I get a kick out of author Steve Farrar. He’s the kind of guy that will climb right up in your mustache and tell you EXACTLY what he thinks!

In his book Finishing Strong, he tells a story about the creator of master detective Sherlock Holmes. Holmes, who apparently was a great practical joker decided one day to play a fiendish prank, so he sent out identical telegrams to twelve of his friends. The telegrams were anonymous and simply read: “All has been discovered. Flee at once.” Within 24 hours ALL twelve men had fled the country.

That got me to wondering how many of us having flashing red lights on the dashboard of our lives?

If you got an “All has been discovered; flee at once” email today, what thought would immediately pop into your head? Is there something … ANYTHING … you’ve been hiding? If so, let me remind you that trying to manage GUILT is like trying to hold a beach ball under water—next to impossible!

The ancient Greeks believed guilt was so inescapable they developed a little saying: “When a man is guilty the whole world is his prison.” It’s true. The Bible echoes that sentiment when it warns: “Be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23, NIV).

That’s the bad news. The good news is “grace.” And Jesus was full of it (grace, that is). So if you’re doing battle with some dark deed from the past, why not come clean and bring it to Jesus? The New Testament promises that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Give it a try.

From the time I gave my life to Jesus at age eight until today I made a commitment to live a “white hot” life for God. Not that I’ve always succeeded, mind you, quite the contrary. But as I often remind others, “God is more interested in your direction than your perfection.”

Now don’t read too much into that glittering generality—God is DEEPLY interested in our growth toward spiritual maturity—it’s just that he knows we’re frail, weak … and sure to blow it on occasion. That’s why Jesus came into the world in the first place; to do for us what we could never do for ourselves.

I like the way the Paul puts it: “I have not yet been made perfect. But I move on to take hold of what Christ Jesus took hold of me for” (Philippians 3:12, NIV). There you have it—a laser-like pursuit of God’s will.

Some years ago when I was a budding pastor I managed to take a preaching class taught by well-known pastor and Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll. His insights were “gold-plated.”

One cautionary note he mentioned about ministry has stuck with me. He said that his greatest fear (he was in his late forties at the time) was one day becoming like so many “fifty something” pastors he knew, who after decades of local church ministry had become mere shells of their former selves, what C S Lewis called, “men without chests.”

His sober warning isn’t only an occupational hazard for pastors or leaders, but for every person who tries to diligently follow Jesus over life’s long haul. At times each of us will be tempted to just “go with the flow,” cut character corners, or like Moses at an insecure moment in his life, put on a veil to cover up the fact that the glory of God was at least temporarily fading away (2 Corinthians 3:13, NIV).

So do a quick “gut check.” And be brutally honest with yourself. Based on your current spiritual trajectory, are you likely to finish well?

Hello, Overlake friends. Welcome to my new blog. I’ve wanted to start blogging for a long time. Apparently, NOW is the time.

Since this is my maiden voyage into the blogosphere I thought I’d use the space to tell you a little about myself and my vision for this blog.

I grew up in a non-Christian home but came to faith, along with my two brothers, early in life—ALL because there was a strong, outreach oriented church just a block from our inner-city Chicago home. Within a year my mother came to know Jesus because an awesome 70-year-old grandma in the church took time weekly to visit, talk about Jesus’ love, and invest in new women in the church. I’ll never forget that dear saint!

By the time I was twelve I knew God was calling me to be a pastor. I know that’s hard to imagine for some of you still trying to discern your “sweet spot.” But, in my case, my life arc was set early on.

Looking back across the years what’s most amazing to me, though, are the mentors God put in my life.

Two pastoral mentors were especially influential in the early stages of my spiritual development—a Scotsman from Glasgow and a brilliant scholar from Acme, Washington (population: 302). Seriously … you can’t make this stuff up! It’s mind-boggling at times to watch God brins people into our lives from all over the map.

Those men marked my life because they were—and still are—the “real deal.” Jesus wasn’t kidding when he said of folks, “You will know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:16). The adage is true: We teach what we know, but reproduce what we are.

My main blogging objective is to help YOU grow as a follower of Jesus, a.k.a., “spiritual formation.” I want to challenge genuine spiritual seekers and serious-minded believers alike to cultivate a growing relationship with God. And my plan is to do this by sharing life experiences, spiritual insights … and, hopefully, to provoke some deep thinking along the way.

So I end with this challenge. Think of the people who have made the biggest positive influence on your spiritual growth. What qualities made them stand out?

Now the more vexing question: Who do you think would say the same thing about your influence? Whose life have you indelibly etched for the good of God’s kingdom?