On the way into Moody I read to my mother and Ryan Jenkins a book introduction.  It’s time for a new beginning.  I was taking a break from posting here regularly because I wanted to spend time with God reflecting on truth and getting my life oriented.  I was writing the first draft of Twenty Things that I Wish I Had Told My Twentysomething Self, when I was struck by some of the things that God was saying to me.  In the book I wrote about developing good habits, but it is not mechanical.  The Spirit has departed from many of us as we go through the day-to-day.  What I wanted was to be in God’s presence – to be there to stay.  The routine of reading a Bible passage and posting a response can get tired.  I have done it faithfully for five years or more.  However, the question arises, as a result of reading and posting am I more fully aware of being in God’s presence?

The months of December and January have been good times of introspection, but I emerge with a new hope.  I see what it is to move with a mindfulness of God more freely.  It is sad to me that living a life mindful of a greater power is probably most widely seen in Star Wars.  A New Hope arises when Luke sees that he is summoned by the Force to live out his destiny and save the world from an Empire of Evil.  We are not called by a Force that is impersonal.  We are called by God on a dramatic adventure.  Our God is three persons and the powerful work of the third person of the Trinity is clearly laid out in Acts.  The Holy Spirit transforms a frightened group of followers of their recently crucified Lord into powerful preachers of truth who transform a world rife with immorality and religious pluralism.  In fact the world of the first century was very like today in its values and behaviors.

Today I read the Introduction to The Acts of the Apostles.  I want to live out my life with significance and purpose.  If anyone wishes to follow along I will be making daily posts again.  The Holy Spirit moves as he chooses.  I choose to align myself with him.