Faith Based Living

The journey to my current faith walk has been so extraordinary, it inspires, in me,awe for the living God

Coming from a family of lip service and non belief, head knowledge and denigration, that the Spirit would break in on me at such a young age and I would continue to have urgings to search and clues to follow into the deeper in and higher up, is remarkable.

This weekend, when I examined my current fascination with Joel Osteen's material that retrains my brain to think in terms of a God who desires to bless me, I saw a parallel to my respect and desire to learn from Joyce Meyers. I was working from unbelief to belief with her and now I am working from Spiritual riches to riches in the natural with the Osteen teachings.

Both of those are so extraordinarily far from my foundational experiences in the church. I come from mainline club status. Rules and rituals girding the loins of a closeted faith enmeshed with an organization and building that neither breathes in nor expires in faith.

I am astounded to find that unbelief is not an issue for me anymore.

So too, I know soon, the issue of wealth and opening myself up to monetary blessing in a big way from God will eventually be a non issue for me. It will be fun to be past that as an obstacle.

Also this weekend I thought about being a church reject. It hurts. I love the Body of Christ so much and it pains me that people with less faith are able to be gatekeepers of faith. I don't like not being recognized.

Sitting in the wonderful Norman Cathedral that is St. Mark's, on the side wall today as I came in late, I marveled at my willingness to go to yet another path. But clearly God has been leading me in ways that culminate in liturgical worship.

I wish pastors would let me teach them. They are missing so much. They spend time only with their own congregations. They have to wear the mantle all the time. The collegiality frequently breeds familiarity.

None of the Dove. None of the Lion. I want to help them develop a relationship with the Dove and the Lion.

So, I will pay very close attention to the thin silence and not jump ahead but only act on that which I discern. And maybe.....who knows... that might be where I end up after all.