Growing Pains

This journey sure has been interesting. It's amazing to me as I look back over my life. especially the last five years.  Yeah... I am quite young in the Lord and it won't be five years until Feb. '07... not that I'm counting or anything. I am guilty, guilty, guilty of taking for granted the power of God in my life. When I look back even before my salvation I see God's sovereign hand in my life... this is not read between the lines and you will see God at work, this is in your face and incredible! I say that because I/we tend to forget these things as we continue this amazing journey in this realm. It is these sign posts, God alive and active in our lives, that we are to cling to and remember so that the hard times can some how be less painful. I wish I weren't so guilty of forgetting this.

I have been enduring some "growing pains" these last couple of weeks. God has been "alive" in my life like never before... I know that may not make sense to some because He has never been.. not alive.. and He is always right there, everywhere we turn and everywhere we go. I guess I've kind of maybe hardened my heart a little. In most cases I recognize almost immediately when God is showing me rotten stuff in my life, I identify it, touch it and even hold it and acknowledge it. I am able to do that.... I am even able to receive it from others. The problem arises when I choose to hang on to the rotten stuff. At times I am too busy trying to remove the rather large stick from my spouses eye. You know something.... confession is good. I've been good at confessing to the Master and to one of my good friends but maybe somewhat remiss in confessing to my spouse, the one person I need to confess to.

Growing pains are a good thing, they will do a good work in our lives if we will allow it. In many areas of my walk I had become very rigid and uncompromising, this spanned from doctrine to everyday decisions. There are a few areas that are and should be uncompromised, to include some doctrine and some everyday decisions. However, by and large, this whole thing... life, Christianity, church, friends, family, heaven, the new earth, the tribulation what ever else one can come up with, must remain flexible. We are all here to do what we are all here to do. And we are all here to do it together... the only way to get to the future is together. I used to say that I was ok with other peoples doctrines and beliefs... at least verbally, God showed me that inside where no one else could see but Him I was saying something completely different. Ouch! It's ok though... these are excellent lessons for me, these are most excellent growing pains.

I am driven towards the Master's highest path and I know that at times it will be a most difficult way. I choose to allow the Master full access to my entire being, I choose to allow the Master to use whatever and whoever to sharpen and hone me. I choose to allow myself to be a vessel of uncompromised love dedicated to the pursuit of His kingdom, here on this earth and out there into the true realm that is and always has been.  I also choose to accept each and every one of the growing pains that the Master must use to keep me aligned with His purpose.

This might be random and make little sense but the pursuit of truth, according to Rob Bell, is like swimming towards the bottom in a pool of water. The goal is to touch the bottom but the closer you get the further away it seems to be... it's a pursuit. It's unending. At times it may not make any sense but we must stay in pursuit, we must not stop seeking this truth.

                                                                                                             <><

Ok, so it's been two months since my last post... where do I begin? Since moving last fall I've been in a strange season, one that I neither asked for nor enjoyed. It could be what Christians call a drought or desert period, I would rather not refer to it as that... I saw God move powerfully in our lives during this time, prayers were answered, seeds were sown and life was generally awesome. The season I speak of concerns my ability and desire to write. When I say that I love to write... I mean I really love to write... really, really, really! I must admit, I got a little annoyed that my creativity seemed to just come to a standstill.  I'm sensing that God just wanted to deposit  into me and that I was to just hang on to "it" so that "it" could do what "it" needed to do in me. (I have no clue what "it" is)

So here we go... something that's been burning in my guts for over three years...

ETERNITY........... Why does it seem that nobody wants to delve much deeper than a cursory glance at something that is so important to our Christian faith? When I say nobody I am referring to most everybody I have encountered in my life since encountering Christ. I know that it's very controversial and I know that there are many different takes on Heaven... but so what. Hello.... it's where we are going to be forever! If I could capture some of the looks I've gotten when I broached the subject of eternity, I'm telling you those faces are priceless. Most of us have no clue, we only skim the surface... we only dip our toes into that huge ocean of thought. I don't mean to downplay the importance of our walk in this present life nor the importance of teachings concerning the present and immediate future. Here's an anology I like that's been used many times... In any competition, like for instance the Olympics, atheletes will train for many years. All of this training basically boils down to one-hundreds of seconds or points and all for the moment when a medal is hung around their neck. You can't downplay all the hard work and training but ultimately it's all about the prize, it's all about being the best. What drives these atheletes during all their toil and every single gut busting workout is one thing... their sole focus is that medal, that ceremony... period. Well guess what? Isn't Christianity the same thing? Isn't that what Philippians 3 is all about?  The NLT says... verse 13- ... but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize... Hmmmm. It's all about the prize, eternal life... Colossians 3:2 says to let heaven fill our thoughts.

