Renewing Your Spiritual Passion

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I've mentioned in my messages the last couple of weeks that I've felt God drop the word "passion" into my heart this summer while I was on sabbatical as I prayed about my own spiritual condition and the condition of the Vineyard. All summer, I asked the Lord to renew my spiritual passion and to renew the passion of our church.

As a result of the opportunity that I had to spend with God this summer, I developed my new teaching series, which I've called "Renewing Your Spiritual Passion." The basic thesis of this series is that spiritual passion is simply the result of an individual encountering Jesus. Over the next few months we are going to be looking at individuals in the Bible who met Jesus and who were radically changed as the result of that meeting.

Beyond the teaching series, however, I rewrote my job description as a pastor to more nearly reflect the call that Jesus has on me to model passionate spirituality. Here's what I wrote in my journal regarding my new job description:

Job #1: To maintain my soul and intimacy with Jesus. Paul wrote to Timothy, "Watch your life and your doctrine closely. Persevere in them because if you do so, you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Tim. 4:16).

Then I wrote: "What people need from me and the other pastors on staff are living models of Christian spirituality. People need to see what it looks like to walk with Jesus. Without intimacy and the maintenance of my walk, I am operating out of my own fleshly energies; I am presuming upon God and his blessing of my life and the church, without intimacy, I have little grace, and little patience.

"I need to pray. I need to hear from God. The church's great need, our staff's great need, this world's need, is for me (and the other pastors) to hear from God.

"I am committed to lead a staff of pastors who will make the issue of their own walk with Christ and their own personal spirituality their first priority. It is appropriate that we work very hard as pastors. But I believe a person can work hard without hurrying and can work hard without being bitten by the demon of busyness."

A third result of God speaking this word "passion" into my heart was the rewriting of our church's mission statement. Our new mission statement reads: Vineyard Columbus exists to intentionally produce a community of passionate, mature, reproducing disciples and to aggressively plant passionate mature, reproducing churches.

The disciples that we want to produce here at Vineyard need to be passionate disciples. Following Jesus doesn't happen without passionate and intentional commitment. You don't drift into discipleship or osmose life and transformation without choosing, without goals, without a clear plan to follow Jesus. And our intention to follow Jesus must involve our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Following Jesus is not a matter of a lukewarm or a bloodless commitment. Effort must be consistently exerted. Discipleship involves total devotion, extreme fervor, and passionate zeal. When someone is passionate, they are internally motivated. They give, share their faith, enter fellowship, worship, pray, study, engage in world missions not because they are forced to, or are manipulated, but because they love Jesus and it is their greatest desire to serve him.

I ask you for three commitments in this season of our church's life.

1. Will you pray for a renewing of your own spiritual passion and for your own soul to become intimate with Jesus again?

2. Will you pray for the renewing of the Columbus Vineyard's spiritual passion? Will you pray for a fresh visitation of God's Spirit to our church?

3. Will you pray for the outreach event that we are calling Fall Festival, which is held this year on September 23-30. We are going to have an outreach to families, to singles, to men, and to women. It will all culminate at our weekend services on September 29 and 30 with a tailgate party. Pray and ask the Lord to lead you in inviting someone who He has prepared for salvation to one of the events or to church that weekend.

Many of you have asked for a copy of the Dr. S.L. Lockridge's prayer that we heard (by way of tape) on the weekend of September 1 and 2. It is such a marvelous declaration of the awesomeness of Jesus. This is the Jesus that ignites people's spiritual passion. Here's Dr. Lockridge's prayer:

The Bible says my King is a seven-way King…
He is the King of the Jews…that's a racial King.
He is the King of Israel…that's a national King.
He is the King of righteousness
He is the King the Ages
He is the King of Heaven
He is the King of glory
He is the King of Kings
And he is the Lord of Lords.

That's my King.
Well…I wonder do you know him?

David said the heavens declare the glory of God.
And the firmament showeth his handiwork.
My King is a Sovereign King.
No means of measure can define his limitlessness.
No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline that his shoulders supplied
No barrier can hinder him from pouring out his blessings.

He's enduringly strong.
He is entirely sincere.
He is eternally steadfast.

He is immortally graceful.
He is imperially powerful
He is impartially merciful.

Do you know him?

He is the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizons of this world.
He is God's Son.
He's a sinner's savior
He's the centerpiece of civilization.
He stands in the solitude of himself.
He's august and he's unique.

He's unparalleled
He's unprecedented
He is the loftiest idea in literature
He is the highest personality in philosophy
He is the supreme problem in high criticism.
He is the fundamental doctrine of true theology
He is the corner, the necessity for spiritual religion.
He is the miracle of the age.

He is… Yes, he is

He is the superlative of everything good that you choose to call him.
He is the only one qualified to be at all sufficient Savior .
I wonder…if you know him today?

He supplies strength for the weak.
He's available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathizes and he saves.
He strengthens and sustains.

He guards and he guides.
He heals the sick
He cleanses the lepers.
He forgives sinners

He discharges debtors
He delivers the captives
He defends the feeble

He blesses the young
He serves the unfortunate
He regards the aged

And He rewards the diligent.
And he beautifies the meek.
I wonder if you know him?

Well… this is my King. He is a king.

He is the key to knowledge
He's the wellspring of wisdom
He's the doorway of deliverance.
He's the pathway of peace
He's the roadway of righteousness
He's the highway of holiness.
He's the gateway of glory.

Do you know him?

Well…

His office is manifold.
His promise is sure.
His life is matchless.
His goodness is limitless
His mercy is everlasting
His love never changes
His word is enough
His grace is sufficient
His reign is righteous
And his yoke is easy.
And his burden is light.

I wish I could describe him to you,
But he is…well….yeah….yeah

He is indescribable.
Yes he is…good Lord.

He's indescribable.

Yes, he's indescribable
He's incomprehensible
He's invincible.
He's irresistible
You can't get him out of your mind.
You can't get him off of your hand.
You can't outlive him
And you can't live without him.

The Pharisees couldn't stand him
But they found out they couldn't stop him.
Pilate couldn't find any fault in him.
The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree

Herod couldn't kill him.
Death couldn't handle him
And the grave couldn't hold him.

Yeah….that's my King. That's my King.

And Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory
Forever and ever and ever and ever

How long is that?

And ever and ever
And when you get through all of the forever's

Then Amen
Good God Almighty. Amen