Will the words ever stop?

Sometimes I sit at my computer and stare at a blank screen. It goes on for what feels like hours, but in reality, may only be a few moments.

I wonder if every writer feels the same way.

Will the words ever stop?

Will I sit here one day and have absolutely nothing to write about?

I believe as long as I’m alive, there will always be something to write about. Jesus took on human form and then died for me on a cross. That in itself should keep me going for nearly my entire life. Even if I can write nothing more than about being thankful for all He has done for me, that’s enough.

For a long time, I’ve had this passion for writing. I always thought I most enjoyed writing fiction, but over the last several months, I’ve discovered that desire has changed. I’ve attempted a couple different starts at fiction novels, but I keep coming back to the second collection of Bible stories I’m working on.

Earlier this year, I published I Was There. My first collection of ten Bible stories written from a first person perspective. I absolutely enjoyed writing it. In all truthfulness, it’s almost like writing fiction, because there are so many details to these stories that were not included in the Scriptures. But, even now as I read back through some of them, I am just constantly amazed at the love of Christ. It gets me excited to write stories about Him.

As Christians, we sing, pray, and talk about Jesus being our role model. We want to pattern our lives after Him.

But, do we really and truly mean that? It’s easy to lift our hands on a Sunday morning and worship with hundreds of other people, but are we willing to take the most important step of all and die to ourselves? If we haven’t killed off our flesh, it’s not possible to follow after Christ. He was love personified. 0% flesh.

He said to follow Him, so I know it’s possible for us to live as He did. To walk in righteousness. To completely put aside our self, and live in love. That’s what strikes people as being different from anything they have ever seen. The world has heard it all before. They are crying out to SEE it.

If we’re too busy boycotting everything, or picketing somewhere, how will the world know us by our love? They will know us more for what we stand against than Who we stand for.

Yes, we are to stand up for what we believe in. I get that, but it can be done from a motivation of love, and not self. If we love others as Jesus did, we won’t have to try and convince people of anything. They can’t walk away from a true love encounter unchanged. Besides, it’s not our job to “change” them or prove anything. We plant the seeds, sometimes we get the opportunity to water the seeds, and the Holy Spirit takes it from there. Sometimes, we get to be in on the fruition of seeds that someone else planted. It’s awesome and amazing the way God works.

There are a billion things I could write about on my blog. All I need to do is check Facebook or the national headlines, and I could write for hours on the hottest topics. I could start countless debates that would eventually lead into even more blog posts, but that’s not what I want to do.

I want to know that when my time on this planet has come to an end, I did everything I could to share Jesus with as many people as possible. Not so I can feel as if I made a difference. Only so people can have hope. Christ in me, the hope of glory. If you don’t agree with something I write or believe, that’s okay. You are the steward of your own heart. The truth of the Gospel doesn’t change just because someone doesn’t agree with it.

I took the comments feature off my blog a while back, because I’m not going to argue and debate with people about these things. I turned them on for this post. I would like to hear (especially from fellow writers) what kinds of things you like to write about, and what compels you to do so.

Whether you agree with me or not, I still love you. I won’t try to convince you of anything, I will love you. It changes nothing.

So, will the words ever stop? As long as I am in constant communion with my Father, they won’t. I will always have something to write about. Isn’t that cool?

It’s all about love

Over two thousand years ago, a man walked the earth. He challenged the religious leaders of the era. He radically influenced people by the thousands. He was human, yet infilled with a presence, a spirit, not of this world. He was the visible image of an invisible God. He was immortal love clothed with a physical body born from dust. The same rugged hands of a carpenter healed the blind and the lame.

Jesus lived a life of true Christianity. Paul knew it, and followed in those same steps. Throughout the ages, people have embraced the truth of the Gospel, and then put it into action. It’s all about love.

The first step is dying. We were born into this world with one thing hammered into our being. Self. From the moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit, humanity fell. Man took on the very nature of the enemy. Self-conscious. Self-serving. Self. Self. Self.

From His birth through a virgin, to His death by crucifixion, Jesus personified love.

