Manchester today, Sheffield tomorrow

I'm typing from the gratis hotel web access. The flight was good, yet I believe God was already trying to teach me. Here's what happened.

During the flight I was working on a message I will be giving the first week in August. The series is entitled Summer On The Beach and is about the encounters that the disciples had with Jesus along the shores of the Sea of Galilee that challenged them to follow Jesus ever more closely. This first message in the series will deal with the reality that Jesus did not call his disciples to "believe" in certain theological principles or "act" in accordance with certain behaviors and laws. He simply said, "Follow me!" "Following" is the simplest action of a disciple. It is also the greatest action of a disciple. There is no truer sign of commitment than to follow- wherever Christ may lead.

Having said that, I fell a sleep for a little while on the trip from Detroit to Amsterdam (my first flight before connecting to Manchester). Suddenly, I was awaken with a thought-- "Pray for the woman two seats to my left. Pray for her sinuses." So, I did. When I looked over, I saw that she indeed was having some kind of problem. But, instantly I knew that simply praying wasn't what the Holy Spirit meant. I was supposed to tell her that God told me to pray for her. I was supposed to pray with her.

Let me tell you, I knew this is what Christ wanted me to do. He was saying to me, "This is the depth of followership that I am looking for. Are you ready to do this? Are you ready to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit? If so, I will lead you to places you have not been and cannot get to without following me."

I was not. That's right. No big discipleship success story here. For reasons I can't even explain, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It was such a struggle as I'm sure Christ knew it would be. I have so much growing to do yet and so much more I can give to Christ. Afterall, He asks for no less than all of me. He does not have that yet. So, I ask Christ's forgiveness and I ask for your prayers. Pray that I would die to self so I can live for Christ. Pray that I would be able to follow wherever he may lead. Pray, as I do, that this is just the first of many such opportunities on this trip.

Well, it looks as though I will not have access to the web until Sunday night. So, it appears that it will be Sunday or Monday until you hear from me again. However, I should be able to blog each day after that. Based upon what has happened already, I know I will have a lot to share.