Changing Directions – Church Start Anyone? I Think Not.

A Change in Plans

In my final year of seminary, I had the opportunity to take a class on church starts. The professor had started several churches and was the author of several books on the topic. I could not be in better hands. Who else to learn from when it came time to starting a church? I no longer had the intense desire to start a church as I did in my earlier years, but I did not want to miss the opportunity to learn about it should I be mistaken about my future ministry.

The class was fascinating. The information invaluable. The insight to everything that is required and involved with starting a church was mind boggling. The wealth of information I gained was worth every moment of class time. There was only one problem. My desire was gone; I knew halfway through the class that I was not supposed to start a church. It was clear, starting a church or leading a pastorate was not my calling at this time in my life.

The final paper for the class required developing a complete plan from start to finish on how to start a church. This would be a problem for me as I no longer had the desire. I spoke to the professor who quickly spoke up and asked me what ministry I would like to start. It only took a few moments before I responded, “I want to start a spiritual retreat center.”

Yes, that is right. The person who griped, moaned, groaned, and complained all while carrying a huge boulder on their shoulder about the spiritual retreat day in Formation Two had become a converter. Not only did I want to open a spiritual retreat center complete with a chapel, prayer gardens, walking trails, and conference center, I wanted to take it further. I wanted to offer a secluded place where people in need could come and take a respite. Clergy, caregivers, and those seeking solace would have a place to stay for a night or a week while they rested their souls and grew closer to God. My plans included offering spiritual guidance and counseling free of charge to those in need.

The professor approved the project for my paper, and I was off and running with an outline, budget, and step-by-step plan on how to open the spiritual retreat center. The idea for the spiritual retreat center was born out of my spiritual war and the spiritual growth that came during my transformation. My fire was back and for the first time in three years, I was excited.

If you are into church planting, I highly recommend his book, and no, I am not getting compensated for it. He is seriously an all around good guy and Christian. His name is Rosario Picardo and you can check out his books at https://www.amazon.com/Rosario-Picardo/e/B00JJWEDJY?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_4&qid=1623105707&sr=8-4

He has more than just one and a brand new one just came out!

Discovering God’s Plan for your Life

Spiritual formation is a process. It is a journey. Through that journey we change, grow, and morph into the image of Jesus. Along the way, we experience events in our lives that will impact us forever. Some events are good. Some events are bad. All events are life altering, growing, and shaping us as we travel along life’s journey.

To undergo spiritual formation, we, as believers, need to be open and willing to God’s plan for our lives. We must be available. We must work in tune with the Holy Spirit to receive what God has in store for our lives.

Spiritual formation occurs when we are in solitude with God, and when we are in community with others. Our spoken and unspoken prayers, sometimes wrapped in tears, are lifted to our heavenly Father, and lie at His feet in total surrender.

We imprint our hearts with the God breathed Scriptures. We wrap ourselves in the love of God through others and through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Each day we present ourselves to God, we move farther away from ourselves, and closer into the image of Christ.

None of us are the same person we were the day before. Each day we experience change and transformation by what comes into our life, willingly or unwillingly. The question each person must ask themselves is what will they allow to transform them? Do we choose the world, or do we choose God?

Most times, people choose to dance between the two as they live their lives. God has become effectively squeezed out of the average Christian’s life. Even Sunday service has become a chore or a “hit or miss” activity. We all have many distractions to take us away from worship, reading the Bible, or spending time in prayer, all the key spiritual disciplines to help us grow into the image of Christ.

When we do try to connect or reconnect with God, satan does not like it and turns up the heat hoping we will return to what is comfortable and doable. If satan considers us a threat, things really turn nasty. We are presented with challenges for our time. Our beliefs come into question. Events begin to occur in our lives that make us question our faith and commitment. Our world goes from light to dark quickly without anytime to realize we have come under a spiritual attack.

Sometimes the attacks are insidious, slowly creeping into our lives without us suspecting. Other times the attacks are obvious but still take us off-guard as we simply try to fight for control and gain balance back into our comfortable world. In the end, we are not the same. We have spiritually grown through the event or we have slid further away from our God. Either way, we are not the same.

