new beginnings and a dangerous proposition

As many of you know, Tasha and I have been in transition for the past few months. After four short years in Columbus, Ohio, God moved us home to Louisiana to begin serving on the team at the Vineyard Church in New Orleans. While we've grieved the loss/distance of some of our closer relationships, we are celebrating what God is doing as we reconnect with family and friends now that we're home again.

The Vineyard is a great place with a ginormous Kingdom vision. The people I'm working with are amazing. (I'm sure I'll discover that they're also pretty weird - like us - but for now we're sticking with "amazing.") The potential to see God do cool stuff is high. In short, we're excited to turn the page into this new year.

This weekend, I made the announcements in one of our gatherings. As I introduced our pastor, I said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the most dangerous pastor in America." I'm not sure why I said that. Just something the Holy Spirit (or last night's tacos) nudged me to do. Building on that, our pastor commented several times how dangerous it would be if followers of Jesus took seriously God's invitation to live a life that reveals His kingdom. I've been rolling that word over in my mind since the weekend . . . dangerous.

Do I live a dangerous life? Not reckless, not irresponsible, but dangerously trusting and following God's every nudging in my life.

Or am I afraid? Do I like my personal comfort so much that I'm not willing to do anything to rock the boat? 

When Jesus says, "See that guy over there? Go say something to him," or, "Remember that lady you talked with last weekend? Email her and see how she's doing," how do I respond? Or when I'm tempted to trust myself over Jesus - by choosing to sin, or choosing to be lazy, or choosing to be selfish - what do I choose?

Living a dangerous life is . . . well . . . dangerous. You might end up sitting in places that are off the beaten path. You might end up having conversations that aren't super comfortable. You might end up giving away something that you thought you couldn't live without.

But living a dangerous life in and for the Kingdom of God is . . . well . . . amazing. No regrets. Life abundantly. Filled with passion and purpose and hope and joy and peace and love and adventure. That's the kind of life I want to live. I just hope I trust God enough to follow Him, even when it seems dangerous.


What do you think?