So this guy comes up to me and says, "What’s the vision? What’s the big idea?"
I open my mouth and words come out like this...
The vision?
The vision is JESUS - obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.
The vision is an army of young people.
You see bones? I see an army.
And they are FREE from materialism.
They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn’t even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the West was won.
They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.
People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free, yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.
What is the vision?
The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.
It makes children laugh and adults angry.
It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago - to reach for the stars.
It scorns the good and strains for the best.
It is dangerously pure.
Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers choose to loose that they might one day win the great
"Well done" of faithful sons and daughters.
Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.
They don’t need fame from names.
Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and
again: "COME ON!"
And this is the sound of the underground
The whisper of history in the making
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing...
This is the sound of the underground
And the army is discipl(in)ed.
Young people who beat their bodies into submission.
Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.
The tattoo on their back boasts "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes.
Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them ?
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them?
And the generation prays like a dying man with groans beyond talking,
with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and with great barrow loads of laughter!
Waiting. Watching: 24 - 7 - 365.
Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy
little hide.
Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting
essentials.
The advertisers cannot mold them. Hollywood cannot hold them.
Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the
cockerel cries.
They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.
On the outside? They hardly care. They wear clothes like costumes to communicate
and celebrate, but never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row -
guilty as hell.
A throne for an electric chair.
With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,
they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.
Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings.
They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.
Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.
Don’t you hear them coming?
Herald the weirdos! Summon the losers and the freaks.
Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes.
They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these
children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and
invoke the ancient dream of Eden.
And this vision will be. It will come to pass; it will come easily; it will come soon.
How do I know?
Because this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very
dream of God.
My tomorrow is his today. My distant hope is his 3D.
And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great "Amen!" from countless angels, from hero’s of the faith, from Christ
himself.
And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.
Guaranteed.
[Pete Greig]
Friday, May 30, 2008
A Couple Questions..
What do you do when you think your life is set...you’ve got the job, the education, the financial stability, the significant other....then suddenly...EVERYTHING falls apart...and you’re left with...
Nothing...
It’s funny how you think you have everything figured out and you think you have a pretty good idea of what you want in life, and then you start to see signs that maybe this isn’t what God had planned for you...but rather what you had planned for yourself.It probably won’t work that way; it never does. We do not control our lives.
But how do you start over with nothing...after having everything for so long?
This is my life; this is what i live for...
I wrote this back in January, but it's always a good reminder to me as to what the purpose of my life is and what I should be doing with it. Obviously things in my life have changed and the specific times and dates of things also have, but it's good to be reminded that it's ok to be scared about things, and not know everything and to know that God will take care of you:
As many of you know, I am trying so hard to change my life and surrender all of myself to God. Although I have fallen more times than not, I am making some huge strides in order to feel the peace and happiness of God working in me. Don't get me wrong...I mess up every minute of every day. I do things that someone who is so set on being a good Christian should not. But I know that my intentions are true, and God will see that..and that's all that matters.
I have been attending Crossroads Bible church the past few months, and they have started what they call the boiler room. Some of you may be familiar with what that is...although I'm still learning about it.The Stockbridge boiler room house is lived in by a few guys from the church who are also Interns, that has a room in it specifically for praying; but that's just one part of the house.
It is ran completely by people who love God and by God Himself.
I write this because I want everyone to know that this week I am facing a HUGE challenge. Every six weeks, this church does 24/7 prayer, which as you may have guessed, means that someone (well, one person at a time, changing every hour) is constantly in that boiler room praying; praying for themselves, the church, the homeless, everything.
This goes on for 7 days.I am not good at praying. I never have been..but I thought that the fact that I would be "face-to-face" with God by myself in a room for an hour at a time, would maybe change that, and possibly even change my life.
As stated on the stockbridge boiler room website: "24-7 prayer is not for experts. It's for those who find prayer a struggle. 24-7 is a model that works! It has proven unusually successful at mobilizing people - especially young people - to pray like they've never prayed before. People learn to pray... by praying!"
So this week...on Wednesday from 2am-3am, 3pm-4pm and Thursday from 2am-3am, I will be there praying. As ironic as this is, I need as many peoples prayers as I can get seeing as I am very scared, because this is not something I would ever normally do, and I will be EXHAUSTED spiritually, emotionally and physically, because I will be there 3 out of 25 hours praying, 2 times of which will be in the middle of the night and will be working days in between. Some of you may not think that this is that big of a deal, or that praying really shouldn't be that hard, but for me it is.
I think i've always felt that it was such an intimate way to get in touch with God, that I was always scared of that, so I never even tried. If anyone is at all interested in getting involved in some way, this church and this house is life-changing. I don't know much about either, but I do know that this house is an outreach for the homeless, whether it be to get them off of an addiction, have a hot meal, take a shower, or to try to form a relationship with God.
And then, of course, it has the boiler room; a place to lay it all down before God and only God. It has already changed my outlook on certain aspects of my life and is giving me a feeling in my heart that i've never felt before, and I am SO excited and ready to give up all control of my life and place it in the hands of my Lord.
