A Written Vision. Have you written yours?
People are easily inspired. People are easily influenced. They are moved by movements.
April 4, 1975, marked an unforgettable day in history with the invention of Microsoft. Founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen would never go hungry again.
October 16, 1923, was the birth of Disney. Walt and Roy Disney produced the current largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world.
In 220 AD, woodblock printing was developed in China resulting in the start of the history of printing.
After traveling 400 kilometers by foot to Paris, Louis Vuitton made appealing relations with the French aristocracy and found himself designing the world renown luggage wear. It was in 1854 that Louis Vuitton Co. raised to popular existence. It is now one of the most recognizable brands on all continents.
According to the FIFA (International Federation Football Association), the earliest form that exercised the skillful technique of football dated back to 2nd and 3rd century BC in China.
FIFA also records that since 2001 240 million people in 200 countries regularly play.
The Christian Church found its beginnings with its famed leader Christ. It was at that time that time shifted and His Church started in Roman Judea 1st century AD with Himself and 12 others.
People are influenced by movements. Whether it be corporations, electronics, music, fashion, media, books, leaders, religion etc., it is all geared and wired to inspire people. These influences and inspirations lead the way we think and act.
This leads me to wonder about the church. The people.
Are masses of people influenced by Christ’s church? The answer is yes. I desire that it is all for the good but honestly there are people that have been mistreated, believe in false precepts, or simply find it “unappealing” to their lifestyle. Those people find themselves not just walking away or even making the decision to not be a part of the church but also from God. There are masses of people who don’t know the name of Christ. There are masses of people who do know His name but keep it separate from most of their ways of life. And then there are masses of people who decide to incarnate the very living God as their only life source.
Simply, Christ loves His bride. Although far from perfect, He decided to love and show grace that streams and shatters all sin and brokenness to make it whole and righteous.
People have desires. Good and bad, many are fueled by the need for something more. Simply we were made to be loved, so people desire love. We were made to be free, so people desire freedom. And on the darkest or brightest of days, people desire a hope. Not to hope for something more… but a hope that never fails.
Obviously Christ brings life to people through His love, freedom, and hope. His church is designed to be in unity with Him. A call to greatness unlike any other movement or influence. It is for all generations, tongues, tribes, nations, people groups. It is a movement that lasts and is led by the Shepherd who knows His flock and brings unity among the brethren.
So how does the church, the people/Christ bride, meet the people that are longing for that something more? How does the church not just keep up with time but be the very thing that changes time? How can the church today change the course of history tomorrow?
Let me raise another question.
So why aren’t the masses of people in love with the church? After all, it is people. I can make my assumptions but that would only result in me finding an answer that would be questionable. I want a movement. I desire to reach the masses that have a disconnect with “the church.” I desire to connect the current church with itself. I desire to see people, his bride, join in unity with one another. Big dreams, yet movements start and influence the world. Starts with one person, one city, one nation, one world.
We, the church, are meant to revolutionize like our roots did. Our early church fathers were radicals and knew the cost as a disciple. They preached truth. Not to lure in the masses but because it was the Truth. They knew their role and “so the churches were strengthened in faith and grew daily in numbers” (Acts 16:5).
For some time, God has placed a new excitement for His church and for those not a part of His Church in me. I ultimately want to reach those who normally don’t set foot in a actually church building with those that do. It isn’t necessarily going to be at their work or at their home but where people meet to have community. Ray Odenburg, author of The Great Good Place, calls that specific place “The Third Place.” The first place is the home and the second is the work environment. Odenburg said “The third place hosts the regular, voluntary, informal and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work.” I say lets have church there. It is there that people fellowship in an environment that has the potential to produce freedom, love and a sense of hope.
We find these “Third Places” all over the world in forms of “cafes, coffee shops, community centers, beauty parlors, general stores, bars, hangouts.” It is a place that “anchors community life and fosters broader more creative interaction.”
It is in these places that people open up and find a type of relaxation that many don’t find anywhere else. God has given me a vision to create an action of church through third place
environments. Church is not a building; it is people. It is not Sunday morning or Wednesday night bible study, but it is who we are.
