Area: Palm Desert to Blythe, CA and on into Arizona

What a week! Please forgive my delayed posting schedule this last week…much has been happening. Finally made Arizona...  For those of you praying for my journey…thank you!  I believe you may find this post of interest…

Decisions

Last week faced me with several decision of import with regard to my timely passage along the route God actively lays before me each day. I am a barnstormer by nature who typically pushes through and beyond challenges without looking back. And yet, I found myself cognitively aware that I was in proximity to things much larger than me as I considered how I was to proceed. I was uneasy and uncertain causing me to request prayer and to search God’s word until I discovered God’s plan. As one who is called to affect others…I cannot openly dishonor established authority while claiming to help people discover identity and truth.   One transmits who they are…not what they think. Case-in-point…I ran head-on into a section of I-10 where pedestrians are typically not allowed to walk. Though I have encountered this same issue in other places while walking several thousand miles of freeway across the USA…I learned by experience that exceptions to declared guidelines do sometimes exist if one makes a proper appeal to those in charge. My desire to honor authority led me to the highway patrol offices where I filled them in on my journey’s purpose and expressed my desire to walk the freeway since no other road passed through the area along my intended route. Despite my request however, I was unsuccessful in gaining authorization to tread my way through. After making my request, I found myself faced by three distinct solution possibilities: (1) take an alternate route pulling me off of the path God had put on my heart to walk. (2) Skip the inaccessible section and resume on the other side. Or (3) ignore authority and take my chances to walk the freeway even though I had been told not to.  What did I choose...

Important Clarifier

In my effort to discharge my calling and help others better understand some of the ways God talks to us as He directs our lives…I will share a bit of my process of asking and listening to God. I remain aware that some theologians, intellectual Christians, skeptics, and others determined to invalidate will likely question the authenticity of how I interact with God as I do my best to obey Him. And yet, I was created to know, love, serve, and glorify God as He reaches to others through my life. I answer to Him alone…not to the opinion of others. There is a tremendous difference between defying authority verses bowing to public opinion. This reality is true for all who earnestly seek, find, and forge ahead to change the world in Jesus’ name. 

WARNING – WARNING - WARNING

Though I have chosen to share generalities concerning my interaction with, perception of, and surrender to God’s direction in my life…NEVER…NEVER…share or declare the specifics of how God addresses, talks to, or leads you within. Why? Because only God knows the heart, can read our thoughts, and can speak into our spirits. Satan is a defeated foe who has power to hit us with hell from the outside…but, he cannot read our minds or observe our heart conversations between ourselves and God when carried on in silence spirit-to-Spirit. We should never openly declare God’s private manner of communicating with us between His heart and ours into the physical world through words. Once uttered…our words give away intelligence if-you-will thereby equipping our enemy to counterfeit and distort God’s still small voice to us in his effort to lead us astray. This gives hell increased dominion to confuse, miss-direct, or defeat God’s redemptive reach within and through our individual lives. Remember, the enemy of our souls only opposes those who do or have potential to damage his domain. So, take heart when opposition comes. More on my recent decision-making process… 

When I considered taking a secondary route leaving I-10 running me far south and by-passing a large metropolitan city God called me to pass through…I found no peace within. When I pondered skipping that specific area of I-10 without “walking every step”…my ego rose up and I resisted because I had never before by-passed an area. After all, what would people think? And when I momentarily bantered with blowing authority off and walking my desired route anyway…I knew my message would have no power if I was not first…authentic myself. Therefore, I asked God to reveal His will to me through Scripture. In response, He faithfully tugged me into His word to shed light on three very specific issues. First, He led me to Acts 16:6-8 where I found Paul, Silas, and Timothy faced by similar circumstances, “…having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word… in a province, that…the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them…to enter another area, and that they…passed by…” a region on their way to another in which they believed God called them resume declaration of their message. Next, I was taken to Acts 27:12 amid Paul’s shipwreck experience where the centurion decided to sale onward based on majority rule while ignoring Paul’s advice because they were “… hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there.” Phoenix was a harbor “facing both southwest and northwest.”   And lastly, I was taken to 2nd Samuel 17:21-22 when David’s son Absalom bent on destroying his father was looking for Jonathan and Ahimaaz who were on their way to warn the king. The two men hid in a well to evade Absalom before heading on to inform their leader. Upon arriving into David’s presence, they told the king “…set out and cross the river at once…so, David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan.”

