Guide Network

I was thinking and praying tonight about how I view God and how I view my life in general.  I realized once again how often I settle for a smaller life than what God has for me.  I forget that the very God of the universe, the one who created all things by merely  speaking them into existence is alive and in me.  If that is the case (and it is)than why should I settle for anything less than a life that is full of moments where my life intersects with Gods plan in a way that unleashes Gods power in this world.  It may be something huge or it may seem unimportant but each day is filled with a moment or two like that where we have the opportunity to impact the lives of others to bring them God’s Life and God’s restoration.  The choice for us is do we really believe that or do we settle for the lies of the enemy that tell us to live safe and small lives.  I pray that God would open our eyes to these Divine encounters that are there and that in that moment we would step up and into all that God desires for us and allow him to use us to bring forth His kingdom here on earth.  Let us seize each moment we have here and live life to the fullest for our God and King!

I wanted to share a story that happened to me last week. I ordered pizzas for a doctors office that I was doing lunch for in Gastonia. I had spoken to the owner a few times but I had never been to his store or met him before.As I was driving to his store I was praying and I heard God say” tell Sal I love him”. I questioned at first was this what I really heard. I heard it again” tell Sal I love him”. Sal came out and helped me load the 10 pizzas I had ordered. He thanked me and turned to go back into the store. I stopped him and told him that I had been praying this morning and heard God say” tell Sal I love him”. Sal turned white as a ghost and shook my hand and said thank you. He called a few days later to say that he had turned away from God along time ago because he did not believe God knew him much less loved him.He told me that he took the message to heart and knew it was for him from God. He said he called up his old pastor and where he used to attend church and told him that a perfect stranger had a personal message for him from God. Sal, I know you and love you. Sal thanked me for having the courage to pass along this message and said he would never forget the day he heard God say I love you .

To my brother Greg, this is my first blog. I spent the day at South Mountain park listening to God and enjoying the beauty of his creation. I spent time reflecting and thanking God for being my true father. Even though my kids were gone to the beach it was truly a great fathers day just me and my heavenly father hanging out together by the mountain creek. I fell asleep on a large bolder while looking up in the sky watching the clouds form different shapes as I listen to the water bubbling around me. Thank you Father for a great day.

Welcome to the Guide Network’s Blog.  Here you will find reports from the trail, stories from the heart as well as reports on events and how you can join in.

One of New Wilderness Adventures’ core tenants is to: Crawl, Walk and Run! The Guide Network’s vision is to Orient-Teach-Release it’s receivers and guides to a life of adventure as God’s followers.

This season, as we have been crawling through our inaugural year of the network, we have been bushwhacking the way. The trail has, at times, been full of weeds and obstacles and other times the trail has had enemies on it. However, the journey has been sweet and good.

We heard God say go and we have been crawling through how this will look, how this will work and how God wants us to present this to God’s Kingdom.

We are about halfway through this year and what an amazing time it has been.  We have had major healings, discovery of new talents/desires as well as the joining of hearts and lives in a common mission.

I personally have really learned so much.  As the Guide Network’s lead missionary, I have been learning right along with our guides.  I am thankful that our participants and Mark are understanding of my learning curve and our lack of experience.  I love it though…what an experience it has been and wow I am excited for what God is going to do when we can run with this!

This weekend was a re-affirmation of how desperately I want to walk with God and hear His voice.  God has spoken to me and told me in no uncertain terms that His desire is to heal all of the brokenness in my heart so that I can be fully restored to the condition that He designed me for in the first place.  There are many things that I have been doing which adversely affect my ability to hear God.  The foremost of which is that I rarely ask God’s counsel on anything.  Like many of us I feel like I can handle the small stuff and that I just need God for the big decisions.  God’s desire is to bring counsel into every decision:  To walk with me and for me to “abide” in Him.  If I am going to walk with others as they take this journey, then God is going to have to take me into my deepest hurts and carry me for a while.

Tags: Stephen

The focus of this weekend was to go deeper into how God works in our lives.   I had no idea that God was going to use this weekend to bring deep and profound healing to many areas of my heart.  So many times we deal with an issue in our lives and we think we are done and that there is no more to do so we pack it away and move on.  That is where I was as 6 of us from New Wilderness Adventures gathered in the mountains of NC for a weekend of training and time together.  One of the sessions that we had was on healing and as we went through that time God began to stir in my heart a lot of things that I thought God had already taken care of.  Little did I know that God wanted to give me more healing and deeper restoration.  As I shared with the guys what was going on they began to fight for my heart and to go with me into some deep places.  Barry, Mark, Stephen, Jamie and Greg surrounded me with their strength and their love and interceded on my behalf.  It was a hard thing but a beautiful thing as God spoke to the wounded places in my heart (places we all have) and brought his life and healing there.  To be part of a fellowship of men who will fight for me and walk with me is awesome.  They were truly a reflection of Gods heart to me and that is what I want to share with others.  God is about restoring what is broken and what the enemy has held captive.  The gospel is the story of God rescuing those he loves (that includes you) and restoring them to true life.  This weekend has forever changed my life and  I am leaving as a different man.   

I am filled with such excitement  as this event begins.  For the past 5 years God has been growing in me a desire to reach others with the message of the good heart and to see men restored to true masculinity.  Being here with these men and actually starting training that will lead to the fulfillment of that dream is amazing.  God is so good and so faithful.  This event for me was a calling out by God to step into some areas of my life that I have been holding back in.  As the weekend progressed and we shared our hearts and listened to what God was saying to us it became clear that God is continuing to call me out. To draw me deeper into dependence on him and away from fear and hiding.  As I think about the year ahead I am filled with wonder at what God has called me into and filled with Joy that He is leading me into my hearts desire.  It is going to be a wild ride and I can not wait.Tom 

God’s beginning to draw out what I truly already knew:  I am called to be a missionary.  I was challenged this weekend to think of what speakers, people, and books have had the greatest impact on my life.  When I was eleven years old, the speaker at our church’s missions conference, Art Yohner, challenged us to do “ANYTHING, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE” for the cause of Christ.  I still have the card that I signed my name to.  The person who had the most spiritual impact on my life other than my parents, was my Bible teacher, Joanie Grimm.  Her stories of mission’s work in Haiti made me long for the day that I could minister full time.  In fact, the night I gave my life to Christ, the “Fillipino Men,” a group of missionaries from the Fillipines, were speaking at our Bible camp.

This weekend, the Holy Spirit has encouraged me to truly begin the adventure he designed me to be a part of .  For about the past year, I have been merely existing in jobs that I CAN do, but that I am NOT passionate about.  I now know that this has been affecting my home life in ways I never even realized.  Although the prospect of meeting the needs of a family of 6 by raising support scares me to death, I know that this walk of faith is what is best for my family.  Excitement is beginning to overtake my fears.

Tags: Stephen