So I started reading Erwin Raphael Mcmanus again. You'll have to scroll all the way back to August if you can't remember the last book I read of his. That is actually the book that started me off on this book club. Last week I was really trying to draw as close as possible to God. What better way to do that than to read "Knowing God". I mean how can you find Gods refuge if you don't know anything about his. You don't even know where to look. Well life has change speeds and I'm find myself with a lot of open time to just think about my future. What is God going to teach me in the last 20 of this amazing journey. God has had this trip on my heart for almost 4 years. WOW. The best part is his he's been planning this trip, and been planning all it's life changing experiences on the dawn of Adam and Eve. I mean how powerful is that. Could he have any more time to turn this trip into a launching pad for my ministry. I don't see how it couldn't.
Back to the book club. THe book is called "THE BARBARIAN WAY" and I just read a very interesting thought about ministy. I'm going to butcher this I know but try and fallow me. "Do you think John the Baptist felt sage being in the center of the will of God.........." "If the safest plave to be is in the center of the will of God then how do you explain the life and ministry of Stephen-- one sermon and then stoned to death." What that a full ministry. Acording to God's will for his life, you bet. I think you can guess how long the chapter dug into the ministry of Paul. In the word of Zac Gardner, "I've got a fire in my bones." When life gets hard and you have to dig down really deep to and pray "Jesus take the wheel" (Carrie Underwood). What do we do next. Do we thank God for covering our butts or do we click over and say God is there a reason this happened, what ministry are you guiding me to. What "Barbarian vision" is placed in front of me and how many time have I ignored it.
This might get a little long but this short little history lesson in the front of the book gave me a little motivation to read more. Like any guy, I was pulled into a sub story of William Wallace, come on Braveheart, Mel Gibson.
"I was standin in the middle of the Paisley Abbey where Wallace was educatedas a boy. I took my time as I looked reverntly at the stained glass that remains a memorial to Wallave's heroics (he didn't look anything like Mel Gibson), yet it was a story about Robert the Bruce that struck me most and has stayed with me ever since. Robert the Bruse was a Scottish noble whose character is most remembered for betraying Wallace, but he later rose up to lead Scotland to freedom after Wallace's execution. WHile we were standing in theabbey, Scottish pastor James Pettigrew shared a tale of Robert the bruce that is a mixture of history and legend. He dued ub 1329 at the age of fifty-four. Shortyly before his death, Robert the Bruce requested that his heart be removed from his body and taken on crusade by a worthy knight. James Douglas, one of his closest friends, was at the bedside and took on the responsibility. The heart of Robert the Bruce was embalmed and plaved in a small container that Douglas carried around his neck. In every battle that Douglas fought, he literally carried the heart of his king pressed against his chrest. In the early spring of 1330, Douglas sailde from Scotland to Granada, Spain and engaged in a campaign against the Moors. In an ill-fated battle, Douglas found himself surrounded, and in thie situation death was both certain and imminent. In that moment Douglas reached for the heart strapped around his neck, flung the heart into the enemy's midst, and cried out. "Fight for the heart of you king!" ............
That is why I'm reading this book. It's only down here for 10 more days so I'll be back to J.I. Packer in 10 days or less. But sometimes you just need to get pumped up. I don't want to carry around heart, but I don't want to wash off the dust of me getting down and dirty down the ministry and will of the Lord. The ministry does'nt stop when I get home it's just going to be different. I've had 4 month to prepare for battle, and fallow the will of God for my life. He's had to starighten my path so many times maybe I should just go straight to begin with. The book is called "The Barbarian Way" and if No Shave November turns into a success I may have a carreer working for Gieko if it's God's will.
Scott Ekstrom
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