Ministry - Channel your anger into the right things

It seems that everywhere I turn, I see or hear about something that I want to blog about. From sermons that I have heard preached to things going on the in NOAA's National Weather Service, to articles that I have read. I could spend a huge amount of time just commenting, but then I wouldn't get a chance to spend time with friends and family. So, I try to balance the things that I do with the things that are, I feel, most important.

A couple of weeks ago, Mary and I went downstate to see my mom and dad. We had a great weekend, hanging out and seeing the sights of Fennville and Holland. On the way back we decided to go to the Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville. The pastor there is Rob Bell, whom I've had the opportunity to see at the National Youth Workers convention. He was doing a series on Jesus is Difficult and this week's topic was Beautifully Angry. He started from the passage in Mark 3 about the healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. The question was from the Pharisee's point of view, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath. It was a sticking point from the law that says you should help everyone, and yet you were to do no work on the Sabbath. There were rabbi's at that time that debated the question. The one's in power at the time said that you should do no work. However, Jesus turned it around. He asked the question, is it better to to do good or evil on the Sabbath? When the Pharisees wouldn't answer Jesus got mad, and then turned to the man and healed him.

That's the model that we need to take. If you get mad at little things, what do they matter? It's the bigger questions like poverty, hunger, etc. that we need to get mad about about and then use the gifts we have been given to bring healing. So there should be two questions to ask when you are looking for that right job or career or such. One is, and is usually the one that most ask, what do you like to do or are passionate about? But the other is just like it, What makes you angry? In which case, how can you channel your anger into something that will heal others?