Deep in our hearts, God reveals desires, goals, and aspirations. Maybe it’s to start a company, to write a book, or lead a church. There are dreams woven into the fabric of who we are, the desires of our hearts.

But there is one big problem with God-given dreams. He asks for them back. Consider Abraham. God calls him away from his home and promises to make him into a great nation, with as many descendants as stars in the sky.

God provides the means for this dream, as he gives Abraham and Sarai a son named Isaac. In their old age, this couple watched God do a miracle. The dream was in motion.

Years passed, and then God does the unspeakable. He calls Abraham to sacrifice his own son. Yes, that means killing his boy, and killing the dream of fathering a nation as well. God had the audacity to ask Abraham for his dream back.

Can you imagine what ran through Abraham’s mind? “God, You are the one that gave me my son in the first place. You can’t take him now! I’ve invested my whole life in this. This is my dream. Are you crazy!”

Maybe God has gifted you to be a great musician, and you sense His calling to go on tour, sharing your music with the world. Perhaps God called you to use your entrepreneurial skills to launch a new business. Maybe you’re a pastor, and God has given you a vision for leading thousands of people into a community of faith, hope, and love.

No matter how certain you are that God inspired your dream, you have to hand it back to him. No matter how good and pure the desire is, there comes a time to surrender it. Just like Abraham had to put his own son back on the altar, so we must release our God-given dream back to the One who gave it.

Why? Without this kind of surrender, our dream will become the thing we hope and long for, while God slips to the background. Our dream can’t become our hope. Only God occupies that role.

For the entrepreneur, this means letting go and saying to God, “I’ll go scrub toilets if that’s what you want.” For the pastor, it might sound like “I’ll lead faithfully with however many you bring, even if it’s less than I envisioned.” For the aspiring artist, it’s relinquishing the need to make it big and famous.

Most of us know the rest of Abraham’s story. At the last moment, God stops him from making the sacrifice. His son was spared, and the dream to father a nation lived on too.

Are you in the middle of living out a God-given dream? Are you frustrated by the slow progress? Overwhelmed by the magnitude of it? Is your hope fading because you haven’t seen it fulfilled?

Remember the words of Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” It says delight in God, not delight in the dream God gave you.

Stay patient, persevere, and draw near to God –In His timing, dreams are made realities. #LiveFully

Since music’s biggest awards night, The Grammys, is on this Sunday night, I thought we’d look to a song that inspires cultural engagement in the world. The song is “Hall of Fame” by the Script, featuring Will.i.am.  I’m sure many of you have heard it, but if not, I’d recommend watching the video below.

My favorite part of the song is the rap…

Be believers
Be leaders
Be astronauts
Be champions
Be truth seekers

Be students
Be teachers
Be politicians
Be preachers

The underlying assumption is that different people are called and gifted to do different things in their lives. Whether an astronaut, a politician, or a preacher, God invites people on a lifelong journey to live out the unique purpose He’s made them to do.

Here at #LiveFully, we believe that the redemption of Jesus impacts every channel of cultural life. We choose to define “cultural life” by the following seven channels:

Religion, Family, Government, Education, Business, Media, Arts & Entertainment

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of professions, and if you or someone you know works in an area that doesn’t nicely fit into one of these areas that doesn’t mean it isn’t valid.

They are seven general building blocks of culture that we create. We believe that followers of Jesus are called to shine for God in the full spectrum of professions and vocations.

I want to leave you with three questions that are important to consider in discerning your God-given calling in the world. They are pulled directly from an excellent article written by Dr. Tim Keller that you can download here.

1. What people needs do I vibrate to?

2. What am I good at doing?

3. What do the leaders/my friends believe is the most strategic kingdom need?

Take some time to pray and reflect on these questions, jotting down your thoughts. We must not be too busy or ambitious to meaningfully consider the calling of God for our lives. #LiveFully

“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do“ (Eph. 2:10).

Today our nation remembers a man that changed its history forever. Martin Luther King, Jr., an Atlanta native, challenged the racial injustice of his time like no other.  Among many accomplishments, Dr. King is remembered for his key leadership role in the Civil Rights Movement, as well as the non-violent protests he assembled.

Dr. King is also known as one of the greatest American orators of all time. His mastery was demonstrated in the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech  delivered in Washington D.C. in 1963.

Near the end of the speech, we see his raw imagination unleashed, as he dreams of a different America. He declares eight straight lines beginning with that famous phrase “I have a dream.” The last of those eight lines is as follows…

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

This is a direct quote from the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament of the Bible (Isaiah 40:4-5).

The most fundamental source for King’s vision was the Bible itself.  What captured his heart and mind more than anything was the God of the Bible who stood for justice and love to all.  It was King’s relationship with this God that inspired the dream, and empowered him to act with boldness and clarity. Continue Reading…

Isn’t there something hopeful about the start of a new year?  After the dust of the holidays settles, there’s a level of anticipation, with all sorts of goals, dreams, and resolutions that follow.  January seems to carry fresh opportunity, and many people step into proactive choices where before they felt stuck.