Love is the answer, the solution to self. We grow up with the mindset of the world. We are home schooled in the wrong home. We have to renew our minds. Get rid of the old way of thinking, and embrace love. That doesn’t happen by merely whispering a quick prayer and waiting to hitch a bus ride up to the pearly gates. Jesus said follow Him. That means it’s possible to live the very same life He did on this earth.

I’ve heard this example many times, and it’s one of my favorites. Think about a can of white paint and a stir stick. We are the stick, and Jesus is the can of paint. If you run the stick through the paint, all you see is white paint. It’s completely covered and enveloped by paint, but the stick is still there. We live through Jesus. It’s still us, but all you see is Jesus.

Matthew 5 is filled with “You say, but I say” examples. Jesus was teaching a new way of thinking. He eloquently exposed the lies from satan, while providing the truth that can set us free. The wisdom of man replaced with the wisdom of God. The way that seems right to a man with the way that pleases our Father.

If you read 1 Corinthians 13, truly study that passage, you will discover the blueprint by which we are to live. It’s impossible to put those scriptures into practical use without completely dying to our selves. Love is the antonym of self.

If there was any person in the history of all time who had the right to be angry, hurt, offended, and resentful, it was Jesus. He looked into the eyes of each soldier who punched Him, beat Him, spat on Him, cursed Him, and eventually pounded nails into His hands and feet. If there was any part of His being that was still alive to self, He would have ended it all right there. He would have told His father those people weren’t worth His precious blood. He would have called on Gabriel and a legion of angels to swoop down and take Him back home.

But. He. Didn’t.

He endured it all because He was 100% love.

If we truly want to follow Christ, we have to surrender all of our rights.

Revelation 12:11 says:

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

We are eager to claim the first part of that verse. The blood and our testimony. Those are powerful. Very powerful. But, the last half of the scripture is the key. We can’t love our own lives. We can’t cater to self, our flesh.

If we become love, die to self, and follow Jesus, we will crush Hell every single day of our lives. It’s awesome.

It’s not about us. It’s all about love.

We have to die

We have to die to ourselves.

It’s that simple. Yet, it can be the most difficult lifestyle to apply.

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said this:

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

That’s pretty clear and straightforward. Deny ourselves. It’s a phrase that’s used a lot in Christian circles, but do we truly know what it means to deny ourselves?

It means giving up all rights. All rights to be offended. All rights to be hurt. All rights to live in a way that doesn’t mirror the life of Jesus.

If we have boundaries, walls, or barriers built up, we haven’t died to ourselves.

The Gospel isn’t about us. It’s about the finished work of the Cross. We are birthed into this world with a self mentality because of what happened in the Garden. We are born with the mind of the enemy. We have to become born again and renew our mind so it’s aligned with the wisdom of God and not man.

If we’re allowing others to hurt us, then we are still slaves to selfishness. How can someone hurt us if we’re dead?

If we are offended by others, we haven’t yet denied ourselves. How can someone offend us if we’re dead?

People say “Well, you just don’t understand what I’ve been through.” Well, what about what Jesus went through? If He didn’t truly understand what dying to self meant, He would have removed Himself from the Cross and asked His Father to take Him back up to Heaven.

When Peter lopped off the ear of Malchus, Jesus healed him. Period. He knew what He was about to endure, and He healed one of the men who came to arrest Him in the garden. If Jesus was thinking about self or with the wisdom of man, He would have considered the cut off ear a form of justice. There is no way Malchus could have walked away from that unchanged. I’m sure he had blood all over himself and when people asked him what happened, he would have recalled the moment when Jesus restored his ear. I truly believe we will see Malchus in Heaven.

In the face of extreme injustice, Jesus never once thought about Himself. He was love personified. Love doesn’t seek it’s own. If we’re discouraged, then it’s all about us. We haven’t denied ourselves. If we require people to change or jump through hoops before we love them, then it’s all about us. If we complain about something, it’s all about us. The very act of complaining shows we have self in mind. It’s impossible to complain if we aren’t living for ourselves.

