October 12, 2007

I have always taken the responsibility of being a pastor of a church very seriously.  One of the responsibilities that go along with providing a God honoring, God glorifying vision is for me to be open and available to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to inspire and encourage people to a new faith or a renewed faith in Jesus Christ.  To be ever sensitive to God’s presence so that there is never a missed opportunity to help someone else expand their commitment to God and to teach them to love the one who loves us more then we will ever fully understand on this side of eternity.  Every day for 35 years, that responsibility has remained present in my mind.  Some days it gets pushed to the back of my consciousness, but mostly it is the major thought and prayer of each day. 

You know how you get a squeak in your car and no matter what you do or where you take it to get fixed no one can make the squeak go away?  Every mechanic has a different idea on how to fix it, and some suggest masking the sound with a louder stereo system, and with each try there is an initial success, but in the end, that squeak always comes back.  

In much the same way, that has been true for me in my ministry. There has always been a “squeak” from some of those around me regarding concern or disappointment with their own spiritual maturity and intimacy with God.  Often they would just “sense” that something was not quite right with their souls.  Different people expressed their feelings in different ways, but in the end, they always felt the cause of their “squeak” was that they were not getting what they felt they needed from the teachings and ministry of the church. 

At one point in my pastoral ministry, when the community of faith I was serving seemed to be at its very best, that squeak got louder then it had ever been.  This time, the most common word use to describe the squeak was the word “deep.”  It was used in the context of “the need a person had to get closer with God” or “some area of the church life that was not spiritual enough.”  Often the leadership would puzzle over what does “deep” really mean?  We did studies and surveys, but in the end, we found we had learned very little from what we had already known.

I bring this all up because recently I had an intense moment of clarity about this subject of going “deep.”  I was talking with Denise, our Community Outreach Director, and something in our conversation led me to ask her if during her time with Journey 2L2 she had ever heard someone mention the word “deep.”  She said she hadn’t, and I realized I hadn’t either.  Here we are this baby church, where everything should be squeaking and yet, all is silent.  And then my moment of clarity came – at Journey 2L2, people are too busy loving and serving others that they aren’t focused on themselves.  Journey 2L2 has been successful in helping people understand the biblical truth that life finds its meaning when we learn the value of loving others.  

When Jesus summed up all of scripture, His two-part statement was that if you get these two things right, you basically got it all - love God and love people.  Both of which point you away from self.  After my conversation with Denise, I sat at my desk with a flood of the peace of God running through me.  I found myself thanking Him so much that I finally understand.  It was always right in front of me, and for so many reason I just did not see. 

So do YOU want to go really “deep” with God?  Our next Journey Home is October 31 – November 4 and I promise you it will not only change the life of the family we are helping, but it will radically change your own.  There was a great article about the project in the South Brunswick Post this week.  Take some time to read it and then let me know how you are going to be a part, who you are going to bring with you, and how “deep” you want to go.  http://www.packetonline.com/articles/2007/10/11/south_brunswick_post/news/doc470d8598cd880422068776.txt

 See you this weekend,
Bob

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