What do you really want?

I hired a personal coach the other day and he asked me this question.

“If I gave you a DVD that was a four-minute highlight video of your life in 2017, what would be on the DVD?”

What do you look like?

Where do you live?

What are your relationships like?

What does your bank account look like?

It really made me think about what I want in life. Deb and I are at an exciting place of transition. We were on staff at a good church in the Twin Cities. We oversaw ministry to 1500 kids and hundreds of volunteers. I should have been happy but I wasn’t.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I have been a children’s pastor for thirty years, but I didn’t like my title. I love kids, but I don’t want to limit my ministry to kids. I know this seems crazy, but I want to minister to all generations. The culture seems to say that I have to pick one generation to minister to, but my heart rebels against that.

Deb and I took a step of faith and resigned as Children’s Pastors at Living Word Christian Center in January. The direction I had from the Lord was that I needed to stop doing what I was doing to take the next step. It’s the law of sacrifice. You have to give up, to go up.

I’m not going to lie to you. There are some mornings where my head says to me “What are you doing? Why did you quit your job? You are crazy.”

On the other hand, it has been incredibly liberating. Stepping out in faith has given me permission to dream again. The sky is the limit. I can do whatever I want!

One of my dreams is that “One generation shall praise His name to another.” I keep asking myself this question. Is it possible to do church with all generations together?

I want to change the way we do church.

“God will give you the desires of your heart” Psalm 37:4

The truth is I get what I desire, but if I don’t know what I desire, it won’t ever happen.

Isn’t that what Jesus said in Mark 11:23? “Whatever things you DESIRE, when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them.”

It seems to me that many people of faith are in maintenance mode. They are like the lame man at Lystra. Paul saw that he had faith, but he wasn’t healed yet. In other words, he had faith but he wasn’t doing anything with it.

We don’t have a faith problem. We have a desire problem. Faith comes through the Word, but desire is what motivates our faith. Desire keeps me going when I feel like quitting. When my head says this is taking too long. Desire says; it does not matter how long it takes if it’s what I really want, it’s worth it.

So, what do you want?

Think about it, pray about it, write it down, and run with it.