Livin' the dream baby...livin' the dream

God speaks...books, dreams, songs, people, scripture... ..on & on...

I'm living in an awareness of his presence. Feeling the love. Knowing he's pleased with me no matter what because I'm living close to him.

I have lots of friends and family who are part of church as I knew it for so many years. Good friends & close family. So, I'm not knocking them when I say - church as I knew it that way is no longer right for me and my family.

Leslie & I have been feeling the rub & tug tension since moving back to Canada from Bermuda in 2000. God's been nudging and we've wondered at times 'is this God or our own sense & feeling?' I've personally wondered 'where is God - why isn't he showing up?'.

I've been slow to put the pieces together at times. Lack of faith, slow to understand, readily disbelieving and focusing on myself & personal limitations. God has been right here the whole time & with a smile on too!

We know we won't be part of an organized church again (period). Personally, I have little to show for a relationship with God after spending my whole life in the man-made system of organized church.

I once believed myself better than the lost, more loved by God and enjoying a place of privilege. I once believed my denomination to be supreme and although all Christian denominations believed Jesus to be the son of God - Salvationists were ahead of the pack because of the things we did & didn't do. I once believed I was a good Christian because I attended church at least once on Sundays (back in the day I went three times on a Sunday before the evening worship gathering was canned and Sunday school moved to during the pastor's sermon). I once believed my relationship with God was airtight based on time well spent in the church and answering to its schedule - giving my time & talents. My relationship with God was based on the church schedule. I segmented my life cutting God in and out wherever I decided.

God wants my whole life. God wants me to model something different for my kids, family & friends than the life I've been living handcuffed to the church. I want my kids to have a relationship with God that isn't dependent on & held together by the church & its system. I want my kids to have an awareness of God & his pleasure no matter where they are 24/7. Leaving the church system has been helping us live that life.

We haven't lost our calling, we're following it. We haven't lost faith, our faith is growing. We're not looking to do church better, cooler or attempting to ride the next trendy wave - God's calling us to live the life. We're planting a lifestyle & he's watering it and making it grow!

Where it leads, who it affects and how long it takes to grow - that's all part of the wonder of doing life together with God, our family & our friends!