Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness: Introduction
I’m increasingly becoming convinced that great fruitfulness only comes from being intimately connected to Jesus.
This really shouldn’t surprise me, because Jesus told me it would be this way (John 15:4).
But if you think about the world you live in, so many times we act like this is not the case. We believe that our good ideas and biblical thoughts will cause us to be fruitful. We believe that if we just get the biblical model right, God will make us fruitful. And so we spend all of our time getting our model of church or ministry right….or we try to become more holy…or more likable so we can be fruitful. When all Jesus is asking is that we stay connected.
What does being connected mean? It means that we have a relationship with Jesus. This relationship begins with communication and communication usually starts with listening. But it doesn’t end there. We listen so we can understand and interact. And when we interact, we behave differently. We have new information. We have a different perspective. Maybe we even have a new agenda.
All of this is to say that Jesus desires for us to hear Him. He wants a people that are listening. He also wants a people who obey after they have finished listening.
I’ve been thinking tonight about Acts 13 and the ministry meeting that happened in Antioch before Paul and Barnabas became apostolic missionaries. Notice how ministry does not mean they were helping people. They were ministering by worshiping and prayer. They were abiding. The result was that Paul and Barnabas were released into an apostolic church planting ministry the likes of which is nearly unheard of in the Western world right now.
When was the last time your evangelism and church planting happened because Jesus gave you the idea in prayer? When was the last time you waited for God to give you something to do, rather than just doing something that needed to be done? When was the last time you obeyed those subtle promptings in prayer and saw what could happen? Make no mistake, fruitfulness comes from abiding and obeying.
Thus, the “Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness.” I’m going to begin spending 30 minutes every day for the next thirty days waiting on Jesus and listening. My goal is to actually hear what He wants me to do and then do it. Nothing more, nothing less. And then, to make the exercise real and accountable, I’m going to post a quick update about it here on the blog. I will begin here tomorrow, September 1st, and write up until September 30th. At the end of the month, I will sum up my findings.
But I want you to join me. You can do that one of two ways. You can practice abiding on your own and write about it on your blog or you can take the abiding challenge and write about it on the comment section below. But remember, it’s not just about listening prayer, but about listening prayer that turns into tangible action and fruitfulness. I believe the results will be well worth the effort.
Photo Credit: Calendar by Adreanna Moyer Photography
Why You Come To Pursuing Glory
Welcome to post number 199 here on Pursuing Glory. You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged here recently, mostly because I’ve been wanting to do something significant for the 200th post. Normally, I’m not a big numbers guy, so I wouldn’t make a big deal over the 200th post, but for whatever reason, reaching that post number has got me thinking about the direction of the blog, who comes and reads what’s here, and what God intends to do through this blog. All of this is motivated me to take a look at my top posts and ask this question: Why do people come and read this blog.
Looking at the stats is a little telling. The number one post here on the blog is "A Summary of the Lakeland Revival." Undoubtedly, this blog post came out during the final months of the Lakeland Revival when controversy was beginning to swirl and so many came looking for information about what had happened. But I also think it speaks of the desire in the body of Christ to truly experience the power of Christ not only in our own lives but in the lives of the lost and dying. This post is significant because you come here believing God desires to pour out his Spirit in a dramatic way that awakens the nations.
The next most popular blog (which is really shocking to me) is called "Mark Driscoll Kicks Terry Virgo’s Butt." This blog recaps Mark Driscoll’s visit to New Frontiers and points you to the blog posts of both Mark and Terry. I’ve been totally shocked by how many times this page has been viewed. What is even more shocking to me is the fact that about half the traffic comes looking for information on Driscoll and half comes looking for information on Virgo. What’s driving those hits, I believe, is a sincere desire to experience and understand true apostolic leadership. Both of these men represent significant movements of believers around the world struggling for the truth of the Gospel to be presented to a lost and dying world. I believe some of you come because you’re hungry for the kind of Christianity where apostolic leadership is welcomed and encouraged.
"While We Slept" and "Wolfgang Opens A Webshop" are two other high ranking posts that feature Mercy and Wolfgang Simson. The content of these posts announce Mercy and Wolf each opening up a presence on the internet. I believe that these posts are visited frequently for the same reason that "Mark Driscoll Kicks Terry Virgo’s Butt" gets traffic. However, Mercy and Wolf represent something different as well. Mercy definitely has a prophetic anointing resting on her life. Wolfgang is definitely an apostolic leader in the body of Christ. But both of them also represent the growing house church movement that is developing all over the world. I’ve never discussed the house church movement in a very structured way but this blog definitely has become a place to discuss the shift going on in many peoples’ hearts to a more relational form of Christianity that meets in homes. I believe some of you come here to catch a glimpse of this transition that is taking place across the world.
Another post that gets some pretty significant attention on this blog always seems to be "Red Moon Rising Quote #2." This blog is a quote that came straight from the book "Red Moon Rising," which chronicles the birth of a prayer movement in Europe that challenges young adults to live lives of extravagant devotion to Jesus in the context of prayer and service. I know people come to this post because of the quote, but I believe that throughout the body of Christ there is a hunger to live lives of deep prayer and consecration to Jesus. I believe you come to the blog because you know that the move of God that is coming will be supported by a revolution in prayer, both individually and corporately.
Finally, Stuff I’m Reading has always been a significant page on this blog. This blog is significant in a way that is different from all the other posts. This page is all about me and what material God is using to grow and mature me. And in a way, I think this page is popular for the same reason that posts like "I Win (And Proof That I’m Not A Bad Sport)" and "Because She’s My Valentine" remain popular on the blog. If I can say this without being self-centered, I think a lot of you come here to stay caught up with me. This to a large degree was and is still the purpose of the blog. As I’ve slowly moved over to Facebook and Twitter, a lot of that personal "what are you doing" sort of content has slipped out of the posts here. However, in my attempt to focus in more on the blog again, look to see more of this as we go on. I’ll explain that later.
So this blog has a lot of people showing up for different reasons. But I believe that God is going to raise up a move of the Holy Spirit marked by radical signs and wonders, lead by seasoned apostolic men, who are extending the Kingdom through prayer, evangelism, and house church planting. I call it “this thing,” and if you’re interested in seeing where it goes, stick around. We’re in for a fun ride.
The Ethiopia Trip
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about my latest adventures and I’ve barely written about the thing that has been keeping me the most busy. I’ve been contemplating for almost a year now traveling with my friend John Gross to Ethiopia to begin the ground work for some strategic missions work there. Our specific goal is to build relationships with believers in Ethiopia and lay the groundwork for an orphanage there. Up until about two months ago it didn’t even seem like I would be able to go on the trip, so talking about it seemed premature. When everything did come together it became obvious that we had to move quickly to get everything done.
So now, in less than three weeks, a team of four of us from our house church along with John, Gizaw, and three others from Kansas City will be venturing to Ethiopia to see what the Lord would do when we show up. We would very much appreciate any prayer support we could get. Also, if you’re heart is moved to give towards the cause, we would love that as well. You can check out more details here if you’d like more information.
Because the time is short, if you decide to pray or give, leave a message in the comment section so I can connect with you somehow. Prayer is especially needed and we are quickly working on an effective way to organize our prayer support. Thanks to all of you who have become an amazing form of support to Christy and I.
We love you.
Travis
Related Posts:
When An Ethiopian Comes To Your House Church
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 