Wonderful Parts of Life

It's awesome to see how God works. A couple of years ago, I swore I'd never come home. God brought me home. I swore I'd never want to go to work at my church; God has opened the door for me to work for my church full time. True is the Biblical principle: God's ways are higher than our ways. I'm looking forward to the new challenges this year will bring; I'm also looking forward to the opportunities God has yet to open to me. Who knows where I will be this time next year?

God's working....

God's been doing a lot of work in my heart recently; a lot that has to do with life, and my life as a Christian. First, my faith and prayer life are too small. Think about it; we don't have to have faith anymore. Food is everywhere; our needs are met. We rely too much on our own common sense. It's killing our faith. And, without the need for faith, our prayer life falls. We pray 3 seconds a day and wonder why God doesn't work. We pray for a minute, preach for an hour, and wonder why our churches continue to fall and our country is torn up. What a mess. God take me to a place where my faith will grow, and I will have no choice but to fall on my face before you.

Secondly, I've failed the Gospel. I've become just like a lot of other Christians; I believe if I go to church three times a week; do a little visiting and serve in some ministry in the church that I've done my duty. What a lie from the pits of hell. Paul had such a burden for people that he wished himself accursed that they could be saved; he says in I Corinthians that he has made himself a slave for the sake of the Gospel. And I think I've done my part by working with kids one day a week and passing out a couple of tracts. Man, how stupid am I! We live in a world that needs to see Jesus; they need to hear of His love for them, and see a living example of it.

Sometimes I wish God would take me to the place where all that existed was me and Him; where all the distractions were taken away. I've gotta change....

Thoughts on Fire.

First, it has been a while since I've been here. I thoroughly plan to change that. Just want a place to post my thoughts and blatherings. A lot has changed in my life recently. I went from having my entire future planned to having seemingly nothing. I went from having someone in my life that I truly cared about and loved to being alone. I went from having a purpose to really not knowing what is next. God has been doing a lot. I know He does things for a reason; some of those I'm beginning to see. I'm looking forward to what's next.

That having been said; God gave me some thought recently on fire. What does it mean for a Christian or a group of Christians to be "on fire?" Fire to me before has always indicated life...something burning. True, it is something burning, but with fire, most often it involves something being destroyed. Think about it a minute, a house fire, or a car fire. Something is being consumed. Perhaps true fire from Christ in our lives involves something of us being consumed. Perhaps it is something wrong that needs to be purged, or perhaps it is something that stands in the way of Christ's further working in our life. Fire also involves conversion. It's actually the scientific process whereby physical mass is converted into heat energy. Likewise, with fire from Christ, are we not being converted to something greater?

In the Old Testament, fire was used to consume the sacrifices. Fire was used to purify metals. Hmmm, are we really on fire today?

And, what about the source of fire. Fire comes from one of several places. True, it can come from other fire. But, it always has to have a source. Fire comes from either friction or heat. When using a match, it is the friction of the surface vs. the phosphorous of the match that sparks the flame. In a lighter, it is the flint rubbing the striker that provides the ignition to the gas. Fire can come about a third way; intense heat. Scientific studies show that it is possible to apply such intense heat to items that they explode into flame. So, we deduce that all fire comes from intense friction or intense heat.

Some cool things about fire: it provides light. God's fire in the lives of His followers provides light to a darkened world. Fire also spreads. When burning something, wood, leaves, etc., it is always necessary to clear around the pile. Why? To keep the fire contained. True Christian fire will spread; it needs merely to begin. And, fire will always change things. It always leaves things different than it was.

So, are we on fire? Are we willing to experience what it takes to get that way, are we willing to be used of God to start a fire? Are we willing to be consumed? Are we willing to be converted? What will it take for true fire to begin again? History shows that fire has begun for a number of reasons, most of which is intense persecution. What will it take for us to be consumed with a Godly fire that will change and make things different? Am I willing to be the first?