Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Screwtape and Wormwood



I had over 32 hours of driving this past weekend and instead of hitting the shuffle button on my iPod as I usually do I was inspired to attempt the Audiobook button on my itunes...

I was on a mission to find a very compelling set of resources that would hold my attention as well as urge me on from glory to glory. Since this was a new endeavor I first began looking online and found some great self/spiritual help style books like "The Principle Of The Path" by Andy Stanley and "Radical" by David Platt...great reads..err hears. Very inspiring.

However the Christian Book store provided my best resource, C.S Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" in dramatic audio. What a life changing compilation! It was perfect timing too. I was entering a weekend of spiritual warfare as the Wild At Heart conferences purport to be. The parallels draw from the book and the conference where eriely familiar.

What if you had a backrow seat into the schemes of your enemy? What if you knew his plan of attack and your own weakenesses from your enemy's perspective? I felt more prepared for the enemy's attacks and had my defences ready.

"The story of your life is the long sustained assault of your heart by the one who knows who you could be...and fears you."

The fact is there is an Enemy and he hates your guts! His greatest attack is to convince you that he doesn't exist all the while keeping your head in a fog about spirital things.

"All sophisticated people are persuaded that there is no hell or that other place" CS Lewis

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Men's Retreat Colorado

God speaks. He fights. He is dangerous. After encountering God in this way, my heart is sad for it to come to an end. Then God speaks again..."this is only the beginning, son." Hope rises and my courage returns.

This weekend was full of healing and restoration. God refined and cleared the vision he has for my life...but his greatest gift this weekend was to hear his voice. And what he said about me, my heart, my manhood...it just slayed me.

I am just too emotional to unpack all that God said in this post and I am still on the road on my way back to California, but know this there is a love story God is telling and it is set in a world at war. God said "pick up your sword, mighty warrior and pierce the darkness. Start with the dark parts of your heart and fight like hell for yourself and your family." That's what I intend to do...Want to join the fray?

Monday, April 11, 2011

Our Adventure


Kingmaker Ministries is now ONLINE! http://www.traildad.org/ Check out the site and give some feedback. How does it look? Is it missing anything? Is everything clear and understandable?

My son, Caleb and I got back from the bluffs just outside of Bakersfield, Ca. We scrambled up a class 3 mountain side and perched ourselves on top of the highest ridge just west of the Kern River. From a distance the mountains have a greenish brown hue, but up close the hills sang with purple tall grass highlighted by wildflowers. The huge Sierra Nevada mountains were the back drop of this excursion and no car, no plane, or voice could be heard for miles. Just open country as far as the eye could see.

I shared with Caleb that its not everyday that a dad and son can get out like this. Many dads, in fact don't have time for such an excursion. However, I chose to be there right then. Yes, I had to keep stopping so he could get stuff out of his shoe and I had to carry his Batman backpack part of the way because it was too heavy. He wanted to go back a few times as he saw how high we were and how far the truck was, but we pressed on. We got to a place of quietness and closeness, he rarely stopped talking but the low hum of his 6 year old voice was over shadowed by wisping wind over the ridges. I could feel the pleasure of God at that moment when I crouched down to take a picture with my son. He is so curious, so imaginative, so unaware of an absent love. I am so grateful that I get to share a father's love with my son. I am so grateful that he will never have to question if he matters to anyone. He gets to walk through this life knowing his father loves him and that love is close, affectionate, and generous.