At "Thirsty Wednesday" last night, Brent Ingersoll prayed that God would "show us a vision of our calling and grant us the courage to walk into it without fear and insecurity". As he poured out that prayer I immediately felt the power of seeing myself and our congregation at KVWC moving in freedom and courage into all that God has called us to be and do. Then I quickly recognized that this would truly be miraculous and would not happen without God's grace and without Him bringing a change in me and in us as a church.
I enjoy listening to people as they talk about what God wants them to be and do. Their dreams, struggles, successes and failures all help me to stay in the game and to find hope for my journey. Lately a friend of mine said to me that he feels that the biggest barrier standing in the path of living out our calling is "getting over" ourselves. He's right!! I'd love to experience everyday life with a strong allegiance to the rights of the kingdom of God as a higher value than my so called personal/individual "rights". What if we lived each day with a focus on His will being done on earth as it is in heaven? What if I were not so sympathetic with myself and others when we hold out on God because of fear and insecurity and leave His mission unaccomplished? What if it wasn't considered normal amongst us any more to hang back and take our time in making the courageous sacrifices necessary to show our world that Jesus cares and is here to rescue them no matter what they are going through or no matter what it might cost us? Getting over myself and my wants is a heartbreaking experience sometimes... sad as I am to admit it... But, I do believe the answer still lies in finding my contentment and fulfillment in allowing God to completely fill me with His perfect love. I John 4:18...
18There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love [g]turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear [h]brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].
If we turn back or grind to a halt on the path of following Jesus because of fear of any kind than we are holding out on God. How can we be satisfied with that? I am becoming increasingly discontent with myself over this issue and sometimes I even get angry about it and I am sharing here because I feel many of us are stuck and would love to break through these barriers of fear and insecurity.
dedicated to launching Jesus followers into their God designed life mission.
About Me
- Dan Lamos Kingdom Building Ministries & Eastgate House of Prayer
- Husband to my best friend, Linda; Dad to three artistic and amazing children... John, Jeremy and Sarah, Plan A Coach with Kingdom Building Ministries and Missionary with Eastgate House of Prayer.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
A new decade... gulp!
There is a foundational reality that we all live in the midst of...
Acts 17:26 (New International Version)
26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
God knew that we would be alive in these times. It seems from what I am reading that the coming decade is going to be very challenging and likely our paradigms are going to be shaken to the extreme. Are you up for that?
I am praying for myself, my family and friends that we will be more aware of what really matters to God concerning our lives and have more integrity toward what He values. If by His grace we do that, we will be ready to face the "shake ups" and dilemmas of this new decade.
Happy New Year!
God knew that we would be alive in these times. It seems from what I am reading that the coming decade is going to be very challenging and likely our paradigms are going to be shaken to the extreme. Are you up for that?
I am praying for myself, my family and friends that we will be more aware of what really matters to God concerning our lives and have more integrity toward what He values. If by His grace we do that, we will be ready to face the "shake ups" and dilemmas of this new decade.
Happy New Year!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
We were born for this...
I was reading Matt. 9:28-30 this morning. There is something very basic and raw about this scripture. If I can allow myself to see my world the way that Jesus does, what will I see? The "harvest" Jesus talks about is still waiting all around us. Jesus uses two images here to describe what He sees... the first is a massive gathering of sheep without a shepherd... the second is a harvest that is waiting to be gathered in. We can't help a culture of people who are looking for a shepherd unless we own our responsibility to be leaders. Neither can we fulfill our life mission unless we search for it in the context of gathering in God's harvest... connecting people with faith in Jesus Christ. We were born for this!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Safe hiding place or a place of empowerment?
The times we are living in according to Bob Johansen of "Institute for the Future" (author of Leaders Make the Future) have produced a VUCA world... full of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. He goes on to predict that the next ten years are going to be an incredibly difficult and challenging time for leaders.
How should we as Jesus followers respond to the world culture where we exist every day? Will our churches serve as a hiding place where people can escape from a VUCA world or can we be a place of empowering for people to turn and lead movements of change and promise as they are drawn to embrace Jesus and His teachings.
