So here we are my friends, after much procrastination and laziness, I finally am starting my blog. One of the chief reasons of why it took so long is because I was searching for just the right title. If you know me at all, I tend to be a bit perfectionistic and if things do not seem just right to me I cannot act upon them. As many have witness and said before, I don't rush into anything. I had numerous brainstorming sessions, yet could never come up with a title that I thought was original and fitting for what I planned on writing. It was high time I looked for help elsewhere, so I went you, my friends for the answer. Only seconds after posting the question for a title to my blog on Facebook, a myriad of worthy title ideas arose. However, one from a childhood friend caught my attention immediately—Teaching Transformers. Back in the elementary school days, I would go over to my friend Harish's house and create our own little Transformer World. In much wisdom and creativity, he took my everlasting love for Transformers and my profession of teaching and put them together. Little did he know that his title would come to have a significantly deeper meaning.
Currently I am a middle school special education teacher at an urban public school in St. Petersburg, Florida. This position is seemingly a temporary stop on the pathway of my true calling to pastoral ministry. In August of 2003, I moved to Clearwater, FL to accept my first position serving in pastoral ministry at a small, independent, non-denominational church. After two of the most difficult and trying years of my life, I gladly resigned and accepted a position as a middle school bible teacher and chaplain at a private Christian school in Houston, TX. Ministry and teaching flourished in Houston, but the end of my second year was marred with admittedly the greatest trial of my life. Being rocked to the very core of my soul and with much pain and a burdened heart, I resigned from my second pastoral position within two years and moved home to Chicagoland for healing and restoration. Little did I know that I would still be on that path today. Though there so much more I could share, one major conclusion has been made clear, I am still called to pastoral ministry. I am called to teach, train and disciple followers of Christ. Many of you may know me only in this context, others may have no knowledge of me in this context, and lastly a few of you have known me in both contexts. The point I am trying to make is that though my contexts and roles may have changed, my calling has not and neither has my commitment to my relationships.
Dear friends I want you to know this, if you are my friend I love you apart from what you believe, think or celebrate. I love you because Christ first loved me. I love you because we have shared a part of life together, and however long or short that time has been, it is a time that I cherish. You have been and continue to be a blessing in my life and I want to be, according to the grace that God gives me, be a blessing in your life as well. How can I do that? Hopefully by loving you the way that I am loved by Jesus, unconditionally and void of self-interest. Although I have failed with this in the past and will undoubtedly fail with it in the future, this is my commitment to you. That being said, I want you all to know that I am open to all comments on what I write. Inevitably, what I write will be incomplete, imperfect and worthy of humble questioning and critique. So feel free to agree, disagree, add to, or simplify. I desire this to be an open engagement amongst those who love one another and desire to see God glorified. However, one thing I will not do is argue over the computer. As I write and as you read, if there ever arises something that so strikes a cord with you do not hesitate to contact me. My phone number is in my Facebook information and if you live nearby, I am always up for some profitable face to face discussion.
Brothers and sisters, the ultimate goal of this blog is for me to worship God through writing. I am not hear first to be read, but to encounter and learn from the One, True Living God as I write. Secondarily, I pray that my writing teaches, challenges, or encourages you in Christ as well. After all, the title of this blog is Teaching Transformers, which I am one. Romans 12:2 begins, “Do not be conformed to this world, by be transformed by the renewal of your mind...” Do you have a teachable spirit? Do you desire to be transformed? If so, let us then journey together through my writing to life transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Grace and Peace to you all,
Michael
