"Silent" But Not "Still"

Well, it's been about two weeks or so since I've posted on the blog. Although I've been "silent" during this time, I've certainly not been "still"! The Lord has done some really neat things over the last few days, and I can summarize His work with four words...

1. Replicate

I was honored to be a part of the Replicate conference in New Orleans on October 29-30th. I led a breakout session on Reaching the Next Level, and God encouraged me greatly with the response I received toward the books.

Let me share a little background about why I was so encouraged. You see, some time ago (a couple or so years ago, I guess), my wife and I participated in another conference at New Orleans Seminary called Kaleo (basically, Greek meaning "to call"). This is a conference NAMB (or the North American Mission Board) puts on for Juniors and Seniors in high school and college students who are exploring the possibility of a call to ministry or missions. I spoke in one of the large sessions at this conference, and I also led a couple of breakout sessions.

Well, for my second breakout session, no one showed up! Listen, I mean, NO ONE showed up! I was sitting in my designated room at the appointed starting time with the door opened, and no one arrived. It was just me, my Bible, and Jesus - which is more than enough for any and every situation in life, by the way.

But I must confess, I was feeling pretty discouraged at the time. Then a college student walked by my room. I don't think he was coming to my session because he first walked past my room, then he took a couple of steps backward to check on me. I explained no one was in my session so he asked if he could talk with me. I told him that would be fine - all I had was time!

We had a very good conversation sharing about all God was doing in our lives both through the seasons of spiritual "plenty" and seasons of spiritual "pain". After we talked, we went our separate ways. We talked again either personally or via email since that time, and it always amazed me how this student would refer back to that conversation at Kaleo as a special time God used to encourage him. By the way, he's now serving the Lord through missions in Canada.

Okay, now fast forward to a couple of weeks ago to Replicate in New Orleans. When I arrived early on Saturday morning, I was planning to connect with one of the conferenece leaders to find a place to set my "books" up with order cards so that anyone who was interested in the books could glance at them and take an order card. But I really second-guessed this plan when I arrived. I mean, all the other exhibits were on big tables with tons of info, banners, decorations, candy, brochures, etc. I was going to have a set of printer proofs of the books with a typed-out flyer saying they were not for sale and a stack of business-sized order cards! I decided I wasn't going to worry about it. So feeling a bit discouraged and foolish, I kept the books with me.

I must tell you at this point, I was remembering my empty room at the Kaleo conference and wondering if anyone was even going to show up for the breakout session on Reaching the Next Level. And so after a busy morning connecting with folks and finding out my breakout assignment, I set things up in the room and put everything in God's hands.

Then when the time came to begin the session, I was amazed. People started coming through the door. They filled every seat, stood against the back wall, sat on the floor, and (I found out later) one person said she was sitting in the hallway, I believe! While things were pretty rushed because of time constraints, we had a great time overviewing the books and sharing a few questions and answers.

After the session, folks were coming up to me to get order cards and ask questions about using the books. One youth pastor was interested in maybe using it with his students, another leader was curious about using it for a new members orientation class, one Dad asked about using it as a discipleship tool for his family, etc! I don't know if anything will come from these inquiries, but it was nevertheless very encouraging to me to see how people were responding to the books.

2. Rest

After the Replicate conference, I preached at our Fellowship and led the Lord's Supper the next day (Sunday), and then our family took-off for a few days of vacation. We traveled to Hope, Arkansas to visit some friends. I was able to relax and watch the second half of the Sunday Night Saints game - WHO DAT! We had a great time sleeping in, hanging out, and sharing with our friends about the Lord's work in our lives.

Then we traveled to Missouri and stayed at the Big Cedar Lodge just outside of Branson, Missouri. Man, this place was amazing! The sights were unbelieveable. I've never been to the Ozark Mountains before, but I definitely hope to go again.

You might ask what we did while we were there - we took things day by day! Some of our sweetest friends were with us on the trip, and we just enjoyed sleeping in, taking naps, checking things out around the Big Cedar Lodge area and Branson, and eating some fabulous food. It was so much fun and such a wonderful time of rest!

3. Release

When we returned home from the vacation time, Reaching the Next Level was already officially released. The books are now available through the main distribution channels (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.).

However, I must say that I still think the best deal, at least from what I can see, is to get them through the publisher's website by using the book ad located on the right column of my blog. It seems the prices for the books "fluctuate" on Amazon, for example, but they are the same on the publisher's site. So while you may get one version of the book at a lower price on Amazon, for instance, the other version may be listed higher. Whereas on the publisher's site, the prices for both books are listed at the same discounted amount and set at a certain price which has remained the same since the pre-order phase.

4. Revivals

The Lord also opened a couple of doors to preach for two revivals in the last few days. First, I was with my dear Brother Kevin and his wife Beth (and their precious little son, Silas) at FBC Lockport for a "Discipleship Revival".

Wow! This was a sweet and special time of ministry for several reasons. One reason was that I was sharing preaching time with Bro. Tim, my "father in the faith" and one of my key mentors. What an honor it was to serve in this way.

And another reason was that some of the men who attended the revival were used by God in very special ways in my life over the years. For example, one of the men who attended all the services was another "Bro. Tim" who encouraged me to return to school during a time when I was out of Bible College for a season. And another man was "Bro. A.J" who was the Deacon who used to take me and my older brother to the nursing home to preach on Thursday nights soon after I was converted. Both of these men attended the services on the last night I was preaching which happened to focus on the practical need to invest in others for God's Kingdom purposes. Their lives are an excellent illustration of obedience to Christ's command to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20). I will always be personally thankful for the ways they invested in my life!

Second, I was honored to preach on Tuesday night (11/9/10) at FBC Kentwood. Pastor Joey there was such a wonderful host, and the fellowship with the Believers was very special. One of the men from our Fellowship in Hammond offered to drive me up to the meeting since he was a former member of FBC Kentwood, and we had a delightful time visiting together during the round-trip drive and a late-night breakfast at Cracker Barrel on the way back.

Again, as you can easily see, while I've been "silent" on the blog, God's not been "still" in my life! By the way, I think here's a great principle to always remember: When God is "silent", He's not "still". You know, there may be times when you feel like God isn't "saying anything" to you, but when God is "silent", He's not "still" because He's always working to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect timing for the glory of His great name (see Romans 8:28)!

Blessings...