Area:  Kerrville to Seguin, TX

Weather:  98 t0 105 degrees F with increasing humidity. 

Changing Winds

The past few weeks have been hot pushing mercury up the vial to 105 degrees F accompanied by rising humidity as I approach the gulf coast. My ongoing pathway carrying me through difficult arenas defined by various forms of human and spiritual disarray has been long…until, I walked into Kerrville weeks ago. There, I found richness in the time I was privileged to spend with pastors and emerging new friends filled with a very different life and spiritual outlook shaping their expression of God’s goodness. It was both unexpected and refreshing to encounter amid such a long trail to the contrary. Kerrville was God’s gift to me given when my refreshing was needed most... Leaving Kerrville felt like vacating one’s home filled with family and friends… Spiritual winds shifted drastically after leaving the brief oasis returning to different flavor of dark entrenchments that I encountered in days past over some 1,500 plus miles. Frankly, I meet both wonderful and not-so-great people everywhere I go. Some are full of life rising into their God-given potential, while others around them tumble headlong into despair-filled fragmentation fixed on hopeless views of God, people, and the world around them. Personal perspective ramains the single most important factor determining their destinies through which they will leave their mark on those they encounter in life…either good or bad.

Snapshot of Kerrville

While in Kerrville…I was privileged to meet, spend a few hours, and pray with Max Greiner founder and designer of “The Coming King” Prayer Gardens in Kerrville, TX. Max received a prophecy in December 2001, a word from a previously unknown man in August 2002, and the vision for the 77 foot 7 inch Kerrville cross in September 2002. After eating lunch together and praying with a dear woman in the restaurant…we headed to the site where the cross stands atop a hill on 23 acres of prime real estate acquired in a most amazing fashion. Upon our arrival…Max jumped out of the truck, opened the gate, and we began our ascent up the hill through rough-hewn stones lining the roadways-to-be finally arriving at the base of the cross. There we prayed where noteworthy believers from across the USA and around the world have come to pray for God’s empowerment of this heaven-sent vision to reach the lost. I found common passion with Max as he pulled out a dog-eared scrap of paper from his shirt pocket to jot down notes as bits and pieces emerged along the way. It seems both of us share the habit of accumulating such unlikely note pads that find themselves archived away for our future recall. You can learn more about the project known otherwise as the Kerrville Cross at: www.thecomingkingfoundation.org . 

Unknown Vacation

My journey is unique in ways most never consider… Each day; I venture into the unknown to encounter places I have never been, cultures I have never experienced, and people I have never met.  Most people I meet almost immediately express some form of desire to live this great vacation they think I am living… Oh, if they only knew…  It is true that I am fortunate to experience many new places along my way....  Occasionally someone will step back and ponder the daily logistics, demands, and journey’s impact on my inner world as I do my best to forge ahead each day. Imagine…what it is like to be contagiously relational…to leave all familiar to embrace unknown…and to know before meeting each new friend along your path…that you will “rarely” have opportunity to deepen ties with that person. Or, that you may likely never hear from that person you so enjoyed...again. Not complaining…just trying to relate the very nature of this “vacation” others I meet think I'm living… Amid it all, I find wonder and purpose in all God calls me to do. I simply love meeting and “keeping” new friends for a lifetime.  When some people read my comments above...they may see them as negative.  And yet, it is my goal to encourage others who may be wired to be forerunners, watchmen, or prophetic to stay in the game...God will overcome no matter how bad it gets.  Jesus sticks closer than a brother.    

