Ministry Blog

Camp was awesome, my compliments to Randy, the others and the staff at red cloud for another home run. My guys were amazed at the quality of the camp and the intensity of the ministry, they were a buzz with questions about life, God and other stuff to talk about on the way back. I will get with each one individually this week for a recap of camp and see were they are at, should be very good. Ministry like what happened at camp can not happen in town, no way. The difference between friday night and sat night was quite noticeable as the activities did their thing. New friends and crazy fun is allways good for the mans heart. My thanks go out to the men of the warrior at heart group out of grand junction , they were terrific at meeting and finding time to talk to the guys I brought down. That did them a lot of good settling in a and being comfortable. Thanks to the guys who spent time in prayer for the guys attending camp all in all a great organizational effort.

Reading and praying and trying to practice the whole idea of Walking with God has pointed out one huge glaring flaw in my spiritual life. And, that is, I just don't set aside enough time to improve the two-way communication with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Some church teachings encourage us to tithe 10%, but yet I don't seem to spend even 10% of my time in fellowship with Jesus. In order NOT to get discouraged with thoughts of falling short in this area, I just look back at all the obvious times God has been active in my life. Sometimes I KNOW beyond a doubt he's speaking to me and he's showing a clear path of which direction to take, whether it's financial, personal relationships, business, etc. I hear him, I feel him, and I just I know it's him. At other times I can't see his involvement. But, during these cloudy periods, only after a significant period of time has passed am I able to look back and say, "Oh, I see, he was actually there the whole time advising me. all along the way." As for the near future, I'm excited to see what God has to tell my wife and I in regards to some major financial decisions we need to make. We've acknowledge that any financial situations we have (good or bad) are really his to deal with. So, we lay it all before him to make the right decisions. In the end, somehow and some way, it will glorify him. Therefore, our next steps are pray, listen, then act.

I want to know why, but I get nothing, nothing from God and nothing good from friends. Eldredge says why is the wrong question, he says that "what do you want me to learn from this," is the better ? I was really struggling with this the other AM while reading Desrire. I have avoided this book for some time but finally picked it up. As I looked at it lying on the coffee table I saw the letters that made up the title and it occured to me that I only needed to add one letter to make up my deceased daughters name. ( That even hurts to write that just now) But by adding an "A" between the 'r' and the 'e', you change it to Desirae. I began asking why and was very sad and frustrated to get nothing, again. As I contemplated this, ( I knew God wouldn't answer,) I was taught a lesson by my 4 year old grandson 'Derek'. I told him to go back inside and finish his breakfast that he had just insisted that I make for him. HE answered with a sullen "Why". I have been trying to get him to stop arguing and do as he is told, and stop asking 'why' every time I, or anyone else tells him to do something. Now I wonder if that is how I sound to God when I ask why...again...and again.

Today's topic: If we don't set aside time to allow Jesus to walk with us, then other less desirable spirits will take His place. Let me give you an example. I was honored, and humbled, when I was recently asked to lead Sunday service at the Warrior Family Camping trip on the Grand Mesa. Deciding what the subject of my message (actually God's message) would be was easy. I'd already been preparing a message about becoming a warrior that I was to present at an upcoming Warrior breakfast, and thought, "It'll be easy...I'll just tie-in additional info about the courage of our Founding Fathers...then I'll be set." During the two weeks leading up to the camp-out, God definitely lead me in my preparation. The problem arose when I found no time to fine-tune the message, nor practice it. I suddenly got very busy...relatives were visiting and one of our grandsons was with us for an extended stay, Combining that with the normal everyday workload it was obvious I was running out of time. Then I thought, "Once we get our camp setup in the mountains, it'll be quiet and peaceful, so I'll be able to review the materials in detail. No such luck. We ended up having a full schedule as we enjoyed our time with our fellow campers. Then, the negative spirits began to creep in saying things like, "You won't be able to focus" or "You won't be able to stay on topic" or "Your message will never flow right." Then, with about 30 minutes to go before service I found some "alone" time. I said, "Wait a minute! I'm trying to do all this on my own! God wants to help. He gave me the inspiration. He gave me the topic. He led me to the materials I needed." So, I prayed out loud...and I listened. Then he said, "You have everything you need. Just speak from your heart." As a result, things went well. Lesson learned: Two-way communication with Jesus, makes it possible to discern the spirits and makes things so much easier when you know you're hearing from Him.

A tough practice for me has been to check with God before during and after things that I am doing. I went to a meeting tonight and should have been prayed up before I even got there. How easy that would have been, I was on my bike, no radio, just the wind and me. I should have prayed like this," God, I am fixin to go to this meeting with these guys and if there is anything you want me to know or want me to say I give you permission to use me." But no I just went into it semi prepared and I know I missed something. This is something that will take some practice as I know that when I try to stay connected it is a different walk.

