My First Post

25Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. Colossians 1:25-29

So this is it. My first Blog. I thought I would begin by describing the name of my blog. God blew my face off with this passage when I heard a sermon preached on it at the Jacksonville Pastor's Conference. He then began to hammer it into my heart over the last few months and it has struck a heart chord with me. I was called at age 19 to the vocational ministry and this is the description of the life God has called me to be. A minister/steward/preacher/proclaimer/teacher of the mystery/word/riches/hope/Christ. This is my calling but it is the utmost privilege. I get to deliver to people the wonderful news that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the grave. In this act he gives freedom from death and eternal life to all who believe. This Mystery (The Gospel) was once hidden to mankind but now is fully revealed in Jesus. Therefore I, Shawn Franklin Dobbins am a Minister of the Mystery. Is there any politician, CEO, teacher, or world leader that has a better subject or message than that? My desire is to present complete disciples to Jesus. There are days that I labor, like one day this past week when I was at church for over 13 hours. There are days that I strive, sometimes striving so hard to complete a sermon until I finally hear a message from the Lord to deliver it to his people. I don't share this to get a pat on the back or "brownie points" or sympathy. It is hard and very frustrating at times, but I know that I am privileged and blessed. I am grateful God called me, I don't know why but he did. Thankfully I don't rely on myself because I can't do it only by the Power of God through me. So that is me and the title of my blog explained. Stay tuned!