Jesus and "The American Dream"

Meet Jim,  a highly educated, successful man on all visible accounts. His home is lavish, the kind people dream of. It sits high on a cliff overlooking the ocean, perfect to catch the pacific sunsets each night. He’s married to a beautiful wife, father to two high achiever kids. His cars are fast, his food is good, and his savings account full to the brim. He’s basically insured to have live in extravagant comfort until his death, with enough to be passed on to his children.

This is the American dream, right? Having more than enough to be happy, comfortable, nothing to worry about in the world…it doesn’t get any better than this as the dream says…

I wrestle with this, because somewhere in my dreams of the future, something along the lines of this is true for me. Maybe not the huge house, but its my desire to have nothing to worry about, my desire for certainty in an uncertain world.

I read the words of Jesus, and I’m sobered by his radical view of life.

“take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Yikes. While I don’t normally attribute covetousness for my life, I can’t argue that I desire abundance in the physical realm. My response is, “well, I don’t want to be rich. Just have enough.” Guilty still, because my standard of having enough is my best attempt to try to control my life. What about God? What about loosing my life, so I can find it? What about trusting Him with everything?

How about this one…

“the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully {think of Jim in our story}. And he thought to himself,  ‘what shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ {What should Jim do, after he has way more money in his bank account than he’s spending?} So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.{Jim sells his house, and buys the biggest and nicest one he can afford to store all his toys in} And I will say to my soul, ‘soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’  {Jim has more than enough, so much he can retire and enjoy his luxurious lifestyle in peace and happiness}

“But God said to him, FOOL! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?

So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.

But seek the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” Luke 12

I woke up this morning, feeling anxious about various things. Luke 12 is comforting to me, so I opened it up, ready to jump to my favorite part. But today I felt the nudge to start at the beginning of chapter 12. When I got to the parable, I read it quickly like I normally do, ready to get to the “good stuff”. Again I felt the nudge, read it again, but put it modern context. That’s where the story of Jim came to. And here I sit, totally impacted by the radical words of Jesus. He’s demanding another level of my trust today, a new paradigm for faith, another reminder that my life is not my own. My life is about drawing closer to Christ, and sharing the life and love I find with others. Not just any kind of love,  but love from above. Love that gives, but doesn’t demand in return. Love that is limitless. Love only possible by Jesus, through the power of His Spirit.

I want my counterfeit American dream to die on the rocks of my control. Then I realize, this isn’t my thinking. This is the Spirit working in my life. He knows where I’m at, and is the only leader fit for this. I might not get here overnight, but I’m on the journey…on the journey of giving up my control, finding instead the captain of my soul navigating me through the treacherous waters of this life. But with him at the helm, I can sleep in the storm. With Him, I can find the abundant life my heart is screaming for, but it will be the real thing. Not some dingy illusion that I hope to muster up in myself. It will be “Christ in me, the hope of Glory.” – Nathan

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

We have lots to learn from the poor.

Spend sometime with children who have only the clothes on their back, and it will change you.
Pray with people who literally depend on God for their very sustenance, and you’re prayers will change too.

Before United Pursuit was a band, we were friends who spent a summer in Mozambique, 2006 with Iris Ministries. If you haven’t heard about Iris, you need to go pick up a book called “There’s Always Enough” – Its the story of Heidi and Rolland Baker moving to Mozambique, and their ministry to the orphaned and poor.  This isn’t your typical missionary story. Its a radical journey of faith, that started with picking up one orphan on the street, and has turned into rescuing hundreds and hundreds of kids of the streets, as well as planting 5000+ churches all through Mozambique, and now spreading into different African nations. Amazing stories of miracles have become “normal” – food multiplying, the blind getting sight….amazing! We saw it with our own eyes. Needless to say, we were VERY impacted by our time there.

After spending the summer in Mozambique, we definitely came home with an “anything is possible” mentality. That’s when we bought a old house, turned it into a studio, and started capturing the songs that God put in our hearts, many from Mozambique. (Come Away for example)

It was in Mozambique that we found our “why”.
Why we believe what we believe.
Why we do what we do.

Lately, our “what” has become music. But our why is much deeper. Seeing the Kingdom of God explode among the poorest of the poor has changed us, and given us more vision, more purpose. Our why is the gospel of the Kingdom going to the nations, and to find our part in God’s story.  Music is part of the overflow for us.

What’s exciting is that our music world and our heart for missions and supporting the poor is connecting. Brock Human, one of the artists involved with United Pursuit, is also on staff with Iris Ministries. He’s married to the founders daughter, and has been commissioned by them to help raise awareness/support for Iris Ministries. So that’s what were doing!

