A Spiritually Formative Defining Moment

Every spiritually formative defining moment in my life has happened because I was in a place where those kind moments happen. It wasn’t in the daily grind, but my daily grind was forever changed by those moments.

I experienced a marriage and fathering defining moment at a fathering conference I attended when my kids were young.

A theological game changer came while reading a book on the holiness of God.

The entire trajectory of my ministry and of our church was marked by listening to a one-hour, online workshop on the story of God. 

I can recount at least a half dozen leadership game changing moments that happened at various Global Leadership Summits.

The vocational direction of my life was set at a youth missions conference when I was in tenth grade. 

I could list more, but let me get to the point. 

Five Oaks is hosting the Perspectives in World Missions course starting in January. I know a lot of people who have attended it, but I don’t know any for whom it was not truly a spiritually formative defining moment in their lives. (Get detailed information here.)

Watch the video. Ask yourself: “When was the last time I put myself in a place where defining moments happen?” There will be an informational table in the Commons in two weekends so you can find out more about the course. (If you're reading this online, go here for the video.)


10 Tweets on "God's Providence" (Ruth 2)

Here's my sermon from the past weekend in 10 tweets.

1/ Haven't you seen the documentary film series on the dangers of time travel? Back to the Future.

2/ Ruth is a book about the providence of God. He's not bound by the past or the future, but works out his plan in his time and in his wisdom

3/ Life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and troubled road. (Piper)

4/ God’s providence calls for action and invites engagement in his purposes. 

5/ The moral is that we have work to do because God is at already at work on his purposes, and he invites us to act and engage for his purposes

6/ Waiting is sometimes the hardest work, but God is at work in the waiting. 

7/ By the end of chap. 2, they are still poor and widowed and extremely vulnerable.

8/ You can't hurry God.

9/ When we have to wait, we learn to depend on God right now. 

10/ Waiting may sometimes be the hardest work, but it's not the wasted work of worry.