I want to empower the workers in their gifting to go out and serve through their passions. I want to see people who have been “burned” by the church fall back in love with Christ and His bride. I want to see those who thought they never fit in to a certain mold find freedom to be the very thing that Christ set them free to be. To see a group of different denominations come together and change a nation that is in dire need of help and restoration. To see people inspired to be and do and live in a way that was created. Whether a five year old sees his ability to prophecy or a 62-year-old man comes to faith for the first time. It is in the movement that we still move. It is only powered by His Spirit–the wind that blows and never sits still stirring us up and sending us out to plant His Kingdom everywhere the green meets the blue.
Whether it is through fair trade coffee farmers finding meaningful relationships with their consumer, missionaries reaching out to the AIDS orphaned in the Ukraine or a young teenager finding inspiration through local musician, there is a connection in this place…it brings the LOVE of Christ as the main inspiration and sets the captives free. It is educating the local to think global and as well as reaching out to the neighbors. Through a variety of avenues, this vision can transform a community and a community can transform a nation.
A third place environment can’t change the world, but Christ in us the hope of glory can. It is in this place that we can unite and BE the bride of Christ. It is working together and not tearing down. Connecting ministries, churches, people, movements to bring about life, that is, LIFE in action. Love in action. Freedom in action and HOPE to fuel us to fight harder and become the bride that Christ intended.
“Who do you say I am?” Jesus asked. Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter (means the rock), and on the rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
From the Cambodian rice fields to the Guatemalan hill tribes, God loves people. There are over 6 billion people on planet earth. He has built His church out of His people. Christ is my inspiration and influence. It is His movement of His bride that will unite and grab a hold of its inheritance (people). It is Christ Himself that will unite with His perfect bride. It is His Spirit that has empowered us to be the bride and bring all nations, all tongues, all generations, all people groups to His glory as one.
You never know who someone might be to you.
Posted by sean in Uncategorized on August 31st, 2009
“If you go to Spain I will support you, I believe in you,” is the last thing I remember Katey Brenemen saying to me 1
month before I
left for Spain. I remember sitting across the table from her listening as she said this kind of surprised. “She would really support me?” I thought.
Katey Brenemen is someone who has completely rocked me these past 6 months. I’m compelled to share what I’ve learned through her giving to me. It has had a profound effect on me!
I’ve always appreciated who Katey is and was so grateful to get to know her during the WorldRace. I believe Katey Brenemen learned my heart during the year. She would listen to me for long periods of time as I would share the revelations God was giving me. I remember one night in Guatemala where she listened to me for probably an hour. She said, “You’re deep! You think too much!” haha =)
The truth is I didn’t know if I was one of those people she wouldn’t mind if she never talked to again after the WorldRace. I’m a tender guy, but I can be intense/passionate and abrasive at times. I don’t think I ever really knew who I was to Katey.
However, Katey may not know who she is to me. She has become one of my hero’s! Not because of the amount she has given over the course of 6 months, but because she has taught me something new about giving. It can come from someone or from a place you least expect it. It showed me everything I do and say matters…and there is always someone watching and listening.
Working as an ER nurse Katie is a woman who constantly gives. She showed me that she really cares and believes in me! She did what she said she was going to do and went far beyond anything I could have hoped for. She spoke life to me at a critical point in time. She showed me that she really paid attention to everything I ever said. It feels so different when one of my biggest supports is a peer of mine.
I’ve wept half time I’ve received a credit/check of support from Katey. Some days I almost wanted the support to stop- and I don’t know why. Maybe because I feel she has loved me more than I’ve ever loved her. Or because I just feel undeserving. Katie has rocked me to the core. I’ve said thank you a million times and it never feels like enough! All she ever say’s is thank God not me! I don’t even know how to express my gratitude except to write a blog about her- and put her on display.
Love you Katey!!
The Fellowship of the Unashamed
Posted by josh.tara in .community., .discipleship., .dominion., .freedom., G42 on August 29th, 2009
I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, meager giving and dwarfed goals! I no longer need prominence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits or popularity. I don’t have to be right, be first, be tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, live by prayer and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few. My Guide is reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, threatened, intimidated, manipulated, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, shut up or let up until I’ve stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up and preached up the cause of Christ! I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know and work till He stops me. And when He comes for me-He will have no problem recognizing me; my colors will be clear, my banner will be clean.
when the rubber hits the road…
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair…
–exert from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
Time will say nothing but I told you so,
Time only knows the price we have to pay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.
–exert from “If I Could Tell You” by W.H. Auden
In recent weeks so many questions have been pondered while many challenges have been given and accepted to no avail. It feels as though I so much on plate and that my head would explode quite literally. It has been hard for me to get my heart and my mind working together for my own betterment, yet my emotions have be in a state of flux and my thoughts have let me feeling drained.
