I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God…be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

      Long before I ever read these lines, my parents instilled in me, genetically and socially, an admiration of independence. They both possessed this trait. They knew their mind and spoke it. Was God paving the way?

      A great deal of the disappointment in my life has stemmed from attempted conformity. For many years the greatest desire in my life was to present the One True God in such a way that hearers (readers) would come to seek a relationship with their Creator.

      I came to know what Jeremiah was talking about when he said: “ Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.” I was speaking my mind as God led, but, in truth, I was speaking for The Reaction . Success as a preacher is counted in converts. I found more critics than converts.

      I came to believe I was well rid of them. I would let them go their own way. I would keep quiet. The universe was full of preachers, full of the knowledge of God, let them look elsewhere. Let them look to those who could tell good news in a most delightful way.

      I have come to see how wrong I was. Not only in my silence, but in my expectations. Acceptance, rejection, even indifference, are all responses to the message. Each carries its own costs and yields its own rewards. My thinking has been transformed.

      Be conFORMED or be transFORMED. The choice is yours.

      “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”