Hello World

 For some time I've had this desire to begin sharing what comes to mind as I read my Bible and/or other thoughts that come to mind as I'm listening or watching a preacher speak. I've been wrestling with what to call it, how and when to launch it. But most importantly, I've struggled within myself on whether or not to move forward with it at all. I mean, who would listen to an average Joe who's sharing his walk with Jesus. Then one day I'm scrolling through Instagram and come across a post from Long Hollow church. In it the pastor points out that the Apostles didn't have Bibles, no religious schools or buildings, no churches, no equipping  tracks or many of the things that many modern churches have and yet they turned the world upside down, and in that moment I felt that stirring to write come up once again. But still, what to call it?

To explain that there are a few things. This desire to share has always come from a place to show that we all have a place in the world to share what God has done for us and to show that everybody has a purpose to advance the Kingdom of God. That stemmed from a message from my pastor where he shared a statistic that about 2% of Christians are called to "full-time" ministry, meaning they are a paid member of staff on a church.

As I've thought more and more about that stat, different thoughts about how that looks came to mind. First thought was a puzzle that has 2% of the pieces and one that was complete. Another was about a meal with 2% of food on the plate and one that was full, and finally a stone foundation with 2% of mortar and one with all spaces filled. The complete puzzle obviously shows the intended image, the complete meal is obviously more satisfying and the foundation with all the mortar is definitely the most stable under a building. 

This idea became the core of how I would begin to write and share, but I still struggled with a name for it. It wasn't until I was in a class that was designed to help us get connected to what we believed our God-given purpose was that I would hear what you see as the title. And it should have come as no surprise to me, but it wasn't something that our pastor said as the teacher, it was another student that shared with the class who spoke the phrase, preaching from the 98. The more I thought about that phrase the more I realized that it encapsulated exactly what it was that I felt stirring inside me.

I'm not really expecting to start any world wide movement with this, I'm just hoping to inspire others to further their own walk with Christ and to discover their own voice and how they can take up their share of the work that is needed to reach those that may never set foot into a building that the 2% work in. Because when we all begin to work to advance the Kingdom the gates of hell cannot, and will not stop us.