Ready or Not

Ready or not I am headed to Wyoming...Very surreal to type that one.

Tomorrow (almost considered today at 11:37 pm) I will leave on a plane from O'Hare Airport for the 40/40 leadership/discipleship program into the wilderness and as I type this I don't think it has fully hit me yet...scratch that. It has not hit me yet...when it will it will probably hit me like a ton of bricks over and over again (just kidding).

It's about 8 months since I knew I was going to the wilderness but sitting here today looking over 10 different scrambled lists with cross-outs, penciled in notes, and marker streaks as well as 3 different bags full of wilderness equipment, it just got pretty darn real.

Most people when they hear i am going to the wilderness have 1 of 4 reactions.
1. They laugh and ask if they heard right..surely she said 14 days not 40 (this happened tonight in my neighbor's backyard)
2. Why would you ever do such a thing!? Followed by- why don't you go do what the normal kids do and go make some money in an internship or a nice little job in town.
3. They take me with a nice little squeeze of my arm and say have fun!
4. Why... followed by a blank stare (this just makes things uncomfortable).

The funny thing is when this has happened i have usually laughed right along with them because I know it doesn't make sense in a lot of ways...but in a lot of other ways it does.

The really funny thing to me is I feel just about as ready as I did 8 months ago. I find myself taking deeper and deeper breaths as I look at the date at my phone and I laugh to myself...mostly because I think this is literally right where Jesus wants me. Not trusting in myself but depending upon Him for strength, courage, and peace of mind on every single step even in the final days before the trip. This year has been a whirlwind and honestly one of my biggest fears comes down to health for this trip. My immune system just didn't really like me very much this year and I was sick about 70% of the time whether it was a cold, sore throat, mono, or something random. I literally got sick if I didn't get 8-9 hours of sleep and  If you know me you will know how much I despise being sick, feeling sick, and having to stop doing life as usual. Sickness has been a huge thing I have been very humbled by this year... so the fact that I am going into the wilderness for 40 days is most definitely going to be a challenge on the health front.

Yet today I found myself reading Luke 9 and this verse really struck me deeply.

"When the days were approaching for His ascension, He set His face to go to Jerusalem." -Luke 9:51

In the commentary (I am obsessed with commentaries ) it says: "All along this consecrated road He walked- each step was a separate act of will." This idea of intentionality in every decision, every step has reminded me that Jesus was abandoned to His Father's will. He deliberately laid His life down for the world to know the love of the Father. John 14:31 says, "...but I do as the Father has commanded me so that the world may know the love of the Father."

This entire year the Lord has stripped me of control and reminded me again and again that my life is His. Very hard lessons but very needed for the perfectionist controller I often am. I have continuously been brought to make decisions that make little sense at the time only to look back and see His hand steadily at work in every single detail.

The thing is that every step, every breath, every day is tied to the greater reality of Christ. He is the King who has ascended and is reigning on the throne. Though there will be great adversity, suffering, challenges, intense fears to overcome, difficult relationships and people to deal with, all is working towards the glory of God. Colossians 1:16 says that "He is before all things and in Him all things hold together". Every day is written in His book and He knows every breath I will take, every choice i will make, every time I will mess up. There is a whole world out there. Many walk blinded and unaware of the reality of Christ and with hearts untouched by His healing and love. This truth is too much for me to sit around and just swallow it- God calls us to get up and GO sometimes...I would argue a lot of times even if it is just next door or to a friend we know.

I fully believe and know there will be days on this trip where I want to stop (maybe many days haha). There will most likely be times where I wonder why the heck I am doing this and wonder why I am not home in my bed listening to Jesus Culture or going out for frozen yogurt...and then that is when I pray Jesus reminds me and humbles me to my knees to remember the intensity and scale of the love I have been shown on the cross.

I am going on this trip because I believe that there is a HOPE, a LOVE, a STORY so much bigger unfolding all around us. There is a LIVING GOD who called me to go on this trip and He is crying out to be known in this generation-- to show a fatherless generation that there is an answer to their pain and emptiness-- that there is a God who longs for you to know Him.

You may be called to stay where you are and get a job, go work at a camp, or travel across the world-- what matters is that you are seeking to do the will of God and give His name glory wherever you are. For me, this summer happens to hold a trip to wilderness- that is absolutely no better than any other trip/job/ thing that anyone else is called to do.