Availability

5:00 am…alarm goes off…flip on light…time in prayer…drag self out of bed…shower…brush hair and comb teeth…adorn appropriate walk wear…depart for yesterday’s finish point…walk…find ride to rig…go to-and-fro looking for churches…many closed…some open…and…sometimes meet pastors. This is my typical day “if” I am not too far between desert towns to locate someone and connect with them before day’s end. Meanwhile…I meet police officers, hitch hikers, utility workers, thugs-in-motion, panhandlers, people offering rides, horn honkers, rainbow people, street preachers, walkers, cross-carriers, and various other-colored threads weaving humanity’s fabric along my trail as my 15-20 day unfolds amid other daily logistics. When I am privileged to meet different leaders…I find myself faced with all types of issues like being received with gracious respect, their acting like they have all the answers, to them being overwhelmed and not knowing what to do amid their current trial.   In most cases, my opportunity to meet leaders is either brushed aside by a well-intentioned “gatekeeper” or a distracted leader’s immediate dismissal without consideration. So, when I am fortunate enough gain passage through a leader’s door, I am fully engaged in trying to know, connect with, come along side of, and help them achieve what God calls them to do. Most meetings I have end with hands clasped in prayer before I leave…some present opportunity for me to proclaim what God has given me to say to their people… When I meet life travelers, I believe it God’s heart compells me to know, value, and stay in touch with those entrusted to my care. 

Recently, I was both honored and humbled by meeting well-known pastor, songwriter, and singer…Del Way at his office at Calvary Temple Church in the shadows of the Kerrville cross. It was my second attempt to meet this pastor without knowing whose church I was in. After waiting in his lobby for a few moments, his assistant came out to inform me Del would be out in a moment or two. When he appeared…his personal introduction shouted “authenticity!” He was on his way out, could not meet, and invited me back at 3:00 pm the next day. He made time for someone he had never met…hmmm! Sounds like a carpenter’s son some 2,000 years ago… I was both honored and intrigued by his willing availability...

On the heels of meeting more than 700 pastors at length from over 60 doctrinal flares in the past ten years and during my meeting with Del the next afternoon…I found him up-front, open, real, and refreshingly focused on doing what God called Him to do. Del knows and rubs elbows with many s ministry movers-and-shakers televised today. He has received awards like country music’s Christian entertainer of the year…written hit songs topping the charts…helped host the country music awards, and dawned TBN’s stage often. As Del and I spoke for near an hour…He openly shared the pitfalls and victories along his life path…sang a few bars to drive home a one-liner that just rolled off his lips…asked what I thought on a point he was pondering…gave me personal contact info…locked hands and prayed as we spoke over one another’s lives…and sent me on with a sense that two qualified to be friends collided in God’s time one hot Texas day…unexpectedly. That dear reader…is extremely rare among today’s television personalities…and even rarer in those everyday people perceiving themselves to be leaders in the realm they live... Del is the “real deal.” You can learn more about him at: www.delway.org .

Fixing Glass

Unlike my last cross country trek back in 2001-02…this walk has been a tussle between daily circumstances, hours in a day, my measure of faith, walking in the impossible, and greasing the financial skids in a manner necessary to propel it forward. In years past, my ministry resource has arrived through speaking in those places God puts in my path. Current events, human spirituality, widespread disasters, plundered economies, and escalating fears have made speaking on the road more fragmented and uncertain this time around. Knowing that God called me to the task…understanding the conditions I would likely encounter before leaving…grasping that I would be ever-faced with a decision to step into or shrink back from unfavorable conditions each day…and being penetrated by realization that my faithfulness may determine the destiny of others………..prevents me from taking off my walking shoes. 

