Below is the June monthly letter for Consumed. If you would like to be added to our monthly mailing list, please inform us here

An act of God occurred on Saturday, June 2… I ran in a half-marathon. For those of you that have known me for a while and didn’t know about the race prior to this letter, I promise it did happen. In a very weird way, it was a wonderful experience. Although the legs are still a bit sore and I finished somewhere between 250-400 out of 600 runners, the lessons learned while training and running the actual race were well worth it.

About forty-five minutes after my friend Nicole and I finished, we heard over the loud speaker, “Medic to the finish line. Medic to the finish line please.” At first, we thought this was probably a dehydration issue or a pulled muscle, but we soon discovered this was much more serious. There was a man lying on the side of the road who had stopped breathing. The EMTs were performing CPR on him, but without any success. The man’s wife was standing above him crying, “Breathe. Please breathe.” Finally the medics used a heart defibulator and shocked his non-beating heart back into action. When the man began breathing again, the EMTs put an IV into his arm and off to the hospital he went.

When you see a near-death experience, it causes you to think. As Abby and I stood there watching, it was an eerie feeling. I have thought about this man, his non-beating heart, and death a lot the last few days. To lose your heart physically is obviously a serious issue. To lose your heart spiritually, could be much more serious.

What pushes me and those involved with Consumed Ministries forward is that we see a problem. This problem being there are many Christians functioning without a beating heart. They are doing church, saying the right things, possibly even tithing, but their hearts stopped beating a long time ago. They lost their zeal, passion, first-love, and intimacy with God. They forgot what sets Christianity apart from any other world religion – access to the God of the Universe as their Father. Jesus is their friend, Savior, Lord, and lover. The Holy Spirit guides them, reveals truth, and empowers them to live victoriously.

People often ask me what Consumed Ministries is all about. In some metaphorical way, I believe God has given us the responsibility to act at times like the medics at my race. We restore the rhythm in someone’s heart. We remove the calluses of complacency and restore the wonder of following Jesus. We shock them out of dutiful living and into abundant living.

So for your partnership in this endeavor, we thank you. Our role in this struggle would not come to fruition without your prayers, resources, and love. May you keep your heart beating healthy, and overflowing for the glory of His Name.