What Does It Mean

You ask…what could these seemingly disconnected and supposedly out-of-context passages possibly mean in Greg’s situation? Again, I know my openness with regard to my process will reveal its “naysayers” who are readily willing to question my validity. In truth…unfettered and unfounded opinion means nothing to me. Why? Because I choose to be more focused on helping others discover how God speaks, leads, and teaches us to trust His still small voice in faith. Some would say that God never contradicts His word. I say, “true!” However, God’s word is a personality named Jesus who came and dwelt among, within, and around us eternally through His Spirit to empower our extension of His heart to a dying world. He did not concern himself with being “intellectually relevant” to those who know much about God while not knowing the Loving Son He sent to save them. Many have a form of godliness, but deny its power when it challenges their belief system or requires of them what they remain unwilling to give. One’s real litmus test comes when the world opposes, cuts deep, condemns, and judges unwittingly granting us opportunity to let our response bleed Jesus through unconditional love. Back to my process… 

The Message I Received

What did God’s word say to me in light of my request for His help, amid His Holy Spirit’s leading, in light of His written word, and as related to my immediate circumstances? I’ll tell you…   The Acts 16:6-8 passages showed me that there are seasons in which God’s Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Jesus will not allow us to embrace specific activities or enter certain areas. The Acts 27:12 passage showed me that God can get personal and down to details intimately part of one’s individual circumstances.   And the 2nd Samuel 17:21-22 passage showed me that God defines timing, reveals boundaries, and directs pathways…personally. I found it both interesting and humbling that God’s leading by His Spirit in light of His word first confronted my ego’s desire to “walk every step” as if my journey could possibly be about stamina and accomplishment. Next, I was amazed at how He could take me to a passage that spoke specifically about an American destination through His living and active word penned in heaven’s courts before the foundations of the earth were laid. Phoenix happened to be the city He had previously compelled me to reach just prior to “winter’s” Christmas season. And lastly, I found it surreal that He could inform me to “cross the river at once” when California and Arizona are divided at their borders by the Colorado River. God is good… Though I’ve been in similar circumstances many times before, His up-close-and-personal administration of help, mercy, and grace never ceases to touch me to my core. All we must do is ask, receive, believe, and act in Jesus’ name with the faith of a child…NOT based on empty, intellectual, judgmental, and legalistic theology stacking burdens on hungry people while denying the power of God’s redemptive love. The word of our testimony is not what we say or believe about God or our salvation experience. The Real Word of our testimony is revealed through how much of Christ’s character flows through us to others in need when we say nothing… 

What Did I Do

I must admit…I did not act immediately upon my discovery of the above-mentioned passages. Why? Because I found it necessary to probe my human frailty deeper as I endeavored to hear and obey God. Many may ask why I seemingly neglected the word “immediate.” Answer: Because identifying, embracing, accomplishing, and witnessing God’s miraculous intervention in and through the lives of everyday people is about timing, obedience, selflessness, and God’s glory…nothing else. One’s flesh or overly casual consideration of matters sobering in God’s eyes can easily cause many to miss His mark only to leave others exposed to unnecessary difficulty. In my attempt to fit heaven’s grid on the matter at hand…I was compelled to subject my mind, desires, and motives to God’s scrutiny giving Him first right of approval or refusal. In so doing, He kindly blessed me with several other life-changing encounters in the interim before I advanced to Arizona by “not walking” an area for the first time in my entire transcontinental trek experiences over the past ten years. God knows who He created me to be and those He ordained me to reach. One can only be found faithful by doing their utmost to embrace and complete God’s created purpose for their individual life. Simply declaring one’s ignorance as a means of sweeping apathy and human selfishness into the shadows will not release one of God’s sense of responsibility with regard to living life for others. By trusting Him in the matter and venturing forth…I found peace that surpasses understanding though He would later give me insight into all He really did on my behalf in love… 

