Here is an excerpt from the first Newsletter so you can see what this is all about:

...It’s when WE lock God up in a building and give Him our definitions and titles, and tie Him down to rituals and altars—that’s when people can’t find Him.

God is not limited by denomination, by title, by space, time or circumstance.

God has no limits from His point of view, but if I don’t think I can find God in a certain way or in a certain place then I stop looking—so the limits are coming from me.

Too often people make finding God so religious by putting ceremony all around it and requiring memberships and setting up disciple programs to insure it and expect emotional experiences to validate it.

Why don’t we just leave it alone and let it happen whenever and wherever it does.

People encounter God everyday and never know it. God shows up everyday and people are totally unaware.

If you think that sounds odd let me remind you of an Old Testament record in Genesis.

Genesis 28:10 & 11:
And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

If you remember the story here, God gave Jacob a dream and showed Jacob how God was going to take care of him and bless his life. Now here is the interesting part.

Genesis 28:16:
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

So how many people encounter God on a daily basis and know it not?

 Well, let me tell you a short story.

I was flying home not long ago and as I was sitting there in the airport I asked God to do something special for me that day. Now on the surface that might sound selfish, but I know what that request means between me and God.

So, I got on the plane and there was an empty seat between me and a business woman working hard on her papers. As the plane took off I saw her looking out the window and crying.

So I reached over and touched her shoulder and asked if she was alright and she said she was, so I sat back. But I noticed that she continued to cry, so I prayed for her and just held her in my heart for awhile.

Later she started crying again so I spoke to her once more to make sure she was alright and she just smiled  and repeated that she was okay.

At the end of the flight as we were getting off she stopped and thanked me for my kindness. Although she didn’t know it, God had shown up for her, He was right there for her in me.

It’s God in Christ in me, so by showing her God’s love, I brought the presence of God into her life.

Maybe some would ask why I didn’t preach to her, get her to accept Christ and so on. At that moment in time all she needed was kindness and that’s what God provided for her.

Did she recognize it or know it was God?

I don’t know, it’s not my job to control the world or all it’s outcomes, it’s just up to me to be a part of it and do what I can.

I’m not here to convert the world, which is a discussion we will need to have at another time on our journey. My first job is to find God in my own life and then share whatever it is I have with others who have needs—and that’s a fun life.

Somewhere along the way, I think I got my things out of order and it was important that I starting putting first things first.

I understand that Christians are expected to preach the gospel and I am in total agreement with that concept. But there are two main Greek words used for the word “Preach” and there is an order to this process.

The Greek word “kerusso” for preach means to be a herald, to make a proclamation, to make something known without reference to the contents.

The second word is “euaggelizo” which means to bring the joyful message with the idea of teaching in detail.

To often in the past I was more concerned about “teaching in all detail” before I even identified if someone wanted to hear. The first word for “preach” is just to get people to look and if they like what they see and want to know more, then I sit down with them and teach in as much detail as they want.

In Luke 4 Christ said:

Luke 4:18 & 19:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach (euaggelizo) the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach (kerusso) deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.
To preach (kerusso) the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Here the standard is set. Christ came to teach the details of the gospel “to the poor” which simply means anyone who has lack in any area. But first he needed to clarify who wanted to hear all the details, so he started by “announcing” his ministry.

After Christ’s resurrection his showed up to talk to his followers.

Mark 16:15, 20:
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach (kerusso) the gospel to every creature.
And they went forth,  and preached (kerusso) every where, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Here again Christ tells them to announce who they are and what their about to see who is interested first. That announcing is mainly done by our life and how we live it. Like the old song of the 60’s “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

We talk about living a Christ-like life of love, kindness and giving and see who responds. But most Christians want to spend all their time just teaching and teaching more details.

Don’t get me wrong, I love God’s Word and I love the details of it, but I worried that my path was following that of the Pharisees of Christ’s time. I worried that I was becoming more concerned about the details of the scriptures  then applying the simple truths in my life.

And who suffered in Christ’s time when the Pharisees picked everyone apart with details? The people around them that needed God the most.

Christ the greatest teacher of them all basically said, “Rather than hang out with you Pharisees and talk about who is more righteous, I’m going to hang out with the sinners and see who wants to hear the good news.”

So I guess I’m working on getting the process right by first letting my life be the witness by living who I am, sharing what I have and seeing where that takes us. If they want to know more, I’m ready to go. If they don’t care for anymore, then they can settle for their lives having just been blessed by God’s goodness.

The way I look at it now, I have won either way. If they want to know more I can teach them, if they don’t, I have still blessed their lives and fulfilled what Christ said, “to make it known”.

Some may feel like they have failed if they don’t get someone to believe and “join” their faith. But just remember that God didn’t send his only begotten son saying that everyone HAD to believe. God sent His son that WHOSOEVER made a free will choice to believe would have everlasting life.

So if it is good enough for God, I guess it’s good enough for me.

So once again I’m on my quest to find God or actually find out more about God and how to live this life we have been given and I’d like your company. 

I’d like to take you on this journey, but I’m not going to tell you what to believe . You’ve got to make up your own mind, I just want you to listen and think about it.

When we go on a hike in our local State Park, if we don’t like the present view, we just keep walking and maybe the next view will be the perfect one. I may like the high cliff views and you may like the meadows. That’s okay, as we walk together we will get to see both.

Since I don’t have a building or group, I look at you as my congregation, not that I am taking you away from anything you are in, but hopefully adding to all that you have. And for those of you isolated and apart from others, this gives a direct connection with someone to fellowship with through this letter and CD’s.

Each month I will also be sending out two recorded teachings that I will be doing. So you will get the Newsletter and 2 CD’s to help you in your spiritual growth and quest to find out more about our spiritual relationship.

Depending on what is happening that month and what I have been working on, I will add different sections.

This month I have a section for Men Only and another for Women Only (as it says under the title, I hope you take a look at both). There are some specific issues I wanted to bring up and get you to think about which I hope will add to your life.

One month it might be on parenting, another month it might be for singles, I just don’t know yet—remember this is a journey.

So come along and let’s continue to find God together.

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