Samluce.com turns 5.

Can not believe my blog is ready for kindergarten. I remember when he was just learning to walk. In the busyness of life I forget to properly celebrate. Last week was the 5th anniversary of samluce.com what a blessing it has been to my life. I love the fact that in the past 5 years so many blogs have come on the scene. I love how I have gotten to know so many of you on line and met many of you at conferences.

I still remember telling my wife 5 years ago that I was going to start a blog. She said “Why are going to do that?” I told her that I want to give to others and be what I wished I had when I started. 1187 posts 4305 comments later I feel that I have received much more than I have given. We are grateful.

I am so grateful to all of you who have placed ads, wrote encouraging words, and left comments. Thanks for believing in my and for adding to the conversation.

I thought it would be fun to re-post my first blog post for old times sake.

The Importance of Call
One of the most important things that will sustain you in a life in ministry is the assurance of the call of God on your life.

“No one escapes the general call to mission. No one can say, ‘Witness is not for me.’ The critical question is not whether we’re called, for we are. The critical question is ‘Where am I called to?’ The answer may be to serve Jesus right where we are already, among those we live with and work beside. That is a wholly legitimate calling” (Alistair Brown, 1997).

I remember the moment that I was called to work with young people. It was a very profound experience that I will never forget. I believe that in order to make it for the long haul in ministry you need to point to a specific place in time where you were called to do what you are presently doing. There will always come a time when you will doubt that call out of distraction discouragement or disillusionment. We are all called to someone to somewhere and often times we miss that call because we are looking for something else.

When you are doing the most important thing on earth, working with kids. The devil will do whatever he can to get you to quit. What you have to do when that happens is remember to whom you are called.