God’s Close Encounters

While pondering my way through the process of coming to decision with regard to how I was to move ahead…I was blessed to meet an 85 year old gentleman who genuinely enriched my life. I met this great man while seated in a hot tub where I had gone to pray before sunrise early that morning the day before Thanksgiving 2010. As it happens…my new friend had lost his wife several years earlier and was traveling alone. His life was amazing! He had completed an entire tour in the Navy as a submariner in both conventional and nuclear-powered inter-continental ballistic missile-equipped vessels during and after World War Two. On the heels of his first tour at sea…he re-joined another branch of America’s armed services to become and survive the rigors of being a fighter pilot in Korea. Following his first two rounds of service to our nation…this incredible man became an aircraft test pilot for one of America’s leading arms manufacturers for the next 28 years retiring as an established full-bird Colonel.   I was amazed at God’s goodness for extending me the privilege to meet this man who proved to be a wealth of insight and information relevant to God’s call on my life. Likewise, I was both inspired by this gentleman’s calm yet obviously heroic demeanor being humbled by his matter-of-fact description of his many close calls and near misses punctuating his selfless service to our country. 

In The Presence of Greatness

In love, God had led me into a living picture of greatness through this man’s life at just the right moment amid my decision-making process. God was intimately encouraging me to step out once again to live His adventure for my life with the faith of child for His glory. Only the Lover of our Souls…Jesus…knows how to put wind beneath the wings of His people in their passion to serve Him. When I asked my new friend about some of his scariest situations as a test pilot, he retorted…”which time” with a bit of a grin on his face. As though a gate had opened…he began telling me about the time he test flew a new fighter prototype at high altitude saying, “I was cruising along routinely, heard a big boom, and next thing I knew…I found myself sitting in my cockpit seat hanging in nothingness staring down at the ground with no plane around me. The plane simply disappeared leaving me falling from 28,000 feet right out of the sky. I knew I wasn’t supposed to pull my rip cord until I hit 15,000 feet or so, but gave it a yank in the midst of the excitement anyway. I darn neared froze to death on the way down. But, I guess that’s how ya learn…huh?”  To him, it was just another day in the life of leatherneck. We exchanged information, jumped out of the tub, and went our separate ways. On Thanksgiving day leaving on my way toward Arizona…I stopped by to say hello to the old gent, shake his hand, and to remind him that I hope to get to know him even more. Please pray for this great man who lives alone after losing the love of his life, yet still touches the lives of people like me at God’s direction without knowing it. I look forward to the time I can meet with him again! 

Crossing The Jordan (so-to-speak)

As I crossed the Colorado River on the California-Arizona border, I ventured ahead toward the upcoming towns. Rolling in…I was deeply blessed to find lodging on the grounds of local outreach ministry to the homeless. It is operated by a dear man-and-wife team filled with compassion for those who find themselves lost, broken, hungry, detached, and without direction in life. With passion and unconditional acceptance…they feed and serve thousands of unfortunate and wayward souls searching for love, strength, and purpose. Though opposition comes and goes ever since their arrival…they are no strangers to trusting Almighty God for food, clothing, and provision necessary to restore hope and health to those they encounter each day. I have been truly blessed to rub elbows with them as they love God and His people with a smile. 

