I'm Baaacckkk!

Ok. . .so it's been a while. . .I know, it's been a long while. Well, here's the scoop. Between hosting two conferences(Singles' Ten Towns Tour and Students' Warfare Weekend a.k.a. Disciple Now) on back-to-back weekends and still holding down the rest of my ministry responsibilities I've not had a lot of extra time. The time I did have was spent crashing at mi casa! I've also been learning some new lessons from the midst of the valley. Some things that weren't so obvious to me until recently. Some - to those of you who know me - will be more than obvious.

So! With all that, for what it's worth, behind us, let us get on to more pertinent matters.

I would like to begin with a lesson God recently brought to my attention while I was in, of all places, the shower. It seems He speaks to me there quite often. I mean let's just put it into perspective - showering and shaving are not things that require a lot of attention from my goofy, A.D.D. mind. Afterall, taking a shower has become pretty routine after 4?-something years, know what I mean? Because of the rather mundane process of showering and shaving this time provides me with the opportunity to focus on God. Now that you know the why's of God meeting with me in the shower let me share with you something He shared with me.

I start with this one because it is so profound. Here it is. . .

Focus on one lesson at a time!

How profound is that?! I don't know about you, but when I'm running through lessons like bananas through a baby my tendency is to keep going, head down, moving foward. I don't stop, I never stop, to LEARN the lesson; I just acknowledge it. And by the end of the day, week, month, or some length of time I haven't really learned anything. So what do I mean by LEARN? Glad you asked.

Learning is not limited to knowledge. Anyone can know stuff, but so what? Does knowing stuff make a difference in your life? Has memorizing football or baseball stats changed your life? Has collecting a cornucopia of trivial facts made a difference in your life? Knowledge is great to have, but what you do with it makes the real difference. It's about application. . .applying what you have learned is what makes the difference. I don't know about you, but it appears I'm not much on application, mainly because it takes time and my time is valuable, and my time is. . .yadda, yadda, yadda. . .blah, blah, blah! It seems to be the same ol' song and dance, doesn't it?

Additionally, many of you, like me, have head knowledge of lessons, but because we somehow associate head knowledge with spiritual growth we fool ourselves in believing that we are growing and maturing. NAY!, I say, NAY! (don't know what that was, just came to me :) ) Head knowledge doesn't mean growth. It just means that we have accumulated a lot of stuff we aren't using.

A-N-Y-W-A-Y. . .

Valley experiencers, let's just slow down a little and graze on the lessons that God is providing. I know I need to slow down and taste God and see that He is good. Don't get in a hurry to learn more than you need to right now. Lessons will come. . .they will always come. What you do with them is what will make the difference!

Grazin' on the Goodness,
Mike