1.1 What Desert?

13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. 14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert...
Psalms 106:13,14

The pressing reason that I have found to write is that I see one of the most dangerous places that Christians - especially those in the age of adolescence - can slip into is not the enemy's camp. As Christians, we can live safe and assured that, once we have accepted Christ into our hearts we have safe passage out of those war-torn lands. For, through our faith, we are justified and therefore no longer citizen-slaves to Satan.
But then what? Is it merely a hop, skip, and a jump into God's kingdom? Sadly, many assume so.
They automatically gather that just because you don't identify with the Enemy, that's enough. They think, I've done all the hard work now. I just have to sit back and screw up as little as possible.
But this is not the life that Christians were destined for. This is a life spend hovering in the grey area between God and the great Deceiver. And, in fact, this is one of that trickster's greatest deceptions: the lie that a fruitless life, as long as it is "under" Christ, is all God wants. He may not own us anymore, but he can still taint what we can contribute to our Father's kingdom.
It is in this attitude that we find the vast desert of the middle ground; just far enough away from the enemy's side, but not nearly close enough to the Kingdom. People become like those that the Psalmist spoke of, testing God arrogantly in this wilderness. It is in this spiritual purgatory that we can camp out, kick up our feet and live our static lives.
And so many people have joined this supposed desert oasis that it feels like home. There is the hustle-bustle of activity, the company of friends, and even the semblance of religion. However, the thing that keeps so many corralled outside of the Kingdom is what it's position means: not of the enemy (so that we have liberation from sin) but not completely of the kingdom (so that not all of its rules need be applied). It allows us to gain Christian "benefits" without putting work into a relationship with Christ. We bathe in lethargy; eat up spiritual laziness; aspire to mediocrity.
Ultimately, it is this complacency in mediocrity that is putting a chokehold on a generation of potentially world-changing disciples of Christ.
Granted, it may seem that our biggest battle was/is our fight to be released from the enemy's land. However, the reality is that the war rages on as long as we fail to reside completely in our Father's land.
Some come to realize this truth, but - like any other desert - it can be viciously difficult to escape when not properly equipped. The nights are filled with frigidity and hidden dangers. The days are long, scorching, and physically exhausting. In this stark, harsh wasteland, we can often find ourselves mired down and unable to travel on. There is no abundance of water to sustain our spiritual lives.
To find the way out is tricky, and to spiritually survive that way is harder still. Still, God offers us the one true way out. Ironically, it is the same direction he gave us to escape from Satan's land.
The way of safe passage is with His Son. With him, all things are possible.
Even this - combating and escaping one of the worst effects of our human nature - is well within His power to accomplish. He truly becomes the living water to our souls, sustaining them in the extremities of the wasteland. But to come out spiritually alive, we must seek first to understand this desert that we must cross.
No distance should be traveled without a knowledge of where you are and where you're going. Jesus may provide the way, and may give us safety, but we must be equipped to pull our own weight. That is the purpose of this book. Expanding our understanding of this land that every Christian must cross, but that many simply live in.
So read on, as the desert is laid out before your eyes, and the path is laid out in front of your feet.

Preface

I remember the first time that I ever seriously considered writing a book. I was in fourth grade, and it was in that year that we purchased our first computer. A relic by today's standards, that old puppy was able to crank along with a "swift" 56 Megahertz processor.
As I was confronted by this new technology, I realized its potential for artistic expression. I had tried to write outside of class only once before, which had taken the form of a three-page sermon/gospel that my (then) eight year old self had thought worthy of canonization. Since fire didn't rain down and lift that genius work to the heavens, I found myself two years later deciding to try to write something slightly more lengthy and, perhaps, less heretical.
I think it was about aliens.
I can't quite remember, though, as I bored with it easily. Then came my epic novel about a man who tries to control the weather, which also never reached fruition.
I suppose the fact that they were never finished are just tangible examples of God's hand at work. They would have been monumental wastes of paper.
So now I find myself with twenty years of life behind me; millions of anecdotes in my pocket, and thousands of dreams in my head. Some of them gems... some of them not so much. But my mind (along with my spirit, this time) has returned to the noble cause of writing something that could do more than stimulate imagination.
As I continue into my second decade of life, I have found that there is not a lot of wisdom being passed on from my age group. However, in this postmodern society, it has become essential for me and my "posse" to be heard.
So I thought that I would start the movement myself.
Really the hope is to encourage more people who would write or are writing (but keep it to themselves). There is so much yet to be said by this generation, but if we allow our ideas and attitudes to sit on the shelf, they will stagnate.
Then all we'll be able to do is look at them somewhere along the line and wish that we had spoken up.