Archive for weddings

Answers from the Outside

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , on November 4, 2010 by pastoralb

I recently have been interviewing for the senior pastor position at local churches. One in particular was attractive to me because I have been going there off and on for the past two years or so and it is very close to my house. It all seemed too good to be true. However, most likely it was too good to be true. The church is having many issues including leadership rifts, a recent split, financial troubles, and a lack of transparency at times. It took other pastors, friends, and seminarians to ask me if I really thought that was where God wanted me. I though He did, but after considering what they said, it seemed that there were more fitting opportunities elsewhere. We have to remember that discernment comes not only from within via the Holy Spirit, but it can also come from other believers who have our best interests at heart. So, when God uses others to give us answers, we have to make sure not to be so busy hearing our own voice that we miss the message!

In closing, I want to pass these lyrics along that someone recently sent to me from Jars of Clay:

Cast off the robes you’re wearing,
Set aside the names you’ve been given.
May this place of rest in teh fold of your journey
Bind you to hope, you will never walk alone.
In the shelter of each other, we will live, we will live,
Your arms are all around us.

I hope that all of you can find those resting places along your journey to refresh and make sense of everything!

* First Step Ministries is primarily financed through donations received from wedding services. If you are getting married and need a minister, find us at www.ministerforrent.com .

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Happiness

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , on December 21, 2009 by pastoralb

As we head into the Christmas season, although it should be a time of thanksgiving and joy, this season often marks the onset of the “holiday blues”. We tend to start comparing ourselves to others by our ability to buy nice gifts for our spouses and children. Keeping good with the “keeping up with the Jones’s” style, we feel down because we do not do as well as our neighbors and also are upset with our companies for not allowing us to do better.

I read an article about happiness in Business Week last week which talked about the correlation between being happy at home and being happy at work. There is a direct correlation because the person experiencing the emotion is one and the same – US! We are the ones who decide if we are happy and choose how to react to our surroundings – or to change them. If we do not like the situation we are in such as how much we are paid our what we have achieved, WE are the only ones with the power to change it. So, as we head into the new year, let’s make some real goals on how to improve our lives and our attitudes and then actually make those dreams a reality.

Pastor B

*First Step Ministries is mostly funded by weddings performed by Pastor B. If you or someone you know is getting married and in need of a wedding minister or wedding officiant in Chicago or the Chicagoland area, check us out at

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Dreams and Resolutions

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , on December 7, 2009 by pastoralb

“Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake.” – Henry David Thoreau

As we head toward New Years, we find ourselves once again at a time when we set goals that will get us closer to our dreams. Whether it is getting in shape physically or financially or maybe even making a big career move such as starting a business, this is the time when we set our goals. Unfortunately, however, we all too often forget about or give up on those dreams until the next year when we are pumped up once again and “for sure going to make it happen this time.”

I like those words – Make It Happen. Nobody can make things happen for us, instead we have to go out and take the chance that we will fall on our faces and maybe even get kicked around a little. But will we stay down? Of course not! Paul said in Ephesians that “God . . . is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of – infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.”

So, have we stopped hoping or are we merely too afraid to take that first step out of the safety of the lifeboat? We were not created to live in mediocrity. Christ said that “The thief’s purpose is to kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness” John 10:10. Remember the guy who said “I will never leave you or foresake you”? He’s the same one who said that he wants us to have life and have it to the fullest. He’s still with us waiting for us to Make It Happen. So, let’s get on it and make our dreams come to life now while we still have life to live.

Just a thought,

Pastor B

* First Step Ministries, NFP is funded in part by weddings performed by Pastor B. 100% of wedding fees go to the ministry to help people in our communities. If you are getting married and need a wedding minister or wedding officiant, check us out at www.ministerforrent.com .

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