So here were these three great areas of deficiency:
• People were trying rather than training
• They were scattered rather than gathered
• Their vision was myopic rather than synoptic

I saw these things and I can't tell you how discouraging this was to me. These good people, honest people, sincere people were like sheep without a shepherd. And it led me to a period were I stopped all speaking and all writing. When I entered this time I did not know if I would ever write or speak again. I actually thought I would not. As it turned out this period lasted for about 18 months. And during that time I tried to listen carefully to God.

• What could be done to overcome these crippling deficiencies of trying and being scattered and myopia?

• What could be done to help people to train in the spiritual life?

• What could be done to see people gather in little clusters of loving nurturing accountability?

• What could be done to help people catch a synoptic vision of all the great streams of life and faith throughout the history of the people of God?

• What could be done? What could be done?

At RENOVARÉ we share something of what came out of that eighteen month period of listening and how it has developed since that time. We articulate a balanced vision of life and faith. We seek to give a practical strategy for spiritual growth. And we work hard to strengthen your hand as, day in and day out, you and as you help others to, in those great words of the Apostle Paul, "attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God; to come to maturity, to the measure of the stature of the fullness Christ."

I'll conclude by sharing with you this one thing that I saw during those months of silence, and it is something that I see to this day ... even though it still feels like I am peering through a glass darkly.

part 3: I See a People >