Philip Cron is
a World Race alumnus from the January 2011 T Squad. He spent 2011
traveling the world and loving everyone he met along the way. Right
before his Race ended, Philip summed up his 11 months. Launch is just around the corner….are you ready to live your own great story??
“Imagine
yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At
first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the
drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that
those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he
starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does
not seem to make any sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation
is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought
of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there,
running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made
into a decent little cottage: but he is building a palace. He intends to
come and live in it himself.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I can taste the freedom which is ahead.
I can feel the sensation of adventure to be.
I sit and I reminisce on what God has done in my life over the past year, and I can’t control the excitement inside of me.
I have been reborn.
Awakened.
Broken down.
Built back up.
My secrets revealed.
My past unlocked and dealt with.
I have lived in genuine community.
I have stood in the presence of God during organic worship.
I have laughed.
I have cried.
I have succeeded.
I have failed.
I have failed some more…
And more.
I have fought for what I believe in.
And other times I have walked away.
I have ministered with the Holy Spirit.
And have been ministered to by the Holy Spirit.
The transformation in my life cannot be summed up in a blog.
Or in a passive conversation.
What God has done in my life is monumental.
The humility and knowledge I have gained this year from God is what will shape my tomorrow, and my future.
I have been wrecked for the ordinary.
I can no longer work a 9-5 job.
Or spend my money at the theater to repay myself for my boring and needy week.
There is nothing I can buy that will bring me happiness.
All that I have received this year has been free.
It has been from the heart of God’s people.
Children have gone hungry so I could eat as a guest in their house.
The woman we just met spent her last dollars to buy us a Coke to show her appreciation for our visit.
Tea and coffee were offered at every house we entered.
Blessings and prayers poured out.
I have seen legs grow.
Crippled men walk.
Blind eyes opened.
Children smile.
Demons cast out.
Hearts mended.
Girls enslaved by prostitution no more.
Mouths fed.
The dying orphan holds my hand and I can feel God’s warmth within her palm.
I dine with the unsaved.
I drink wine with them and I share my testimony.
I minister in the bars where prostitutes dance on poles in front of my eyes.
I whisper words of life into her ear while the man next to her is gripping her inner thigh.
I watch him take her away and I can’t help but cry.
I have lived in the city.
I have lived in the bush.
In unfinished houses.
In a tent.
In airports.
Orphanages.
Mission homes.
My contact’s house.
I have traveled by planes.
Trains.
Buses (and on top of buses).
Cars.
Autos.
Tuk tuks.
Motor bikes.
Vans.
I have eaten fried snakes, frogs, tarantula, bugs.
I have climbed mountains.
Learned to play guitar.
Surfed some wicked waves in Cape Town, South Africa.
Learned to drive a stick shift and drive it on the opposite side of the car and road.
I have been bird hunting with slingshots running on landmine fields in Cambodia.
I have been kayaking in the Outback of Australia.
Visited the border of Tibet only to be sent away with no entry.
I have been to some of the world’s most beautiful beaches.
I have seen Angkor Wat.
I got a tattoo.
I now have dreadlocks.
I have gone two weeks without a shower or deodorant.
I have lived out of my backpack for the past 10 ½ months.
I own five shirts that are too small for me.
And every time I wash them they shrink some more.
My pants are worn out and holes are in places they should not be.
I no longer own socks.
My sandals are broken.
My last pair of shoes are worn out from daily use.
I literally have nothing.
Not even at home.
I sold my car, my movies, my X-Box, my furniture.
I am going home where I have no possessions.
And I have never felt freer.
I have never been this happy.
I am living like Jesus did on this earth.
The way he trained his disciples.
I am living the way God created us to live.
My name is Philip Benton Cron.
And I have been wrecked for the ordinary.
I am wrecked for life.
I have been given today and I will use it for his kingdom.
How can I sum up the year 2011?
It was my first year of truly living.
