I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly

As someone intricately involved with the Christian mission enterprise I thought this quote was extremely interesting. "We do not stand at the end of mission; rather we stand at the end of a specific period or era of mission, and the clearer we see this and accept this with all our heart, the better." Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, David J. Bosch, pg. 8.

I was telling my wife how I don't meet or hear enough forward thinkers. We must always praise and learn from the past, but if we try to simply reproduce the same things then we will miss large opportunities. Some people are scared of change, but without change movements of the past will become institutionalized and ineffective. We must be looking to birth new movements, create new ideas, and leverage new technology, and I am excited to see what will result from the next twenty years of human history. God is doing something new in our day, and I desperately want to discern those things and align my objectives and goals accordingly. Listening prayer and reading God's Word have been the most effective tools to help me do this. Maybe I will post something soon on listening prayer, because a lot of people I meet don't know how to do this.  

I know when you search the word prayer on YouTube you will find a lot of crazy stuff. I do not want to judge those people, nor do I want to be one of them. I do want to say prayer is one of the things that makes me know I have a relationship with Jesus. I need to be reminded constantly that Jesus is there with me.

When you hear the voice of God there is nothing like it. If you are struggling with anything please know God will speak to your situation and will not judge you.

When we walk in harmony with Jesus and let him take our burdens we are free from all the many worries in this world. I have been reminded lately that even in turbulent times God gives us peace and joy. Ask anything to Jesus and He will hear you and answer in his way and timing.

If you have time watch this Hillsong video as it has really helped my prayer life. Remember you need to hear from Jesus, and He will speak to you if you ask Him. He might speak to you through the Bible, through people, through experiences, through music, through nature, etc, but you need to ask Him to do this.

If you don't ask for this you potentially run of the risk of defaulting to one of two things. The first is a very religious person working out of personal discipline and duty. The second is a person who claims to walk with God, but really just views God as a self help genie that they pull out when they need something. The people I meet who walk with God closely are those who hear from God on a regular basis.

There are many things that are different when you travel, but in our current country we had an interesting experience. We had one guy insist that people from another city were animals. I wonder if this just didn't translate, but he kept telling us that these people were animals.

I couldn't imagine being called an animal, because I was born into a situation that most people envy. I struggle to relate to those who have been oppressed, but I do know when I see oppression it reminds me that this life is only temporary and that the greatest hope for an eternal kingdom comes to those who have been oppressed the most. It is difficult sometimes determining the role I need to play in conveying that message to the oppressed, but I believe it involves a less amount of talking, and a greater amount of servitude.

The picture above was drawn by a friend of mine and it reminds me to pray for the kingdom to come to come faster. It also reminds me to pray for God to use me to help make this world a little more reflective of that future kingdom. When you grasp a vision of the eternal kingdom where Jesus is sitting you will never live the same. Jesus wants to reveal this vision to you, but you need to ask him.

"Open, pour, let praise soar, raise him, praise Him, Christ be adorned"