UFOs and Alien Encounters

I am blessed to have so many people in my life who continue challenging me to stay close and clean in my walk with Jesus. Shondi, our children, the staff at Skipstone, my close friends, and my spiritual heroes all play a role in my spiritual development. I honestly can't imagine (and wouldn't want to) how different my walk might be if I wasn't sharing the journey with those that love me.

In recent weeks, God has allowed some things to pop up on my spiritual radar that have been the equivalent of a "UFO" experience for me. I know.... it makes me just as nervous to write that as it makes you to read it. I'm not going off the deep end (I hope) and I haven't seen a UFO, but I am stunned, shaken up, perplexed, and honestly a little apprehensive (ok, a LOT) about the things that God has been showing me lately.

I wish I was at liberty to share the details now, but then you guys would just go around saying that I had an "alien encounter" or something like that! In all seriousness, this encounter has nothing to do with UFOs and aliens, but everything to do with surrendering more and more of my life to His will and His way.

While I consider myself a guy who enjoys thinking and ministering "outside the box", this calling (not sure that is the best description) has caused me to reconsider the DNA of "the box" itself. In other words, I'm not certain that I have shared God's perspective of what biblical ministry looks like. It's certainly been a time of stretching and surrendering for me to consider that my ministry has been shaped far more by my own ideas, conceptions, and experiences than by divine instruction and total (seemingly foolish) surrender to the word of God and the will of God.

Some would make the point that God's hand has obviously been on the ministry of Skipstone, so how could I possibly raise this question. Others would say that we should just be thankful and content with what God has done and rest in that. I am the first to shout praises for God's blessings on Skipstone and thankfulness for allowing me to be a part of it. I agree that He has been faithful and that it's obvious that His hand is on the ministry here. I'm also the first to admit that what has happened has been in spite of, not because of, us!

The question is "would this ministry look any different if I surrendered everything I thought I knew about what ministry should look like? What if I focused on surrendering "the box" as opposed to ministering "outside the box"?"

For the first time in my life, I feel as though God is calling me to do something that "I HAVE to do" instead of something that "I WANT to do". My ramblings certainly can't describe all of the feelings that come with that realization!

I am asking those who love me to walk down this road with me. Pray for spiritual eyes and ears for me to be able to discern exactly what God would have me to know and to do. Pray for my heart to be open and receptive to every prompting of the Holy Spirit. Pray for obedient hands and feet to move at His command. Pray for a hedge of protection around my life and for faith that is not so easily intimidated by fear and doubt. Most importantly, pray for a posture of complete surrender for me.

"He searches the sources of the rivers and brings hidden things to light. But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living." Job 28:11-13

Whatever It Takes,
Chip Moody