20/20 Forward Vision

In the very near future something new and challenging is about to take place in my life, and because of this I find myself looking often toward the horizon. At the start of 2010, together with a local church in Salinas, Ca we are going to do what we can to help rescue young men from a life of violence and drug addiction in that region by opening a Christian Men’s Discipleship Center, (a recovery home for adult men).

Lately I have been perusing craigslist trying to gather what I can to furnish and prepare our building for at least 10 men to start. As I have been doing this I have also logged more than enough hours on facebook just staying close to the computer so that I may be first for any new posts to craigslist. There is something special that fb offers to its subscribers that I believe wasn't it's original intention, it gives us a unique opportunity to connect with old friends and to relive old memories. I have found that one can get lost looking back, times seem to have been much easier then, life much more carefree and the consequences of our crazy actions so far away in the future that you took on the attitude that chances were you weren't going to have to face them, so it seemed safe to "Eat, drink and be merry". Most of us have learned that the future held much more than we anticipated and life today is a dim projection of the past.

So with all this ahead of me and all that there is behind I am reminded of something I read recently:

Remembering the past can remind us of God's leading, discipline, faithfulness and grace. But it should not cause us to walk backwards into the future. A thoughtful glance back can prepare us to more confidently look and move forward.

Jesus stated, "No one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62

HOW ACCOUTABLE ARE YOU?

A number of years ago I presented myself to my Pastor as a willing disciple. I asked him to teach me the ways and order of Gods Kingdom. More than anything else I wanted to be more and more like Jesus, knowing that to take this path meant that I was going to have to place my trust in the one God had placed in my life to spiritually guide me. Don’t get me wrong, God has always been my source and will always be. Jesus is my pattern and the Holy Spirit is my councilor and helper. But my pastor is my mentor. I was a new convert and was on holy fire for God, there was nothing more I desired in life then to do the will of my Father, to be His willing vessel. I saw this same spirit in my Pastor and knew that God took me to him for a reason. That reason was to mold me and prepare me for not only the battle for my own soul but for the fight for the lost souls of a Godless world. What does it mean to be a disciple of a spiritual leader? I can only explain it to you in the way it was presented to me. There was much said in that office that fateful day when God raised up a young man for the ministry. To be groomed for a calling that consists of much sacrifice, lean times, deep valleys and sometimes fierce opposition, calls for some very serious and sober consideration. This was not like picking out the color to paint your house or what you were going to name your first born, though to some those are big decisions, nobody wants their house to look ugly and clash with the rest of the neighborhood and some men want their first born son to have their name. This was a decision made of a question that was presented to me, not from the need of conformity to a color scheme or tradition, but it was one posed by God.

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “ Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

But the one thing that has stuck to me the most was the WARNING my Pastor gave me about, yep you guessed it, ACCOUNTABILITY. He informed me that to take on this challenge it was going to mean some changes were going to be made in my private life, namely there wasn’t going to be one anymore. My life was going to be from that point on an open book that he can look at and read when ever he felt that there was something that needed addressing. He required openness and most of all honesty from me in all matters, regardless of how shameful or private they were. I know what you are thinking, legalism, cultism, man servant, bondage, but if that is what you are thinking then maybe there is something that you want to be kept hidden in your life. The purpose of this requirement isn’t to bind the individual to the teacher but to purge the stuff hidden in the heart from the one who is to be one day a Vessel of Honor, a Spring of Living Waters to be poured out on a world that is suffering from a spiritual drought. Today I carry with me the fruit from that decision made in that room. I’m not perfect and I’m not completely without sin, but I am sanctified and purified by the Blood of Jesus. If you find yourself hiding dirty little secrets in your closet and wish to be set free from the need to continue to keep them hidden then I advise you to first of all get on your face and repent, but then find a spiritual leader you can trust and make your life an open book to them allowing them to turn to whichever part they want and read the entire chapter. Present to this Mentor a book of non-fiction, open, honest and complete. God is going to honor this and you are going to be blessed.

1 Samuel 2:30 NKJV Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

Unarmed and no Longer Dangerous

Water or Sponge What are You?

Years ago my older brother told me before he moved out of town to direct a Christian Men's home in Stockton, that as a new convert the most important thing that I must do was to get under my Pastor and learn as much as I can from him. Because I was a new convert this concept wasn’t entirely clear to me, so I took what he told me and fed off my Pastor’s anointing. I was like a leach, every time I spent the day with my Pastor I left him feeling tired and empty. And even though that was the case he never sent me away without feeding my eager mind and heart. Slowly it began to be revealed to me that I was a spiritual glutton, all this time I was taking and taking and never giving anything in return, and you know, he never asked either. How many hours of prayer did this man spend on his knees to replenish the spirit that I absorbed from him each and every day like a dry sponge? I mean every day for hours I would be there asking and needing and never giving back. Then one day at church I saw the tiredness in my Pastor’s eyes and his willingness to go on as if he was well rested. It was then that the Lord spoke to my heart and showed me what a true disciple was. He isn’t a taker, his call isn’t to weaken his Pastor, God did not place this man in my life so I can sap him of his energy and strength, He placed me in his life so that I can serve him and lend him my strength. We would talk into the late hours of the night, pray in the morning and still conduct kingdom business in a growing and struggling church. It was my obligation to God to be a bearer of this man’s burdens so he can bear the burdens of the church. Please do not misunderstand this post to be one that preaches bondage, or legalism, cultism or any other kind of ism. This man was an example not a slave owner. Again he didn’t need to ask, God asked me for him. The time would come that I would still be at his house until late, still show up at 5 or 6 in the morning to go to the church to pray, I would still keep him after church or any other meeting to learn from him. But now instead of all of our time together being spent giving to me I spent a lot of that time giving to him. I would show up and wash his car, clean his yard, cook for his family, sweep his garage, (which incidentally was also his office so there was many chances to hear his sermons before he preached them), and it wasn’t until our relationship became a mutual partnership of give and take that I really started to learn what a true disciple was. He is a servant, not only to God but also to man, especially the man of God. I learned so much from this Pastor and other Pastors that I would have the pleasure of knowing, not because I came around and just took and took, but because I came around to serve and carry and they gave in return. Never forget church, your Pastor loves you. He could not do what he does if he didn't, love him in return