I think of this song by Meredith Andrews and it echoes the cry of my heart, "Break what needs breaking til You are all they see, Start with me." This year has revealed so many different reasons- big and small- for going on this.  Though it intimidates me and scares me in a lot of ways (i could make you a nice long list that runs off the page) I turn my eyes to JESUS and remember He is worth it. He is always worth it. If God can use this trip in future ways to share and spread the gospel than this is no sacrifice of time, money, energy, or effort. It is an inexpressible gift to go.

I am consistently reminded as I pray over this trip that it is His kindness drawing me to the wilderness. I know this is just another small season of encountering Christ and coming to know His heart.  Though it is the biggest leap of faith yet I believe there are even bigger ones around the bend and this is just preparation.

Though fear has been a looming part of the past 8 months I have seen Him be a fortress in ways I have yet to even understand. He has shown me how to cling to Him in joy, in sickness, in confusion, in hope and that in this life it is a grace to cling to Him in a world that thinks it has everything it needs. The reality is you have been created to not only know Christ but NEED Him. Life carries a richness and depth when you realize every moment was paid for on the cross.  Everything is tied to Him.

Three years ago I walked around with death in my heart, hopeless, and searching for something, someone to fill me up. Then I came to know and encounter a Beautiful King. Jesus broke through cement walls of darkness and tore the veil of darkness over my heart. This has radically changed my life and I know it will change others' lives. Heck, it IS changing lives right now!!! The cross is meant to impact every facet of life and that is literally my deepest prayer for this world and those I love.

Though I feel far from completely ready for this trip, I know I am right where i am supposed to be. I trust and believe that. I know God has equipped me day by day for every step of the journey ahead in His wisdom. He has blessed and encouraged me through the prayers of friends, support of family, and through His Word & just time spent with Him these past 8 months. My only prayer is that I go into this trip with open hands and an open and humble heart to receive whatever He has for me.  I know that He will use this trip for His glory and that's all i really need in this moment to take the next step out the door as it officially begins.  

So here we go, Wyoming.
Ready or not.

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.." 

[Hosea 2:14]

Breaking Through: Unstoppable Love

Thick cement & gravel cleanly paved clung to the ground,

Gripping the soil beneath, 

Pressing it down, 

compacting the life beneath. 

A crack splinters through at the very center,

unleashing a burst of fiery red.

A Rose emerges,

driving away weeds, and ragged layers of cement.

Gravel litters the ground in piles, 

a product of the emergence.

Twisting, writhing, and bursting towards the Sun.

Unstoppable Love, unrelenting Fire.

Something the Lord has gripped my heart with recently is the beautiful truth that He has won my heart.

This season has been an interesting one in that the Lord has continued to remind me of the relentless distractions, constant media frenzy, and the endless roads we could choose to take to get somewhere in life. There are so many choices literally every single place you turn. I don't know about you but I often get overwhelmed by things like huge menus and that is how I believe almost everything in life has become. 

Last night, I went to the movies for the first time in a long time and about 2 minutes into the previews my mouth was literally almost open to the ground.  As everyone sat there laughing I was literally tempted to get up and leave.  It literally astounded me the language and just how completely vulgar the entire thing was. 

Over the past 3 years I have managed to cut out a lot of the junk I used to consume for hours on a daily basis from E! News to things like Intouch and People magazine. I got sucked into the lives of famous person after famous person as they went through break up after break up, marriage after marriage. All of them chasing this dream of fame and fortune that only seemed to lead them down a deeper well of endless emptiness. 

John Piper quotes C.S. Lewis in "Weight of Glory" saying:

[If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased] 

Isn't that just it? We are too easily pleased, choosing to mindlessly consume whatever is put before us.  We can get so consumed with our own stories that we forget what is the overarching story over it all. Though I don't follow Hollywood anymore, I have plenty of other things in my life that distract me more than they should and things that have only taken the place of the things I have walked away from. The change now is my focus is on how I can treasure and know Christ more not a list of things I have to avoid at all costs. 

My perspective has changed because I am coming to see that all of life is warfare.

