Justin
and I were very fortunate to travel to Seminole, Texas today to be with my aunt’s
church family. We were excited to share
our hearts and vision for the next year with some amazing followers of Christ. Little did we know just how much of a
blessing they would be in our lives and how they would be so excited to share
in our vision. It was just what I
needed! To be honest, since training camp 3 weeks ago I have felt a little off,
just not myself. I was having trouble
accepting that this trip is really going to happen soon and wasn’t too sure I
was ready! Thankfully, God knew my heart
and what I needed!! We were ministered to and prayed over by this
church in a powerful way! I thank God for
the opportunity to now share our journey with Seminole New Life Fellowship. From the moment we arrived they welcomed us
into their family and loved us unconditionally. We felt renewed, uplifted, and excited about the coming year!! We really want to thank New Life Fellowship for
their love, hospitality and support! We
pray that God continues to bless your ministry beyond measure! We know that you are striving to declare
these truths every day and be a Spirit filled, Spirit led, and Spirit empowered
Church! We also want to thank Kandy, my
aunt, for introducing us to her church and continually praying for our
journey. Your faith and love are an
example to us more than you know. “God
is good all the time, and all the time God is Good!”
While
we were there Justin was able to share a message with the church and read the
Decisions That Define Us. A few weeks
ago at camp, Sean, one of our trainers, shared this with us and it has been on
my heart ever since. These are truly
powerful statements and decisions that each of us need to live out. These should be the Decisions that define our
lives…(this is kind of long, but it is worth it)
We have decided that teaching the Gospel without
demonstrating the Gospel is not enough. Good preaching, good doctrine, and
being good people is not enough.
We have decided that having a good church club is not
enough, good fellowship is not enough, and just being a member of that club is
not enough.
We have decided that having good Bible studies is good,
but not good enough, that just making it to heaven is not our goal, and that
knowing about God without truly knowing and experiencing God is meaningless.
We have decided that having good programs is not enough;
that change without transformation is intolerable, and that staying the same is
not an option.
We have decided that gifting without character is futile.
We have decided that singing songs without worshiping is
shallow and having meetings without God showing up is pointless.
We have decided that having faith without works is not
enough and having works without love is not acceptable – that our function
comes out of our relationship first with the Father and second with each other.
We have decided that reading about the book of Acts
without living the book of Acts is unthinkable.
We have decided that confident faith is good and bold
faith is better.
We have decided that hearing about the Holy Spirit
without experiencing Him is silly, that believing in
His presence without seeing It manifested in signs and
wonders is hypocrisy, that believing in healing without seeing people healed is
absurd, and that believing in deliverance without people being delivered is
absolutely ridiculous.
We have decided to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit
led, and Holy Spirit empowered – anything less doesn’t work for us.
We have decided to be the ones telling the stories of
God’s power – not the ones hearing about them.
We have decided that living saved, but not supernatural
is living below our privilege and short of what Christ died for.
We have decided that we are a battle ship not a cruise
ship, an army, not an audience; Special forces not spectators, missionaries not
club members.
We have decided to value both pioneers and settlers –
pioneers to expand our territory and settlers to build on those territories –
but we are not squatters – people who take up space others have fought for
without improving it.
We have decided to be infectious instead of innocuous,
contagious instead of quarantined, deadly instead of benign.
We have decided to be radical lovers and outrageous
givers.
We have decided that we are a mission station and not a
museum:
Therefore:
We honor the past – we don’t live in
it.
We live in the present with our eyes on the
future.
We see past events – successes and failures – as
stepping-stones not stop signs.
We pursue learning in order to be transformed, not
learning in order to know.
We are people of engagement not
observation.
We focus on what could be, not on what is or has
been.
We are not limited to the four walls of this building.
Our influence is not restricted by location
–
Not even the nations are out of
bounds.
We are more concerned about how many we send out into the
world than how many we convince
to come into the building. This building is meant to be
filled and it will be – but it will not
be
the measure of who we are or the measure of our
effectiveness.
We raise up world changers – not tour guides. We train
commandos, not committees.
We are a people of our destiny, not of our history.
We have decided that it is better to fail while reaching
for the impossible that God has planned for us than succeed settling for less.
We have decided that nothing short of His Kingdom come,
His will be done in our world as it is in Heaven will satisfy.
We have decided that we will not be satisfied until our
world freaks out and cries out “Those who have turned the world upside
down have come here too.”
Decisions That Define Us © 2005 David B CroneMay be used or reprinted
for personal use. For use in audio or printed publication for profit, written
permission must be released by author. Acknowledgement of the author would be
appreciated in all uses – audio and written form.
