Resetting the Bore

“Resetting the Bore”

Titus 1:16a They profess to know God but by their deeds they deny Him,

          Living in Houston, you can’t help but pick up a term or two from the oil and gas industry.  I suppose I could have called this “Fracking For Jesus” or “Roughneck Religion” but that would have just been cute for cuteness sake and would not have reflected the thoughts I want to convey to you today.  Also, I figured if I put “boring” in the title, people won’t be too disappointed if it turns out this blog isn’t so great.  So what does drilling have to do with Titus 1:16?  “Well,” give me a “caisson’s” length of “horizontal deviation” and I will “directionally drill” to the “target zone.” 

          In the drilling industry, when the geologists are seeking to reach a target that is well beneath the surface, they have to allow for and even predict a certain amount of the afore mentioned horizontal deviation because the drill bit doesn’t react the same with every soil or rock type it encounters.  The upper sediments are usually loose and easy to drill but as the boring rods reach bedrock depth and below, the earth begins to wreak havoc on drilling equipment and, in traditional boring methods, can dictate the direction of the overall borehole.  At extreme depths, the borehole will encounter other difficulties such as fault line slippage and even rock that is so hot that it essentially flows rather than providing resistance to the bit. 

Between 1970 and 1994, the Russian’s efforted reaching the Earth’s mantle by drilling the Kola Superdeep Borehole near the Russia/Norway border.  Though the borehole took many years and encountered even more troubles, they eventually reached a record depth that still stands today.  Some 7.5 miles (40,230’) beneath the surface, the Russian’s finally had to call it quits.  Even though the unpredicted heat (356º F) did not allow them to reach their target depth of 15,000 meters, a successful hole of 40,230’ is astounding to imagine.  Using this as our case example, this 9” borehole was insignificant when you consider that small amount of steel twisting in 356º temperatures 7.5 miles beneath the surface.  As a result, the horizontal deviation in this hole reached as much as 10,000 feet (close to 2 miles) off-center from the drilling rig on the surface.  On a few occasions they even reset the borehole and tried again, but ultimately the same forces twisting it crooked to begin with just twisted it similarly once more as very few changes to the process were attempted.

          Now, you are both wise in the ways of drilling and properly prepped for where I am going with all of this.  “His Next Rung” has not had a post since October of 2017.  I would love to say that life just got away from me, the new job kept me busy, I was off somewhere doing greater things, or perhaps I was on some sort of sabbatical.  None of those would be true.  So what has been happening for the past two years?  I hit some dense sediment, the rig failed, the drill bit fractured, the rods twisted, the heat was too intense, I noticed that secondary forces had begun to guide my way and so I pulled back to reassess.  Do I continue drilling in the same direction or has my horizontal deviation led me so far off course that it was time to completely reset the bore?

          You see, the words from Titus 1:16 began to ring in my ears and penetrate my conscience.  Despite my attempts to serve God and make Christ the center of everything, my deeds just did not seem to be lining up.  Titus 1:16 told me that there are those that profess to know God but that their deeds show otherwise.  While I professed to know God, and even to teach others to do the same, I had to face the reality that my deeds were not in alignment.  The stories of faith that used to roll off of my lips started to become stale because they were stories from many year’s past with nothing new or fresh to take their place, the inspired words from the Holy Spirit became pieces I cut and pasted from lessons learned in some section of my distant past, the vision I had for where I was being led began to grow dim and I found myself twilling in circles looking for any point of light towards which to begin running, and the produce generated from this path seemed to smell more rotten then fresh.

          Over the last two years, I have pulled up the drilling rods completely and I have been scanning the surface for a new site upon which to probe.  One that would not twist me in the same direction all over again.  One that would not lead to the same staleness but would reach the target in which God promises a life lived with an abundance (John 10:10) of vigor and potency.  I had to conclude that if the Holy Spirit was in me, which I know He is, then the path I have taken has deviated so far from His plan that He can no longer associate my direction and His path except through void.  He could no longer scream direction my way while I plugged my ears and claimed to be following Him.  And so He allowed me to see, hear, feel, smell and taste His absence; and it has sucked.  Whatever way I was following may have been His way while the sediment was loose and the drilling was easy going, but as I lost site of the rigging, the fault lines and molten rock sheered away my passion, motivation and even my anointing.

          So what now?  Can you bear more drilling references?  Now there is a method known as “directional drilling” which actually allows the operator to receive feedback from the drill bit about the substance through which the bit is boring and the direction it is going so that it can be course corrected.  I also realized that hundreds of geologist, engineers, researchers and drilling experts are instrumental in any large-scale drilling project that is undergone today.  So how can I begin to drill down beneath a superficial life with Christ and still maintain direction, working directly beneath the rigging? 

First, I need a solid operator.  And it can’t be me this time.  And I can’t claim it is God but then do what I feel is best.  And I can’t lose sight of the surface saying to myself, “I got it from here.”      

Second, I need a target.  Yes God can course correct anytime He wants, and yes there will be secondary missions that all occur within the drill, but everything must point towards the target.  When the rock gets hot, I need to have strong convictions from which I refuse to waiver.

Last, I need hundreds of people to make this work.  When my equipment fails, I may need to borrow a rod or two, a jump start or maybe some grease.  The deeper I go, the easier it is going to be to horizontally deviate unless I have godly men and women surrounding me and analyzing the core; holding my samples up to the light to see if everything is adding up.  

Then, and only then can I feel good about starting up the engines again.  Until then, I sit here on the surface sharpening the bit.  That is where I am, that is why “His Next Rung” has been pulled, and that is why this blog only rests at the surface.  I know the Operator, albeit from a fresh start.  I have some resonating guidance towards a target.  I just need the people; and I have a feeling we all do.  If you would agree to be one of those, please comment below.  If you need help with this or any of the three components I have listed, please reach out to me and I will tell you what I have learned in the past two years of backing off prescribed Christianity and towards something more authentic.  We are not in this alone, and I don’t want to do it alone anymore.