I have been bombarded with a question that I have been asked several times before by a few people, one of which was my own father. Whatever I chose to do in the future, whatever has been on heart to do, I should pursue it will my whole heart. The issue is what will I do when I go to the places I will go; if I can see vision and go after it without priorities and strategies to enhance the vision, where does that leave me? If I can see the big picture and yet still have no plan of attack, no clear way to accomplish it, will I ever accomplish what my heart is set on? This may seem like rhetoric and empty words to some, but to me, they pierce my soul; they leave me feeling frustrated and drained. From what I have learned since my arrival upon this leadership academy is that you do need a game plan of some sort; you need to ask yourself some tough questions and then make some reasonable goals.
Obviously, Rome was not built in a day, and therefore my hopes and dreams will not be accomplished in a single sitting. I am getting closer to my dreams and visions that I ever felt possible and the pressure that I feel comes from honest searching and dialogue between myself and my heavenly Father. I realize that I cannot do everything right away and I cannot go about accomplishing a dream haphazardly. I am in the process of advancing the kingdom and changing lives, therefore its time to get my game face on and work toward a strategy with priorities as to how I will accomplish these goals. I believe that I forgot to mention what it was that I can see myself doing, well that is simple, its genocide intervention. After this week, I have narrowed it down to Burma/Myanmar as being the first place I would like to be involved. I could go on but I will save the information for another post, probably next week.
A Letter
Hey Friend,
In the past few weeks I have really been thinking a lot about you. I really love you and I hope by this point you know that. Forgive me please if at any point I have expressed anything other than love to you. Also I wanted to share a few things with you that have been on my heart. First, however, I would like to ask you a couple of questions and for you to be completely honest with yourself and me. Have you ever stopped to ask God what he thinks about you and how he views you? Also, how is your heart?
The one question I ask myself every time you come to my mind is; Are the words I speak to you bringing you life? I asked that question because that is something I think God has asked me to do with my life. He wants me to speak life and bring life especially to dead things. I believe that when I am bringing dead things to life then I am fulfilling some of the destiny God has called me too. Don’t get me wrong I am not calling you dead but I do believe we all need life spoken to us versus death. Also I want to live a life that is open and transparent before God. I say that to you because I believe our relationship should work the same way. I want us to walk openly and transparent before each other trusting that we have each other’s best interest at heart.
The last thing I what to tell you is something that is constantly keeping me in the process of learning and growing. That is listening to the voice of God in my life. What is God saying to me, how is that for me and possibly for others around me to bring life? So how intentional are we about listening for the voice of God in our life? I believe this is so important because He is the Word and we are the voice. So we MUST speak. When we speak the Word of the Lord dead things come alive.
Thank you for always being in my corner and going to the ends of the earth with me. Lets continue to do this together because it was made to be done that way. Plus, we are weak in just ourselves but together our efforts are expounded. I love you, stay full of the Holy Spirit, and lets stay unified with one purpose to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.
You’re always on my heart,
Josh Bruce
Still Got Questions.
Posted by tara.s in .discipleship., G42 on August 15th, 2009
God’s voice. It can be freeing and it can be frustrating.
God’s voice comes in all different tones and through all different avenues. It varies between each person and has a way of penetrating to the core. His voice makes people do things that they would never do when they are in their mind. It sometimes requires faith. It sometimes brings peace. It can ask you to speak things out, to find revelation or bring a song to your heart and others. It is no doubt that God’s voice is the most powerful, timeless, indescribable voice ever. He speaks through creation and to our spirit. His voice can not be contained to any imagination. It shakes the heart of his people and puts them into action. It can make music or charge it’s enemies. It brings reverent fear and finds it’s ways through the messiest, loudest storms to calm them. It is the voice of God.
So why do I sometimes sit in His presence frustrated? His voice changes an atmosphere. It change the course of a persons path or even a nation. I can get confused by my voice and his. I know we have all asked, “Is that you or is that me?” or “I don’t hear you God!” or even “Did I really hear you right because if I did I would do it?”
God says “ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27. I don’t think the sheep sit there and ask themselves “ Was that me that went BAAAA or was that the shepherd calling me?” They know their shepherd’s voice and they follow that. They don’t turn back; they don’t second guess.
