The following is simply mental notes of recent discussions and thoughts disclosed at our first gathering of the year. We are still watching the Nooma videos and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in conversations that burn in the Ring of Fire. I am still praying for the Spirit to guide and motivate me in what I should write for this coming year to represent summaries of AFC meetings for the inspiration and encouragement of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
It is difficult to explain in few words what the Lord has been doing in and around our lives. I can only hope and pray He allows me the opportunity to portray His great love in my writings. There are so many stories, so many testimonies, so many prayers anwered, so many experiences. It is a calling I am willing to accept as I look forward to more and more of you becoming key players in these stories. And yes, God is faithful, there will be more stories this year. I feel He is leading us to the brink of something daring and big as I am convinced His Spirit will be moving like a giant wave and we'd best get on. It's going to be quite a ride.
It is God's love that propels us and His wisdom that directs our lives, but the world has different perceptions of christians today. Some are screamers that shout hellfire and brimstone, condemning everyone with their legalism and self-righteousness. Others are professed christians that have so many masks in their closets that no one can tell them any different from anyone else. Their Sunday morning masks depict hearts that are hypocritical and untrustworthy. Think of the messages we send to the lost and lonely that are watching us from a distance. What kind of message do we care to send? What kind of men and women do we want to be? Really, this is it, right now, this is our lives, the way we are today. Is it everything we dreamed about in high school?
One problem still remains as a result of some of the messages we send out. The lost somehow think we have to have it all together to be loved by God; that He only offers forgiveness to the righteous; that His grace only pours over the pure; that His mercy covers only the upright; that He speaks only to the scholarly; that His word can only be understood by the learned; that He could never love someone as "bad" as "me". My friends, that is the voice of Satan, himself, not the voice of Truth. God is desperately calling us to come fall into His arms just the way we are, with all of our misgivings, so that we can truly experience - Him. That's what it's all about.
I want to be the type of man dedicated to destroying the lies the world is buying about christianity. I want to send the message of simple truth that knowing God and following after Him is the epitomy of the best life I can possibly have. My heart pains for those who have let their fire grow cold from Satan stealing their joy. I want to be a part of God building a band of brothers committed to standing for God's truth. His truth will lift the fog that's been covering our eyes. His Spirit's wind will blow away all of the storms of lies, as we hold up one another, faces looking high to the One who will restore and redeem us in coming glory. Mark it down. This is His story, not mine. Read the book, don't wait for the movie.
The following is simply mental notes of recent discussions and thoughts disclosed at our first gathering of the year. We are still watching the Nooma videos and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in conversations that burn in the Ring of Fire. I am still praying for the Spirit to guide and motivate me in what I should write for this coming year to represent summaries of AFC meetings for the inspiration and encouragement of our brothers and sisters in Christ. 