2014 was a crazy year. It was a year I could not have predicted. When 2014 started I was between ministries and in the middle of writing my PhD dissertation on the Providence of God. We were living off of savings and I had no idea what to expect except that God had a plan and that it would probably be something I could never have guessed in advance. I was right about that.
In January I stated teaching Christian Belief and History for Cornerstone University as an adjunct. In February, we learned that the church we were attending was suddenly losing their Senior Pastor along with much of their staff due to a conflict that we had no idea about. It was a very difficult time for this church, but the handwriting was on the wall that we were there for a purpose. By April I was teaching as a volunteer for their student ministry while continuing to teach for Cornerstone. In May, the congregation voted to bring me on as the Interim Associate Pastor, starting after I would teach Systematic Theology II for Grand Rapids Theological Seminary in June.
One thing led to another and by fall I was officially installed as the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Middleville--a faithful and loving church that is a better doctrinal match for us, and two and a half miles closer to our home that our previous church. And by "coincidence" before my first regular sermon in November, I also finished and submitted all 301 pages of my doctoral dissertation on the Providence of God. (I will defend it in January.)That's why I haven't been blogging much this year. I've been busy writing about God's Providence and living it out.
God is faithful.
