July 24th, 2011
Sitting in a small room at a youth camp in Chicago, I had a revelation. I have been one of the eleven disciples who DIDN’T get out of the boat! There was God! RIght there in front of me! All I had to do to experience the supernatural, was to step out of the boat. I mean, what is so hard about this concept “Get out of the boat”? What’s the worst that could happen? Forfeit our income? Forfeit financial security for my family? Move into the desert alone and be thousands of miles away from all of our friends and family?
For the past 9 months, we have been asking God to show us where he would have us for this next season of our life... We sent resume’s all over and we had a few bites we seriously considered, but at the end of the day, we did not hear the voice of God... I am going to be 32 years old soon and one thing I know, is at this point of my life, I do not care to just “Find a pastoral position for the sake of being in “Full-time” ministry. I NEED, I desire the RIGHT place for us to do ministry for years to come. A place that we can have a real impact on a community. A place my daughters can grow up in and call home. A place where we can see God do the impossible. After much prayer and MANY tears, we found that place!
About a week and a half prior to my youth camp experience, Charity and I were in Cottonwood Arizona at a small church that asked us to come and see if we might be the right fit for the position of lead pastor. But this story should really start six months ago... Six months ago to the day to be exact!
In the early morning hours of January 24th, God gave Charity a dream. She was standing in front of a packed church speaking. She spoke about expecting the unexpected. Expect to hear from the Lord. To pray like Job did, without ceasing until he heard an answer from the Lord. Be willing to wrestle with the angels for the promise of God like Jacob did. She woke up the morning of the 24th and immediately began to write this dream down in her journal. I want to share a quote from her journal entry that morning. This entry was the words she spoke to the Church in her dream. “I have been praying for this group of people for six months! I know that this is an encounter at this time, for this place. It is an unexpected encounter from God.... God promised his provisions and his blessings on us if we would wait on him”.
Here we are, exactly six months to the day from Charity’s vision. It just so happens that the church in Cottonwood Arizona voted this morning for us to come to Arizona and help re-plant this small church. I do not wish to over spiritualize anything but I can not ignore the voice of God. I can not ignore the way he has orchestrated the events leading up to today. I will not ignore his plan for our lives.
August 3rd, 2011
Here we are. Only a couple of days from loading a UHAUL and heading to Cottonwood. We have felt God's leading and believe he is in this... However, there is still a storm raging around us. We sometimes forget the fact that when Jesus pulled Peter out of the water when he "Lost faith" or took is eyes off of Jesus and got focused on the surroundings, the storm did not stop until AFTER they got back into the boat. Yes, Jesus saved Peter from drowning. Yes, Jesus taught him a lesson on faith. But more importantly, He is teaching you and me that even though he calls us to specific tasks, the storm does not stop raging around us! Sometimes the winds keep blowing and sometimes the financial problems keep coming, but the difference is, JESUS IS WALKING WITH US BACK TO THE BOAT! Showing us what it feels like to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and not have one concern about it because we know that we are walking hand in hand in the creator of Heaven and earth. STEP OUT OF THE BOAT! FOLLOW THE VOICE OF GOD! DO NOT BE AFRAID! DO NOT BE CONCERNED ABOUT FINANCES.
Matthew 6:30-33
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. - The Message