Here’s an example of a change I’ve made in my life. What is the first thing you do when you pull into the parking lot of Walmart or anywhere for that matter? Look for the closest spot. Why? Because we are born with the mindset of “me” first. Now, when we go shopping or out to eat, I park further back and leave the closest spots open. It may sound silly, but it’s one small step in dying to self and loving others. It completely rebels against living for self.

I am so done with living in my flesh. Walking and growing in love has been nothing short of amazing. I am already seeing God do some big things in different situations. Jesus paid much too high a price for me to complain, get hurt, or live by my feelings.

It’s amazing to think about all the things we do or say that seem right, and even sound like wisdom, but are all rooted in complete selfishness. Jesus humbled Himself, went through the entire human birthing process, became love, and shed His blood to reconcile us back to the Father. What a Savior we have. What an example to follow.

Let’s deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow that example with everything we are.

 

I’m a son, not a sinner

I spent the majority of my Christian life believing I was a sinner. I would venture to guess that 90% or more of you believe that as well. I’m here to let you know that you’re not.

The Gospel isn’t just trying to live right. It isn’t biting your tongue and fighting back words that seek to come out. The Gospel isn’t a battle. Friends, that victory was achieved over 2,000 years ago. I see too many people exhausted, worn out, frustrated, and beat down because they haven’t been taught the true meaning of the Cross. They are still trying to achieve what Christ already accomplished.

Jesus didn’t die on the Cross to expose our sin. He had to become sin and die, I get that. It was necessary in order to render sin powerless over our lives. However, He didn’t die because we were sinners. Christ died on that tree to reveal our created value and to show us who we were originally created to be. It’s all about our identity.

We’ve been taught growing up that we are nothing more than sinners trying to live a good life. That is a lie straight from the pit of Hell. I’m sorry if my wording is strong, but I can’t stand when satan pulls a veil over the eyes of man. We were sinners. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

When we are born again, all things become new. All things. Not some things. Not just part of things. ALL things.

Romans 6:1-11 says (emphasis mine):

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The blood of Christ has reconciled us back to God just as if we never ate the tree in the first place. When sin got done with man in the garden, it was impossible to recognize the image of God. Jesus was marred more than any other man in history, made unrecognizable. That was so we could reclaim our identity. Sin no longer has any rule over our life. We are once again pure before God, as if we had never sinned.

I don’t know about you, but that gets me excited. The God of this universe paid a high price to live inside of us. His very own creation.

I am a son of the Most High King. I am no longer a sinner.

A Change

I’ve had this blog for several years, and it’s been awesome interacting with readers. There have been some great insights and interesting discussions on my posts. Having said that, I believe it’s time for a change.

I’m going to disable the comment feature on my blog.

Let me explain my reasons. I no longer debate. My relationship with God is a topic that is settled in my heart and conscience. It’s way too late for anyone to try and change me. I’m only going to get worse. Lol. I don’t write in an attempt to prove people wrong. I simply write what the Lord puts on my heart, and what you do with that is entirely up to you. You are the steward of your heart. If you think what I write is complete garbage, that is perfectly fine. That doesn’t upset me, offend me, or change the Gospel in any way.

I’m not trying to be mean or arrogant. I’m just talking real.

There are many people who genuinely have questions that need answers, but there are also those who just like to fight. Satan has deceived the body of Christ for a long time. God didn’t desire to have thousands of different denominations. Where is the unity in that? The enemy loves it when people, who claim to be Christians, fight and debate over every little thing. He loves it when we use the Bible to claim promises and incorporate verses into our lives for a better day, but don’t actually follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The devil loves when we memorize scripture, but don’t actually apply it.

We spend so much time praying prayers, claiming victory, and speaking affirmations, and wonder why nothing in our life changes. We’re still confused, frustrated, and angry like everyone else, but we go to church. The Gospel isn’t a quick prayer to get into Heaven. It’s a transformation of life. It’s dying to ourselves completely. Surrendering all rights. Picking up our cross and following Jesus. Picking up our cross means to stare into the face of injustice, cruelty, and persecution, and not allow it to change anything.

