Long Journey Home

NOTE: This post will make more sense by first reading the preceding posts: "Park Your Heart..." and "Blog Vacation."

The further we go from "HOME" the longer it takes to get back! For the purposes of this Blog post, "HOME" represents my Spiritual Position. AS I shared earlier, while continuing to pray, read the Bible, study, prepare sermons, etc. I drifted away from the heart of God! It's kind of like swimming in the ocean when there is a strong 'under-tow.' You are just swimming and playing with friends/family and then you look up and think, "Who moved our stuff?" Without an intentional, disciplined TIME to do nothing but BE ALONE WITH GOD, we will drift away from HIM.

Another illustration that helps me grasp this truth is like the couple who has been married for a long time. One day while riding together in the car the wife asks her husband if he remembers their "dating" days when she was always sitting right under his arm every time they were together in the car. After sharing other sentimental memories the wife simply asks: "What happened to us?" The man who has been listening quietly simply says, "I didn't move."

Though this is a silly story it does illustrate what happens to our personal journey with God (and I am speaking to those who have chosen to become Christ-Followers). Without intending to or even realizing it, I moved far away from the heart of God. He was still where He has always been. It was I who moved away from Him. There is a Scripture in James 4:8 that gives insight into this principle: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." This tells me that, as long as I am seeking the Lord with all my heart, I can expect Him to come to me. His moving towards me is contingent on my desire, activity, and intentionality of moving closer to HIM!

The dangerous thing about moving away from God is the EFFORT that is required to merely "GET BACK" to where we once were. This is not an easy process! There are no shortcuts because, if there were, we would be more careless about moving away again. So, How do we start this "Long Journey Back Home?" IN my life, the times when I have been the closest to the Lord are when I intentionally woke up early to spend time praying, reading, and meditating on God's Word. For me it must be early enough to where my daily schedule does not cause me to have a hurried spirit.

I made a commitment to the Lord back on January 25, 2010 to rise early in the morning, before sunrise, to spend these first moments of my day with the Lord. Then, God led me to this verse: "Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there he prayed." (Mark 1:35 - speaking about Jesus) If Jesus, being God in the flesh, needed to go and spend quiet time in prayer, how much more do I need this time? After making this commitment, God led a Pastor friend whom I had not seen in years to request that we keep each other accountable for spending this time every day with the Lord! Not studying for sermons, Bible lessons to teach, etc. but just for our personal walk with the Lord.

In summary, here are some things you need to get back or to stay fervent in your personal relationship with Christ:
*Desire to Grow closer to Christ Jesus
*Disciplined Time when it is just you and God
*An accountability partner (everyone needs accountability)
Set your time, find your place, get a pen, journal book and the Word of God (because God will often speak through His Word be ready to look up Scriptures and write down what HE shows you). If you have time, let me know how your personal times with the Lord are going. Maybe we can help keep each other accountable through this electronic medium. I am praying for your journey because I know that this is the key to seeing our world transformed by God.

Park Your Heart in Front of God

I grew up in a small, traditional Baptist Church. Even though it is obvious that the church must change the way we do things in order to reach our changing culture, I am very thankful for my "small" beginnings. (Interestingly, when you grow up in a small church it is the only reference you have so you really don't know it is small) I have many fond memories of my childhood in reference to the church.

One memory that constantly comes back to me are the many hymns we sang; especially the ones that our Music Minister would select for the "Invitation" time. One of those hymns applies to my "journey" over these past few months. In my first post on this new blog I shared the reason why I stopped blogging. I had stopped growing in my personal relationship with Christ! Yes, while I was praying every day, preparing sermons, trying to lead a local church ministry, etc. Anyway, the song that represents my journey back says these words: "Come home, come home, ye who are weary, come home!" These words highlight the invitation Jesus gives to the world: (Matt. 11:28)

On Monday, January 25th, 2010, I was sitting in a Spiritual Leadership conference in Rocky Mount, N.C. when the Lord spoke so clearly to my heart and mind. I cried out silently to the Lord in a room filled with conference attendees and asked Him to show me something! He simply said these words: "COME HOME!" These are the words I wrote in my journal, right there in that conference, as God began to lift the clouds from my spiritual darkness:
"What should have been the most obvious diagnosis of my heart condition strangely remained out of focus for me. I have been running on empty!...My spiritual tank is empty! My heart is in the desert. I have neglected my Time Alone with God -- uninterrupted time to listen to God, worship Him, enjoy being with Him, etc."

A great Pastor, Leader, conference speaker and friend, Rick Fisher, made a statement in his talk that morning that has become a part of my daily T.A.W.G. (i.e. Time Alone With God). Rick said: "Park your heart in front of God." His emphasis (along with just about every other speaker) was on the quality of our ALONE TIMES with God. I knew immediately that God was speaking that message to me. So, I left the church after the final session of the afternoon and went back to my hotel room to "Park my heart before God!" I intentionally skipped the evening worship opportunities because I needed to get started ASAP going to the Throne of God without any interruptions, schedule constraints, or a hurried spirit.

I just want to say that these past 31 days have been exhilarating as I have once again found my "PLACE" of Refuge, my source of strength, my wisdom for living as a Christ-Follower and as a "Called" Leader in God's church. My T.A.W.G.s have come alive again. I can't wait to get alone with God to see what He is going to say to me; and just to patiently wait before Him without making Him feel like I want ALL of Him, but just when I have time! (Ouch)

I will share more tomorrow on my Journey Back Home! Hopefully, this will help someone else find this place where dreams, visions, inspiration, HOPE, faith, etc. are waiting to be received. I hope you will take seriously the opportunities to "Park your heart in front of God" and don't move until He says for you to.

When? How? If you are asking these questions, stay tuned for more to come!

Blog Vacation?

I have been away from the "blogging" scene for approximately 3 months now. Ironically, the primary reason for my absence from blogosphere was a problem with the host I have used for the past two-plus years. They said my domain was expiring and that I needed to renew it, change the technical settings, etc. Since I did not set-up that blog, I didn't know what to do. So, I followed all their instructions and still the problem was not corrected. If you know me at all, patience is not one of my strong points. So, I waited on them to see what needed to be done. With all the archives, pictures from Romania, etc. on the other host site, I really thought it would be best to try and keep the old one.

Just to experiment I actually created this Blog with blogspot.com on December 8, 2009. I posted one article on it and intended to send an email to the people I thought might be interested in knowing my blog address. As you already know if you are reading this post, I never let anyone know about this new site. Why? I hope you asked and, if you did, I am going to spend the next few posts trying to "UNPACK" what God has been teaching me over the past 4 weeks.

Just let me say that, while I know the thoughts and possible "insights" I might share through this media are not dependent on my perfection, I do believe God holds me accountable for living up to the TRUTHS HE took the time to REVEAL to me. The bottom line is this: God showed me that I did not need to continue trying to find something to say on a regular blog newsletter when my personal "WALK" with Him was drying up! The main reason I have not shared this earlier is that I have been waiting on the Lord to tell me when to start sharing again.

A wise professor I had in school made this statement: "Stay in the Word of God for yourselves Preachers or you will find yourself getting up in front of your churches because you are supposed "TO SAY SOMETHING" instead of coming before them knowing that you "HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!" (from God of course!)

I promise that I will do my very best to only post something on this site when I have something to say instead of just because I feel the pressure to SAY SOMETHING!