Journey of Shawn Peoples' Walk in Grace!

    As I was reading Philippians chapter one, something continues to ring in my head: "God doesn't waste our suffering". In fact, God doesn't waste a thing He allows or does. Paul had written to the Philippians and one of the first things Paul says is that the Gospel is growing because of His suffering and trials. Tons of people were hoping in Jesus because God put or allowed Paul to suffer imprisonment. God had not overlooked the fact that Paul was hurting, but instead lived His life through Paul and the Holy Spirit showed even the Roman guards that they needed Jesus.     Many times in my life, I have begged God to relieve pain and suffering. Heck, there are times recently that I begged God to stop with the waiting games and give me a job. I know being jobless right now is not suffering, but it is the same mindset I had when I went through depression, struggled for significance in ministry and dealt with rejection. God has never wasted my suffering, even when I in...

The last year has been one glorious journey in seeing my relationship with Christ become intimate. As I am not currently in a ministry position, I am taking the time to prep sermons just in case the Lord journeys me back into church leadership. I have decided to study Philippians for sermon prep and for my personal growth. I am only 2 days in into Philippians and am having a sweet time in the first 6 verses of Philippians. Today, I am both persuaded and being persuaded that Christ is not only the author and finisher of our faith, but He is the one who brings fruit. It is Christ that accomplishes the middle process. Pastor Tullian Tchividjian once said in his sermons through Colossians, "why do we as followers of Christ try to earn the right to keep our salvation when we never earned it in the first place?" (okay he might have said it differently but the thought is along the same line). Many of us (including me for many years), live in a way that we believe that we must make...

So I am reading a book by Bob George called "Jesus changes Everything". I know what you are thinking: who is Bob George? He is an author recommended by one of the mentors in my life. His book is about the New Covenant of Christianity and how to live in the truth of this covenant. As I read chapter 3, I was confronted with my past legalistic teachings. Ever have that moment where you say to yourself: why did I teach that? I feel the need to call the hundreds of students I have taught and beg them for their forgiveness in adding weight and confusion to their lives. I am thankful for the grace God gave me during those times but am haunted by the thought of people walking away from their life in Christ because of foolish teaching on my behalf. One of the truths I was confronted with was this: that my relationship with Christ will never be lost, even if I sin!  I had taught many times that we are completely forgiven but that our prayers would not be heard if we sinned (quoting...

The last two years have been an incredible journey of heartbreak, sinful stupidity, stubbornness and being absolutely wrecked. I would not trade these last two years for anything (and for that person that said to my wife "welcome back from your vacation", I pray you don't have to go through what we did to learn what we did). It was a necessary two years of leaving a ministry that felt so successful and a church that we loved and adored so much. Both of those things, though good, had become idols in my life. I became so obsessed with results and Urbancrest that I was living a life that was not Gloriously exalting to my Savior, King, Lord, Daddy and Lover! I lived as though I was created to be a pastor and lead people. I acted as if I didn't get to do that, I was worthless and being what I am created for. How wrong I was and I apologize to all that I taught legalistically by adding to your life more weight instead of helping you rest in Christ. It has become strange t...

Well, we are back in Ohio. Oh how I have loved this place, I mean love this place. It has been very apparent that my life has changed these past two years and others have too. We went back to Urbancrest to see so many kids that have now become adults, adults that ... well have become older adults. We saw new people everywhere and miss some of our friends that have moved on. We were blessed by our advocacy team and Urbancrest with a welcome back lunch. It was a blessing to see so many familiar and some not so familiar faces. We feel truly blessed to have a church family that takes care of us. As Michelle and I drive around: looking for furniture, checking out things we use to do and taking in the landscape; we have been able to talk through some of our struggles and challenges. I am so glad that we were not coming back thinking everything would be glorious and roses. It has been good, but we also have some challenges now and ahead. As many of you know, we are still without our home. O...

We are back on the mainland soil (and for those of you in Africa, Hawaii is a state). I woke up this morning much earlier than I thought I would and was reminded it my Savior wooing me to spend time with Him. Such a sweet time it was this morning, thanking Him for being gracious to us on the flights, the car ride, through our first full day in Memphis and through reminding me that coming back was not a mistake. There have been a few moments when I thought "what am I doing, leaving this place? who is going to lead our group?". Then I realized Jesus is our leader, my job was to be connected to Him and lead others to do the same. Our time in Hawaii has changed us. I would like to share a few things that I learned from our time there and also what's next for our family. 1. My (and all of ours) primary calling is to be intimate with Jesus! I can tell you how wrong I have lived this truth out in the past. I believe that part of God taking us to Hawaii was to break the pride...

This face says how my whole family feels about our move back to Ohio. Oh whoops, did I not tell you the news. After months of praying for God to add to us, stop taking people away and reopen doors that were closed to ministry, I have resigned as the pastor of The Church at Kapolei and we began to move our people to another church plant. For a while this decision was killing me. Every time I tried to stay and make a plan, frustration would meet me. During counseling with another church planter, our prayers shifted from "God help us to be here or send us home" to "God, I'm good with whatever you want. I am willing to stay, just help me stay near you". At that point, we (Michelle and I) both felt the Lord leading us back to Ohio. I began to worry about my kids and they became excited about heading home. I began to worry about the organizations that were backing us, but they affirmed the decision with grace. Then I began to worry about where we would live and God...