These are times of wide sweeping and fast paced change. I am concerned that many in the church are resisting the idea that the changes have begun and our world will never be the same. While we enjoy the benefits of having peace with God through Jesus and the closeness of our church family and the security of our religious traditions, there is a world all around us full of people who are uncertain and some even terrified about the future. What are we doing to position ourselves to communicate the hope we have for stability in our VUCA world? The hope we have is in the kingdom of God. You and I will not capture the attention of our world around us if we don't seek God for wisdom and a plan that will provide hope and leadership to a culture that Jesus sees as sheep, helplessly wandering around in search of a shepherd.
I hope you are investing time in God's word with new eyes searching out the principles of Jesus kingdom and his ways of doing life and serving people. I am completely convinced that we need new methods, ideas, new revolutionary approaches to expressing the presence of God in our homes, friendships, businesses and culture. It is our world's only hope.
There is a movement of people right now who are seeking God's help as they deconstruct what they have become so accustomed to as "church life" and by His grace rebuilding lives and church families that are ready to lead out in a revolution of love and service in Jesus' Name in whatever community in which they live every day. Changes are here and they won't be easy. But the Holy Spirit knows what He is doing and He will lead us if we will stay humble, courageous and gracious toward each other.
How should we as Jesus followers respond to the world culture where we exist every day? Will our churches serve as a hiding place where people can escape from a VUCA world or can we be a place of empowering for people to turn and lead movements of change and promise as they are drawn to embrace Jesus and His teachings.
These are times of wide sweeping and fast paced change. I am concerned that many in the church are resisting the idea that the changes have begun and our world will never be the same. While we enjoy the benefits of having peace with God through Jesus and the closeness of our church family and the security of our religious traditions, there is a world all around us full of people who are uncertain and some even terrified about the future. What are we doing to position ourselves to communicate the hope we have for stability in our VUCA world? The hope we have is in the kingdom of God. You and I will not capture the attention of our world around us if we don't seek God for wisdom and a plan that will provide hope and leadership to a culture that Jesus sees as sheep, helplessly wandering around in search of a shepherd.
I hope you are investing time in God's word with new eyes searching out the principles of Jesus kingdom and his ways of doing life and serving people. I am completely convinced that we need new methods, ideas, new revolutionary approaches to expressing the presence of God in our homes, friendships, businesses and culture. It is our world's only hope.
There is a movement of people right now who are seeking God's help as they deconstruct what they have become so accustomed to as "church life" and by His grace rebuilding lives and church families that are ready to lead out in a revolution of love and service in Jesus' Name in whatever community in which they live every day. Changes are here and they won't be easy. But the Holy Spirit knows what He is doing and He will lead us if we will stay humble, courageous and gracious toward each other.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
"Deep Change" or "Slow Death"?
Just received this re-tweet from a friend this morning... @cnieuwhof: Every organization faces one of two alternatives: slow death or deep change. The quote is from an article found at the following link: http://twurl.nl/z2xlg5
Please take the time to go there and read it. I totally resonate with the idea that our church is experiencing "deep change" and I definitely choose it over slow death. I know that I have been experiencing deep level change for several years now and only recently been feeling like I am getting into a good rhythm again.
The church represents the "unshakable" kingdom of God on the earth. Are we courageous enough to go through the changing process and allow Him to mold us and empower us to provide the answers for the questions the world is asking?
Please take the time to go there and read it. I totally resonate with the idea that our church is experiencing "deep change" and I definitely choose it over slow death. I know that I have been experiencing deep level change for several years now and only recently been feeling like I am getting into a good rhythm again.
The church represents the "unshakable" kingdom of God on the earth. Are we courageous enough to go through the changing process and allow Him to mold us and empower us to provide the answers for the questions the world is asking?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
So what I hear you saying is "you don't like me"...
I'd love to know what you think... Was Jesus likable? What drew people to Him? I think Jesus was likable except to those who cared too much about how other people viewed them. The Bible teaches that "If anyone claims to live in him they must walk as Jesus did." I John 2:6. If we are like Jesus we are going to love each other. When you love each other you protect, trust, persevere... all of those things found in I Cor. 13. But, I don't think I can find anywhere in the love chapter that we will always "like" each other. Part of living in truth and "walking in the light" is the freedom I can give you to not like me or what I do if you so choose. You need to do the same for me. Once I feel as if my like or dislike for you or something you might do is going to overly affect you or cause you to change a direction that you feel strongly about, our relationship gets complicated. Prayer: Father God, help us to grow in our inner character to a place where we can dislike each other once in a while but still walk in grace, truth and love.
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