 Whether you choose to agree with me or not it is the truth. The truth of this is across page after page in the Bible and it is our duty to daily take up His armor and fight.  During certain times and seasons you will feel the heat of the battle more than others and the temptation is to focus on the darkness. An entry from a journal this year reminds me that our job is to keep our eyes upon the Beautiful One, allowing Him to direct our attention and our hearts on how to fight what is at hand.  

Above all things this is a fight for your heart. 

His love has broken through to win your heart but there are also powers at work to snatch your heart's focus as well as the hearts of those around you. 

Paul writes that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against power and principalities of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). 

This is a fight for your attention, your dreams, your will, and your daily focus. I believe all of these things stem from where your heart is anchored. Only by His strength and grace can we labor to keep Him anchored as our First Love. Oswald Chambers refers to it as the "labor of worship"- using all of your heart and all of your strength to keep Christ first. We are called to open our hearts and lives daily to the grace of Christ so He may fill us with His dreams, His desires, and His passions. When approaching the end of his life Paul writes "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). You do not have the power within you to withstand the winds and waves but through Christ and His power you can stand strong. 

Satan desperately wants for you to lose your First Love.

For so many in the world he doesn't even want them to know that this love exists!! All he wants is for you to be so numbed by distractions and decisions that you slip into daily life completely unaware and out of touch with the very reason you are alive. As Paul talks to the church of Corinth warning them of the false apostles proclaiming a different Jesus he says in 2 Corinthians 11:3 "For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led away from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." 

Pure, sincere, and deepening devotion to Christ is the reason why you're alive but this world is constantly trying to pull and drag you in the opposite direction. Your weapons? Community, the Word of God, prayer, finding activities and things that stir your affections for heaven, investing time to know and seek His heart. What a gift we get to fill our lives with these things! 

Walking away from this movie I literally wanting to shout "THANK YOU, JESUS!" but I restrained myself.  I literally stepped away thanking God that my life was not revolving around the media, other peoples' lives, cheap media entertainment that is overly vulgar, or even my own story for that matter. As a Christian we have the profound gift to have a life that centers on His story. It is the story of grace, beauty, and redemption unfolding all around us every single day. I am completely imperfect and broken and I do not claim to do this flawlessly- half the time I end up on my knees crying out for help because I have no idea what to do. 

The power of the cross is that He has broken down every wall and torn the thickness of the veil of sin that stood between us and our Creator. The gospel reminds me daily that my Beautiful King has shattered the cement lying over my dead heart and stripped away the scales on my eyes to live differently. He has rescued me because He delighted in me and in response I get to treasure and know Him every day that I am alive. 

Psalm 119 says, "My soul clings to dust, give me life according to your word." 

This great love continues to break through but it is up to me to turn towards my Father and to ask Him to clear the dust that clings to my soul.  

This breakthrough of love is one that unlocks a process.  This process has begun for His hands to remove the weeds of intense fear of the future, worry for the present, and washing away the pain of past disappointments and hurts-- a sometimes painfully slow, unfolding process that sometimes leaves us impatient and dying to know why God is doing what He is.  When I decided to follow Christ I never knew the depths of the process that was just beginning. It has been one of uprooting, clearing out, filling, emptying, and refining. 

I believe that even as Christians we can choose to fill our lives with a whole lot of dust. We can choose to befriend so many people that it becomes easy to stay surface level and never dig into the changes and deep things of the heart. We can choose to watch endless hours of Netflix instead of choosing to ask ourselves where we're actually at with Jesus. We can choose to keep things in our heart hidden, tucked away, suffocating our fears until they emerge as tears and bitterness in our lives.

The choice belongs to you. 

The break through is that He has stormed the gates of hell to win back your heart. This is no fairytale love that only exists in the movies. 

This is the deep, all powerful, chain-breaking love that takes people destined to live and dwell in the darkness and draws them into the healing and perfect light of a King who remakes and changes lives every single day. 

He is calling out, beckoning for you to reach out and see that He has always been there. Investing your life in Him can unleash a breakthrough of heaven in your life here and now as well as tiny break throughs day after day as He changes you, molds you, and strips you of the weights that cling to you. 

The silence has been broken.

Open your heart and you'll see the song of heaven is being sung over your life for the gates of heaven are open.  Jesus, the most radical of loves, comes to open your eyes, widen your gaze, and remind you there is no higher pleasure, no higher Treasure than what we have received as children of the King.  Colossians 3:1-2 stands as the reminder. Set your heart, set your gaze, and be lavished in the love and mercy that falls upon His children every day. 

