broadway at the beach and barefoot landing.  Must confess, had a little fun with one guy that was determined to get that spot at barefoot landing.
• What is up with Ohio and Myrtle Beach?  TONS of plates from there.
• My parents came down for four days and it was a lot of fun to have them down with us.  Also got to see my uncle while I was there.  Haven’t seen him in a long time.
• Saw Toy Story 3 in 3d while there. Great flick.
• Kim took the flip cam down along with her camera.  Got some good footage that I’ll be putting together and posting on the blog later.
• Back to reality tomorrow.

What do creatives in your organization, church or business need?  Not ALWAYS the top of the line equipment (although I must confess, having 16g’s of ram and 8 processor mac does help tremendously).  What they DO need is the freedom to create, experiment, dream and at times fail.  Case in point, the video below. Shot and edited on an iphone.  Watch all the way through to see how they did it at the end.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Was reading this morning in Numbers 9 about the Israelites when they were moving along in the desert wilderness, post-Egypt.  Was reading verses 19-23.  Just some thoughts about following God in this verses that really stuck out to me.  I’ll try to keep this brief, but I’m thinking out loud so it probably won’t be.  May become a sermon at some point

¹⁹ If the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed and performed their duty to the Lord. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay for only a few days, as the Lord commanded. Then at the Lord’s command they would break camp and move on. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on. ²² Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. ²³ So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses.  – Numbers 9:19-23

Basic premise is that there was a cloud that was the Lord’s presence and would lead them through the wilderness on the way to the promise land (which included a 40 year sight seeing tour because of their disobedience, whining, complaining and wishing that they could go back to Egypt – but that’s another post for another time).  When the cloud came down and settled on the tabernacle, they were to camp there until the cloud lifted back up and moved on.  Here are my thoughts:

• 19 – wherever the cloud settled, they “performed their duty to the Lord” – they worshipped, they lived, they did what God told them to do.  How about for you and me.  Are you at a place where you know there is a coming destination, whether in your career, family or ministry but right now you’re in the “getting there stages”?  Am I being obedient in serving Him wherever I am in the journey.  To coin a song title, am I being faithful where I’m at “while I’m waiting”?  Also, I think it is key to not miss the lesson in the waiting.
• 20-22 – Sometimes they would camp for just one night.  Sometimes they would pull up camp during the night.  Then, sometimes they would camp for a month at a time, even a year.  When they were moving at a rapid pace, there had to be excitement in the camp..and probably some grumbling.  “Again, God?  We’re moving again?”  The flip side to that had to be in those prolonged times..the months and year times.  The text doesn’t say, but you know there had to be thoughts of “When, God?  How long until we reach the promised land?  We’ve been out here a long time.”  I think this is reality for most of us at some point in our journey.  There are times and seasons in my life where it seemed like God was moving in my life at a rapid fire pace.  Exciting things in life and ministry just firing off.  And then there are times where it seems God waits….He pauses.
• 22-23 – As soon as the cloud lifted and moved on, they got up right then, pulled up stakes and followed.  This is tough.  This is hard at times.  Obedience.  Obedience is not doing what God says, when I feel like doing it and how I want to do it.  Obedience is doing what God says when HE says to do it and how HE says to do it.  Sometimes that is easy.  Sometimes not so much.  Listening, expecting, hearing and doing what Jesus says.  Praying and asking for grace to do them all.

I remember it clearly.  We would be going somewhere, anywhere.  Driving around in our 76 Cutlass and later an Oldsmobile 88, my brother Ken and I in the back seat…sometimes just me.  My mom would start whispering, talking to herself it seemed.  I was a young kid and always thought it was funny…and different.  “Mom, who are you talking to?”  Her reply: “Oh…just talking to myself”.  I know now what she was doing.  Today, I found myself doing the same thing and instantly having a flashback to those times.

While I’m sure at times she could have been saying under her breath, “Just wait till I get these boys home…” or something like that, I’m fairly certain she was praying.  See, my mom loves Jesus today and she did back then as well.  She was murmuring prayers, whispering them as she was driving.  I’m at the point where I’m understanding that more.  It’s those prayers when things on the inside of your mind are desperate, feeling helpless.  Maybe it’s for your child that is struggling at school, a financial crunch, a dealine that you fear you’re not going to make, a relationship that is struggling, or a job where you feel like you’re losing your mind.  It’s the kind of prayer where you’re basically saying, “God, if you don’t come through, I’m dead meat.”

One of the things I said in an earlier post was that I wanted to increase the amount of prayers I mumble through the day…trying to be not only consistent, but more deliberately constant.  I never put that together with my mom’s own “prayer mumbling” until today.  I’m hoping to join a long line of mumblers and pass it down, too.

Pray without ceasing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:17