"By their fruit you will recognize them."- Matthew 7:16

Moving my stuff from the greater Atlanta area to my new home, I had some time to really think, be still and reflect on my time at my last church. Of course, coming to Newnan on Friday had me smack dab in the middle of a new controversy at my former employer. Oh well.

But in that reflection time, I was genuinely overcome with the knowledge of how much God used my efforts and blessed them during my time. In Matthew 7, Jesus is instructing his disciples on how to tell if someone is a false prophet or not. In essence his advice (is there a stronger word than advice when something comes from Jesus?) is that you will know the heart of something by what it produces. So here is to some of the "fruit" God blessed me with from my last church:

• Kevin. Kevin is working hard on being a bi-vocational youth pastor. As he and his wife have kidded me from time to time, I wrecked their lives. The truth is that God put us on the same life path and it was/is fantastic. I got to share with Kevin some about ministry. He taught me an awful lot about how to navigate difficult situations, about having faith and becoming stronger in my gifts. I count him as my brother and I am thankful for all that he has done in my life and what he is about to do in the lives of the kids God calls him to.
• Keith. Keith helped me move this weekend and during that time, we got some awesome news. This week, Keith will start as the part time youth director of a small church. He is going to do an excellent job because he is great at building relationships with kids and that seems to be what this church needs most of all.
  
• Brianna. Bri is at school right now and, even in the midst of that, she is becoming a better youth worker. She volunteered at a church that probably put way, way too much work on her. She is involved in some great campus ministries. Without a doubt, Brianna is a fantastic youth minister and has been since she was in high school. As she heads back to Statesboro, I know that she is going to be a great, great leader and teacher of young people for years to come. I am proud to know that I was/am her friend and mentor.
  
• Michael. Michael is the one of us left in the fray. And because of it, I will say I don't know very many people at all that have his tenacity and steadfastness. In what has been a difficult situation, Michael has done everything he can to serve others. I am saddened that he and I aren't partners directly anymore, in particular because this school year, he and I were going to work hard on his skills as a communicator. Michael will still get better and be a fantastic lead youth worker in the not too distant future.

Eventually, I may spend some more time talking about the fruit of what came out of my time in Newnan. I am just really, really thankful to know that when people really look at the fruit, there is something worth seeing because God made it so.