Following Jesus truly is a lifelong journey, and he invites us to grow, question, stumble and change as we traverse it. We may not always be prepared for the twists and turns or the valleys and mountains, but we can trust that our God is big enough to hold our evolving perspectives of him. We just need to maintain a posture of openness to those evolutions as well.
I remember thinking, after first making the choice to give my life to Jesus, that all was settled. I was now a Christian and with a little cleaning up of my habits and thoughts here and there, my life would be kind of static… but in a good way. I thought all things would work out in the most positive way as long as I trusted God, prayed regularly and kept learning from the Bible.
After my graduation from college, I went to an evangelical study center in Switzerland called “L’Abri”. I listened to 30 cassette tapes (do you know what those are? 😊) that held teachings on all the basic doctrines of Christianity from an evangelical point of view. This was a time of massive learning, since I wasn’t raised with this kind of knowledge for the most part. I felt I was really growing in wisdom and knowledge. And I was growing, at least in knowledge, but there was one thing that bothered me in the teaching. I was told not to trust my experience; I should only trust in the Bible as God’s perfect and infallible Word. The problem with that for me was that I had had a couple of amazing experiences with God already that were answers to prayer, and both were sacred to me in my early life of faith.
Looking back, one of those experiences was kind of innocent and child-like. I had asked God to give me a flat tire on my Moped when I reached the place at which I was supposed to stay! (I was very open to anything at that point in my life.) Well, sure enough, after traveling all through Switzerland and Germany, I had a flat tire when I entered the little town of Eck en Wiel in the Netherlands, where a Dutch L’Abri was and where they needed a worker in their apple orchard. It was on my first day in Eck en Wiel that I met Laura, who was a few years later to become my wife! To me, that was an incredible experience and one that made me realize there were more ways of knowing and experiencing God than just understanding and believing in a particular biblical theology.
After moving to Eugene with Laura and going to Faith Center, a Foursquare Pentecostal Charismatic church, I saw there were other Believers who knew God answered prayer and could give us experiences of faith. The Holy Spirit was still alive and well and could even perform miracles. This was very exciting and ushered in a new chapter in my faith.
During the coming years, Laura and I were introduced to an Episcopal minister who taught Inner Healing Prayer. Both Laura and I were very blessed by this ministry and even began ministering in this way at our church. I surely thought “This is finally the way we are to function as Christians. This is what Christianity is all about…to see people healed of emotional trauma through prayer.”
A number of years later, learning and appreciating more about the Jewish roots of our faith, I got quite involved with this movement and even held Passover Seders at my house, explaining how Jesus was celebrating the Passover Seder when he took the bread and wine with his disciples before he was arrested and killed. (There is some differing opinion these days as to whether they had even instituted the Seder during Jesus’ day). Nonetheless, I felt this was what the Faith was all about… reconnecting with our Jewish roots, the olive tree into which we Christians have been grafted (Romans 11:17-21).
A few years later, I was introduced to the teachings of the Soul Formation Academy through readings and a number of 4-day retreats. This was an amazing time of learning to listen to God, to practice solitude, silence and contemplation in order to experience a growing unity with God. The emphasis was really quite different from the practices in the evangelical/charismatic churches I had been to and it opened the door into a greater sensitivity to God’s closeness, His love and to discernment of His will.
So what’s my point, in rambling through these stages of faith? For me at least, the point is that following Jesus is an incredibly dynamic journey! It’s not JUST about good biblical theology, not JUST about our experiences, not JUST about Inner Healing, not JUST about our Jewish roots, and not JUST about solitude, silence and contemplation. It’s about ALL of them, and probably many more things that I haven’t experienced (yet😊).
One of my favorite scriptures was written by King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. He writes about the turning of seasons and about the need for different responses to what life brings us through the years. I will include the Scripture here and, then, if you’re interested to hear a 1967 musical version of the scripture, put on your tie-died t-shirt and listen along to The Byrds, an American folk/rock band from the 60’s!
And above all, keep on listening to what the Lord is inviting you into during this season of your life!
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV)
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
About the Author
John lives in Pleasant Hill with his dog, Gunnar, and a multitude of guests who enjoy the peace and beauty of the Cascade foothills. With three children and three grandchildren all living in Oregon, he is continually blessed with their company and the good food that always accompanies their get-togethers!