I'm sorry this is long, but I just wanted to share what has been going on in my life and my heart, and what I have coming up that will be VERY hard for me.
I always have a hard time talking this honestly about my faith, even though I feel it so deeply. I've always been worried about what other people would think if I felt so strongly about something that some may see as controversial or not important.
Even those closest to me probably have not heard these kinds of thoughts on something like this. That's wrong though.
I should never be ashamed or deny the love I have for Jesus Christ.This is why I'm writing a note on here. As idiotic as it may sound, I've always been better at expressing my feelings in writing..and this way I can declare it to everyone who decides to read this.
I'm not good at telling people if I'm scared about something...but I thought it would be a good time to start...so I could have the support of people who I know may understand or people who are important to me. I appreciate any prayers that you may give.
I see this as a time that will either make me stronger in my faith, which is where i want to go, or else a time that may break me down completely...which also may be good for me.
I guess it's all in God's hands now.
This is the beginning of a fantastic, terrifying life that God has wanted me to begin living for the past 22 years.
Love to you all through Him,
Jenna
"When I say I am a Christian, I'm not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it."
[Maya Angelou]
If you want to find out more information, go to: http://www.stockbridgeboilerroom.org/
As many of you know, I am trying so hard to change my life and surrender all of myself to God. Although I have fallen more times than not, I am making some huge strides in order to feel the peace and happiness of God working in me. Don't get me wrong...I mess up every minute of every day. I do things that someone who is so set on being a good Christian should not. But I know that my intentions are true, and God will see that..and that's all that matters.
I have been attending Crossroads Bible church the past few months, and they have started what they call the boiler room. Some of you may be familiar with what that is...although I'm still learning about it.The Stockbridge boiler room house is lived in by a few guys from the church who are also Interns, that has a room in it specifically for praying; but that's just one part of the house.
It is ran completely by people who love God and by God Himself.
I write this because I want everyone to know that this week I am facing a HUGE challenge. Every six weeks, this church does 24/7 prayer, which as you may have guessed, means that someone (well, one person at a time, changing every hour) is constantly in that boiler room praying; praying for themselves, the church, the homeless, everything.
This goes on for 7 days.I am not good at praying. I never have been..but I thought that the fact that I would be "face-to-face" with God by myself in a room for an hour at a time, would maybe change that, and possibly even change my life.
As stated on the stockbridge boiler room website: "24-7 prayer is not for experts. It's for those who find prayer a struggle. 24-7 is a model that works! It has proven unusually successful at mobilizing people - especially young people - to pray like they've never prayed before. People learn to pray... by praying!"
So this week...on Wednesday from 2am-3am, 3pm-4pm and Thursday from 2am-3am, I will be there praying. As ironic as this is, I need as many peoples prayers as I can get seeing as I am very scared, because this is not something I would ever normally do, and I will be EXHAUSTED spiritually, emotionally and physically, because I will be there 3 out of 25 hours praying, 2 times of which will be in the middle of the night and will be working days in between. Some of you may not think that this is that big of a deal, or that praying really shouldn't be that hard, but for me it is.
I think i've always felt that it was such an intimate way to get in touch with God, that I was always scared of that, so I never even tried. If anyone is at all interested in getting involved in some way, this church and this house is life-changing. I don't know much about either, but I do know that this house is an outreach for the homeless, whether it be to get them off of an addiction, have a hot meal, take a shower, or to try to form a relationship with God.
And then, of course, it has the boiler room; a place to lay it all down before God and only God. It has already changed my outlook on certain aspects of my life and is giving me a feeling in my heart that i've never felt before, and I am SO excited and ready to give up all control of my life and place it in the hands of my Lord.
I'm sorry this is long, but I just wanted to share what has been going on in my life and my heart, and what I have coming up that will be VERY hard for me.
I always have a hard time talking this honestly about my faith, even though I feel it so deeply. I've always been worried about what other people would think if I felt so strongly about something that some may see as controversial or not important.
Even those closest to me probably have not heard these kinds of thoughts on something like this. That's wrong though.
I should never be ashamed or deny the love I have for Jesus Christ.This is why I'm writing a note on here. As idiotic as it may sound, I've always been better at expressing my feelings in writing..and this way I can declare it to everyone who decides to read this.
I'm not good at telling people if I'm scared about something...but I thought it would be a good time to start...so I could have the support of people who I know may understand or people who are important to me. I appreciate any prayers that you may give.
I see this as a time that will either make me stronger in my faith, which is where i want to go, or else a time that may break me down completely...which also may be good for me.
I guess it's all in God's hands now.
This is the beginning of a fantastic, terrifying life that God has wanted me to begin living for the past 22 years.
Love to you all through Him,
Jenna
"When I say I am a Christian, I'm not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it."
[Maya Angelou]
If you want to find out more information, go to: http://www.stockbridgeboilerroom.org/
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