Passion

March 5, 2010

Is It Our Responsibility?

Several weeks ago I asked our people at New Passion, “Do you see the mission Jesus calls us to as your personal responsibility?”

I love the story of Nehemiah. One of the things that keeps sticking out to me is how everyone worked together for the common vision that God gave Nehemiah. There is no doubt that each person saw this mission from God as their personal responsibility. The Bible says that each person repaired the section of the wall in front of their own home. This mission was very personal.

I love the fact that it points out in one occasion that the people worked with enthusiasm and how Baruch zealously repaired an additional section of the wall. That means he didn’t have tunnel vision – he saw the entire project as his responsibility, not just his piece of the wall…he went above and beyond…Passion will cause you to do that. It’s kind of like the Lays potato chips challenge, “I Bet You Can’t Eat Just One” – When God puts a passion in your heart, you won’t be satisfied with a mundane approach to the mission he calls you to, you’ll want more! The Nobles and Officials agreed to give back to the poor the interest they had charged them and to require no more payments for their debt to help relieve the financial stress and pressure on the lower class. These people were willing to sacrifice in order to unify under a common vision and a common mission. They saw it as their responsibility!

So what about you? Do you see the mission Jesus calls His followers to as all of our personal responsibility? I believe when we get to that point, it adds a whole new dimension to the way we live out our faith. I believe it is an essential ingredient needed to change the world with the gospel.

February 15, 2010February 15, 2010

Kislev: Be a Dreamer

Yesterday, at New Passion, we talked about allowing God to use our passions in the midst of his mission.

We looked at Nehemiah’s passion for his people and how that passion led him to be about God’s mission of repairing the wall around Jerusalem. I found two things particularly interesting in my study of Nehemiah. The first was that he received the bad news about Israel’s troubles in the month of Kislev. Nehemiah 1:4-5 shows us that Nehemiah was so passionate about his people that he mourned, fasted, and prayed to God. He began his prayer by delighting in God…this was a process of about 4 months until the month of Nisan, when he was able to make his request to rebuild the wall to the king (Chapter 2).

I find it interesting that Nehemiah spends his time delighting in God during the month of Kislev. This is known as the “Month of Dreams” – During this time, the Jews would study the portion of the Torah that covered all of the dreams of God’s men (I.E. Joseph). Isn’t it interesting when the king asked Nehemiah how he could help him, Nehemiah already had a plan? (2:4-5) I believe that Nehemiah spent this period known as the “Month of Dreams” to delight himself in God in order to dream about what God would have him do to solve the problem. They understood that when they fully trusted God, no dream was too big for him to accomplish. The month of Nisan (when Nehemiah made his request to the king) is known as the period when the “Barley is ripe” – It is a Spring month, a production month.

I believe Nehemiah had a season where he dreamed big dreams of how God could use him to help Israel, he delighted himself in God, because he knew it was God who would have to provide the resources, the people, and the power to fulfill the dream. However, there came a time where he had to act. He took a risk, even sacrificed personally, in order to fulfill the dream that he was so passionate about. Nehemiah said to the King, “Send Me to Judah.” I believe that God wants us all to be dreamers. He wants us all to recognize that he has filled our hearts with passion and he wants to use that passion to fulfill his mission. However, we have to come to a place in our life where we are productive. We have to act on the dreams God gives us.

Join the Conversation…What do you dream about? What are you doing about it?

January 5, 2010

I love this quote…

“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping… waiting… and though unwanted… unbidden… it will stir… open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us… guides us… passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love… the clarity of hatred… and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace… but we would be hollow… Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.” – Joss Whedon

That’s why I love the word “Passion” – I don’t want to be the hollow, empty shell of a man.

Join the Conversation…What are You Passionate About?

June 19, 2008

Chasing Daylight Chapter 6 Thoughts (Part 2)

Here are my final thoughts on Chapter 6 (Advance) of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. Join the Conversation at the end if anything stands out to you…

What is it about our conversations with God that we seem to hear the no more readily than the yes? Many times when we claim we are waiting on God, He is waiting on us.

You are called not to be a survivor, but to be a conqueror. With passion and anticipation, you move with determination into the eye of the hurricane.

I don’t know what it means for others, but for followers of Jesus Christ, what it means to live on the edge is to stand at the epicenter of where the kingdom of God confronts the kingdom of darkness.

On this journey one thing becomes certain: When you move forward on what you know, things become clearer. When you refuse to act on what you know, all that you do not know paralyzes you.

When we become a people of the Spirit, we join the wind of God as He moves through human history.

Those who seize their divine opportunities move with the God-given yes unless God says no. They work from the go and wait for the stop. They understand that the mission gives them permission. They know that the danger is their invitation to step up to the challenge. Continue reading “Chasing Daylight Chapter 6 Thoughts (Part 2)”

June 1, 2008

Chasing Daylight Chapter 5 Thoughts (Part 2)

Here are some of the things that stood out to me from Chapter 5 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus:

The journey that travels through divine moments is not an escape route from personal suffering. In fact, it strengthens our resolve to suffer in the now for the greater good that can be accomplished. It is a recognition that future moments are both born out of and connected to present choices.

If it is difficult to fail without risk, it is even more difficult to succeed without failure.

You do yourself a disservice when every story has a happy ending in this life. Its far more important that there be a meaningful middle. So often we’re paralyzed in our fear to do the wrong thing, and it is important to always move forward with all the wisdom possible.

It is as if we long to know God’s Will, but God refuses to reveal it.

Risk that God respects is fueled by a passion for His purpose and a willingness to subjugate our lives to His mission. Prayer moves from “God, what is your will for my life?” to “God, what is your will, and how can I give my life to fulfill it?” Continue reading “Chasing Daylight Chapter 5 Thoughts (Part 2)”