Balance & Alignment

It's hard to believe that a month has passed since I was in Chattanooga and got to enjoy being with my former supervisor, some close friends that I don't get to see very often, and many staff members from churches all over the southeastern US. I enjoyed this trip for a whole bunch of reasons, but one of those reasons was that I got to share about what I am doing now and how it has its roots in what God taught me while I was preparing for and living in Africa. What I am sharing here is a synopsis of what I shared with them a month ago.

I have learned as a follower of Jesus that there are two critical areas to keep an eye on when it comes to a personal journey with God and intimacy with Christ: balance and alignment.

Balance is about keeping things in perspective and in order - a healthy balance - and it involves all sorts of things like time, money, excercise, study, prayer, family, work, and on and on. If my life is out of balance in one area, everything else is affected.

Alignment is going in the same direction as God's will for my life. As God reveals Himself and His plans and purposes for my life, I have to choose to align myself with His will, or be in a constant struggle against Him.

The decision to go to Africa was one of alignment. I felt like my life was fairly balanced at the time and Kim and I knew that it was God's will for us to go, but it took a lot of prayer and determination to keep aligning ourselves with His plan over the course of time that it took for us to actually be on our way. What I didn't realize at the time was that I needed more than an alignment. I needed a whole new set of tires! In the years of 2005 and 2006 God took off my old tires and gave me a new set, and plenty of opportunities to balance and align them with His will.

My old set of tires took me on a journey that focused on church activities for myself, my family, and the people that I met and spent time with. My new set of tires took me on a journey that is all about intentionally bringing Christ into all of the normal activities that me and my family and friends and neighbors are already involved in. There's nothing wrong with church activities, but if that's the only place to find Jesus, then we're in big trouble.

The journey I'm on now still needs balance and alignment just like before, and still requires corrections just like before, but the journey looks and feels a whole lot different. For example:

• I don't "go to church" any more. I take Christ with me wherever I go and if there are others who know Him gathered together, we are the church in that place.
• I don't evangelize people any more. I take the Presence of Jesus with me and look and listen for God-ordained opportunities to share Jesus with people through my prayers, presence, actions, and words.
• I don't rely on books or classes to disciple people any more. I look for people who are hungry for Jesus and His Word and I invest myself in them and invite them into my life, knowing that together we will grow more and more like Him and can help each other when we fail.

There are many believers, pastors included, who are flying down the highway totally oblivious to the fact that they are out of balance and out of alignment. They are numb from the constant vibration and tired of pulling the wheel one way while God is trying to steer them off the highway and into a service station. Some know something is wrong, but have no idea what to do about it. Many are awakening to that feeling all across the US.

The Fellowship Project is an invitation to followers of Jesus to pull off the highway and into the service station. It is an invitation to get a new set of tires that will allow them to see the Church and the world differently and will allow them to naturally reproduce their faith in others and to see God's Kingdom expand as a byproduct of that.

Is your relationship with the Lord out of balance? Is it out of alignment? Are you ready for a new set of tires for this journey with Jesus? If so, pull into the service station today.

Many blessings,

Shiloh