Graham Cooke expresses my heart (and the heart of so many I minister with).

Decisions that Define Us

We've decided that teaching the Gospel without demonstrating the gospel in not enough. Good preaching, good doctrine, being good people is not enough.
We've decided that having a good church club is not enough. Good fellowship is not enough. And just being a member of that club is not enough.

We've decided that having good Bible studies is good, but not good enough. That just making it to heaven is not our goal, and that knowing about God without truly knowing and experiencing God is meaningless.

We've decided that having good programs is not enough; that change without transformation is intolerable. And that staying the same is not an option.

We've decided that gifting without character is futile.

We've decided that singing songs without worshiping is hollow and having meetings without God showing up is pointless.

We've decided that having faith without works is not enough and having works without love is not acceptable - that our function comes out of our relationship first with the Father and second with each other.

We've decided that reading about the book of Acts without living the book of Acts is unthinkable.

We've decided that confident faith is good.....bold faith is better.

We've decided that hearing about the Holy Spirit without experiencing Him..... is silly. That believing in His presence without seeing it manifested in signs and wonders......is hypocrisy. That believing in healing without seeing people healed......is absurd. And that believing in deliverance without people being delivered.........is absolutely ridiculous.

We've decided to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit led, and Holy Spirit empowered - anything less doesn't work for us.

We've decided to be the ones telling the stories of God's power - not the ones hearing about them.

We've decided that living saved, but not supernatural is living below our privilege and short of what Christ died for.

We've decided we're a battleship not a cruise-ship! An Army not an audience! Special Forces not spectators! Missionaries not club members!

We've decided to value both pioneers and settlers - pioneers to expand our territory and settlers to build on those territories - but we are not people who take up space others have fought for without improving it ... we are not squatters.

We've decided to be infectious instead of innocuous. Contagious instead of quarantined! Deadly instead of benign!

We've decided to be radical lovers and outrageous givers.

We've decided that we are a mission station not a museum.

Therefore:

We honor the past but we don't live in it.

We live in the present with our eyes on the future.

We see past events - the successes and failures - as stepping stones not stop signs.

We pursue learning in order to be transformed, not learning in order to know.

We are people of engagement not observation.

We focus on what could be - not on what is or has been.

We are not limited to the four walls of this building - our influence is not restricted by location. Not even the nations are out of bounds.

We are more concerned about how many we send out into the world then how many we convince to come into the building. This building is meant to be filled and it will be - but it will NOT be the measure of who we are or the measure of our effectiveness.

We raise-up world changers, not tour guides. We train commandos, not committees.

We are a people of our destiny, not our history.

We've decided that it is better to fail while reaching for the impossible that God has planned for us than succeed in settling for less.

We've decided that nothing short of His Kingdom come and His will be done, in our world as it is in Heaven, will satisfy.

We've decided that we will not be satisfied until our world freaks out and cries out, "Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too."

These are some of the decisions that define who we are as a community and how we live our lives.

These decisions are not destinations - but rather a journey - a journey along an ancient path - we've not found some new way - but rather rediscovered the path as old as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The same path followed by Moses, Joshua and Caleb - Paul, John and Peter.

The path followed by the first century church - a church that revolutionized the culture of the first century and beyond.

It's a path that will impact the world we live in today. It's a path of Bold Faith - believing that what God says is really true and acting on it.

It's a path of Outrageous Generosity - giving our life away in order to demonstrate His Kingdom.

It's a path of Radical Love - loving God with EVERYTHING in us and our neighbor as ourselves.

This is a path of liberty, freedom and healing.

On this path - you will find significance, purpose, and destiny.

It is a path less traveled however - it's not a path only available to a select few - but to whosoever will ... they may come.

It's for people of EVERY nation, tribe and tongue - for those in any occupation or vocation.

No matter where you are in your journey - there's room on this path for you.