Prophetic imagination....

I'm wrestling with the issues of Prophetic imagination, calling and faithfulness.

God plants talents in us at birth. Those have to be discovered, mined and fashioned to become all that they should be. That takes time , hard work and patience. Then God adds gifts through his Spirit. Those must also be uncovered and nurtured for the body to grow into maturity of life, ministry and mission.

All this work requires prayerful faith. We have gifts and talents and add to those desires and dreams and then by faith we launch out to bring what was inside...outside.

It's a work of prophetic imagination.

It often required us to dailey uphold that work of vision to visibility. We never get there alone...we need many parts to make up the whole...even when it comes to our personal journey.

Together, we watch, listen and prayerfully carry these unfolding elements of our lives and ministries day by day, year by year.

As we work at providing for our families, tending our passions and outworking the purposes of God in our lives...there is often a tension between the present and the not yet...a place of metamorphosis that is full of unfinished longings. Our inner lives and outer works are not fully developed, not what they could be, should be or will be. Much of that fruition, lies in the potency of our prophetic imagination, faith and willingness to work those dreams into fullness. We are tempted to stumbling in our faith, because the work is going to demand that we grow, be stretched, improve and remain faithful.

None of these seeds, small plants or medium plants will grow into the provision and satisfaction we long for, unless we rise to the challenge in greater and greater ways. Who we are...must grow into who we need to be...to see the reality that we see within, emerge. It's not going to be given to us...we must create it through the work and means that God has given us.

The harvest comes to the worker. We have got to plant and wait, and reimagine what can be with what we have. Real faith sees stones and then begins to see ladders that connect heaven and earth. This is the mystery of Jacobs ladder. Many people are asleep on stones and can't see ladders. They never discover that the very place they are at...is the gate to heaven.

The hard truth is....life and possibilities are not about people, place or position...it's about prophetic perspective and patience. Sometimes we move...externally...but most of the time we need to be moved...internally. If we are awake and aware...we probably have all the possibilites around us needed, to create the realities we long for...in time...but it won't come easy.

It will cost us everything...but that will be true, here, there or anywhere. We must choose where we have the most spiritual continuity, capital, support, opportunity, connection and partners. Are there times to start over, yes. But, lives take a long time to build a meaningful base of synergy. I'm where I'm, at because I served lives, a church and a city for almost a decade. That relational capital was in the bank when I launched out. I couldn't have done this without it. It's one of the reasons we have had the history we have had at Jacob's Well. Many folks don't get to walk into such spiritual capital, they start from relational scratch and that's why there is so much ministry turnover, burnout and failure.

Our future hold church plants, expanded services, added staff and many more surprises. I'm creating an inheritance to pass on, it will open doors for some, launch others, meet the needs of some and ignite new realities for dreamers and doers. It is here in this fashioning crux of pressure that we must not let worry or work prevent us from tasting that future.

This is where those who are talkers....are separated from those who are "walkers".

"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -Jesus (Matt 18:18-20)