Week of Prayer
We kicked off the week of prayer with a prayer meeting at Ebenezers. Our prayer focus today was vision. Awfully inspiring praying for vision in a place that was once a ridiculous vision!
One of the things I did was have people reflect on the 2007 Manifesto I shared during our chase the lion series. Might be worth posting on a refrigerator or turning into a screen saver. Maybe one of the manifesto statements can be a 2007 motto. I met someone at the coffeehouse last week who said she'd read In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and adopted one of the phrases as her theme for 07: criticize by creating.
So here's my prescription. Reflect on the manifesto. Circle the phrases that jump out to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal one or two or three things you need to do to begin chasing the lion.
Here's the manifesto.
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Grab life by the mane. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!
What lion is God calling you to chase in 2007?
One of the things I did was have people reflect on the 2007 Manifesto I shared during our chase the lion series. Might be worth posting on a refrigerator or turning into a screen saver. Maybe one of the manifesto statements can be a 2007 motto. I met someone at the coffeehouse last week who said she'd read In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and adopted one of the phrases as her theme for 07: criticize by creating.
So here's my prescription. Reflect on the manifesto. Circle the phrases that jump out to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal one or two or three things you need to do to begin chasing the lion.
Here's the manifesto.
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Grab life by the mane. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!
What lion is God calling you to chase in 2007?
5 Comments:
After reading In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy day I'm declareing my personal theme for 2007 "Carpe Feline". God has told me twice in the last 12 months I need my passport, so I'm gonna do it. Dosen't sound like much, but I'm within grasp of the tail.
Carpe Feline,
Eric
My New Year's Resolution is to Chase My Lion in 2007. I even bought myself a visual reminder. The picture of it is on my blog.
Chris J.
Mark - thanks for the posting the Manifesto! I have linked to it on my blog, and want to challenge my church to claim that both individually, and corporately.
Soooooo enjoy, and was challenged by, your book. Thanks!!!
Michael Collins
http://mike-collins.blogspot.com/
Mark,
My husband & I are church planters a year and a half in; we (us and our team) started out with a vision not only for a church, but a coffeehouse and pretty much felt we must be out of our minds- never heard it done before. Heard about you guys by "divine coincidence" and have been encouraged by hearing your story - both online and in more detail in In a Pit - (which we are just beginning the series in our Celebration service this Sunday - thanks for all the resources!) We are in PA and are trying to get a time to bring some of our team for a field trip to a service at Ebenezers...actually are in the process of e-mails to see if we could actually talk practicals with somebody from your staff sometime. Anyway, we're being hugely blessed by you and your ministry, so thanks!
Very cool Jessi! So encouraging to hear about others with a similar vision.
Our staff is great about answering questions related to their portfolios! The best best is to email our office manager, Amanda, and have her direct you to media, discipleship, outreach, etc.
Blessings!
Mark
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