Although unsure why we view the transition from December to January with such optimism, I like it.  There is tremendous opportunity to make decisions toward living the most full life in Jesus.

My Goal Setting Experience

I want to share a process of goal-setting that I myself went through last year.  It was life-changing (seriously), which is why I share it with you.  Before giving you the specifics, it’s important to see the definition for “living fully” that it’s rooted in.

“Following Jesus in a way that transforms every area of personal life and impacts every channel of cultural life.”

This goal-setting process is focused on the seven areas of personal life, as visualized in this dresser. (If this is a new to you, I’d recommend reading Fragmented Life vs. Full Life, which explains in greater detail).

This process is two fold. The first step is imaginative, and the second step is practical. Continue Reading…

Fifteen years ago, if you didn’t know something, you either asked someone who had more knowledge and expertise, or you cracked open an encyclopedia.  Now, when people don’t know something, there is one simple solution – “Google it.”  In an instant, Google provides the answers we are looking for.

There are many benefits of instant information at our finger tips, so many that I don’t think I need to convince you. However, the negative criticism for people growing up in this “Google generation” is that we don’t know how to be patient for anything.

Many young people look at older, successful people and want their achievement now. They fail to recognize the years of blood, sweat and tears that it took for these older people to accomplish their success.  Many young adults have unrealistic expectations about what it takes to be successful in the world. Continue Reading…

I (Brian) am a youth pastor to hundreds of amazing students in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia.  Our student community lives out this post. Although written specifically to other youth pastors, I think anyone interested in following Jesus can find it helpful.

Let’s be honest, the role of youth pastor is a tough gig. Coming from one side is  pressure to increase the size of your ministry, and pushing in from another is the expectation of your students to be a ministry that is “awesome,” “fun,” and worthy of their time. It’s no wonder so few leaders last more than a year in the same church.

In an effort to overcome the pressure, many youth pastors spend hours trying to plan and produce fun events to attract students. More times than not, the focus of these events is evangelism, hoping that while non-Christian students are drawn inside the church building, they might also be drawn to receive Christ. The mindset becomes “I’ll create a fun atmosphere so lost students will want to attend, hear the Gospel, and hopefully put their faith in Jesus.”

As a youth pastor for the last five and a half years, I have come to understand that my primary job is NOT to create attractive environments for non-Christian students. Yet, I’m more convinced than ever that our youth events should be incredibly attractive, dare I say the most attractive places for students to spend their time. What’s the big difference? Discipleship. Continue Reading…

If you have ever thought that you are too young to make a difference I would challenge you to rethink that assumption. Consider the story of the As We Go Project. 

In 2010 a group of four college students taking seriously the phrase, “If you can dream it, you can do it” decided to walk from Milledgeville to Snellville in what has come to be called “The Walk Home”. They took on this arduous journey just to see if it was possible. It seemed such an outlandish idea, but that was the draw of it.

At a screening of the documentary made about this walk a friend asked, “Would you ever consider doing this for a cause?” The answer was yes, but nothing came of it.

In the summer of 2011 a young man named Danny Montenegro was having a conversation with a friend about Danny’s freshman year of college. He described the journey his friends had taken and the friend submitted the idea of Tiny Hands International as a possible cause to pursue. This organization had a project in the works that would build border patrol stations on the border of Nepal and India to help prevent the trafficking of over 10,000 young girls across that border each year.

That fall, The As We Go Project was born. Danny brought the idea to the attention of his friends and a team was assembled to plan the first official As We Go walk. After a semester of planning, the first walk came to fruition during Georgia College and State University’s winter break. Twenty-one walkers, seventy miles, four days.

The group set out from GCSU’s front campus headed to the arches at UGA’s campus in Athens, GA. Three churches from three different denominations hosted the team as they made their way through Eatonton, Madison, and Bishop. Multiple cars stopped to ask what they were doing along with three local papers. A group of friends and family received the tired walkers at the arches four long days after the outset of this journey. Over $2,000 was raised toward the border patrol station project.

The Passion Conference that same December fully funded the border patrol station project, which left the team without their original cause. After everyone returned from summer break, the team reassembled to plan the next walk. It has taken a few months, but next walk is right around the corner. On December 8-11 the second annual As We Go Project walk will take place from Athens to Atlanta.

The reason for the new route is to create a sense of continuity between last year’s walk and this year’s walk. The journey ended in Athens and the task will be taken up where it was laid down last December. The team is walking to Atlanta because they are partnering with Night Light International, which is based in Atlanta, and because of the severity of the sex trade industry in that city.

We want to see sex trafficking end in our own town. This is a call for all of us. If you think you are too young to make something out of nothing, to break down walls that others see as immovable, to bring a dream into reality, you’re wrong. Jesus promised the most abundant life and that is the only life for someone who follows him. If you can dream it, you can do it. Therefore, Go.

Written by: Sean Mooney, As We Go team member