I’ve talked to a few friends from my original World Race recently. We’ve all been off the field from our original trip now for about a year and a half and we seem to be in a similar stage. We’ve encountered a small measure of “real life”, but the fire of the Kingdom still burns inside our bellies. We’re all beginning to face the challenge of getting that fire from our bellies into the world. We’re wrestling with what it means to expand the Kingdom not as a one-year experience, but as a way of life.
I wrote before Christmas about feeling the weight of my passion. I told you about how I started to process my desire to see the Church come alive in the Spirit. I told you that when I confronted the reality of that being my life, I cried in a Mexican restaurant.
I talked to a teammate who is seeing a hunger for more of God in Memphis, TN. She’s reckoning with a desire to see that hunger turn to a passion that sweeps the city. She’s considering changing her lifelong plans of going to nursing school in favor of opening a coffee shop and prayer room.
I talked to a teammate who is seeing a friend physically manifest the demons that have taken root in her family for generations. My teammate is learning that even if she has to wait patiently for a clear vocational call, she can find passion in the knowledge that there are people around her with whom she can live and minister the Kingdom.
I think I’m more encouraged about the World Race now than ever. As those of us did the World Race two years ago are realizing that we eventually need to “pound some nails”, as one of my supporters asked if I would ever do, we are not backing down from the tension of making life out of Kingdom focus.
Which has got me thinking.
When I first returned home from the World Race, having experienced the Lord in new, life-giving ways, I said, “Well gee, that’s great, but what about folks who have a spouse and three kids? How do they get to experience this thing?”
I quickly realized that’s my life’s work: To bring a fresh understanding of and experience with the Holy Spirit that ignites in people their own Kingdom Dreams. These are people who already know Jesus and who are already going to church, but may sometimes wonder how exactly they fit into the plan of His Kingdom. People like you and me.
So that’s what I’ve tried to do on this blog. I try to share my experiences in such a way that you might reflect on the passions the Lord has given you. I want to see you all get a dream bigger than yourself. I want you to remember that dream you had of something that requires God to come alongside of you in expanding His Kingdom.
That’s where I am. I’ve got a dream to see the church come alive like it never has before. I’m hoping we can pursue these dreams together.
To create a space for us to walk that journey, I’m working on transitioning this blog to a new site. My journey is becoming less and less about the World Race and more and more about the dreams God awoke in me in that experience. So I thought it was time to move the blog to a new place too.
I’ve purchased a new URL and over the next couple weeks I’ll be setting it up to receive all of you who read this blog. I’ll probably post about 3 times a week and a main focus will be sharing with you my journey in hopes that we can walk together in pursuing the dreams the Lord has placed on our hearts. I’m hoping it will be a safe place where we can freely say, “You know i was never really sure if this would be possible but I always thought it would be cool to…”. And then we can talk about the excitement and the discouragement, the God-moments and the setbacks.
I hope you’ll plan on coming with me.
