Do we crowd God out? Do we have such powerful skills and words and strategies that we crowd God out? Have we educated God out of our hearts? Whatever happened to signs and wonders? Where is God? Do we converse people into Faith? IF we talk people into being saved, into receiving Christ, don’t we then have to keep convincing them? Do we have a theology for the supernatural? Is there room for God to show up all?

Guy Phanz was asking questions like these to our missionaries. That first question is just a killer for me. With all my skills, education, experience, polish, practice, gifts and such . . . it is more than easy to crowd God out. In fact, it would be quite easy to not need God at all! What a horrifying thought! But the more I think about it the more certain I am that it can happen. There are many out there with far more of everything than I have . . . far more gifts, skills, education, experience, and if I can crowd God out, their temptation to do the same must be all the more difficult.

So how can I be certain that I am not crowding God out . . . at any step along the way? Should I pray more and prepare less? Should I turn my degrees back into the schools that issued them to me and read the KJV from now on? Should I return to the roots of my childhood and stand before the congregation in two days with nothing prepared and just say what comes to my mind and call it holy? I think not . . . no, no and no.

I think preparation is good . . . at the very very least it is a way that God consistently changes me. I think planning has a place too . . . chaos never helped anyone see God. Yet, I want more . . . of God . . . in all that happens. Lord Jesus help me find the way! I way to see Him work and intervene and be with His people, His children and I never want to crowd Him out. But frankly our whole structure of church thingy might be more of a roadblock than a help? You gotta believe God wants this even more than we do . . . or our theology is nothing more than quicksand.