This book is not about me. It is about you and your relationship with our Abba Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The point is for you to grow YOUR relationship. How mine was manifested may be helpful to you and some info about my walk with our Abba Father seems appropriate. I am a biblical counselor and a pastor; my ministry personally helps people change their lives with our Abba Father and the Holy Spirit. The better we know them, the better the change. I have personally ministered to over 3,000 of our Abba Father’s children. The most significant void I see in believers is how we fit this earth-life into our Abba Father’s spirit world. Without knowing that, we settle into our earth-life in “Earth-life Bias” (ELB).
I wrote much of this book by answering my questions about our Abba Father I have had over time. Plus, things I have learned that would help believers to know. Others might benefit from the answer if I have the question. Not just so that we are smarter but to help us connect with our Abba Father, move into his world and Family, and look to him for direction in this phase of our eternal life. Trust me; we should have a lot of questions. Everyone has eternal life; the difference is how we spend it.
I am confident that all the Scripture-based Christian denominations serve our Abba Father’s purpose, and I love them all because they all use the Scripture. Disagreements abound, but our Abba Father’s plan never changes from bringing his children back to the Family. For anything not resolved by the Scripture, I am quite content to wait until I meet our Abba Father and ask him. I am more satisfied with two possible meanings for a verse than humans in ELB choosing one or the other for me. Often, both options build our faith.
My seminary bio opened with, “I was a drug baby.” Everyone goes “oooh” with that line, but no worries. I mean that my mother “drug” me to church and Sunday School every week; rain, shine, sleet, or snow. I learned everything a young man was to know about the Holy Bible, and I earned Sunday school attendance pins that strung from head to toe. My mom was so proud! The only thing I missed was our Abba Father. I took him for granted.
When I left home for college in 1965 (yes, I am an elder), I left a tiny town to go to a very big city. That was the last I thought about our Abba Father until he came and got me in 2008, right after the economy crashed and I took an economic face plant. For forty-three years, our Abba Father led me through the wilderness of business, with each step of the way getting me ready for my calling to begin. Forty-three years after leaving home, in one moment, all that Sunday school roared through my mind, and I knew my life was about to change.
The way our Abba Father came and got me has led me since with the Holy Spirit. There was no missing it, and the hindsight of my Sunday school experience has shaped my walk with our Abba Father ever since. People ask if I miss anything from the corporate world, and my answer is, “nothing except expense account golf, skiing, and sushi.”
Looking back, the thing that stands out most is the analytical brain our Abba Father gave me. My major in college was engineering, but I did not have a clue why. I didn’t think athletes needed to study, and I was a terrible student. I almost didn’t graduate. I joked that the university would only issue me the degree if I promised never to practice engineering. I did reform; all A’s in two business schools and seminary after I got some clues.
Engineering has one process, identify the challenge, analyze it, and solve it. I was good at that, and management needed the same process, so it all worked out. I ended up in a very technical sales market that required my degree, but I never sold anything. I solved the problem of the need for sales like an engineer would. That was a very “outside the box” approach that revealed new ways of looking at things, but once we found the best solution, it was easy for others to follow.
And guess what? After our Abba Father came and got me, it was only natural to try and “engineer” the Scripture. How do the pieces fit? What are the foundations to build on? What does it look like? All my analytical skills came into play. I read about the Holy Spirit, said hello, and the rest is history. I “yacked,” as my church calls it, for nine years before the Holy Spirit directed me to seminary. I knew exactly what I was looking for and escaped unscathed by the seminary experience. I can’t say the same for the seminary.
Another big part of my history was the realization that systems do not want to change, people do not want to change, and people often feel threatened by “a better way,” especially in the competition to get to the top. The Holy Spirit often tells me just serve; he will manage the world. And I often say in return, “you made them, don’t look at me.” The church is full of humans, so I try to offer my report in this book, and the Holy Spirit will take it from there with you.
My ministry calling is to be a jail/prison pastor and biblical mental health counselor. People ask me how I go into such “hell holes” (and they are), and I share with them that if they could see what I see the Holy Spirit do in totally lost people, day after day, they would be helping in there too. Mathew 25:6 could use more helpers, “. . . I was in prison, and you came to Me.” There is a palpable (can be felt) divine intervention in my walk. All the glory goes to our Abba Father; I am very blessed to be a voice and witness for him.
My ministry is very personal, counseling and bringing the Word to prisoners incarcerated for violating society’s laws. I see the results in my flock every day. But everyone is a prisoner to sin, violating our Abba Father’s law. I also work with their loved ones because they are essential to reforming an inmate’s life. If they cannot reconcile, we must adapt to that reality. The loved ones often need help as well, representing the entire spectrum of humanity, so I experience a broad range of our Abba Father’s children. That is the crucible from which this book emerged.
In seminary, I recognized the potential of biblical counseling training as a faith-building engine in preaching and teaching. The Holy Spirit has blessed me with a discovery in my ministry and mentoring program, “God’s Triumphant Plan.” We are all prisoners of sin. I learned that biblical counseling training with the Holy Spirit could build character in incarcerated people and anyone wanting a closer relationship with our Abba Father and each other. The criminal justice system does not recognize faith as having any probative value, nor do I want it. But it rewards character growth as rehabilitation and life change, and we are getting traction.
Productive lives, reunited families, and early release are the fruits of our program; as most of the time, the family needs help along with their incarcerated loved one. The fantastic results could break new ground for the biblical counseling movement. Our program, God’s Triumphant Plan, will prayerfully be blessed to dramatically grow the application of biblical counseling to everyday Holy Bible study and our daily lives. If you feel called to support us, that would be a blessing for us at www.GTPE7.com.
What also shapes my ministry is that I see our Abba Father move in people who do not know the Scripture every week. Not just in receiving the prayer of redemption but a full-on presence of the Holy Spirit. They start with the relationship with our Abba Father. That has led my ministry to emphasize lifting this life into our Abba Father’s divine spirit world and being in a relationship with him for eternity, precisely as the Holy Spirit and the Scripture lead us. ELB keeps believers from doing that.
Jesus knocks on our door (heart); he does not just mail us a Holy Bible. He comes into us and us into him, the ultimate in a relationship, not just a communication channel. I am in no way minimizing the Scripture in this paragraph; I am emphasizing the living power and desires of our Abba Father that come with it. I also see many people open the Holy Bible and light up in its living power and desire of our Abba Father. Too many believers go into the Scripture instead of through the Scripture. ELB tries to keep us from our relationship with our Abba Father. Writing the book, I sent my drafts to my incarcerated flock. The response was terrific, and this book is for every believer seeking a closer relationship with our Abba Father. That will also provide the solution to most earthly problems experienced by a married couple, friends, co-workers, cellmates, or fellow inmates.