I am constantly confronted by decisions to either solve one of my many daily dilemmas with human logic and earning potential, rather than trusting God to supply.  My typical day on the road alone walking across America consumes between 15 and 20 hours doing all it takes to get God's task for me done.  Though adding any additional activity weighs my forward progress down, I was privileged to receive a donated auto windshield repair system from my home state so I could fix glass in the desert-like seasons along the way.  When almost without food…God opened the door for me to fix near 30 windshields the first day. Wow!  But, I quickly learned that it was God’s answer of the hour in response to my need…not my mainstay. I can either walk, meet pastors and people, and preach...or, I can worry about funding my daily existence.  There are not enough hours in the day to do both...  Following several subsequent speaking engagements in which God also blessed me…I ventured out to find more glass repair trying to catch up on things that had gotten behind. I went from car lot to car lot asking if they were in need of window repair without success. Finally, I came to the last lot in that area and met a young man who said he would not waste my time, but would bless me with twenty bucks as he invited me inside. His flavor was a bit like a biker, but tender hearted. As our conversation unfolded, he made it known that he helped his dad pastor a local church and also preaches at the jail. As we continued, our hearts knitted together. Suddenly, the door swung open as his dad and pastor of a church I left a card at the prior Sunday morning on my way to preach elsewhere…entered. We shook hands and his son and I continued… Then, he asked if I was available to preach Wednesday night saying he would pray and call me the next day…

Heaven Sings

As it turned out…he called the next day and invited me to speak. He opened the service, led worship, I spoke, God moved, many prayed, and the kingdom advanced. As I listened to Chuck strum the guitar and cut-loose in praise during his worship segment…I was moved as his voice and anointing moved heaven and touched earth. Music is the plow that breaks through battle-weary human hearts so God can plant His living word in good soil to produce eternal life… It is rare I encounter such God-given talent in one who does not truly grasp the incredible gift God has given them. Chuck is one such man… Please pray God will expand Chuck’s territory and influence. 

Unsung Heroes

We often write of those “seemingly” most important events or experiences that ooh-and-ah those around us. Sadly, the unsung heroes remain unseen in the shadows though their contribution to heaven’s unfolding plan is of dire import. Who are these unsung heroes you ask? They include those gentle and gracious ones who enter your world unexpectedly amid your greatest need for encouragement, refuge, prayer, and a safe place to be yourself without judgment… They are those who pray earnestly for your empowerment, invite you to share a meal, allow you into their world, extend trust to a stranger, believe in you more than those you have known for years, stay in touch over time, and who are always available to love you God's way anytime day or night. These are God’s people called according to His good purpose to extend His unconditional love to a dying world… These are the greats of the faith, who go about as common people doing mighty works for a Loving God from the shadows of life without recognition to change the world one life at a time in Jesus’ name. These unsung ones are “doing” the Master’s business without need of reward in this life... 

Onward Ho!

My trek to San Antonio and beyond gave foundation to my ongoing lack of desire to leave the Kerrville area where I spoke four times in seven (7) days in four different churches. In contrast…San Antonio has been more difficult to penetrate amid its metropolitan feel, high profile ministries, diverse demographics, and obvious historical undertones.  San Antonio is appealing to the eye, yet possesses a historical past punctuated by events occurring at well-known places like the Alamo. San Antonio is also home to military bases, universities, transplanted retirees, and Masonic structure. One thing for sure…San Antonio does not feel like Kerrville. Yet, San Antonio posesses an eventful heritage filled with historical events and figures that provide footing for many great ministries, organizations, and people who labor with purpose there.  Some people are called to the nations, while others are planted in local arenas.  Their individual callings and assignments are of equal import...merely different.  Like many metropolitan areas, San Antonio is surrounded by growing bedroom communities that provide quarters for those working within the city, but lack those heart ingredients necessary to form healthy independent communities. One must usually travel beyond the metropolitan, through bedroom communities, into rural settings before re-experiencing the down-home feel of individual towns. Small towns all have their own distinct flavor leaving its unique mark on those privileged passers-by. It is my hope to be positively impacted by and to impact every town or community I travel through in a life-giving fashion... Meanwhile…I have lots to consider, sort through, and to decide in charting God’s course through His eyes each day… 

Please pray that my life will bless and help those I meet as I walk, knock, talk, fix glass, or preach in Jesus’ name… Likewise, please tug on heaven for all it takes to get me there. Until next time dear friend…keep your eyes in the east! It is an urgent hour in the world we live…

Chasing Jesus,

Greg