As I See It…

My dear readers, now that I’ve completed our study through the Gospel of Luke, I’m going to take a short break from our BLOG TALK series. For one and a half years now, I’ve been blogging my way through the New Testament books of Colossians, Ephesians, Acts and the Gospel of Luke. I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey with me and indeed, I plan to resume my Blog Talk series in the near future.

As many of you know, Sandy and I are just coming off a ten-week sabbatical. It began the moment I stepped out of the pulpit on Memorial Day weekend, 2011 and officially ended on Monday, August 8^th. We’re now in the “re-entry” phase of the sabbatical which includes us getting back into the saddle of day-to-day ministry but not preaching on Sundays until the end of the month. The ministry team at our church has done an absolutely marvelous job of covering us while we were gone. The early returns tell us that the church did just fine, thank you, without their brave commander at the post. I sensed as much going into this sabbatical. Once again, it proves that the senior pastor is highly overrated as the miracle-worker who keeps the church together. I guess the scriptures are right when they say the church actually belongs to Jesus and He simply allows it to be “on loan” to His people while He is away.  My prayer as I return to my highly-esteemed position is that all the good stuff that occurred in my absence will not be lost as the commander-in-chief steps back on the ship! Say…who put that banana peel on the walkway?

One of the most common questions Sandy & I are being asked by a lot of people right now is, “So, how was it?” or “What did God show you?” In all honesty, one of the reasons for beginning this blog series is to help answer those great questions. But as I’ve learned over the years, when God speaks, you want to pay close attention, writing down things as you go. Journaling is just that. Writing down thoughts and jotting down little ramblings. Today, in our electronic society, blogging has pretty much taken the place of journaling. So here goes.

Over the next few weeks or so, I’m going to jot, ramble and muse over some of the “stuff” I got while on our ten-week sabbatical. Like most of my blogs, they are written primarily for me so that I can have a place to go back to and remember the stuff God has been showing me. If you want to read along, welcome. If you’re bored at times, I certainly can excuse you for that. I will do my best to avoid showing you “slides” of my travels. There’s nothing more painful than sitting through several hours of vacation slides of your best friend. Right?

So bear with me. Next time, the journey begins…