His love is breaking through. 

You broke into the silence and sang a song of Hope. 

A melody resounding in the deep of my soul. 

You have come running, You tore down every wall; 

All the while shouting My love you're worth it all. 

-"Unstoppable Love" Jesus Culture

Streets of Glory

A stony path remains.

Laden with dust and buried dreams,

Swallowed hopes and scattered expectations.

Windows magnify the dark that hovers,

Cementing chairs to their ground and people to their places.

Voices sneer and echo phantom songs.

Numbed chords drumming through hopeless hearts.

Suddenly a child emerges.

Clothed in light with eyes of golden hope

and beaming with a flame’s touch.

Eyes suddenly lift to view this curious sight,

this disruption to the darkness.

Burnt out lights strung heavy and high above the road ignite.

Magnificent lights crackle and burn,

A constantly shifting rainbow of colors, fading in and out.

Bleeding reds, emeralds, and ocean sapphires flash of hope.

Darkened eyes slowly drift to the Source of glory upon her,

Instantly fascinated, these eyes now reflect each burst one by one 

as mouths stand open in awe.

Wide-eyed and breathless,

This child dances along the road.

A carrier of the Hope to come,

A child carrying the name of King Jesus,

the only One whose name brings fire, whose name births change and life where there was once death.

Eyes gleaming and hands lifted,

The touch of His fire sets their feet into swift motion.

Stones quickly crumble,

 a golden road emerges as a swift wind carries the rubble.

Heaven’s curtains drift open over the path,

Splitting a darkened sky of faint stars.

A mere glimpse will steal the hearts of the hopeless,

Burning them with the glory and renown of the Healer.

Fires flash in hopeless eyes as the King is revealed.

Magnificent fires stream from His wings,

To permeate deep layers of darkness,

To lavish the richness of true love to hearts who have never known the goodness of the Father

Dead to hopelessness,

Hearts freely beat beneath the wings of the Almighty One.

Throwing chain after chain, 

layer after layer,

Only to reveal the gold that lies beneath.

Streets shout of life,

Pouring forth the fame of the Healer.

A people beaming the reality of Living Hope,

Constant songs burst to shake the ground

And one by one ruined hopes are lifted up from the ashes.

His breath stirs and sifts the ashes of lost dreams,

To awaken true callings and purpose.

To know Him, to glorify Him, 

To make Him known,

To be His, to delight in Him all of their days.

To live in faith and trust despite the surroundings, a challenge to be taken with abandon and diligence.

To live to see others healed and found in Him, everything we were created for.

To remain a child in wonder, the highest joy.
With eyes fixated on the face of the Redeemer
and heart set on knowing the Perfect One, not a perfect life.

To live with a heart stolen by the Love and Beautiful One, the greatest gift of grace and favor we could ever dare to receive. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGQG3V2Ayw "Wonder" by: Bethel Live. 

Ashes and holy fire.

The path has been burned
Burned with the searing imprint of holy fire.
A holy God of fire and light has stepped before me.
Stepped upon the jagged stones,
into the blazing fire that would surely consume any who approached it.

His death, my ransom.
The fires of death He beat down,
only holy fire remains.

Flames that draw forth the graces hidden beneath this shell.

My destiny to travel this path He carved.
To taste and see the wonder of the One who has gone before

Surrounded.
Surrounded by shouts of deliverance,
a sonnet of redemption scripted by a multitude of angels whose faces shine of a bliss only those closest to the Lamb could know.
In grace it hangs in the fullness of the air
To be known and read by all those who would dare travel a path of marvelous light and dark.

It's love He longs for,
your heart His treasure and prize.

Holy flames curl through the air,
and yet flowers of fire slowly burst one by one along this path.
From the ashes, they cry for the Sun and steadily rise.

Illuminated by the gaze of a beautiful God
Petals unfurl and holy bliss is born.
On the wind, a hope is carried along.

Hidden beneath His shadows the path stretches forth,
to step forth a daring intentional choice to enter the fire.

In white she dances along this path,
Catching a radiant glow of fire and light,
flames singe the edges of this gown and fear tugs her backwards.
A heavenly force upon her heart burns and draws tears from her eyes.
Bitter waters made sweet in the light of His face.

