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Lea and I both enjoy going to concerts, unfortunately we have not been to a live concert in some time. The main reason is because our favorite artists have not been within driving range. This Saturday we won’t have to drive anywhere to attend the “Help Haiti Live” event sponsored by Compassion International. Some of our favorite artists like needtobreathe (my music choice of 2009), Mat Kearny, Jars of Clay, and Matt Wertz will be performing live online. This Saturday February 27 you can expect to find me at home with the laptop hooked up to the big screen attending this special event. The concerts will be streamed from Nashville Tennessee and will benefit Compassion International’s work in Haiti. Check out this well produced video promo (great inspiration for future projects) for the event and plan to join me live at helphaitilive.com.

Well, kinda…As of Sunday’s church council meeting vote my full time position at Pequea Church has now been approved. Previously I had served as the technical arts director for both Pequea Church and the Brethren in Christ Denomination. Now I am full time with Pequea Church as the director of technical arts and impact ministries (young adults) and all the praise goes to God!

While I am really sorry to have to leave my position with the BIC general church I am excited about focusing my work and ministry life. Over the last year, it became very clear that I was stretching my time too thin and it was effecting the quality of my work. I was spending lots of additional hours out of the office late at night working to complete projects in a timely manner. On some weeks I easily was working my two, 20 hour a week jobs as two 40 hour a week jobs. In ministry it is all to easy to get burned out and for me to loose focus on God’s plan for my life. In November my girlfriend of 4 years and I got engaged and we are now planning a June 2010 wedding. I had to begin thinking about my “Family or Church“.

Although my new position will still be filled with a lot of work and projects and even new responsibilities I am excited about where God has me and what he has in store for me in the near future. I thank God daily that I am able to have a job like this and get paid for ministry, doing something that I love.

On Monday night I returned from a short term missions trip to Nicaragua, more on that experience later. Last night at the dinner table my phone vibrates with a CNN push notification about an earthquake in Haiti. Last night the pictures and news was hard to come by, in fact you could find out more from twitter sources then CNN or MSNBC etc. This morning when I started to see the pictures, video and hear the stories I was totally wrecked. Because of my experience in Nicaragua I could so quickly identify with what was happening in Haiti and the crisis that was unfolding. Knowing how little these people live on and how fragile the economy is my heart is hurting for the people of Haiti.

CNN is now reporting that over 100,000 deaths are expected. The people of Haiti are experiencing massive devastation and despair.

Today I was so focused on trying to catch up on on my work, telling people about the successful trip to Nicaragua, creating message series graphics and even going out to eat (spending $10.00) and getting a cheeseburger at lunch. I didn’t need to spend money on that cheeseburger and to be honest I spent only a few minutes today praying for the people of this world who are in crisis. The fact is I need to recognize that I am selfish. I spend so much time focused on me and my life and the things that I need to get done. It’s really easy when you are serving in missions to focus your attention on the people right in front of you that need love. When I contrast that to the way I live my life today in the United States I become selfish. It’s way to easy for me to disconnect myself from people who need love and my attention.

My prayer is through my experience in Nicaragua and this disaster in Haiti I will be striving towards spending more of my time loving others and caring for the hurting in our world and less time on myself. I pray that God will work within me and stir within me a discontent and show me where I need to take action. My understanding is that there is a great need for water and supplies in Haiti right now. Money is needed to buy and transport those supplies. Join me in donating to MCC, Compassion or World Vision and helping these trustworthy organizations who are already on the ground bring aid to this hurting country and may we take our focus off ourselves and onto this immediate need. Remember also to set aside time to pray for those who are suffering right now.

My blogging on this site will slow down for the next 10 days as I travel to El Viejo Nicaragua. If you are interested in following my journey in Nicaragua I will be blogging on our Pequea Church website with daily updates and photos from our work in Nicaragua. You can bookmark the blog by going here. You can also follow more micro-blogging updates by following me on twitter. I will be bringing along my MacBook Pro, and Canon 7D to capture all of the moments and report home on our progress. For the most part this will be a bit of a technology sabbath for me as I work in ministry outside of my normal realm! When I return I will share some of my most memorable personal moments as I am anticipating God to work in my life through this experience.