The number one, most important thing you can do is get alone with God in the secret place. That’s where relationship becomes intimate and develops into more than just a head knowledge of our Father. It has radically changed my life, and I am growing into even more revelation and communion with God. It’s beyond awesome. If you’ve followed my blog for some time, you can tell the difference in my writing.

Let me say this with honest sincerity. I love you all. I wasn’t put on this earth to need love from you. I was put on this earth to love you. I wasn’t created for me. I was created for God’s image.

I encourage you to share and reblog my posts if you enjoy them. If you need to contact me directly, email me at qualityupgrades@gmail.com, or use the Contact  page.

Thank you all so much for reading my posts. I pray that you are blessed with God’s continuing grace.

Is God Mysterious?

The quick answer to the question is simply, no. God is not mysterious.

We have this view of God sitting somewhere up in Heavenly realms, surrounded by a glowing aura, guarded by Gabriel and a host of other angels. Completely inaccessible. Hard to figure out. Confusing. Unpredictable. Out of reach. Undoubtedly mysterious.

If we read our Bibles, we can grow into an understanding that God is not way off somewhere doing His thing, and we are left here to wonder.

This week, I’ve camped out in Colossians 2. What an awesome chapter of scripture. I can’t sit at work reading the Bible, so I listen to it on my iPad. I’ve listened to this passage over and over all week. And it hasn’t ceased to be absolutely amazing.

Col 2:2-3 says (emphasis mine):

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The word namely is defined as “used when giving exact information about something you have already mentioned“. In other words, Paul is saying that the mystery of God is Christ. So it only makes sense that if we know Christ, we know the mystery of God. Are you with me?

Colossians 1, also awesome, says this (emphasis mine):

²⁵ I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— ²⁶ the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. ²⁷ To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

They mystery was hidden, but now it’s been revealed. Again, it’s Christ in us, the hope of glory.

We have made the Gospel something so difficult, confusing, and hard to understand, when in reality, it’s quite simple. The simplicity of the Gospel is in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 11:3 (emphasis mine):

3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Jesus is the Gospel. He said to follow Him. God has revealed all mysteries by sending Christ to die on a tree. What are we still trying to figure out?

We have to die to ourselves, give up all rights, and follow Jesus.

Jesus was a man walking the earth, in constant communion with Father God, moving in the power of the Holy Spirit. We should be no different. There isn’t a big mystery here. We shouldn’t be running through life, blinded by trials, wondering what God’s will is for our lives.

His will is that we follow Jesus. On the mount of transfiguration, when Peter wanted to build a tabernacle for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, God interrupted him and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” In Hebrews, it says God spoke through the prophets in the days of old, but in these last days He has spoken through His Son.

Everything points to Jesus. Let’s stop making this so complicated and return to the simplicity of the Gospel. Love God with everything you have, and love others.

We do that by following in the very footsteps of Jesus.

Identity Crisis

Brothers and Sisters, the Church is in trouble.

I’m not talking about the four-walled building we attend twice a week, the little c. I mean the bride of the living Savior, the big C.

The body of Christ is stumbling around blindly, gripped in the throes of identity crisis, and it’s ripping her apart. From the moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit, our identity was shattered. We were instantly separated from our Father. The Creator of all things. The Giver of life.

No longer could we boldly stand before Almighty God, unashamed and pure before our King. We suddenly became very self-conscious. Self-aware. Self-preserving. Self-serving.

We transformed into the antonym of God’s nature, which is love.

One lie. One deception in the garden and it was over. The fall of man. Although satan paid a price by being cursed to crawl on his belly, he rejoiced in his victory that day. He converted man from God’s original image into his own twisted nature. The nature of sin. The very nature of evil.

Because of that fall, man was doomed under the law of sin and death. God had to do something. He wanted His kids back in the family, so He sent Jesus. The purpose of the Cross wasn’t to expose our sin. It was to reveal our true identity. The identity we lost in the garden.