Seems simple enough... don't ya think? So how come Christianity seems to avoid conversation and teaching concerning this very important topic? Let's shift gears a bit now. Take our young people for instance... we evangelize them, teach and preach to them. We exhort them..."Christ is the way," we tell them that what the world has to offer is counterfeit and fake yet reality is that every time they get high they have a goal in mind. That goal is to feel good and guess what... for a moment they feel good. We tell them not to be promiscous, to abstain from sex till marriage but those who do not listen reach a goal... they have sex and for a moment they have seemingly instant gratification... they feel good. In a world where our youth can experience so much instant gratification and seemingly reach a goal line for themselves in almost the blink of an eye, we are offering them eternal life by giving their lives to Christ. We are not wrong to do this, obviously Christ is the only way and I'm not saying that we are doing something wrong just that maybe we need to add a little whipped topping to the mix. I think we should poll our youth... not neccessarily our "churched" youth but those who are unchurched and ask them if our attempts to reach out to them with the gospel is enough for them to give up their way of life. Now I am not trying to take away the power of the Holy Spirit in all of this, God can bring in old and young alike in an instant and with the simplest message. All of this to make one point... we must do more for everyone we evangelize, in particular our youth but ultimately it encompasses everyone we intend to confront with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not enough to throw heaven, eternal life or eternity at them like fishing with an artificial lure. This is a "live bait" only fishing zone. If you don't believe this try asking anyone about eternity, ask them if they would like a better handle on it. We can never fully wrap around it but does that mean it's taboo and we shouldn't approach it at all? We must immerse ourselves in this great body of water, toe dipping will not get it done. It is controversial and we do need to be careful. The book "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn that Adam has been quoting should be required reading for all Christians. We don't need to agree with every single point the author makes, but he raises some very interesting questions and uses good scriptural references for the points he makes.

Our goal as Christians, followers of Christ, is eternity... eternal life. That is what we are training for. Now I know that Job 36:26 says that no one can begin to understand eternity but Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that eternity is in our hearts. Are we training intensely for a goal that it so uncomprehendable that we should only whisper our ideas and thoughts in confidence? I think not!

What do you think?

I sit here completely fogged by the last few days. It all seems so sureal and so unfair... tradgedy seems to creep closer and closer as I age. You young people out there listen, you have no promise of tomorrow... none of us even have the promise of our next breath. Life is so very fragile. I don't believe in coincidence, life to me is choreographed right to the second. I'm screaming inside myself - no one can hear though.

A very good friend of mine  lost her eldest son in a horrible car accident  last Tuesday evening... he was eighteen years old. I stood in the rain for one hour yesterday, it seemed that the entire Franklin Academy school had turned out to pay their respects. I saw and felt such loss and sadness. Outside the funeral home most just stood oblivious to the rain, the mood was somber and very quiet. Inside the funeral home ... well ... it was the same only multiplied many times. At one point I caught the face of the Director, one would think that he of all those present would be able to put on a face sans the overpowering sadness that hung over this crowd. His face was etched in pain as he stood idly by while teen after teen shuffled past him, broken by having to say good- bye to a friend. At one point I looked to the varsity basketball coach, he sat in a chair staring at the floor as if having some conversation with no one... not once did he look up.

It seems pointless to mention that this young man was a three sport star, headed for one of the schools that were competing for him. His mom always had a gleam in her eye when she spoke of him, I can't fathom her loss. Even worse... something I fear above all else... is the state of this young persons soul. No man can know this, only our God knows for sure, but basically I know that their home was void of God. I am so saddened by this. I feel that I could have, should have done more. If only we could force feed the truth. The thought that she could have lost her son in the next life is too much to bare.

Young people, listen! Three were in this car... one is dead, one is in critical condition and one walked away. They were all minding their own business, enjoying life and behaving themselves, it only took one careless person without regard for others. Unbelievably I knew the drunk driving the other vehicle... unbelievable. There is much more to this story but not now.