Just as Wayde has mentioned in his blog, I too am reading the book, "Walking with God" by John Eldridge. After getting to page 50 or so, I realized that although it's an "easy read", there's something so much deeper that shouldn't be taken lightly. So, back I went to the beginning to highlight, make notations, and to proceed at a slower pace. Since I've stared over in the book, I'm now trying to unclutter my everyday life in order to concentrate on the two-way relationship I was meant to have with Jesus. The first step for me was to keep it simple...converse with Jesus and ask for His guidance 24/7. He wants that and I want that. Next, was to recognize his inaudible voice and signs. I reflected on this quite a bit recently and thought about all the answers and solutions God has provided for my wife and me. When we've asked for his help, listened, and did what he said, he's delivered...but, the problem has been I haven't made this an everyday priority. As I minimize life's distractions we'll see where this takes us over the next year.

What must I do to be saved? Believe and pray this prayer. OK did that, what do I DO next? Go to church, read your bible and pray. OK got that what next? The great commission is next, so I set out to fulfil that and never took time for my heart. That seems selfish to take time out for my heart, I should sacrifice myself to God and church. Sure I took time to play along the way but not without a heaping dose of pulpit induced guilt for every day of vacation. Heaven forbid I miss church, or even worse an outreach. And so evangelical Christianity chained us to the great commission, never being able to fulfill it. I couldn't win enough to Christ, give enough time or money to complete that task. It might as well be called the great to do list. No matter how successful the event there was always something else to do, The fields are white to harvest, blah blah blah, (sic). So I took up the words of a raspy voiced pop star and sang them to the church as I left. "Unchain my heart, let me go you don't really love me any more". The church never really loved me it just needed me. Well I didn't need it to abuse me anymore so I left and partied long enough to realize I didn't like parties either. So I went and pursued the things I loved, Mountains and wheels, camping and water, friends and family, not even thinking that God would want to do any of those things with me. I went camping the other day, the first annual Desirae camp out with 20 of our friends, I went looking for some fire wood and as I wandered the lush forest God spoke to me "Hello Son of Adam so good to see you." Then as I grinned at his presence, more clear and more powerful than anything on earth, He said, "I love you". It about bowled me over my legs weakened and my tears flowed, God was happy in my presence and I was lost in love never to be the same.

Okay, so I get this book from Craig and I have read all the books at my house so it is a welcomed book. Also at a time when I am feeling empty and not so connected with God. Before I even know the subject matter I commit to do whatever the book suggests. Being the son of a silent father, there but not very there, it should not be a surprise to know that I feel as if God only interacts with me when necessary. So God as a GPS unit sounded about right. But as I read the first part and practice praying and listening and acting on what I hear I am stricken with a memory of when I first gave my life to Jesus. I felt connected then and happy, right with God and high. So high I kept looking at the ground to see if I wasn't treading air. So, alright God your my Dad and we are going to hang out today, what do you want to do?

Wednesday morning when I work up the first words that popped into my mind were "If you don't have a line of demarcation, where do you draw the line?" Now I'm not normally real clear about anything in the morning until after I get my shower, but this was right there and very clear. When I looked up the definition of "demarcation" I found the following: A conceptual separation or distinction. The act of establishing limits or boundaries. That last part seemed very important to me. The "act" of establishing limits or boundaries. I think we should be actively working to establish those boundaries in our life. Because if we aren't doing it; the world around us will do it. Satan will do it. And before we know it our line of demarcation has changed and we have slowly began to allow things in our lives that we shouldn't have. What is acceptable changes as the line of demarcation moves outward. What are you doing in your life to establish your limits and boundaries? Are you going to the Word? Or are you letting the world do it for you?

Ok maybe we can do this online I will begin reading walking with God and if someone will join me I am interested in how you feel while reading this book. I will post once a week. Up until loosing Dez I have believed in a big picture God. He will show up when you really need him, he loves to do that and is famous for doing just that, or is he an every day every minute God involved in even simple pleasure. Does God talk like a GPS, as long as your on route he is silent, if you get off course he will chime in and say,"It appears you have left the route, please reenter at you earliest convenience." It doesn't matter how far off course we wander he is not the least bit upset or disconcerted he simply reroutes you back to the "path". But is God as intimate as Eldredge makes him sound in his books. Would God lead you to a place of beauty simply for pleasures sake or is that a trivial pursuit in the midst of this battle for the lost.