I thought I would be over these questions about His voice. I thought I would hear it so distinctly that I would run and leap instead of creep and wonder. It is about faith. His voice brings life in all circumstances. Although I may not understand or comprehend what He might be saying, God’s voice is life giving and bringing. He is incarnated in me.
I think He can speak to me in a voice that is familiar…like my own. That is when I sometimes question But His spirit lives in me and I am walking in that. I am not trying to walk in ways that are rebellious. I am walking in the Spirit. He knows the desire of my heart. I long to just sit with Him and listen and talk like I can with a close friend. God is close to me and we do have these types of conversations but until I can get “me” out of the way or my confusion/frustration—it is there I find God as He always is and always will be. There I find His voice and confidence in that. No matter how it sounds or how it is conveyed, my spirit jumps with life. No matter how tough of a word He gives or a simple “I love you” I trust and know.
A Story of a Friend. An Inspiration.
Posted by hannah in .community., .discipleship. on August 2nd, 2009
I want to share with you about a good friend of mine. I’m sure if you’ve known me long enough, then you’ve probably heard me talk about him… Tony Hargrove is a wonderful Man of God. He is like a brother in my family, a son to my parents. He has been a part of the family for about 6 years now. When we first met him, he would light up the room with his smile and laugh, but today his presence and character is so much bigger and more influential. Tony loves the Lord and is seeking to serve Him in all his ways, and we can see it in his demeanor, in the way that he is trying to his life. Though Tony has had a difficult journey throughout his life, he has overcome and knows that it is not by his own accord that he is still alive and now fully alive–it is only through Jesus Christ.
God is going to use Tony in unbelievable ways–I am sure of it! Tony is a phenomenal athlete; he currently plays for the New Orleans Saints in the NFL. After a year’s suspension from the league, Tony has found passion and life in the only true form. Though a year away from the NFL was difficult, God knew what was best. Tony even admits that it was probably the best thing that could have happened. During this year away, Tony truly found a relationship with his Father in Heaven. Tony has changed, he now lights up a room not only because of his own personality, but because of the Light that God has placed within him–Life to the Fullest.
Read this article that was just posted this weekend in New Orleans. Though Tony spoke to the reporter about his relationship with God, the article credits all his effort and drive to being his own. Unfortunately, the media often takes a secular approach and leaves out the spiritual sides of stories–also, the gambling part of the article isn’t correct either. Anyway, at the end of the article there are a few dozen comments left by fans and readers. Many of them refer only to Tony’s athletic ability, the position line-ups for the team, or his past struggles; however, there is one post that talks to Tony–that is life-giving and encouraging, it is a wonderful surprise to find a prophetic word from an unknown person through this article, but somehow I’m sure that it is a prophesy for Tony, and it fills me with joy! If you want to read it, it is posted from sheri4647.
Right now, Tony is still “re-entering” the NFL scene. Though the media may currently ignore his profession of Jesus Christ, soon he will have a platform to speak Truth into many other peoples’ lives–both NFL employees and fans. God has created such a charismatic, fun-loving, friendly, caring, passionate guy in Tony Hargrove, and He will use him to do great things. Already, after less than three months of practice with the Saints, the coaching staff and fellow athletes see something different about Tony. Even though he does not currently have a way to impact people nationwide–and I am sure that one day he will–he does have an impact within the Saints community. He is able to speak Life into the darkness of the locker room and lives of the other players. He is forming friendships and sharing with others about his relationship with Jesus. God could be using him to change the entire Saints team–think about that! Think about a change within the whole team! A change that instead of putting themselves first, perhaps they decide to serve others, and ultimately serve the Lord!
One-by-one a single NFL team could come together under God’s Love and Grace–and what better way than to be led by a fellow teammate. Not a teammate who has been a follower of Christ for a long time with years of experiences and lessons-learned, but one who has been down the hard road, who has been dealt difficult cards and made wrong decisions, and also one who has found the Love of Jesus to be the only thing worth living for, even after years of trials and tribulations. Tony has such an incredible opportunity to witness to his team, and pretty soon to other teams, and then to the whole nation, and the whole world. When Tony begins to get a steady income again and after he repays any loans, he has determined to give his money away. He knows that the money is not his own, but God’s, and he wants to use it to help others, to help the world–the orphans and widows, the lost and the broken. He will not only impact the community within the United States, but God is going to use him to help countless others around the world.