It might seem morbid and in bad taste to be absent from the xanga community for so long and then add a post like this... but this is reality. Young people listen!!! Make your lives count! Live for something worth dying for! Pour out your lives for those who need their Savior... tomorrow may never come, tonight may never come. Trust me when I say that I've barely scratched the surface of this tradgedy. Pray for the Dunlavey family and the families of the other two... Nichols and Reynolds. The driver of the other car (Peryea) needs Gods touch also, he could very well spend many years in prison as a result of his actions.

I pray ... I just pray.                           <><

A New Year has begun and like the last three I look back and marvel at how much God can do in our lives in a years time. I want to encourage all who have been believing for God to move in the lives of others. There are two guys at my work place that I've had the pleasure to live my life before, did you know that simply living our Christian lives before unbelievers is one of the most powerful witnessing tools we have? As many of you know, last May I began a new bid job at the prison... this job gives me every weekend off plus God gets to arrange for me to enter into many different situations and peoples lives. The prior job had me "living before" two guys who couldn't be more cynical or more anti Christian than if they went out and purposed to be this way. Ask me and I'll share the complete testimony with you but the short and skinny of it is that I have encountered them on separate occasions in the last two weeks and they are undergoing significant change in their lives. It seems as though God has invaded their space. Yes there were times in the last three years where I verbally witnessed subtle things of the Kingdom to them but many times over I simply "lived" before them. It is so so so so very important that we live before unbelievers in a fashion worthy of our Christian faith, the world is watching us much closer than you can ever imagine. This applies to you whether you are twelve years of age or ninety. We are being watched... and closely! Did you know that Christ resides inside of us... the Holy Spirit is not just a thing that wanders about the earth checking to see if we're naughty or nice. The Holy Spirit is God! He's inside of us! Something I heard at the Gen Conference a year ago has changed the way I live everyday. Lance Wallnau made mention of how we enter into life situations, are we adjusting to the spiritual atmosphere or are we adjusting the spiritual atmosphere? Are we thermometers or are we thermostats? I decided that I would enter every situation with the idea that I was going to be a thermostat, that the Holy Spirit would be unleashed from inside of me into every situation I encountered. That "power" is the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead... hello... is anyone listening? Yes there are times when we are called on to witness with our words but many, many more times just simply being with people can be all it takes. That's why what we say in casual conversation or how we react to different circumstances and how we treat and speak with all people is so very important. Zechariah 8:23 goes like this... "This is what the Lord Almighty says: In those days ten people from nations and languages around the world will clutch at the hem of one Jew's robe. And they will say, 'Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' " (NLT)

Need I say anymore?  Needless to say, I truly believe that my intention and willingness to believe that I can affect a situation by simply being there with the Holy Spirit in me (of course you know it's Him and not me... but it takes me too) is over and above the reason why these guys I spoke about above have begun their own journeys to discover the Savior.

I am a thermostat, I will not and in fact refuse to adjust to the spiritual climate of a given situation. My encouragement to you is to be patient and have faith. God will win every battle, do not judge every situation by what you see in the natural. There were many times... in fact most times... when I walked from the encounter thinking they would never get it and that they're souls were in serious jeopardy. Do not judge by what we see in the natural, the real battle is not there. I know we all know that, but we really have to believe it. So be patient... call each situation as God would and know that we are not a church congregation nor an audience... we are the Army of the Lord, we are militant!! The Kingdom is at hand!(Luke 17:20-21) When we love instead of hate, when we sow contentment instead of discontent, when we choose others before ourselves... what we are actually doing is advancing the Kingdom. The enemy wants us talking about others and finding fault, not forgiving others for intentionally hurting us, by simply choosing to hold our tongue and forgiving others we over power the wicked schemes of the devil. Check out 1Peter3:8-12 (NLT)... it speaks volumes.

Remember, we're being watched. I want to encourage you all... do not give up hope for unsaved loved ones or friends. Our job is to clear the way for God to do the work. We clear the way by holding our tongue and offering genuine forgiveness in ALL situations. Stop blending in to life and start affecting it. I don't care who you are or how old you are... you need to get the revelation of who you are in God.     LIVE LIFE... PASS IT ON

                    That's All From Eternal Central       

                                                                          Peace <><