Why Another Blog?!

This has been a long time coming.

People have been bugging me for years to start writing in one form or another, but with the never-ending flood of books and blogs already being pumped out, the lingering question for me was always, “Does there really need to be another voice out there?” After all, Proverbs 17:28 offers the rather sharp and somewhat sarcastic reminder that even a fool is thought to be wise if he keeps silent. Don’t know about you, but that doesn’t exactly leave me clamoring to want to be heard.

But during a recent conversation with a friend of mine, Jeff Adams, (a guy who speaks the Word of God with remarkable boldness and candor), he issued a challenge to me completely out of the blue. We had never even spoken once about this, but he said, “Phil, I want to encourage you to start writing!” And there it was again… for the umpteenth time. What exactly was going on here? Why have so many people been asking me to write? I mean, nobody has been asking me to sing, or paint, or dance. (Although you should see my moves!) This writing thing was just something I couldn’t ignore any longer.

For whatever reason, the time for doing this has never seemed right before, but now it does. That scares me a little because, honestly, my life and my schedule are already very full. I don’t need to add anything to my plate just because it’s the “in” thing to do, and blogging certainly falls into that category. I’ve never been one to follow the crowd, so writing in the form of a blog is something I’ve been extremely reluctant to do. But this is one of those deals where God is definitely pursuing me to do this, so here we go, even though it feels like being thrown in the deep end… again.

I’m no stranger to being thrown in the deep end by God. Starting a church from scratch was a “deep end” experience. Being asked to get up and teach every Sunday is another one, especially for a guy who dropped out of a public speaking class in high school at the end of the first week. And being prompted by God to write and actually have something of significance to say for His Kingdom… well, that’s a bit overwhelming. But the truth is, you can’t learn to swim without getting wet, so if God needs to keep throwing me in the deep end to stretch my faith and make me more useful for His mission, then I say, “Grab the floaties and let’s go!”

So let me ask you something. What “deep end” have you been avoiding? You know what I mean… that one thing God has been bugging you about; that step of obedience, that leap of faith that you’ve been putting off. Here’s the thing. God isn’t going to forget about it. There were times in church when I was a boy that I would act up, (it’s unthinkable, but it’s true,) and my mom would look over at me from the other end of the pew and quietly ‘mouth’ the words, “You’re gonna get a whippin’ when we get home!” Oh man, I would pray non-stop through the service and the ride home that she would forget all about it. She almost never did. But on those rare and wonderful occasions when it did slip her mind, my rear end and I rejoiced with exceeding gladness!

But God’s memory is a tad better than my mom’s. So what you need to know is, if there’s a deep end God has called you to — be it a month ago, or ten years ago — no amount of running, hiding, or trying to “distract” Him with other things is going to make Him forget. I tried this for an entire year when God first asked me to help start LifePoint Church. I did everything I could to get God to think about something else, but He never did. The fact is, God knows what He’s doing when He gives us an assignment, even if it scares our socks off. And you know what? It probably will scare our socks off, because God’s calls are always bigger than us. They should be. After all, He’s God and we’re, um… not.

I know what it’s like to have the living daylights scared out of you when God calls you into the deep end. I shared a little about one such experience in my About page. Many of the greatest heroes in the Bible stood in fear with their knees knocking together when God called them into the deep end. They were no different than you and me. But here’s the incredible thing. When they did dive in, God did amazing, astounding, miraculous things through their lives! As someone once said, “If you want to accomplish something you’ve never accomplished, you’re going to have to do something you’ve never done.”

So come on, let’s take the plunge together; you, me and God, into the deep end. Let’s say yes to whatever He’s asking us to do for Him, and let’s see what amazing things He will do as a result. And, hey, why don’t you share your stories with me of what God is doing in your life? I’d love for us to take this journey together!

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