A glance was enough,
Kept in His power she dances, though she fumbles as shadows draw her eyes out,
it is clear He has won this heart for good.

King of Wonders: That You Would Come

Oh that You, the King of Wonders,
would come down to stream color across our blinded vision,
that You would burn the bleakest of skies with glorious, permanent splendor,
that You would send a heartbeat into the lifeless,
that You would breathe the life of Your Son into those who gasp for oxygen,
that You would bring enlightenment to numbed minds,
that You would send the blood of Your Son to course through these veins,
that You would hand us Your heart of purity in exchange for our nothing.

Centuries led to the rugged cross,
the promise of salvation and glory for the whole world.

He cries out,"It is finished." And so it was. 

A perfect life laid down in the dust for the dead, the undeserving to breathe.
A pure heart surrendered to the perfect will of the Father who knew the power of the cross,
the only way.

Door slam open at the Resurrection,
shaking the grip of darkness for eternity,
a permanent invitation.

The powers of hell could not prevail.
Constrained by the grip of love, these glorious gates now swing.
A realization of  incomparable wonder;
the highest treasure to come and invade the darkest of hearts.
The finished cross, the confession of awakening.
Glories and riches pour out on the humbled upon their knees.
Hands unclench as Freedom overtakes a soul,
wells of living water gush forth to reveal the resources and power of the King,
awakening an unknown desire.

Tears stream over unimaginable grace,
the freest gift so easily received into the gates of a heart wide open.
Tears stream over the veil laying across the nations,
muffling the songs of heaven pouring forth,
constraining eyes to the rough pavement.
Tears stream over the depths of darkness a soul can rise from but also choose to remain in.
Tears stream for the screeching darkness,
the shadows of enticement
that lie beneath the obvious,
that mask themselves in complacency.

Tears of soaring gratitude for the beautiful Truth who forever stands to point to a new way, the only way, the inexpressible Living Hope.

A glance at the barrenness and it is clear.

Savior, take the ashes from this life.

This life belong wholly unto You. 

A voice rises to the King of glory as others join,

a song of desperation and worshipful truth

as the gates swing.

The lights explode, pouring forth to fill a darkened space. 

Angels' wings fling gold upon the thick tar upon the earth, the hearts, the eyes of those who stumble. 

Melting away, the truth of new creation emerges as hearts sing to their Maker. 

Golden air shifts in spheres around Your throne, Holy One.

The reign of the King presses darkness into the depths. 

Amidst the heavens You dwell on high over kingdoms, 

both over nations of glory and those of despair. 

Upon each child a crown is placed ever so gently,

undeserved yet freely given is this grace.

The King's crown charges life, 

streams healing,

awakens the rawest mercy and most astounding of love stories. 

He whispers, He speaks, He shouts of the cross, 

The only way. 

Oh that our eyes would turn upon Your face, 

Your glorious gaze would be enough to press our hearts and desires into all that You are. 

King of Wonders,

that You would come.

A Divine mystery of life-changing proportions, 

an incomparable gift.

Shift the nations from evil, knock down the proud, find the lost, fill the barren souls, and remind us who we are--that we exist to proclaim the reign of the King of Wonders. 

Yours we are, 

and of Your wondrous love do we sing. 

Forever undone.

A canopy of darkness shrouds,
A curtain of apathy hangs heavy in the air,
tugging the atmosphere downwards.
A blindness hovers and silences
as dust thickens their vision and dulls their senses. 

Velvet shadows dance upon these ancient walls, 

enticing one soul after another to swallow their hunger and 

become enraptured in a lie.

Bound by deception, 

they step towards conflicting whispers. 

Lips form dull empty words of vanity crashing quickly to the ground.
Smiles crack and curl,
lingering a moment too long.
Eyes shine,  
a frightening, glaring vacancy dwelling within. 
Faces flash, crowds of fragmented fearful hearts strung together. 

Amidst the crowds, a pulse jumps. 
Reviving and stirring up the stillness,
a heart ablaze.
Burning with holy fire, their feet are drawn beyond the pews. 
Shattering the silence from the inside out, 
one voice echoes the prophecy of Awakening Himself and the dead arise. 
Stirring in the heavens at the mention of His name, 
Truth's grip digs his nails into the blackness of the grave, 
pulling out son after daughter,
daughter after son, 
a transcendent rescue of the lost.

