Category: General

Kingdom Dreams

Jeff Goins recently wrote a good blog on how to get involved with Kingdom Dreams. Here’s what he says…

There is no denying it. God is moving in a coordinated fashion, planting a seed in world changers and kingdom bringers. In the past few weeks we’ve found a growing number of passionate Christ followers committed to a similar vision of Kingdom Dreams, creating opportunity for synergy amongst the church.

We are on the forefront of something great, and we want you to be apart of it.

  • Kingdom Dreams went live about a month ago, but since then we have gained greater clarity as to our role in this coordinated move by God.
  • Kingdom Dreams exists to synthesize the church; connecting the body of Christ to fulfill each persons unique createdness.
  • Kingdom Dreams is being built to be the premier location to be inspired, equipped, and resourced to pursue one’s God-given dreams and passions.
  • Kingdom Dreams will be the catalyst for the next generation of Christians focused on changing the world.
  • Kingdom Dreams offers people the space, freedom, guidance, and confidence to dream and experiment, through the channel of meaningful personal connections.

A dream this big needs the help of the body of Christ, and we want to invite you to be apart of what God is doing.

There are lots of ways to get involved. We would love it if you joined us on the forefront of this movement. Here are five different ways to join the vision:

  1. Become a coach This generation needs mentors and coaches. You have life experience and wisdom to share. Help walk someone down their unique path: Become a coach!
  2. Help us network dreamers Most dreamers need to serve under someone else dream while the mature and grow. Contact us if you can connect dreamers to a variety of opportunities
  3. Partner with Kingdom Dreams We want to provide our dreamers with job, ministry, and volunteer opportunities that match their passions. Let us know if you or your organization has open positions for some passionate world changers.
  4. Spread the word: Do you believe in this vision of making God’s dreams come true through connecting people with world-changing ideas? Share Kingdom Dreams with your friends, church, pastor, and other network by:
    1. Reposting this post on your blog, or writing your own.
    2. Talk about Kingdom Dreams on Twitter or post a link on Facebook. You can use the shortened URL http://bit.ly/kdreams.
  5. Share your dream Come to our website and let us know about your dream. You just might make yours happen, or help another’s come true. Share your dream

Let’s build this into something great together.

Life [Re]defined – Jake Hamilton

Life [re]defined by Jake Hamilton

I hear the Spirit calling me
And I’m ready to answer
I am laying down my pride
To hear the cry of your comfort

I felt your tug upon my heart
And it’s setting me free now
I can’t deny your reckless love
So, I’m bending a knee, now

Chorus:
I, I don’t want to wake up
trying to make it through
lost and confused
No, I don’t want to survive
I want to live

Yes, Lord, yes
Lord, You
You are life
Life beyond the veil
Beyond what’s safe
and normal,
What is possible

You, You satisfy
You’re more than just a fantasy of faith
You are everything
You’re life re-defined.

V2:
You are the love
that finds a way
And I can not deny it
I tried to run
and make my way
But I’m turning towards home now

You are the wisdom
that I need
And the reason I’m longing
For more than
just the American dream
I hear eternity calling!

Bridge:
I’m laying it all down
Just for one glimpse of your face
It’s gonna be worth it
It’s gonna be worth it (4x)

growth

slow
methodical
life marches on

life
a sharp plow
in the hands of God

churning
making rich the soil
of my heart

clearing
weeds and rocks
readying the soil for seeds

planting
planting seeds of
faith, hope, and love

nourishing
the young seedling
with your word

harvesting
the fruit
at season’s end

in action

if love were merely words
if love were merely thoughts
if love were merely feelings
would it really be love?

love in action
sacrifices for others
honors others
protects others

if faith were merely words
if faith were merely thoughts
if faith were merely feelings
would it really be faith?

