We walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

How short is this description of real Christians! And yet how exceedingly full! It comprehends, it sums up, the whole experience of those that are truly such, from the time they are born of God till they remove into Abraham's bosom.

These are the words of John Wesley, founder of Methodism. Spoken in December 1788, they prophetically decry the state of the 21st Century western church. They certainly convicted me!

Our lives were neatly arranged according to OUR plan. Seminary degree (check) Pastoral ministry (check) a great house in a familiar environment near family...and the list goes on. My wife was working on tenure as an elementary school teacher and we were serving and working, but operating on auto-pilot (WALKING BY SIGHT)

Western Christianity has made it so easy to "include" God in our Outlook calendar, but not allow Him the right of setting the agenda and that's just where we were as a family. It wasn't intentional neglect or open rebellion, we were actively involved in ministry. But going through routine motions that sapped life from us rather than flowed from living waters inside.

Our call to plant a church in the Pacific Northwest radically changed that! The story of the call was traumatic and exhilarating (and the subject of a future blog entry) But while wrestling with God about our comfort zones, and our commitment levels, and our faith capacity...we moved into a realm of life that cannot be experienced from the shoreline or even from the deck of the boat. We stepped out into the water toward to beckoning voice of Jesus. We began walking by faith, because we were forced to. We began experiencing God's providencial hand, because we were situated to. We came to life in our faith, because we were invited to!

You don't have to plant a church to walk by faith. You don't have to move 2,600 miles or change jobs or move away from family. You do have to waive the white flag of complete surrender before God and trust that He knows best!