Pursuing revival, and acting in the calling & vision God gives each of is like launching a ship (a visionary task or calling), as was describe in An Invitation Beyond Revival. Each one of us has specific callings or a vision that He is asking us to pursue, or to join others in their vision (each person doesn’t need to start an orphanage, some just join one who is starting it).
Many times though, the church isn’t very good at encouraging, supporting and launching those visionary callings. We are focused on supporting the key minister’s vision, or responding to the call of a leader, which is good, but we, the church, should look beyond the core leaders calling, and gather around the gifts and callings of all who are in the Kingdom of God, not just the shepherds and teachers among us.
How to do that has been on my heart for a long time. Over two years ago when I first had the vision of God wanting to visit Silicon Valley with revival, that would then launch 1000 ships (groups of people with a common Kingdom vision/calling) I have been a bit perplexed on how such a thing might happen.
The Lord is good, He is very good. It isn’t from an extended time thinking through the church, how personal vision arise, how we encourage or strengthen the calling on people’s lives, that I move forward the thoughts on launching ships. I did ask the Lord about it repeatedly, but waited on Him more than anything.
Then at a conference called The Stirring, during a prayer and impartation session, I started to see the next steps. More like I saw nine scenes (grouped in three sequences) regarding the development of people and ideas that led to the launching of people into their gifts and callings (the launching of a ship). Presented briefly below, I hope to expand on each sequence of three scenes and how we as churches, can help prepare and launch such ships, full of the callings and vision of people during this coming time of revival in Silicon Valley.
Three progressions in building the Kingdom of God, and moving toward launching people into the vision of their callings (launching a ship)!
Sequence 1, actual ship building:
- Ship Construction
- Defining and Refining Vision/Calling
- Prayerfully working through details
- Initial provisions supplied, initial supporters found
- Provision Loading, Sailors Boarding
- Actual vision complete, fully defined
- Co-laborers join & commit to long haul.
- Sailor Ticket, ‘One Life Lived’
- Provisions loaded, to be used in route and once arrive
- Ship Launched, into the Ocean
- Intercessors were continually bathing in prayer
- Not all sent, some remain to facilitate
Sequence 2, Supplies & Resources
- Treasure of Coins
- Expect money and provision to always be there
- Faith in God’s abundance
- To be pulled on during all phases of vision building
- Given into by all stages of Maturity
- Craftsman’s Forge
- Creating Weapons of Warfare
- Creating Tools and Ship parts
- Supplied by the Treasury
- Mainly worked in my Young People and up
- Honing specific gifts, and working in ministries
- Learning Authority in Christ
- Sail Crafting
- Represents Holy Spirit power (catch the Spirit’s wind in a sail)
- Needed to power all ships (w/o HS all just work of man)
- Vision of ship must be powered by Holy Spirit power/direction.
- Mainly created by Mothers and Fathers
Sequence 3, Spiritual Maturity Flow
- Nursery (Little Children, 1 John 2:12)
- New believers (tended by Young Adults and Fathers/Mothers)
- Given milk and basic Kingdom/Bible Truths
- Identity in Christ, New Creation
- Expected to help resource visions/callings (Treasury)
- Youth in Dojo, practicing martial arts
- Young people have overcome the evil one.
- Practical training in spiritual warfare
- Practical training in living in the world, but overcoming it
- Practical training following lead of the Spirit (gifts and other)
- Expected to resource and craft tools
- Teacher at Whiteboard
- Each is expected to be trainer as they mature
- Teaching new believers
- Training Young Adults
- Help Craft Holy Spirit Sails (train others to move with the Spirit, and/or ideas that are His ideas)
Each Sequence represents a building progression in maturity, either in people or in vision. With each scene a bit more discrete, it is easier to see how the church can pour into people, build maturity in them, as well as preparing the people and the vision for the eventual launch of the ship (the launching of a Kingdom dream!).
I look forward to developing these thoughts a bit more complete, but for now will just leave in the bulletted form.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “The Wisdom of the Sands”