January 1st is the official iTunes release date of our first partnership album with Iris Ministries. Its called “Found”, and 100% of the proceeds go to supporting Iris. This is our first non-profit project, and we are PUMPED about it. The album was masterminded by Brock, and Will contributed vocals to 3 of the songs. Musically, its melodic, ambient goodness.

So we’re asking for your help spreading the word!

1. Download the two free tracks from www.noisetrade.com/unitedpursuit and share it with your friends via facebook/twitter.
2. Purchase the album on iTunes on Jan. 1st and tell your friends (change your facebook profile picture Jan. 1st for the day if your an overachiever:)
3. Buy the book “There’s Always Enough” and get inspired by what God is doing in the nations.
4. stay updated with Iris at www.irismin.com
5. consider being a regular Iris supporter.

What gets you out of bed in the morning? You’re “why” does. And if you don’t have one, you don’t like getting up.
Finding your why, defines your how. How will I pursue my passion and dreams?
Your answer will be your “what” . You’re what can change from year to year, but your why doesn’t.

As followers of Christ, we must know our why. We must be people led by conviction for the greater story, the story of God, the story of God giving His son a bride. May we be people who are led with great purpose, full of great passion, fueled by great vision. Not for us, but for His glory.
Find you’re why, then find you’re tribe. Don’t look back.

May we be people who are poor in spirit, hearts in dependence and surrender to Jesus for everything.

Spirit of Adoption

What does the Kingdom look like?”

This has been that type of nagging thought that you can’t seem to shake, and lately has turned into a simple prayer of mine. “God, show me what your Kingdom looks like in my daily life.” I almost said “normal life”, but everything I read in the gospels is anything but normal. In my daily life, I want to see how the Spirit is moving, how the Kingdom is expanding. I say “see”, because its easy to be blind to how the Kingdom grows, especially when it is “as small as a mustard seed.”

Anyways, last Tuesday night during our weekly worship gathering, something profound happened. Another expression of what this Kingdom looks like exploded in front of my eyes.

It was as simple as a father holding his son asleep in his arms. But not just any son: a newly adopted son. A son recently abandoned by his parents, left to fend for himself at age 4. A son who never before experienced unconditional love, never known a house a peace, never before eaten a home-cooked meal. This father was holding his new son with every once of love in him. It was there I could see Romans 8:15 come alive: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out ABBA FATHER.”

The Spirit of adoption saturated our living room that night. It permeated everything. The word became flesh that night to me, exploding in front me in the simplicity of a hug that didn’t let go. During worship, I heard the son ask his dad, “Who is Jesus?”
This question wrecked me, because I knew he would soon find out. Jesus is in the great rescuer. And He wants to use us.  He is using my friend to be the Father this son never had. I watched the son fall asleep on his father’s chest. I watched the father silently weep over his new son. Tears of hope. Tears of joy. God’s glory filled the house. I cried. We all cried. We all felt our Father’s embrace that night, the peace and safety of being sons and daughters, heirs to the King and Kingdom.

This father and mother didn’t just adopt one child, but three. And these children aren’t even totally adoptable yet, because there is still one parent somewhere in the distance, strung out on drugs. This is foster care for a season, with adoption the goal. But that’s not stopping my friends. They are giving everything to these children. The love of God in that house is breathtaking.

They are sowing into the Spirit in a beautiful way. The flesh would say, “I’ll take my comfortable life with our one daughter thank you.” The Spirit says, “Let me love the broken. Let me love who the world says is unlovable. “

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

I saw the Kingdom clearly in a father’s safe embrace that night. It’s still with me. I want to sow into the spirit, not the flesh. I want to see all things made new, to be “a touchable answer to peoples pain and brokenness.” The Kingdom is seeing the Spirit of Adoption literally save lives. This Spirit fights for the lost and broken. This Spirit doesn’t let go. This is the Kingdom I know is crashing into this world.

Let’s be people that tell testimonies of God’s goodness and love. It’s because in these stories, we see and hear what God’s Kingdom is all about. This changes us. This changes others. Stories tell us what’s possible, and that it can happen again.

-nate

Supreme Desire

Small desires, big desires, faint desires, deep desires…we have hidden desires, some have bold desires. And we dark desires. No matter what the state of our desires is, there will always be one to trump them all. It’s the desire of God the Father to give His son a pure and spotless bride. This bride will be glorious, fit for the King’s son. The long road to beauty is where we find our earth; it’s where you and I are right now. Everything single part of our lives finds it’s meaning by God’s supreme desire. Jesus is looking for those to respond to His perfect invitation of love. He is not looking for perfection. You see, if you respond, His Spirit will come. He will dive deep into your very core, changing you from within. This is the journey to our wedding day. God will find a bride for His Son. This is the story of planet earth. The question I hear God asking us today is are we striving to make our own story on the earth, or are we joining the story we were created for?