How To Be Moved

December 12, 2008 in Articles View Comments

I have invited Jonathan back. His last article is one of the most popular articles on this site. His writing style seems to click with a few of you. So here goes and be sure to leave a comment on this one. Thanks!

For those of you who know me, you probably have heard that I have made a decision to move to a small town outside of Dallas to work at a men’s discipleship ministry called Kingdom Authority Ministries (K.A.M.).

 You probably know my heart for missions and my heart for discipling men as well. What you probably don’t know is the thought process that went into this decision to uproot myself and move away from most everyone I know (how could you, you’re not in my head…that would be scary!).

Allow me to be more specific with what I’ll be involved with. I will be living in a facility called the “Bunkhouse” in the middle of nowhere, Texas. There are a few houses around, but all in all, it’s pretty much as far away from city-living you can get. There are horses and cattle that I will be helping care for as well as tending a garden. I hope you are getting the picture, because this is about as country as it gets.

In this house, we will be taking in men who have had “bad” backgrounds. What I mean, is that we are looking for any guys who are on the down and outs and want a life change. We are looking for the men who have been in and out of substance abuse, prison, marriages, or sin. This is free of charge to all who would come and be discipled.

The criteria we have are this:

~They have to contact us…not relatives, not friends, only themselves.
~They have to submit themselves to biblical teaching, authority, and training.
~They have to stay at least 6 months, but preferably longer if they so choose.
~They will be subject to random drug-testing and accountability.

My role is to live life with these guys. My room will share a wall with theirs. I will be eating with them, talking with them, listening to them; I am there to challenge, teach, rebuke, encourage, and above all else, continually point them to Christ and His Word.

Now some of you will wonder why I am doing this. Why would a single man, soon-to-be 29 years of age, and still a college student be willing or even wanting to move into a house in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of ‘bad apples’? It wasn’t a choice I made quickly or without prayer.

After returning from a short-term trip to Central Asia this summer, I received a call from a man who I had worked for a few times down in Midlothian, Texas. His name is Hugh Huber, and his life is an incredible story of God’s grace. I would love to spend all this time and space devoted to his story, but he is not the focus of this article.

Hugh was calling to see if I would be the guy to live with and help disciple these guys that would soon be coming to K.A.M. Even though this ministry does exactly what I hope and dream to one day do all across the world (disciple men to be leaders and disciple-makers), I really wanted to know if this was exactly what God would have me do. I knew this kind of thing doesn’t come around often, but on the flip side, I also realized that this would be one of the most difficult things I have ever done.

When Hugh approached me about this opportunity, I told him I would pray about it and that I would discuss it with my mentors and accountability group. After a few weeks, the more I thought about it, the more excited I became. I kept thinking, “How incredible would it be to challenge and live with men so they might one day become great leaders for Christ?” Even with the sacrifices I would have to make, I decided this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. I decided to take another step in the process, and I asked my wise counsel to come with me to the Bunk House to check it out and meet Hugh. We all gathered on a Saturday morning and had breakfast together. During this time, we were able to chat and talk about Hugh’s heart and my heart and to weigh the pros and cons of going through with this.

After talking and praying, I decided that it would be just downright foolish to pass this up. I mean, here was an awesome opportunity to get involved and see the Lord work through me. Sure I would have a long commute to school. Sure I am probably not going to be able to pursue a relationship with a woman anytime soon. But this is exactly where my heart lies and it is a harder challenge than anything I had done before. I told Hugh I would do it right then and there, and he quickly ran over and gave me a giant, bear hug.

Now I will be living with guys from different and difficult pasts, and this might be one of the most perplexing and challenging parts of this experience. I will be living in unfamiliar territory, but I’m also excited to explore new areas. I will be away from many people that I have shared life with and grown close to over the last 3 to 4 years, but I also realize that I will have an eternity to celebrate with them. Now is the time for God to use me to change and impact the lives of others.

A very wise man once said, “If you want to witness a miracle, you have to become a participant.” God is constantly preparing the willing and sending out His own to do His bidding and be apart of what He is accomplishing. If we come to realize that we are most satisfied doing the work God has for us to do then no cost or price or sacrifice is too great to overcome.

Do we, as Jesus’ body, really believe that? Are the things that God has for us to do burdensome or rather the most amazing things in the world? Can I truly be fulfilled doing His will as opposed to my own? If we believe He is the creator, then He has to be the One who knows how I can truly be fulfilled.

My hope and prayer is that more of my brothers and sisters in Christ and realize that God is doing amazing things all around us…but if we are not in fellowship with Him, we will not know His will or that we could possibly be fulfilled by Him and the work He has for us. I challenge you, the reader, to surrender. I challenge you to seek a mature believer to walk through life with you and train you in the spiritual ways of Christ. I challenge you to stop squandering your life on vain and trifle purposes and to seek the One who can reveal the adventure of pursuing Christ.
 

 Do you think it is true that we are most satisfied in life when we are doing the work God has for us? Speak out in the comment section below. Thanks.