Our Vision

So, as y'all know, the plan is for us to move into downtown Atlanta and be full-time missionaries in America. But as the weeks have gone by, I have been losing the vision for the poor and really desiring the "American Dream" of having a nice house and living in comfort. This is not a bad thing, but God is calling our family to partner with His vision of all men coming to know Him. We want to be apart of that vision!


This morning the Lord led me to the scripture in Matthew of Jesus telling the righteous, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me..." (Matthew 25:34)


I heard Jesus say to me this morning:


"Will you leave a life of comfort for the thirsty, a life of convenience for the hungry and destitute? Will you lay down your deepest longings and dreams for the least of these? I am hungry. I am thirsty. As you do this for one of these, you are doing it for me. Will you be the one?"


I answered him back by saying:


"Yes, Lord, I will follow you to the highways and byways to bring in the poor for the marriage supper of the lamb. I will forsake this world to minister unto you, Jesus. This world has nothing for me!"


Will you be the one to partner with what the Lord is speaking to your heart, whatever that something may be? He is thirsty for radical and extravagant, laid-down lovers of God that will run with His vision!

Building Our Own Kingdom

There is no need to complicate our calling; we are called to love God and love others. Period. But, sometimes we can lose that focus. 

Instead of serving and loving God and people, we begin to start building our ministry (or our own kingdom), expanding our programs, and we eventually lose sight of our ultimate goal: loving God. Even in the ministry, there is a temptation of building our own kingdom. It doesn't only exist in the work place. Whether you have a regular job or involved in full-time ministry, there is a gravitational pull constantly present: build. 


I don't say this to condemn or judge us as believers, but I say this to exhort us to change our ways! I understand that there is a business aspect of our work place (whether at a church or corporation). But I pray that we would learn to model our life after our primary example: Jesus, whose only agenda (or food) was to do the *will of the Father.* 


I pray that today, whatever we are doing, we would live for His Kingdom and His will and not our own.