A choir of praise steadily rises as hearts catch Love's flame, 
joining with the angels they sing the praise of their Heavenly Father. 
Shadows unravel and loop together in ratty knots
in the appearance of the Majestic One. 

His arms wrap them in unity to stand as one.
In the mighty unbreakable bonds of perfect, unchanging love
His strength injects and ignites the courage of angel armies into every soaring heart. 

Hearts scream of thankfulness, the rich praise of the Holy One. 
Lives recklessly dance to proclaim the wonders of Truth and Wisdom beneath His wings,
Radiance swells and beams from the faces of the found.
The canopy lies a heap of ashes, a pit of lies stomped down. 
Passion charges craving hearts, 
Death forever silenced in triumph. 

Eyes widen and souls are overwhelmed with the taste 

as they are brought to their knees in wonder. 

Precious tears drip of heaven's glory, 

A reality forever undone.

Perfect, wonderful Majestic Jesus may we never stray from You to chase after the lies of this world. Your Truth, Your promises, Your name is enough to keep us upon our feet with hands raised for a lifetime. This world, our families, our friendships  need a touch from the Holy One.  We desperately need to be reminded day in and day out that we have access and a relationship to the Father through the precious blood of Your son Jesus. You are calling out a generation from the pews to seek Your face and to not settle for the ways of this world. You desire for every heart to run into Your healing embrace and to encounter the reality of Jesus. You change it all- every lie to Truth, every season of mourning to dancing, every pain to healing, every broken thing into the beautiful. We refuse to believe the lies of the enemy that this world cannot be reached or changed by the power of Your great Name. You are Life itself and hold every moment in Your hands- we choose to trust You and go deeper for Your sake and for the sake of those in search of a purpose to fight for.  

May Your precious and steadfast love continue to shatter false perceptions of reality for Your followers and undo the walls of pain, of fear, and of apathy that hold all others in this world back from standing in wonder at the name of Jesus Christ and devoting this one life they have to You.   

Yours is the Kingdom. Use us. 

  (Inspiration: Isaiah 55, Ezekiel 37, Daniel 9)

"Yes"

Dreaming is scary to say the least.

It's scary take risks, to run the race without regard to what people think, to take leaps beyond your comfort zone, to come face to face with opposition...but then I look back at people alive today who I deeply admire.

I know this world has many dedicated followers of Christ , true dreamers and heroes, who are amidst the workplace, our schools, and companies. Called to bring Him there, I am in awe of them as well and their obedience to His call. However, I do know not everyone is meant for that. There are some God sets a fire in to herald the reality of His presence to.

There are some serious dreamers.
These are people who are not just talkers but people who worship Christ in deed and truth. They have showed me that true faith is one that treasures Christ and puts Him ahead of themselves.  These are people who continue to fire my heart for the gospel.  

Louie Giglio (Passion 268 Generation Movement)

This man has impacted me more than he may ever know. His deepest desire was to see a generation awake to the love and fire of Christ. He desperately wanted to see Christ magnified and for hearts to be set ablaze for the sake of Christ's coming Kingdom.  His fearless pursuit of this dream has ignited me as I have listened to the music, tuned into these sermons, and have been continually inspired by one man's courageous and fierce love.

This uncontainable passion explodes from his words and dedication to preaching Truth.

This is one of the only verses I can use to capture Giglio's passion for God.

"But if I say, “I will not mention his word
    or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
    a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;    indeed, I cannot." -Jeremiah 20:9

Steven Furtick (Elevation Church)

Furtick's bold love for the gospel and for Truth to be magnified inspires me to delve deeper into the Scriptures. His inspiring and simple approach to preaching reminds me that the gospel rests upon the power of God and not human wisdom or eloquence (1 Corinthians 2:1). 

Bill Hybels (Willow Creek Community Church)

Hybels began a church so many years ago that is now sparking new church planting in the U.S. and across the nations. Being a catalyst for leadership reformation and training, he is pressing for deep change.