I not only want to share with you about this amazing Man of God. I want to ask you to pray with me. Pray for Tony. Pray that he holds strong to the calling that God has placed on his life. Pray that he is daily able to surrender to the Lord. Pray for his relationships in the lockerroom, on the football field, and all around him. Pray that he remains strong and firm against temptations that will arise. Pray that he is able to know God’s Love and share it with others. Pray for his future–a future that will impact hundreds, thousands, multiple thousands. Pray for him in whatever ways God places on your heart.
I fully believe that Tony is a gift from God and also a gift for God. He is special. Please pray for him, and watch to see what God will do in and through this man’s beautiful life.
Finally Making a Name for Myself…
“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
–Oscar Wilde
This is another post that has been a few weeks in the making. Much of my writing takes a while for me to process through and though some say I should stop overanalyzing my thoughts, its truly easier said than done. Having said so, here is a smaller writing that explains what has been opened up to me in the last two weeks…
…I have come to conclusion that for my true growth, that I cannot go back to a menial life that would await me in Port Huron with open and ostentatious arms. A little conversation with God, brought me to the realization that I cannot go back; at least not right now. Part of me has some regrets since I am missing some important family business that I will not be attending to. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that I dwell on regrets as though they were a source of life for me, but I do look back on them as reminders I the sacrifice that I have to make. As of right now, I will be staying here in Spain and then going to either the Czech Republic or Russia to teach English as a second language which happens to be a really amazing opportunity. It also is a huge undertaking and with the dream that God has bestowed upon me, it almost seems impossible.( Now I know all things are possible so I do not need to have verses quoted at me about “Nothing is impossible for God.”)
I am making a name for myself, I am walking into my full potential. I have decided that I would rather fail miserably than to regret never trying. This is why I cannot back down, I cannot go back to a lifestyle of hedonism and absolute self-indulgence. I do not want to be the kind of person who would rather stick to a status quo than change the future. My father once described my character as mix between laissez faire (”hands off”) and Que Sera, Sera (”whatever will be, will be”), and yes, this really angered me because I never thought that I was like this. Now that I look back on this, I realize I was this type of person; one who just sat around and waited for my ship to come to shore. This is why I am going to pursue my dreams even when they seem to big for my own comprehension.
I think Ralph Ellison said it best, “Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.“ I am going to push forward and not relent. I will go forward into uncharted places and see what tugs on my heart.
Meet the Gang of G42.
Posted by tara.s in .community., G42 on July 26th, 2009
Here is the gang that I live with 24-7. It is just right. Meet the nine of G42.
Robby: Homegrown Texan, finds much joy from eating multi-colored popcorn, is one of the only guys that can pull off a hot pink t-shirt, doesn’t mind wearing eye liner for 5 minutes, has a laugh that can seriously bring everyone to tears
Josh B.: seriously thinks he is a ninja, always drinks from a water pitcher, his other personality has the voice of “Old Greg” a scary English man fish, Chuck Norris roundhouse doesn’t come close to Josh’s arm pit symphony.
Tara B.: The one and only baby mama, passionate about almost everything, has a homegrown remedy for all things under the sun, loves spending time drinking tea and shopping in the grocery store
Michelle: enjoys taking casual morning jogs and sliding (tripping) across the street-we would like to think she slide in for a home run, has the most piercings of anyone here marking in at 13, still thinks her sarong (a Thai towel) can act as a skirt, dress, PJ’s and a bed sheet.
Hannah: if still awake around 12 a.m. is probably in the middle of sleepwalking or slurring her thoughts into words with no filter, is likely to miss her mouth and spill water all over her shirt, likes to answer most questions with HUH??
Sean: Wizard on the grill, can make a guesstimate of 500 different dishes with garlic, has almost completed his first pizza oven, occasionally pictures himself dancing like the Maori tribe of New Zealand.
Sarah: personality impersonator (specializes in a variety of northern accents), her personality is funky mixed with a shot of Thai spice. Fastest walker with the shortest legs.
Tara S.: brought a blue and yellow glass bird as the G42 mascot named “ralpherson” (which has been kidnapped since day one and is still in search), enjoys crashing Spanish weddings espcially those with hansom groosmen, can seriously think of a song for most phrases, Sarah’s partner in crime for northern accent dialoges.
Nick: from the north and sounds like it, can quote a whole history book and movie at the same time, tends to only listen to “underground” bands and finds any occasion worthy of a cigar to celebrate life.
G42 Music Vid
Posted by dave in .community. on July 22nd, 2009
This music video was created by Sean Smith, during one of their days off.
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