When I first started seminary, I was sure that my call was to start and lead a church. I had plans for this church. We were going to be out in the community doing ministry to help everyone in need. There was going to be a health ministry, open Bible studies, job fairs, movie nights, free meals, and more.

You name it, I wanted the church to offer it. I was so sure that I was called to lead a church. By the middle of my second year in formation, I doubted everything, including my commitment to God. I was ready to walk away from seminary and my God because I was in an all-out spiritual war that I was clueless about.

I was so blinded, so angry, and so lost, I had no idea that I was in the spiritual battle of my life. I came through it by God’s intervention and grace. I did not come out of it the same person who went into it. I was forever changed. I had undergone spiritual formation in a painful way. Please know this type of spiritual formation was an extreme way and not the common way most people undergo spiritual formation. I’m certainly not trying to scare you away from a relationship with Jesus. This was my journey and mine alone.

Each of us undergo spiritual formation in our own unique way. Each person’s spiritual formation is different. This is because we each have our own unique relationship with God. We all have our own life experiences, personalities, behaviors, and learning styles.

Some of us require a gentle loving hand to guide us. While others, like me, sometimes require a ball bat upside the head to get a point across. Either way, we are all different. We all have a unique and loving relationship with our Father, who knows what is best for us and knows how to touch our hearts as only He can.

Spiritual formation is not a one-time event. What I experienced during my seminary years has not been the end of my journey. I continue to grow and transform every day. There are periods of drought, where I sit and wonder why I have not heard from God and then there are times of explosive growth. Most days, it is just me living of my life on a daily basis. But it is in our daily living that we may experience the most growth.

We continue to change, grow, and develop throughout our entire lives. Some of us may bud early, others are late bloomers. Age means nothing in the eyes of the Lord. Travel through the Old Testament and check out the ages of God’s prophets and leaders. Moses was eighty when he experienced the burning bush and presented God’s demands to Pharaoh. Noah was 600 years old when the flood filled the earth.

I believed the lies from the enemy during my time in spiritual warfare. I believed that I was missing my opportunity. I would be too old to be in ministry later. I began to think that I may have already missed my chance. Those were all thoughts that filled my head, driving my anger and resentment. Sending me into a downward spiral away from God.

But they were lies. God can use us at any time in our lives, in any season, and for any reason. In fact, we may not be ready for the assignment God has for us until we are older and more experienced. Our ministry changes through our lifetime with God preparing us every step of the way.

Our spiritual formation may stop but if it does, it is because of us, not God. There will be times when we pull away from God. We may drift toward the secular world as we deal with problems, face hardships, or direct our attention to worldly goals. When we place our emphasis on the world and not the Lord, spiritual formation stops. We continue to be formed but the formation comes from the world and not from our heavenly Father.

This is where the importance of spiritual disciplines comes into play for the believer. When we stay in prayer, we stay connected to God. When we read God’s Word, we stay connected to the Father. When we have an accountability partner, we have someone to call us on our behavior and actions.

It is easy to drift away from our spiritual development in this world. This is why we are told to live in community, so we may support one another. We are called to love one another and to bear each other’s burdens.

Our society values freedom and independence. People value privacy over community. Believer’s fight a daily battle against the secular world. If we desire to hear from God, we need to stay connected to Him. Only God can reveal the plans that He has for our lives, but we must be ready. Spiritual formation is a process, it is a gift from God, but we must seek Him and allow Him to work in our heart and life.

I was not the same person when I came through the other side of my spiritual war and transformation.

I was spiritually fragile and timid. I needed time to heal. I no longer held onto my dreams for my life but surrendered to God’s will and timing; accepting whatever He would have in store for me when my time came. It was freeing yet unsettling as I no longer knew what my future held in store. I only knew that I was called for whatever God had planned for me in the future. Spiritual formation is a process, a journey that occurs over time. I learned a lot through that experience, and I knew my journey was not over.

Peace,

Janet