I am Changing

My wife and I attended a “SoulCare Retreat” in September of last year. It was 2 days of seeking God and growing in our understanding of how to spend time with the most splendid and supreme being in the universe who provided a way of salvation for us through the life, death, and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ the Lord. That is when I began changing.

When someone says they are changing the most natural thought is that he is changing from something bad to something good. This is not what I mean. Instead, I believe I am changing from something good (a child of God) to something better (a child of God more committed to the Kingdom of God than ever before). This change has been gradual, but I find it invigorating. It is also picking up speed. Upon returning from the retreat, I began doing some of the things that were encouraged during the retreat. Namely, spending more time in concerted prayer and more time in solitude with God.

Additionallly, my wife and I were also blessed to attend the Tennessee Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Brentwood, TN during the month of November. I was encouraged by several of the messages and fellowship with co-laborers in Christ. One of the messages that impacted me was delievered by Rev. Robby Gallaty. He spoke of a change God had wrought in his life through times of solitude with Him and through listening to sermons of the late Rev. Manley Beasley, Sr.

Upon returning from the annual meeting I began praying in a different posture (bowed to the ground with my forearms pressed against it) and listening to sermons from Rev. Beasley. These 2 disciplines combined with daily Bible reading and the reading of Christian books such as Knowing God by J.I. Packer, Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill, and books by Jared C. Wilson and Philip Yancey have encouraged my soul and caused something of a personal revival to occur within me.

In recent days, I have been reading The Life and Diary of David Brainerd with Notes and Reflections by Jonathan Edwards. This book about David Brainerd, who was a missionary to Native Americans in the 1740s, has possibly enriched me more than any book other than the Bible.

So…I am changing. Part of the change is a greater desire to be dead to the world and more fully alive to Christ. And part of this “being more fully alive” is to return to writing thoughts and reflections of faith, life, and whatever else my Lord may desire me to address on this blog.

At one point, I was an every weekday blogger. I do not believe that I will resume so strict a schedule. However, I do plan on writing here more frequently. It would do my heart good and hopefully encourage you if you could find time to engage with what I write. If you followed this blog in the past, you will probably notice a difference in my writing style going forward. This is reflective of the change God is making my life.

I pray for all of us to grow in this endeavour and may we all be in the process of being changed from someing good to something better.

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