Walking the Dog

This is a transcription of a voice entry

I made an interesting observation as I’m walking Holly (my dog), in relating it to a relationship with Christ, in that she tries to sprint ahead of me and I need to correct her, and I get to a point where I need to stop in order for her to settle down and stop and wait for my guidance and direction.

It’s like how I want to sprint ahead with my own pursuits when Christ might be stopped behind me and I need to go back and look for Him in order to determine what the proper path is for me.

I correct with verbal cues and a tug on the leash. One of the other things is that when Holly sees a rabbit, she wants to spring off, like how when I pursue something other than Christ, I lose sight (and all sense) of Him – He may be stopped and I might be chasing a rabbit. It’s also interesting that when I correct her and I stop, that even once she’s calmed down and we start walking again, she’s still looking for that rabbit, even though it’s no longer visible to us, she still wants to chase after it anyway.

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Follow up voice entry:
The other observation I had was that in training Holly, I feel a need to ensure that she will follow my guidance and direction in first sitting and staying still (waiting for me), and then if she will follow me and let me guide her in walking before I start trying to run with her, because if she can’t behave and walk straight beside me while walking, what will she do if I’m running? She could cut me off, she could pull me in another direction, and it’s a lot more dangerous for me with her running if she’s not being obedient to me, than it is if I’m walking.

So does Christ wait for me to stand still and wait for me to come to Him and then once I’m with Him, does He start by walking with me. As He sees that I don’t sprint ahead or easily distracted then He’ll start running with me? I think that’s the case.

Seeking Wisdom and Guidance on BoW

[This is a transcription of an audio recorded entry]

Lord, Jesus, I come to you today in seeking of your wisdom and guidance. As you know, I was doing some reading on the internet last night, and I came across the journaling of Mark Roberts, who’s my pastor back in my teenage years, at Irvine Presbyterian Church. To sum it up, I just feel really… I guess I would say discouraged and just basically unworthy and unqualified for what I feel you are calling me in to. The scholarship that is available out there is so overwhelming. Even just looking at Mark’s work… he’s obviously devoted his life to this and has the time… has made the time to properly study and develop these ideas that he writes about. They’re lengthy and they’re well developed… I just feel like ‘who am I to even be venturing into this area when I’m doing it on such a part-time basis and I don’t have any background in this. I didn’t go to seminary… who am I that anyone is going to trust anything that I say or lend any merit or any credibility to what I write on the site. I could just really use your comfort and guidance and wisdom on this.

Michael… Beginning of Wisdom is the apt name for what you are doing. You are setting a foundation. You are not diving deep into specific topics like some of these other Bible scholars do. That’s not my intent for you. My intent for you is to set a proper foundation for others to recognize and realize and pursue further study of. The truths that you lay out on the site are not, by any means, the whole truth. There’s much more truth and these scholars that you compare yourself to are people who I’ve called to take it to the next level, so to speak.

Lord, I suppose that makes sense. So, one question I have is… the teaching material that I’m writing, is it in the right format? Would it be better for it to be in a blog form, where people can comment on it? Should it be my personal writing versus Beginning of Wisdom’s writing?

No, Michael. The writing needs to be from the perspective of Beginning of Wisdom. As I said, that ministry is meant to represent the beginning of wisdom. Fear of me is the beginning of wisdom, and you’re providing a baseline of understanding… a correct and true baseline of understanding for people to then launch from in their own studies and their own intimate prayer time with me. Keep in mind, however, that scholarship is not the point, it’s not the goal. It doesn’t matter how much you know about me; it matters that you know me, and that I know you. The relationship is what matters. The scholarship path can easily become a distraction in and of itself, even though it is done “in my name”, and is a path that I am protecting you from.

Lord, so how do I know when to stop? How do I know how far to take the teaching material?

Michael, you have the structure that I want for you in the teaching material right now. I do not mean for it to get any more extensive or exhaustive than the structure that you solidified last night. So what I want you to do is build out that structure, keeping in mind that this material is meant to be a launch pad for people’s own intimate study and prayer with me.

Thank you Lord.

Lord, Help!

[This is a transcription of an audio recorded entry]

This is a voice entry about what’s going on right now and I just wanted to express it and record it, so I don’t lose sight of my train of thought on this, and so I can invite God’s guidance and help in getting it resolved.

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Confession

[This entry is a transcription of an audio recording]

Lord I come to you and want to follow your instruction, and start off with not with an invitation, but with sharing and opening up and sharing what’s going on with me.

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Voice Entry

[This is a transcription of an audio recorded entry]

This voice entry is an experiment, if you will, in allowing Christ to speak through me, through my voice as opposed to through my pen. I’m going to approach this prayer the same way that I would approach opening myself up with a journal entry on the computer and see whether it’s something that God wants to use to speak through me or to me. So, here we go… Read the rest of this entry »

First Voice Entry

[This entry is a transcript of a voice-recorded journal entry]

I was thinking today on my way home from work about prayer – the journal entry that I wrote this afternoon – and how it all fits in to the information that’s contained in the Bible, and whether the journal entry is complete, and whether there’s anything else that would need to be added. I was thinking through that and it came to me that there are ideas that other Christians share that, of certain things – of certain ‘prescriptions’ – for how to address God. I was listening to a sermon from Miles (McPherson) and he was saying how the Psalms are written so that we have an understanding of how to address God. I feel like it came to me that perhaps those ‘prescriptions’ are valid, but they are part of a more fundamental approach, or more fundamental requirement (or truth) for hearing from God.

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