He Who Began....

I always sign my blogposts with the words The Pilgimage Continues, and those signatures now hold me captive to continue to follow the vision for ministry that God has given me. As I share this podcast I will be as transparent about the vision as I can be, and stay true to the course He has birthed in my heart and mind. All of this began at my salvation when a dear lady by the name of Audra Lea Stone came through the welcome line at First Baptist Church, West Plains, Missouri. Audra Lea was a beautician that my mom used and she asked my mom to bring me to Vacation Bible School, where I first heard the gospel. Not too long after that another child shared the gospel with me and soon after that I was born again. Yes. Born again! Here is what Jesus said about being born again. John 3:³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. This born again experience set me on a course to follow Jesus in salvation and later on called to follow Him in full time ministry. Full time ministry is where our needs are supplied by other Christians, and in Baptist life, by a church fellowship. I never felt like I was on a "job", but I was following a Spirit-led call to follow Jesus wherever He led. That call led me and my family from California to North Carolina during a time of ministry that had many ups and downs my family had to deal with and they handled everything in faith as it came our way.

I was a youth pastor for 25 of those years and then began leading worship for 20 more years, and it was truly a "calling" I did not plan on or expect, but God blessed and the rest is his story for me. During the later years of ministry I have had some struggles, in that I had two vocal operations, and the last one almost did me in for ever singing again, but God pulled me through that experience as well. One hip replacement and one knee replacement later I am still plugging along on this journey to follow that call in the most specific way I can, because when God calls you it is a very personal thing that no one else can experience for you.

God has been so faithful and I believe He will continue to be faithful in the days ahead, because without Him, I am sunk. But with Him, the sky is the limit. I have something that is burned in my mind and heart that keeps this call alive, and it is the following. Phlippians 1: ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. He Who Began is God, and not another human or me, but Audra Lea was the one who God used to begin this calling when she put her hand on my heart and said the following words. "David, God is strong in your life follow Him." Later on I met with Audra Lea when she had advanced in years and in that meeting she told me "David, don't be afraid of the Holy Spirit." Her words have held heavy on my life for many years now and they are as fresh as when she said them, and it is my goal to follow through till I take my last breath.

Which brings me in a current way to today's blogpost. I am more convinced now than ever to follow His vision for my life to the fullest. My call is more secure and on point today and I will continue to write, speak, sing, or whatever He says to complete that calling. I know there is much more God wants me to do and I eagerly pray and wait for His instructions, and I hope you will join your heart and prayers with me to continue to follow this call, even though at times I doubt myself. I DO NOT DOUBT GOD. He is the heart of this life's pilgrimage and there is more work to be done, even with my present limitations. It is my desire to begin a ministry center where I can lead others to be a part of a mentoring ministry that enables believers to actually disciple other believers. I will organize a group of like-minded Christians to begin to build a fellowship of committed followers to follow the commission of Jesus to "make disciples." I believe we have many generations of converts who are a mile wide and an inch deep, and that lack of depth has hindered the church being the church Jesus intended, but we can do something about it and that is where God's vision for me comes to the front. This is my pilgrimage, and God has great plans for it, but some things need to happen to make it a reality, and I am ever praying for God to provide those things. HE WHO BEGAN...,.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren