So many ask “Who are you and what do you stand for?”
- We have a passion to reveal to people how they are desperately loved by God and the fullness of what Christ’s sacrifice on the cross means for us and the rest of the world.
- As a byproduct of that, we help people figure out what they are passionate about and help propel them into that so that they can be salt and light to their spheres of influence.
- We stand for freedom and we fight for it. We resist openly all forms of tyranny, oppression and systems of religious and spiritual control and abuse.
- We do not tolerate mindsets that enslave people to those systems.
- We believe Christ came to set captives free, not to create a system of man-made religious captivity and indentured servanthood.
- We live to preach and demonstrate Truth without compromise and the unconditional love of God as revealed through Jesus Christ.
This is our vision. This is our passion. This is who we are.
Originally written 10-01-08 in New York City, NY
I had a vision. After reading Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls,” I closed my eyes and found myself standing in a desert place with Christ at my right side.
There was a set of two paths before me—one on my left and one on my right. 
The path to the left looked very overgrown—lots of brush and thistles, thorns and briers that had grown onto the trail.
The path to the right was well-traveled and had no obstacles in the road.
I turned my eyes to the Lord and I, following the prophet’s instructions, asked the Lord for the ancient path…where the good way was.
He spoke to me:
“The road to your left is the road of the prophets—those who boldly proclaimed My word without compromise and who had set their faces like flint against the gods of this age and the men who sought their very heads.”
“It is the road of my evangelists—those who had such a passion for saving souls from the fires of hell that they traveled into the deepest, darkest places of the earth just to preach My Gospel.”
“It is the road of my apostles—those who had such authority in the place of prayer and fasting that their very presence in a city would shake down the foundations of every religious system that men had put in place. Their faith was established upon love and humility—they had completely surrendered their lives to My perfect plans and purposes and endeavored themselves to walk it out in fullness. They learned that the true power of heaven comes through intimacy with Me and many died for it.”
“It is the road of my pastors—those who daily lay their lives down for the sake of my people. They loved not their lives unto death and some have died as a martyr defending even the smallest of flocks. These are those who had learned to be faithful with little. They now have been given much in heaven.”
“It is the road of my teachers—those who have many times spend countless hours learning about Me and My ways for the sake of others who have a desperate cry to know as much as they can about Me. These are those who have laid their lives down for the sake of those who would come after them and have willingly set aside many of their own dreams and ambitions in order to teach those who have little or no knowledge of Me.”
“This road is the ancient path. This road is the good road. If you choose to walk this path, great will be your reward in heaven. It is a road marked with obstacles and the enemy follows hard after those who travel this path because of the impact of their lives for My Kingdom’s sake. It is not easy. Without me, it is impossible. Without true intimacy with Me, if you choose this road, you will surely die.”
“The other road is one that is well-traveled. There are detours on this road that will still lead to Me, and I am with those who walk it. However, these have chosen the easy way. They have chosen the role of sheep and not as those who would truly lay their lives down in the face of adversity. These are those who have little hunger for the things of My Kingdom. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled—and those who seek Me find Me. This road is marked with prosperity preaching and a humanistic mindset—“what can I get out of this gospel?” is the question in the hearts of those who walk this road. Many who take this road never truly find me. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul?”
He turned to me with fire in His eyes and yet spoke with a softness that pierced my heart.
“Son of man, which road do you choose?”
Without a moment of hesitation, I turned to my left and said that I wanted to walk the road less traveled…the ancient path that was beset with adversity that I knew the Lord would turn into adventure. He smiled warmly and turned to walk with me. A soft wind picked up and began to blow upon our backs as we walked down towards the start of this overgrown path.
“You have chosen wisely, my child. Come, I have much to show you.”
“Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they started.”
– David Allen
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in that gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
“There are two primary choices in life: To accept conditions as they exist, Or accept the responsibility for changing them.”
- Denis Waitley
“It is observed that successful people get ahead in the time that other people waste.”
- Henry Ford
“The difference between those who do something and those who do nothing is that the ones who do something…DO SOMETHING.”
-Banning Liebscher
This will be quite a bit different than many of the other articles that I have put up…but it is something that has been on my heart for quite a long time now…and as humorous as the above video is, unfortunately I think it probably struck a chord with just about everyone who will see this. I know it certainly did with me. Even now, I am feeling the temptation to go to the artist’s YouTube page and see what other witty videos he has put up.
Isn’t it interesting how temptation can work to break your focus?
It is a desire of mine to write and post something on here at least once a day. I want to write a book and the way to do that is obviously by starting to actually write consistently and to write on subjects that can be formed into a cohesive book…and while a lot of the posts I have put up on here have been fairly long, there has not been much of a consistency throughout the different posts. After spending some time doing some research on other “pro-bloggers”, I’ve decided to start writing in parts—similar to how a lot of pastors will preach a sermon series over a few weeks as opposed to trying to cram a ton of information into one message.
To change directions a bit, (and also to kick myself in the butt to get more proactive about, well, being proactive), I am going to be doing a series on productivity and goal setting…things that are very practical and extremely useful, but sadly not very much embraced in the lives of many Christians. The fact is, one of the main reasons I am choosing to write about a lot of this is because I know that I need to set more concrete goals and pursue them.
It has long been said, “If you aim at nothing, you are sure to hit it every time.”
How much of our time is spent doing useless things that are simply time-fillers? I know that even in the time I have sat here typing this, I have felt the urge to check my e-mail, facebook posts, and to search around the internet for more quotes about goal-setting rather than coming up with original content about goal-setting!
The fact is that there is so much time wasted in maintaining our social networks, our facebook pages, twitter updates, and various other things that often we can lose sight very quickly of radically pursuing the goals and dreams that God has for us. One of my goals is to write every day and to be more proactive about coming up with original content. I mean, we have the Creator of the Universe living inside of us…one would think we would be a bit more creative!
“And then God answered: “Write this.
Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters
so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness
pointing to what’s coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
And it doesn’t lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
It’s on its way. It will come right on time.”
-Habakkuk 2:2-3 (MSG)
“Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]–blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.”
-Proverbs 29:18 (Amplified)
God has been speaking to me a lot about the verses above and the value of writing down goals so large and so in my face that it is impossible to miss. I set up a free calendar that shows up on my computer’s desktop so that I can’t get away from my “goals” and “to-do list”…I suppose it is a start. If anyone is interested, it can be found here.
I will write more on this tomorrow…no need to create a bunch of really long posts…I have a feeling this will be the first of many to come on this topic.
In the meantime, why not start off by getting some goal sheets?
1.) Lifetime dreams and goals
2.) Goals to be completed in 12 months
3.) Goals to be completed in 30 days
What are some of your goals for this month? Once you’ve set the goals, then take some time and list the practical steps that would be needed in order to assure that they are met on time.
Don’t hesitate to comment…I’d love to hear them!
- The Blueprint of “Renewing Your Mind” 11/24/2011 Brandon
- Decisions that Define Us – Graham Cooke 11/23/2011 Brandon
- Incomplete Vs. Complete Forgiveness 11/25/2011
- 20 Rob Rufus Quotes On Law vs. Grace 11/23/2011
- Organic Church Introduction 01/30/2012
- Dead to Sin and Alive to God! 11/10/2011
- Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace 02/01/2012
- Do Everything Jesus Said? 01/29/2012
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