One Man Awakes and Awakens Another!

      A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of sitting at a table with a man whose  heart is on fire for the Lord. He is the director of the local homeless shelter, the Redwood Gospel Mission, more than that, he is a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ. We had a meeting with him to discuss our organizations involvement with his, but what took place wasn't just that as much as it was one heart reminding another, and I am sure reminding all the hearts that were present the power and passion of true discipleship. The act of transformation that comes from a heart being rocked, changed, broke open and then filled with the love of Christ, to the point of that very same love spilling out on all around you! In reaction to that transformation, others have their eyes opened to the love and salvation found in Jesus Christ, and then it spreads, it spreads like fire!
He started by telling us about a seminar on fundraising he attended that ended up basically saying, raising money was not the mission. He went on to say that the seminar spoke deeply to his heart and awakened him to the true mission and calling, it changed how he and his organization would function in the future. The calling? To love with His love, disciple one another, let the transformation of the inner man pour out on to others in a way that causes the fire to spread. In the response to that same fire, the giving would flow and it would be out of transformed lives and hearts.
He brought up how the book of Acts was for him where he saw evidence in scripture of exactly that. With tears in his eyes he spoke of that calling of God awakened in his own heart, how it had changed everything for the Redwood Gospel Mission, how it redirected their focus. As I sat and listened, my own heart burned with the same desire and desires to see real mission increase, not because of funds, but because of the life changing transformation of a life reborn and set free in Jesus Christ
 The Band Leeland has a song that's lyrics sum it up pretty well....
"One man wakes, awakens another
Second one wakes his next door brother
Three awake can rouse a town
And turn the whole place upside down
Many awake will cause such a fuss
It finally awakes all of us
One man wakes with dawn in his eyes
Surely then it multiplies"
 You get the idea, the fire catches and spreads! Give, pray, engage and connect with His passion and heart, but don't let it doesn't end there! Let your life be set a blaze by the One who is an all consuming fire, leaving it transformed by His love, set free to give,  impassioned to pray, equipped to serve,  reaching out to connect and relate, and by all means let the fire spread! Start there and then watch how things happen, how the fire catches and how life set is ablaze by His love and His Spirit!

  Turn this song up, let Him speak to you as you listen... and let the sparks fly!
http://youtu.be/Hk288A-_aVU
Then read the words of Jeff Gilman Director of the Redwood Gospel Mission
http://srmission.org/blog/?p=85