John Piper (Pastor and author of "Don't Waste Your Life")

His bold and blunt sharing of the gospel may turn some away but the clear cut honesty blazes a path for all to see the cross-centered life will always be worth and in fact, is the only way to the abundant life Jesus promises (John 10:10). His book "Don't Waste Your Life" challenges me to come face to face with the fact that this life flies by and the way to make it all count is centering it around the King of Kings and going all out for His sake!

Bill Bright- (Campus Crusade for Christ)

These ordinary people said "yes" to the dreams Jesus laid upon their hearts and because of this the course of my life has been changed.

Because Bill Hybels said "yes" back in the 1970's to the dream of building an Acts 2 church, I am changed.  Being a mediocre, half-hearted Christian my whole life, I was basically forced to attend a Willow Creek youth group my sophomore year of high school after I dealt with some drama and friend issues.  Praise be to Him for in this youth group where Christ's pursuit for my heart became known to me and I was drawn into God's radical love that had been there all along.

Because Louie Giglio said "yes" back in the late 90's to pursuing Christ's call of a generational awakening for high school and college students, I am changed. This passion to see a fire kindled in the souls of this generation, to see the ruins of generations come to life here and now, and to inspire students to rise up into their calling within the Kingdom has changed my life.  Sparking in my heart that day I recommitted my life to Christ on a retreat the summer heading into my freshman year, passion has only continued to grow.  His passionate call inspired and empowered me to pursue a movement of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) at Hope College where I attend school.  The Passion Movement continues to challenge me to enlarge my perspective and realize the world-wide awakening Christ is stirring not only here in America but all across the world.  It empowers me to play the part the Lord has assigned to me and to realize the eternal impact of my days on this earth. 

Because Steven Furtick said "yes" to God's call on his life at the age of 16 and began to pursue His call to become a pastor in a major city, I have been impacted. His fierce love of God's people and hatred of injustice and evil in the world continues to challenge me to love and stretch myself as I seek Christ daily.

Because Bill Bright said "yes" to God's call to begin Campus Crusade for Christ- thousands upon thousands are impacted by the gospel and commissioned to reach their schools with the gospel.  Because he said yes to Jesus there are now ministries popping up all over the country set on fulfilling the Great Commission.  I have been impacted deeply by this ministry's mission and now Cru has been launched on Hope's campus and if the Lord wills it will continue to set a fire in the student body from Christ Himself that will extend far beyond the borders of Holland, Michigan. 

The most powerful thing of all is that when I look at every one of these people I see Jesus. I see dreamers whose very heart and soul's desire is for the world to see the One who changed them. They fervently desire for all of the lost to see the One who rescued their life from emptiness and brought them to the true purpose of this life-- to magnify the Risen Christ, Precious Savior, and Majestic King of Glory. 

If each of these people had chosen to back away, to step backwards into safety, and away from the dream the Lord had revealed to them, I know I would not be the same.  Christ used each one of them (and many others in my life) to show me what authentic, Christ-exalting leaders look like who day by day ask the world to follow them as they follow Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Turning to Scripture, we see their prime example, Jesus, whose eyes were firmly set on the Father and His will.  John 14:31 says, "I have done as the Father has commanded me so that the world may know that I love the Father."  Kneeling down in the Garden of Gesthemane, He prays if possible for this cup to pass. Tears of blood ran down His perfect face as He agonized over the road ahead of Him and yet these words escaped His lips: "...Not my will but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

And as I survey these dreamers, my heart screams YES! 

Jesus, show Your face, Your glory, Your great calling upon the lives of this generation and generations past.  Every single person has a part to play if they would allow the King of Glory into the doors of their hearts. The ruins of the generations past would stop HERE. New life could begin today.  I believe we would see a decrease in suicide, depression, divorce, hopelessness, apathy, and we would see a generation rise up to meet Christ- the Healer, Sanctifier, Lover, and Savior of the world.

To anyone who is reading this, I know you long for more in your life.  Christian or non-Christian, You have longed to belong to something larger than yourself, you've longed to feel accepted, you've longed to feel valued, you've longed to dream.

And this is your push:
Go. Dream. Live life in love with Christ.
Don't let your dreams just be dreams. Seek the Lord and ask Him if they line up with His will. If they do, you'll be sure to see them come to pass as your pursue Christ and surrender them over to Him.

Say "yes" to what God is laying on your heart to pursue and let Him set your heart ablaze with His life in you. You never know those who will be impacted by your obedience.