Isaiah 52:14 says,

Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;

When sin got through with man in the garden, he was unrecognizable. He no longer looked as if he had been created in the very image of God. Jesus was beat to the point that He was unrecognizable. Marred more than any man. I believe He took that so we could reclaim our true identity as sons and daughters of the Most High King.

Now, there is a way. Jesus reconciled us back to God as if we never ate the tree.

God is our Father. He created us in His image. He placed such high value on our lives that He sent His Son to die. Who cares if anyone rejects you. God already accepted you. Who cares if people say you aren’t worthy. God already decided you are worthy through Jesus.

We can’t allow life to shape and mold us. Trials are going to come. The Bible tells us that. But, no matter what happens, absolutely nothing changes the truth of the Gospel. Nothing changes the fact that Christ paid a high price to bridge the gap between lost children and their Father. Our identity isn’t determined by life. Our identity was sealed in the blood of our Savior.

If we don’t establish an intimate relationship with God, we will never discover our true identity. He loves us. He wants to have communion with us daily. We spend too much time trying to incorporate God into our lives to have a better day. We quote scripture, claim promises, and pray when we are in need. That isn’t relationship.

The enemy believes that we need God, but we don’t actually love Him. When he pokes us, if frustration, fear, and confusion come out, satan knows he has us. We need to be so rooted in Christ that when satan squeezes us, Jesus pours out. Love. Forgiveness. Joy in the midst of trials.

Get in the secret place and talk to God. Everything we do should flow from that point. When we are born again and become love, we begin to see others through the eyes of our Father. We see their created value. We no longer see them through the flesh.

It’s time for the Church to rise and re-claim what was lost in the garden. Jesus paid the price. Let’s take a hold of our identity and crush Hell for a living.

The story of Job (Stop blaming God for everything)

A while back, I wrote a post entitled God on Trial. As Christians, we’ve been taught such a damaging view of God. That He allows bad things to happen. That He makes people sick in order to teach them something. It’s so not how God is. Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He is the enemy. God love us. He came to give us life more abundant.

People always bring up the story of Job in the Bible. Here is Todd White talking about that. If you truly open your heart to these words, it will rock your entire view of God. Don’t let Satan make you believe doctrines that aren’t true. Trust the Word of God.

 

God on trial

Let’s be completely honest. When something “bad” happens in our lives, what is the first thing we do? Or better yet, in what ways do we respond?

We ask God why.

We blame God.

We get mad at God.

We might even curse God.

Trust me, I’ve been there. In October of 2008, my father passed away suddenly and very unexpectedly. At the time, it was the most gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, life-altering event that I had ever endured. It just didn’t seem fair. I questioned God with things like “Why would you take such a good man, when there are murderers still here running free?” and “Why would you orchestrate such a thing in our lives that would leave us wrecked and crushed under a mountain of pain and anguish?”

In that moment, all those years ago, I didn’t know any better. I sincerely believed, as do nearly all Christians today, and non-Christians for that matter, that God actually had something to do with it.

God is the giver of life, not the taker. 

John 10:10 (Emphasis mine)

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

1 Timothy 6:13 (Emphasis mine)

¹³ I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate

Let’s look at this another way. Why would God take people away from us (essentially killing them if we want to get real about it), when we were given the authority and power to raise the dead? That seems counter productive to me. Jesus would have been going directly against His Father when He raised Lazarus from the dead. If God took Him, why would He allow Jesus to bring the guy back?

God isn’t into doing party tricks for the masses who followed Jesus around.

Another thing we try and blame God for is all the sickness in the world. Again, every time Jesus healed someone, He would have been going directly against His father. It just doesn’t add up.

Okay, here is the Great Commission from Mark 16. (Emphasis mine)

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Another passage from Matthew 10. (Emphasis mine)

6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 

Those are the very words from Jesus Himself. They are in red letters. What part about these do we not believe? How can we change that up in any way, and create our own doctrines or belief systems?

If we aren’t locked into the truth of the Gospel, knowing that the will of God is for us to have life, not death, then when something traumatic in our life happens, we put God on trial. In the back of our minds, we keep trying to convince ourselves that God is good, that the Bible is true, but we will accuse and question Him when the storms of life hit us out of nowhere. People go through life so confused, when it’s crystal clear in the Bible. In the bold, crimson letters of Jesus.

