Starting January 1st we will begin something we are calling "100 Days of Pursuit." I’ll be sharing more in later emails but I want to give you a little now just so you can be thinking and preparing.
The cold dark winter months, Jan-Feb-March, will be more difficult this year as the pandemic continues. Instead of having a mindset of gritting our teeth through it until the warmer months emerge, I want to offer an opportunity to harness the isolation for good. Being shut in during the winter makes it easy to be lazy, watch too much tv, eat too much, and so on. It can also lead to falling back into old sins. Instead of just trying to survive the winter I want to set forth a challenge to make it a season of serious devotion to the pursuit of God.
The challenge will not be only for people who are advanced in prayer but also those who are brand new Christians, and those who just never seem to be able to get their prayer life off the ground. My hope is that this will help many of you discover the delight of prayer. I think the average Christian either doesn’t pray much at all or prays faithfully out of obligation but doesn’t really enjoy it. This state of things is far from what the Father intends, as He longs for each of us to enjoy intimate communion with Himself.
Starting in January I’m going to finish up the Ephesians series on Tuesday nights to free up Sundays for the 100 Days of Pursuit theme. I’ll be preaching on the distinguishing marks of men and women throughout history, upon whom the glory of God rested. The practices of those who were burning and shining lights in their generations are fading in the present day. We’ll explore what I like to call the “ancient paths” of weeping, mourning, fasting, wrestling, travail, contrition, consecration, hunger and thirst, solitude, and much more. The messages will be designed to fuel your pursuit of a deeper relationship with God.
In addition, most of our small groups will build their groups around the content preached on Sundays. It’ll be a time to talk it through and digest it. To figure out how to apply it to everyday life. Though the pandemic restricts some of the interactions we enjoy, we will take advantage of what we can do so that we can pursue God together.
I’m also going to provide “daily fuel” to those who want it. This will be in the form of a daily email containing a variety of content aimed to stir, equip and motivate you in your pursuit of God. These will consist of short teachings, excerpts from my journals, portions from books I’m reading, links to sermons or articles on revival, stories of outpourings of the Spirit and much more. It’s on my heart to be as raw and transparent as possible in an effort to help to the utmost.
Again, I will only send these emails to those who want to receive them. After Christmas I’ll be sending out an invite to receive the daily email that will include a short survey about your prayer life and why you want to participate in the 100 Days of Pursuit. The survey responses will help me to create and find the content most helpful for those receiving the “daily fuel” emails.
Besides providing these daily emails, I’m also seriously committed to praying for those of you who seriously commit to participate in this 100 day challenge with me. I’ll be praying not only for the establishing of a deeper and more joyful life of prayer, but I’ll be praying that your spiritual eyes would be open to see the glory of God in some measure!
The primary reason for the 100 Days of Pursuit initiative is to move as many as possible into a lifestyle of pursuit. The last thing I want would be for everyone to pursue hard after God for 100 days and, at the end, dive into sloth, prayerlessness and indulgence. It is similar to a 100 day exercise and health challenge that aims to set a pattern of lifestyle.
I am fully persuaded that the glory of God has departed or has greatly diminished from the churches in America. I like to think Ren Church is an exception, but I believe we are only experiencing a Dixie Cup of glory — when waterfalls are just over the horizon! The plain reality is that more people fall away each year than are genuinely converted. Christianity is in decline, and the name of Jesus has been disgraced in myriad ways. The Church has lost her power and potency. She has become like the world — or worse!
Knowing that God is not only willing but eager to restore His glory upon His people, I am convinced that we should give ourselves no rest until the glory of God returns and the name of Christ is famous in the land!
"On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth." — Isaiah 62:6-7