Growing Vision - What I Like to Call "Heart-Bursts"

So it's been growing.

This sense that I'm supposed to be here in Gilbert, Arizona, right now, in this city, in this state, in this church...for such a time of great awakening and revival that the city has never seen before!
I believe revival is birthed from a place of prayer...both individual/in-the-secret-place prayer, and corporate prayer. I believe it's birthed out of fasting and living a radical lifestyle of laying down worldly pursuits and going after the Kingdom.

One by one God has been stripping things off of my heart, things that have had their claws dug into me for far too long.  One of those things is arrogance. I never thought I was an arrogant person. But I'm realizing there's deep layers of pride, of ego, that I have so identified as being part of my confident persona, that I haven't realize they were there. It was not until they were offended recently, by unprecedented rejection from a few close people that I had really put my trust in, that I realized the presence of the layers of pride that have been coating my heart.

You know what...it takes a lot of vulnerability and courage to say that. It's a hard thing for me to admit to. Painful even. And now it's out there for the whole world to read. But it needs to be read, it needs to be confessed, and I need to repent from it, and I need to have my mind renewed. May my thoughts and actions and speech and mannerisms really reflect a genuine love for people and for the things of God, for no other reason, for  no other cause, than that I am in love with God my King, and I love the things he loves, and love the people he loves.

So strip it all away, God. Strip away the hurt, the pain, the pride, the rejection, the offense. May I worship you with an unoffended heart.  May my life be one of your favorite movies to put in and watch! If you even do such a thing. ;)

And so - this growing vision, this dream...this bursting going on in my heart...what is it?

Oh, yes, I burn for revival, I burn for transformation, for an awakening of hearts across America and this world, for the raw power of God to invade our lives with his goodness and beauty and lavish love. I want to see people freed of addictions, healed of cancer, healed of AIDS, healed of emotional and sexual abuse....to see lives radically restored, devils cast out, the lame walking, the blind seeing, and every child living free to dream big dreams, and every adult walking in the fullness of their calling and destiny, not believing for a second that youth has passed them by, and that they can't still have that mind-blowing adventure-filled life they have always envisioned. 


But truly, on a more practical level, my heart for my generation is growing. I used to be one very frustrated, legalistic, judgmental teenager. I was so annoyed and angry that people couldn't just LIVE FOR GOD, ALREADY! Now I have so much more compassion, realizing that people's behaviors don't just come out of nowhere - that there is a reason, a belief or value system, that they are holding onto. What they really need is not to curb their behaviors, but rather, they need to experience an identity shift that only comes form encountering the unbridled love of God.

And so, what I really want to see is a whole generation lit for Jesus. And to be honest, in the Scriptures, a generation was pretty much everybody alive. So my heart burns for everyone. Haha.  That's awesome. Love it.  Thank you Jesus for growing my heart, for filling me with compassion, for giving me your eyes to see all the beautiful treasures around me. There are no mere mortals - something C.S. Lewis said that really messes with my mind. THERE ARE NO MERE MORTALS. But more specifically, the age bracket that I feel called to in this season of life is 12 to early 30s.

I know that this is all over the place - it's like one big, excited thing going on inside of me...swirling at a million miles per hour. A tornado of vision and emotion and drive.

I'm asking Jesus - what else do you have for this time in my life? You've taken some things out...now what do you want to replace it with?

Emily and I recently attended an event where we were able meet with other 20 and 30 somethings of the Valley who are professionals and looking for local churches to plug into, or looking for ways to make more friends, meet more people in their stage of life, etc. The music was fantastic and the sermon really got to me with where I'm at in life now.

However, I do believe we need a network of 20-something revivalists - in the vein of seeing the supernatural power of God invade every part of this city and transform a generation. What this event/organization (the one we attended) is doing is incredible, and I support and believe in their work and efforts to unite hundreds and hundreds of 20 and 30 somethings across the city. However, I do think we need a place of prayer, worship, and the prophetic, where we aren't worried about saying something that would offended someone from a different denomination or approach.  My concern is that there is this whole piece of the Christian faith walk (the signs and wonders, and you-will-do-greater-things-than-ME-aka-Jesus stuff) that won't be addressed by the particular organization whose event we attended. We need a place where Burning Ones can get together, get all fired up, and go out and preach a gospel of love, healing, and radical transformation.

So how can we do that, while still supporting what our friends at at this organization for 20-30-something-year-olds is doing?

They said at the this event that they want to see revival. But what does that MEAN? What does that look like? Does that look like living under an open heaven where God moves in the miraculous? Again, don't misunderstand me. I so believe in what they are doing. I love their hearts. I love their passion. I love their hair (yes, the people there have super cool hair...not even kidding). But what about training and equipping and providing fellowship for a generation of miracle-working revivalists?! We need a place where this can happen, too.

Emily and I are praying, brainstorming, writing, reading, looking, getting downloads...

And we are excited. We are so excited to see what is going to happen.

On Sunday we are meeting with a lady named Beverly who goes to our School of Supernatural Ministry on Monday nights. She goes to a different church (which is awesome - I love it that we have people from different churches besides Two Rivers that are attending TRSSM), and has a real heart for prayer and revival amongst youth. She also knows two kids that are Bethel right now, and should be coming back soon, for the summer at least (I don't know if they are doing a second year or not). Anyway, I want to start a network of young revivalists in this city. I don't know WHAT it would look like.  Where and how would we meet? What would we do? How do we make sure the local church is strengthened by us hanging out, not plundered for its on-fire revivalists?

Again - we are thinking and praying and brainstorming. And praying. And praying some more.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on this! Eager to hear any wisdom!