What is YOUR passion?

What is your passion? What keeps the wheels in your head going round and round...even when your body is saying "it is time to sleep"? I have been having a lot of those kinds of nights lately, and I think it is a direct result of all of the passionate people that I have been meeting and spending time with.

Take my friend, Karen Burkhart, for example. Karen has one of those absolutely spectacular voices that I think can only be described as a gift of God. One of her passions is to use her voice in celebration of her faith and to bring people into a time of praise and worship. Karen launched her debut CD this past spring - you can listen to some of it on her website! (Karen is from across our northern border and will find out on August 27 if she has won one of Canada's awards for Christian artists! GO KAREN!!)

Karen and I went to dinner the other night and through the course of our courses, spent time talking about a vision she has for developing a special time of singing and worship. A time where people can come together and sing and celebrate and praise and worship. A time where we're not bound by a certain number of allotted minutes for announcements, for offering, for the sermon...in order to get out of service in time for the next one to begin. A couple of years ago my church had a time like this as we were celebrating our Jubilee and bringing forward some pretty significant gifts. I remember leaving that time thinking - "WOW! I have no doubt that God was there and directing the choir of angels!" It was one of those goose-bumpy times when you knew something special was going on. (I'm by no means saying that I haven't felt God at church since then, that was just an example of one of those really amazing times.)

Ever since our dinner, I've found myself thinking about how often we allow our passion, our mission, our ministry, our faith, our ________ (you fill in the box) to become limited because we have only allotted a certain amount of time. What would happen if we just said, "OK, God. It's all yours. I've got other stuff going on, but I'm going to let you take the lead and I'm REALLY going to follow you. I'm going to resist the temptation to apply my definitions, my calendar, the limits of my mind."

What could...would...really happen if we were to get out of our own way and let His will be done? I know that I'm in my own way ALL THE TIME! Whether it be with my weight, my quiet times, my fund raising, my relationships...you name it...the #1 roadblock tends to be me.

Part of the reason for the name Into the Field is because I believe that we're all called to go out into the field to serve. The field is going to be different for each of us. For Karen it may be music. For Doug it might be with orphans. For my Dad it might be in prison ministry. The key thing is for us to go out.

I'd like to put forth this challenge...think about...pray about...what really is your passion? What is your "field"? Try to determine what are some of the ways that you are the "road block" and keeping great things from happening. Once you've figure some of them out, move 'em. Challenge yourself to get out of the way. Let go and let God. And see what will happen. I think we might all be surprised.

Oh..stay tuned...don't be surprised if Karen's vision and passion for a special time of praise and worship comes to be...I'll let you know...!