And we're back...

Yes, it's been awhile. It's not been due to lack of motivation or material, but because I've been dealing with one topic for quite some time. It started from a simple email from a friend in response to a blog about a month and a half ago, and has enveloped my spirit since. I am just chomping at the bit to post it, but I need to clarify a few things in my mind before I post. Not to make sure I "know it all" but so I am not just jumping into it without giving God (and others) time to speak to me on it. I will say it has directly to do with the concept of living a life of forgiveness. Emily Allison started it, and Papa Ken (Ken Sumrall if you don't know who that is) poured gasoline on the fire with his book "Forgive and move on: a case for unconditional forgiveness". (You can get that book and any others he has written here http://www.shop.kensumrallministries.com/main.sc I strongly encourage it, or if you live close to me, just ask to borrow them) Anyway, I hope to post that blog within a week or two.

That said I did have something I wanted to share today. This past week Mom, Dad, Jennifer, Kaylee and I were at the CFN Family Conference in Peachtree City, GA. CFN stands for Church Foundational Network, and it is the group of ministries that we at Cornerstone Fellowship are a part of. If you want to know more about it, just ask me and I'll be happy to share, but for the sake of space I won't go into that now. It was a 3 day conference and was awesome as always. I could post so much about what went on, but there was one item that I wanted to share, something that really resonated with me.

Pastor Jack Hollis is one of the Apostolic Council members and he spoke at the evening session on Wednesday. He was talking about a lot of things and he just almost in passing made reference to something that hit me right in between the eyes... in a good way. In 1 Samuel 17:34-36 it says
"But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God."
Now if you've grown up in church you've heard this story, and it's a good one. But Pastor Jack made a comment about this particular situation that I'd never thought about. He said (and I'm paraphrasing, also Jack is from the south, so read this with a southern drawl, ha) "My daddy sent me to tend the sheep. Now he didn't plan on bears and lions comin at me, but he knew it was a possibility when he sent me. So he musta thought I could handle it." I loved that thought. And God is no different. He has called me to ministry. He has called me to be faithful to Him. God knows that tough stuff is gonna come, some of it by his design, some just because of the world of sin we live in. It might not be easy, but He knew it was coming when He sent me, he must think I can do it.

How encouraging is that? I'm a guy who tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve, to be swayed by how I'm feeling in the moment. Sometimes I get discouraged awfully easily and just can't seem to see the forest for the trees. But if I truly trust God, which I do believe I do, then I can trust that He won't send me into something that's more than I can handle in Him. As Jennifer and I try to figure out this thing God has called us to with missions and ministering in Arthur, it is a huge comfort to know that even though we are up against HUGE strongholds of religiousity and apathy, God knew it was here and would come against us, and he called us anyway. He must think we can do it. Sweet.

Anyway, that's my thought for the moment... there's a small chance of another post this evening... but I'm still sortin that one out. I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions. I pray all is well with you. God bless.

-Me