Working in full time ministry can make it extremely hard to manage priorities. I have come along way since my first few years of ministry. In recent months I have really needed to evaluate where my priorities lie. I am engaged and set to be married in June of 2010 and recently I have needed to make some challenging decisions on where my priorities lie.

One thing I have learned since working full time in ministry and I had wished I had figured out a long time ago is that God is not the same as Church. God has to be number one on my list. Personal time spent with God is of upmost importance, and this does not include the times that I am working in full time ministry at “Church.”

My second priority must be my family. In 1 Timothy 3:4-5 the Bible says “He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)” When I make a commitment to marry my wife Lea on June 12, 2010 I must make her, and someday my child(ren) my second priority in life. I believe that if I am not honoring and prioritizing my family I should not be making a commitment to full time ministry, it’s a biblical command.

I will be the first to admit that this is not going to be easy to balance. In recent years my I have put the churches ministry above my time with God. During those times I see my personal relationship with Jesus suffer and this effects my attitude towards others and my job. Just because I work in full time ministry and am reading the bible or studying scripture for an upcoming message series or video idea it doesn’t equate to setting aside specific times to personally spend time with God.

In February 2008 I was given my first opportunity to serve on a cross cultural experience by going with a team from Pequea Church to Esteli Nicaragua. The trip changed my life and perspective on how God is at work all around the world. My God, choose to show me how He is accomplishing His mission beyond my over-saturated views of North American “church”. With my role as a technical arts director at a church in North America it is very easy to become so wrapped up in the programs and worship services of our local church and totally miss what God is doing around the world.

In January of 2010 I have been given a chance to return to Nicaragua. A team of young adults from Pequea Church will travel to El Viejo Brethren In Christ Church to serve this church and help replace a failing roof. Although we will be serving the church in this way, so much more of this trip will be focused on meeting the families, neighbors, and children of this community. It is my desire to better understand the story of the people of Nicaragua and bring that story home to share with our congregation. I am certain that God is at work in me, preparing me for something unexpected, my prayer is that I will be open to His leading me in this experience. Throughout the trip I will be blogging daily updates with photos and hopefully some video from our time in Nicaragua over on the churches blog. If you are willing to support me with prayer please just leave a comment or shoot me an email.

Service is a means of bringing about change within ourselves, making us not the “givers” in the interaction but fellow recipients with those we serve. – Jeremy Tyrrell

On Friday afternoon November 6, 2009 I asked my girlfriend of 46 months for her hand in marriage. And she said Yes! Lea is my best friend, she builds me up when I am down, she makes me laugh, smile, and helps me get the most out of life. Her smile is contagious and alway’s brightens my day! Most importantly we recognize that we are valued by God and that he alone has the plan for our lives. We know that God has big plans for us in ministry and I value her support in my ongoing ministry at Pequea Church and the Brethren in Christ Church.

We have set up our own website where will will blog about our experience along the way to the wedding day sometime in June of 2010. You can already read online about my version and her version of the proposal. We have a full gallery of photos from the day of engagement that I am sure you will want to check out. Lea and I plan to use this website to allow guests to RSVP to our wedding and get news about the special day. We want to cut down the cost of mailing all of those extra pieces of paper and cards and use our website instead!

Last week I was able to take some much needed time off. My family and I went on a week long trip to Hawaii. We visited Oahu and the Big Island. What an amazing experience! During this once in a lifetime experience we were able to experience the barren lava rock areas, as well as the plush rain forests of Hawaii. If you ever get an opportunity to visit Hawaii take it! Highlights of the trip for me included a helicopter ride on the Big Island, visiting Hanauma Bay in Honolulu while snorkeling over the reef, and having a chance to worship with the folks from New Hope O’ahu. Although I didn’t seem to get a lot of rest on our vacation it was a refreshing time away! You can check out some of my photos on my facebook page, become my friend at facebook.com/jeremydenlinger.

See the entire gallery of photos from the game by clicking here.