Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I HAVE RETURNED FROM EXILE (JOHN)

Well it has been a month or two since I have written anything, and so I apologize for my silent exile. I confess that this season in my life has been the most challenging, spiritually draining, sweet and radically dependent on God I have ever experienced. In a nutshell, after an intense week or two of prayer and Scripture study, God in His wonderful and mysterious providence led me to resign from the church I served as pastor. This was the most difficult decision I have ever had to face, because I left the church with no ministry to step into, and no job period! I am not crazy (though it has been asked of me), I just understood very clearly that God was calling me and my family to take a radical step of faith. We are doing great, in fact my time with the Lord has been sweeter and more rewarding than it has been in a long time. I suppose one of many lessons from this is that we can discern the voice and call of God more clearly the more dependent upon Him we are. I have never been more dependent on the grace of God than I am right now (no job, a mortgage and a family to feed and clothes). And I have a freedom in Christ that is beyond words to describe. I write this coveting your prayers, and maybe even other testimonies from you about radical dependence upon God. Who knows? Maybe God is leading you to take a radical step of faith that is absolute insanity, yet it is absolute obedience to Him. Blessings!
PS. I will be posting more often so you are not forced to read the mindless rants of Jamie only :)

2 comments:

Joshua Owen said...

John, one has well said that God never used any many greatly whom He did not first wound deeply. There is a Balm in Gilead. We are praying for you and the family.
Josh

Jamie Fugate said...

John, welcome back. We are certainly praying for you man. God will provide in His time and in His way. By the way I was initially offended by your PS (not really) but then I realize that I agree with you, my mindless rants need to be joined by your mindless rants. Love you bro.