I remember when God first called me into ministry. I’d grown up in a Christian home, and my father was a lay pastor who filled the pulpit in small churches all over central Kansas.

My parents were godly people, and I’m blessed to be their son. But when I went to college, I had this idea that the Christian life wasn’t fun, exciting or adventurous. I drifted away from God and ran from Him for 26 years.

In 1993, my wife and I began attending church again. But it wasn’t until a friend invited me to a Promise Keepers Wake-up Call in Wichita, Kansas, that God radically changed my life. 

Early in the morning during a time of intermittent prayer and worship, the speaker said that God was looking for men who will stand up and be counted as leaders in their homes, their churches and their communities. That day I made a covenant with the Lord—I would be that leader.

For the next several months, I felt like I was literally running to keep up with all that God was doing in my life. We were starting ministries, praying diligently and reading the Bible. Every waking moment was spent thinking about the Lord and what he wanted to do for our community. We started a Promise Keepers men’s ministry in my church, and I later became an area ambassador. I was on fire for the Lord! 

But just like our relationships with our spouses, a relationship with Christ requires time with him. In Revelation 2:1-5, Jesus said of the church of Ephesus, “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil….You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this one thing against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first. Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.” 

I believe the same can be said about many in today’s churches. We’ve become so accustomed to our luxurious lives, and haven’t really suffered persecution. It’s been easy for us to become distracted and slip into our routines of going to church on Sunday morning but allowing the day-to-day activities of our life dominate our midweek. I have to get up and strive every morning to begin my day with time in prayer with the Lord. Otherwise, the relationship just seems to fade away without me realizing it.

It’s imperative that we, as Christians, return to our first love. We must seek Him while he can be found. We must spend time in relationship with Him. Then, we must pray for our nation. We must stand courageously for what is good and stand against what is evil. We must cast our votes for godly men and women and for moral agendas at our elections. If we stand for righteousness and morality, our God will fight with us. Let’s renew our relationship with God, stand with Him and stand for righteousness.

Rebuilding our nation, under God