Some Thoughts Going Round And Round In My Head...

Last night as I was trying to sleep, my mind wandered off to a book I read a few years ago about Smith Wigglesworth.

If you don't know who he was, there is a website that chronicled his ministry: http://www.smithwigglesworth.com/

One thing that I remembered from reading his biography many years ago was that the man never read a newspaper. Don't know why that hangs around in my mind. But, Smith never stayed glued to the news. In fact, if you asked him about this news story and that event, he'd know nothing about it. He only was concerned about God's word and what IT said.

I didn't know the man. So, I can only comment on what I have heard about him.

By all accounts, his ministry was huge and his impact was legendary. If half of the stories of miracles and salvation are true, Smith was truly a man of great faith.

And, is this because of his obsession with the Scriptures and that his eyes were not on the events of the world?

There is another story that Smith Wigglesworth claimed was true. He woke up one night and Satan was standing in his room.

What did Smith do? He simply said," Oh, it's you." And, then he rolled over and went back to bed.

Wow!

If true, this is major. This is heavy.

Most of us with our styrofoam swords and plastic shields would cower at the sight of evil (and I am no where near the faith of Mr. Wigglesworth). But, the thoughts that go over in my mind are... at this critical juncture...should I be looking less at the signs?

I mean, Smith Wigglesworth didn't get this magnitude of faith by reading the gloom and doom. He also did not impact his world by being concerned about the cares of this world. And, by removing himself from the cares and fears...he delighted himself in the faith.

I'm thinking about the child that looks up at the big Father and reaches up to hold His hand. Dad wouldn't let us down, would he?

Is this how we remove ourselves from the cares of this world? It says you are not "of the world." In part, is this what it means? If I am not of this world and I am of another Kingdom, shouldn't the news of my Kingdom be more important than the news of this world?

These are big thoughts and, by the way, whenever you read one of these posts, all the thoughts I am posing to myself...not to you. Because, sometimes when I have been informing...perhaps I was not helping.

It was suggested to me a long time ago by my brother that I should turn my blog into 'answers' rather than the doom and gloom. But, sometimes you get caught up in warning.

I realize by posting a column like this, it may cause you to realize that a daily dose of a blog like this is not in your best interests. At this point, if it is not, then I would be pleased if you did not venture here.

However, what I would like to do in the weeks ahead is move this blog into a better balance with the realization that society needs true hope. And, true hope only comes from Jesus Christ.

Most of us (again, this is for me) want to knock the church or knock the government. There is a large amount of truth within the criticism that you see rampant on the internet. However, another thing we need to acknowledge, much of this happened on our watch. And, to those like me who post on how bad things are, are we bearing fruit that shows just how spiritual we are? Is there a revival breaking out around us, with those we come in contact with, because they see the power and testimony of Jesus Christ in us? Or, is our spiritual bravado and razor edge criticism of the church the only thing that calls out from our spider-webbed souls? Are our brave, pious soaked words exclusive to the internet and polar opposite to our actions in the 'real' world?

Time is short and watchmen are important. I don't want you to think I am discouraging that. We all know that different men and women had different roles in the Kingdom. For instance, John The Baptist was "fire and brimstone" while Paul was firm but showed much more compassion. There is a place for every type.

Anyway, there really isn't a conclusion yet to this post... but we know where we are headed. :-)