Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire

God is stirring something within me.

On the way to Kauai, Aimee was reading a book that kept making her tear up. She blazed through it so fast by an hour into our flight she handed it to me and said it was a must read. On the way home I opened it up - and it's changing my life. Not in the big, huge so obvious type of change - but the kind of change that starts from the inside and hopefully radiates out.

Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, wrote "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" to give a testimony to what God has been doing in his church and community. The Holy Spirit preached to me through his words.

This is what stuck out to me most(the following is mostly in quotes):
When we get serious about drawing on God's power, remarkable things will happen. Even if we grow listless and lukewarm, still Christ says to his followers: "Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice & opens the door, I will come and eat with him, and He with me. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" -Rev. 3:20-22

Although this message was addressed to the Laodicean Christians, whom Jesus had just finished scolding, for he was grieved by their lethargy - yet he still offered his renewing love and power. He always forgives.

It seems like what we are dealing with today is a lack of dependence on God's power. In revelation, the churches were mainly scolded for their lack of spiritual vitality, fervency and closeness to the Lord. I am in favor, as were the Apostles, of asking God to stretch out his hand and manifest himself.

The Apostles prayer for the church in the book of Acts says, "Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness!"

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."

We just started The Apostle Project - an experiment of 12 people who are striving to be bold in their faith within their communities. The purpose is to change the way we're living so it focused not on what we have to do - but the people God puts in our lives as we do those things. We are reshaping our vision to be Kingdom focused. I can see now that it takes much more than a change in cultural norms, it takes the work of the Holy Spirit - and we get that through prayer. I am asking the Lord to discipline my prayer life and to reshape the desires of my heart. For I am restless to do more for Christ. And I now know that this is the answer.

Go Apostles go. I am praying!