Brothers
and sisters in Christ, and friends in this world, I surrendered to God in
Christ Jesus in March, 1997. Since day one of being a disciple of Jesus, I
prayed, "Lord, You are my Dad, and I am Your boy. I will do as you tell
me."
From
the very first day I was saved, I knew I was supposed to be serving God. I
wanted to do whatever was noble and helpful.
I
started gathering with the Body of Christ a few weeks after beginning my walk
with God. Time passed, I studied the Word at home, came under teaching in my
local church, listened to lectures on tapes, listened to preaching on the
radio, went to Sunday School, attended Bible studies, had wonderful
conversations with other believers, and tried to engage with the Word of God in
every possible way I could.
I
began helping with the children's ministry at church, started leading a Bible
study group, began teaching Sunday School, and even began speaking in various
circles. It became obvious to me that God was giving me a ministry of the Word.
Later
on, I began writing a "daily thought," or, as it quickly became
called, "Light Steps" (named after 1 John 1:5-7). At first, I just
wrote them in a notebook for myself. I did that for over a year. Later, I began
sharing them with others via email.
By
then, I'd begun preaching regularly, and I continued teaching in various
circles. I'd also surrendered to the call of vocational ministry, started my
theological training, and taken a position in a local church as an associate
pastor.
I
kept writing little, daily portions. I just wanted to stay faithful to what I'd
discerned God had told me to do. That developed into writing in social media
formats, a blog, and several books.
A
great many things have happened in these 23 years and 4 months since I started
walking with Jesus. It's been just a bit over 20 years since I surrendered to
my call to vocational ministry.
I
am still trying to simply be God's boy. I want Him to lead me. I want to say
every day that I am trying to love Him and love others.
I
know I am not a great writer.
I
know I am not a great preacher.
I
know I am not a great teacher.
I
don't know that I want to be great. Fact is, I don't want to famous; I KNOW
that. I am totally at peace with not being great in the sense of being famous,
but I do want to grow and pursue excellence.
I
do want to be faithful.
About
a year ago, I realized I was not going to escape from the nagging leading of
God to start doing a podcast. Yes, I know I am not a great podcaster either.
However, again, I just want to be faithful.
My
brother, Shannon Allen, created a website for me, and he maintains it. My
brother, Steven Reilly helped me with some equipment. My friend, Andrew
Liggitt, produces all the podcast episodes and does all the hard work of putting
the audio together and publishing it. My daughter, Katie Bowes, does all the
quality checks and the audio to open and close the podcasts. Wow! What a
blessing these beautiful people are to me! I am just trying to be faithful, and
God uses these people to help me be faithful.
Why
am I sharing all of this? Well, if you've read this far, let me tell you.
It
seemed to me that God kept pressing my spirit to share it.
Maybe
some of you are trying to listen to God and discover how He wants you to be
faithful, and this testimony might encourage you.
I
believe being a humble servant is the pathway to greatness and joy. I believe
being faithful in whatever God gives you to do doesn't make YOU great, but it
brings you near Him who is great. :)
I
wanted to share with y'all the location to connect with the books, the blog,
and the podcast all in one place. Website: lightsteps.live
Brothers
and sisters, I am a thankful man. I think about 1 Samuel 12:24 quite a bit:
"Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For
consider what great things he has done for you." Wow! What great things
God has done for me! I am saved from hell. I am in fellowship with the Father.
I have a great wife. I have wonderful daughters. I have a tremendous church
family. I have people to serve Jesus with.
I
will fail. I have failed.
I
will fall over dead one day.
In
between those failures, and in spite of them, and until I fall over dead, I
only want to fear the Lord and serve Him, and, even if I could stay awake 24/7/365,
I could not honor Him enough for all the great things He has done for me.
Peace
to all who read this.
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