I’m very excited to have the opportunity to teach during Sunday Morning worship at Martindale Christian Fellowship Church in Canton, Ohio on Sunday, April 3. I’ll be speaking on the topic Blessed by Brokenness. After hanging around for lunch, I’ll have the opportunity to facilitate a more in-depth discussion for MCFC’s Men’s Ministry on Building From Brokenness.

As I go through my study and preparation for the day at MCFC, I’m going to share some ideas on the topic with the church staff, volunteers and families who follow this blog and make use of the resources of Key Ministry. As you can imagine, I have a fair amount of experience in talking with parents and kids during times of incredible brokenness. What I didn’t expect when I was led to this ministry adventure was the extent of brokenness I encountered among leaders in the church. A cursory overview of Scripture suggests that profound and repeated experiences of brokenness appear to be a prerequisite for those used by God to accomplish great things. I’m hoping that readers of this blog and those coming to be a part of the events on April 3 will come away from the experience with a better understanding of God’s purposes in exposing us to times of profound despair, heartache and helplessness.

Two resources I’d highly recommend to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the topic are Brokenness, by Lon Solomon, Senior Pastor of McLean Bible Church, and hosts of the 2011 Accessibility Summit, where Harmony Hensley, Libby Peterson and Rebecca Hamilton of our Key Ministry team will be presenting on April 1-2, and The Blessings of Brokenness by Charles Stanley.

Hope to see you on April 3 in Canton, Ohio.