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Keep Me Signed In
October 22, 2026

I remember when internet service came to my office. This mid-career pastor wasn’t tech savvy. He dragged his feet. Afraid of something new that he didn’t understand.

Or might not understand.

“Sign in” was a new concept. It’s required to get online. I clicked on the icon, and I was
surfing the web (do people even say that anymore?).

It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.

“Sign in” eventually became a helpful way to think of being conscious of God’s presence, alert to His voice, and responsive to His leading. Jesus had another way of saying the same thing, often after telling a parable to the crowds:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4: 9).

That sounds like “Sign in” to me!

The idea occurred to me on the way home from being a line judge at a volleyball quad after an evening of mental wandering. “I could have used that time to commune with the Lord,” I scolded myself. I used to do that more often than I was at the time. Got out of the habit, I guess.

It was time to re-establish the habit. I was determined to use this concept for nine weeks: “Keep me signed in.” Some say a new habit can be established in 30 or 40 days, others 6 to 9 weeks. I signed in with the Lord.

I needed a fresh perspective to stretch my spirit. God had done amazing things in my heart to remodel me.

It was time to take it to another level.

Sign in.

Signing in is about hearing how God wants to inform me and shape my mindset, not how I want to inform Him. It’s hard to admit, but, if we’re being honest with ourselves, much praying is informing God of our needs and requests.

And there’s the unspoken pressure, “Don’t just sit there, do something.” Isn’t that how we measure success and effectiveness? Checkmarks on the to-do list. Another project finished.

Jesus says to us, “Don’t just do something. Sit there.” We wait and give the Spirit room to get a word in.

Few need silence more than those least comfortable with it (Paul Anderson. Following Jesus, p. 58).

Ouch.

There will always be intrusions.

Uninvited pop-ups.

Notifications.

Virus alerts.

But I signed in to the Spirit. What message is in this “intrusion” for me?

He who has ears to hear…

Keep me signed in.

 

 

 

 

ABOUT

Jeff Blackburn has been proclaiming Christ for over 43 years. He served Friends congregations in Indiana and Kansas. His most recent pastoral assignment was with Greensburg Mennonite Church, Greensburg, Kansas, where he enjoyed nearly 30 years of ministry before being called to coordinate the Friends Preaching Initiative in 2024. He works with aspiring preachers and ministry students on campus, often preaches in churches in the region. He developed three new courses for a preaching certificate offered through Ĺ, and he created a preaching lab for Ĺ students to work on their communication skills.

Jeff grew up in small-town Indiana, attending Quaker Haven Camp every summer before counseling and directing camps. He is a graduate of Ĺ and Huntington University. He wrote for Adult Friend and The Fruit of the Vine (Ĺ Press, Newberg, Oregon) for many years. Jeff enjoys music and singing, although he can’t read music very well. He continues to serve as the moderator for local schools’ spelling bees.

Jeff has written one book, Light at the End of the Funnel (Amazon, 2017) recounting the experience of surviving an EF5 tornado that devastated his town in 2007. He and his wife live in Greensburg where they are near enough to play with their grandchildren on a regular basis. The Lord put it in his heart to help train the next wave of preachers and to encourage active ministers to “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).