Say what?
Kingdom Journey is one of the many words world race likes to use. Christian’s in general use a lot of lingo that if you are not in the know may be difficult to understand. I appreciate that some people reading my blog may not be believers and that is fine by me, I am just thrilled really that you are reading because it shows that regardless of what you believe you are supporting me in my own journey of life. I do keep this in mind when writing my blogs and try write with mass appeal, however I am doing a missions trip and God kind of is a part of that and as such will inevitably be mentioned. So I thought I would explain what a kingdom journey is and some of the language that goes along with it.
A kingdom journey is meant to connect yourself with God. To clear the grit from our eyes and allow us to see God within the everyday moments, within ourselves and within others. They are meant to open our hearts up to things that you have not yet grappled with and take us away from the familiar so that we learn to walk by faith and not by strength.
“A kingdom journey is more about your own internal growth than the outward good you do. Of course there is a balance here – you’re the primary beneficiary of the journey, but the journey shows that you aren’t the center of the universe. What you do – otherwise known as “ministry” – teaches you that others have needs greater than you do.” – Kingdom Journeys by Seth Barnes.
There are 3 stages often seen throughout a kingdom journey: Abandonment, Brokenness, and Dependence. Abandonment is leaving behind the things you turn to for comfort (people, food, distractions). These are the things we turn to for comfort when things get tough. Brokenness occurs when things get tough and we no longer have those things to turn to. When brokenness happens we have two options seek comfort either in new things, running back to the old things, or checking out OR turning to God to provide comfort and in doing so he often reveals things to us; this is dependence. It may seem weird to ask to be broken but I believe that is where the biggest growth occurs.
“We do not become proficient at anything overnight. On a mini-journey, we change by degrees, as we step out in faith practicing new ministry kills. Mastery comes through familiarity and practice.” – Kingdom Journeys by Seth Barnes
Some other Christian words include:
Living in Community – living with other believers
Doing Life with Each Other – trust me when I say there is a difference between living in community and doing life with each other. There is living with each other and sharing your good, bad, and ugly times with them in the spirit of allowing people in and being vulnerable so they can know you, and then there is co-existing and not really letting people get to know the real you.
Speak Life or Truth– encouraging each other and trying to dispel negativity and self-criticism.
Invest In– as in “I want to invest in that person” to spend time getting to know that person; giving of yourself and your time.
Intentional – as in “I want to be intentional about….”. To do something with thought and purpose.
Walk Along Side – often used when talking about investing in someone or doing life with someone. Basically means to be a part of their journey of life.
Season – not an actually season like spring or summer but more so a way to describe a period of time; a season of life. You learn and experience different things in different seasons of life.
Blessing – as in blessing someone or being blessed. Doing someone unexpected or nice for someone with no expectation of it being reciprocated.
That is all I can think of for now, don’t worry and think that I will own write in these very Christian terms, I will still write and sound like myself but truth be told I do use these words sometimes and I just wanted to make clear their meanings.