We have been given authority over the earth. We reap what we sow. The power of life and death are in the tongue.

Satan roams the Earth seeking whom he can devour. He is the taker of life. He wants us to remain so blind to the truth of the Gospel. He takes joy in the fact that we haven’t yet realized everything he already knows. The Gospel absolutely terrifies him, and if we grasp the concrete truth of it, we will know how to crush him every day.

Every day of my life is a process of growing in the Lord, His revelations, and His word. It’s amazing the things we learn just by spending time with our Father.

The next time something “bad” happens in your life, don’t put God on trial. Instead, affirm who you are in Christ and realize that death, sin, and Hell have already been defeated.

Full Circle

Nearly fifteen years ago, I stood with trembling knees inside a church nestled among the flowing mountains of Franklin, North Carolina. I looked into the soft brown eyes of a girl who wanted to spend the rest of her life with me. When she spoke the words “I will”, my heart skipped several beats. It was the beginning of a journey that had been predestined before the very foundations of the earth were ever set into place.

A journey stocked full of ups and more than its share of downs, but one that has plodded steadily along. We’ve endured some immensely difficult times, as well as shared in some of the most joyous moments. Marriage isn’t a destination to seek after. It’s a lifetime of growing.

Recently, we experienced a life change like no other. For almost four years, we had immersed ourselves in a youth ministry based out of Charlotte, NC. It was a 24/7, 365, full throttle, non-stop, warp speed kind of lifestyle. We formed incredible relationships with both the youth and some amazing volunteers who were involved. As awesome as it was being a part of ministry in the depths of inner city Charlotte, our hearts began to feel troubled. While 100% of our time was focused on the youth and families of the ministry, what was happening with our own children? Our marriage. Our relationship with God. We didn’t feel God would bless us with a spouse and children, only to neglect them. A fifteen minute devotion at the end of each night was just not cutting it.

You can feed the poor, shelter the homeless, and take care of orphans and widows, but still not have an intimate relationship with Father God. 

All of those are vital, much needed, and part of the Gospel, but if they are merely performed through works, and not by a leading of Holy Spirit from a love motivation, then it’s all worthless. I Corinthians 13 paints a clear picture of what true love is.

There seems to be a push in this generation for everyone to quit their jobs, sell all of their possessions, and move to some long forgotten country or into the hard-pressed areas of inner city USA. God is indeed calling people to do that. There is no question. He’s just not calling everyone.

We don’t need to join a church, ministry, or any religious organization in order to live out the Gospel. Our lives, each and every day, are a ministry to those around us. As long as we are truly born again and become love. We need to seek God first and foremost above everything else.

If our relationship with Him is not on point and rooted in complete denial of self and love for our Father, how can we possibly offer anything to a lost and dying world?

We can’t blindly follow leaders, preachers, and well-known men/women of God. We are commanded in the Bible to test everything. A couple examples are 1 John 4:1 and I Thessalonians 5:21. I feel that too often we get so wrapped up in the aura of our leaders, we forget they are not our ultimate authority. God has placed them in our lives for a reason, maybe even for a period of time, but He is our Father. He loves us like no one on this earth ever could. He doesn’t demand our loyalty in exchange for love. He is the One who breathed life into our dust-derived bodies. He already decided our value and worth when He sent Jesus to hang on a cross.

So here we are, once again nestled deep in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. This is where it all began for us. Where we met, got married, and had our first child. We are completely at peace knowing we are following the lead of our Heavenly Father, no matter what people may say or think about us. We look forward to the circumstances, encounters, and relationships that God will bring across our path. We will spend every moment in sync with the One who created us to live out the Gospel.

Even though we know our journey is far from over, we rest securely in the arms of Papa. We seek His face and desire to know more of His word. We drop to our knees in the secret place and join with Him in communion.

We follow Him one moment at a time.

He has brought us Full Circle.