faith in action
holds on
encourages
restores
heals

veiled

you start down the path confident
confident that you know
that up Is up
and down is down

little do you know
little do i know
all that seems real is not
and all that is real is veiled

take a peek, I dare you
take a peek, behind the veil
let your eyes adjust
let your mind adjust
let it all in to your heart

disoriented
wrecked
your confidence, shot, dead and dying
your knowledge, rags, trashed and worthless

up but not as you knew it
down but not as you knew it
life but not as you knew it

what lies beyond the veil?
see for yourself
He’s there, He’s waiting

Jesus
King of an eternal kingdom
that will not be veiled forever

blue

blue, the color God chose
for the vast ocean
and for the never ending sky

blue, the color God chose
for little eyes
that melt my heart

may they always be pure
may they always reflect His light
and may they always gaze upon His beauty

they will remind you little one
that from birth God marked you
marked you as precious in His sight

lifecycle

allow it in
allow it to stay
let it bury itself deep
a seed gets planted

the seed grows
the young plant grows
it buds and flowers
soon the fruit will appear

the fruit appears
as thoughts
as words
as actions

the thoughts
the words
the actions
are all consumed

inside
deep inside
the juicy fruit
lies seeds

allow them in
allow them to stay
let them bury themselves deep
that’s the way seeds get planted

True Masculinity

From Albert Molher’s awesome blog on true masculinity:

Our fathers and grandfathers did not put on overalls to play dress up. They were headed for work. Faludi is profoundly right when she writes that “their sense of their own manhood flowed out of their utility in a society, not the other way around.”

A true masculinity is grounded in a man’s determination to fulfill his manhood in being a good husband, father, citizen, worker, leader, and friend — one who makes a difference, fulfills a role for others, and devotes his life to these tasks. Most of our fathers went to work early and toiled all day because they knew it was their duty to put bread on the table, a roof over our heads, and a future in front of us. They made their way to ball games and school events dead tired, went home and took care of things, and then got up and did it all over again the next day.

Today’s men are likely to be more nurturing, but they are also statistically less faithful. They may be changing more diapers, but they are also more likely to change spouses. Men must be encouraged and expected to be both faithful fathers and faithful husbands. Otherwise, any society is in big trouble.

How to Guide Your Team Through Conflict

This is a great post from Donald Miller’s blog on how to guide your team through conflict.

Here are some keys for a team to survive conflict:

1. Invite God into the conflict. Structured, daily prayer will give people a sense of hope. Bring God into the conflict and trust that He is there with you

2. Commit to having patience. It’s going to get tough, and nobody is going to get what they want out of the situation, so settle in and have some patience.

3. Have compassion. Some people register pain more than others, but resentment is an open door for the conflict to win. Don’t resent somebody else’s pain, even if you suspect they are playing the victim. Give them what they need for much longer than you might need it yourself.

4. Take some time to grieve. If there’s conflict, it’s likely because somebody, or something (a vision or a desire) has died. Moving on to quickly is not helpful. Give yourself a great deal of time to grieve what has been lost. Giving yourself permission to grieve will stop the voices of condemnation for feeling so weak. Weakness after a loss is part of the healing process, and so it should be associated with strength.

5. Serve one another. If it helps, go to a calendar and find a date a month or even a year out. Commit to serving everybody in need until that date. Of course we should always be servants, but pointing to a date on the calendar breaks up a tough commitment into an actionable step, and will stop you from trying to overly control the situation, a mistake a lot of people make when times get hard.

6. Listen. Listen to everybody involved. Make a list of names if you have to, and make appointments with everybody experiencing the conflict, and simply listen to how they are feeling. Try to formulate their thoughts and repeat it back to them so they know you understand. Share your own feelings with them. Much of the pain involved in a tragedy is the feeling of being alone and not having people in your life that understand. Listening will help people not feel so alone.

7. When the grieving is done, map out a vision and process to rebuild what was lost.Give yourself permission to slowly move forward.

8. When the time is right, write down all God has developed within you because the conflict took place. You’ll be amazed at His ability to redeem a tragedy and make something beautiful grow as a monument to the beautiful thing that was lost.