Hitting The Road Again

Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, became my next day walking into new territory. My first challenge was finding a parking place to leave my tow rig that morning before launching out on my day’s walk. Being uneasy about leaving my rig as the sole car parked there, I chose to move to a different location leading me to the front door of a local home. As I pulled in…I found a man and his son I found in the front yard to whom I introduced myself. The father told me that I had made a good choice not parking at the prior location and that I was welcome to park by his house for the day.   As we leaned over the fence talking before stepping into my stride…the story of why God led me past the prior section of road leaving California began to unfold… 

Roads, Rocks, Riders, and Renegades

The gentleman who gave me a parking space began telling me what he does for a living before he related that the Sheriff’s Department had informed him not to travel south of the local highway just beyond town unarmed. Apparently, the cartel had been discovered transporting people nearly 100 miles into California before dropping them off at different locations in the area. The Sheriff informing him went on to say the people coming in were armed with AK’s and would shoot anyone who witnessed what they were doing. And, he stated that law enforcement agencies had just clashed in a gun battle with cartel members some miles south earlier that week. As we parted company…I was thankful for God’s watch care over my life, but while only knowing part of the unfolding story. So, I walked across the river marking the state border making my way toward what I was told was frontage road… I suppose the definition of “road,” like many other subjects, is subjective based on the view of the one defining it… Either way, I found myself busting through rocks, sand, thickets, cactus, critters, and other general “desert stuff” on the lookout for sidewinders, mountain cats, and other unfriendlies as part of my day’s adventures.

Though I intended to walk miles beyond the river to my day’s destination, my pace was somewhat slowed by rocks, ravines, and passing recreationalist in four wheelers, jeeps, and other contraptions. Up one hill, down another… Over one brow, into another ditch… And then, I saw clouds of dust rising on the horizon coming my way wondering what I would encounter. Some people stopped to ask if I needed water, others wondered why I was out there, and still others were intrigued by my journey. It’s amazing how God connects you with people in the middle of nowhere when you arrive “just on time.” See…God uses our strengths and weaknesses, circumstances, and inconveniences to bring us into sync with His timeline. Suddenly, another rig blew over the brow of the hill before me and came skidding to a stop next to me as the dust whisked by. He dropped the bandanna over his nose and mouth, wiped away the dirt, and we began to talk…

Without warning, God resumed His tale revealing more about what I encountered the prior week in my effort to discover my route. As the story unfolded, I once again witness the hand of His protection. As it turns out, that 4X4’s passengers was a local probation officer with fresh information in addition to all I had already learned that day. When I mentioned what I heard about cartel activities in the area…the officer said their agency was recently informed that there had been a substantial increase in both shootings and murders by foreign mafia just beyond where I had not been allowed to walk in California. At that moment, I recalled the cold lifeless complexion I observed as I had driven through those areas just days before.  Now, all the emotion…sense of turmoil…and need to hear God in my prior route decisions made sense. The next jeep rolling up minutes later began telling me of road bandits that flag you down, leap from the bushes, and gang up to rob, rape, and shoot people who come to their aid. A man tried to wave me to a stop on the outside of town in the area in question the day before Thanksgiving as made my way toward the border. Though I often stop to help many…I had peace rolling on by.

Who Knows

Some reading all I wrote above likely bailed as I explained how I inquired of and listened to God’s voice in my recent situation. Others fell off the bus because they thought I over sensationalized all I encountered though I simply reported facts. And still others cut loose because they think I took the easy way out short-circuiting God’s call on my life in this current mission to America because I skipped an area rather than being one of the tough who gets going when the going gets tough. Whatever you choose to believe…I have peace knowing that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ protected me from and delivered me to His intended destination while dealing with my ego, encouraging my spirit, and planting me in the middle of others who love Him. Though I seem to have by-passed battles I had no foreknowledge of…He has preserved me to fight yet another day. In my book…that’s God. Now, as the desert roads and shadows stretch before me amid the cactus, critters, and cartel…may God’s blessing and protection be on you in Jesus’ name! 

Mixing With The Master,

Greg

BattleCry

www.battlecry.org

www.battlecry.org/blog

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text90692 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it