Posts tagged Dreams

I have had an interesting day at work. The internet at the Challenge Building crashed and so I got to spend part of the afternoon on the phone with technical support installing setting up our new modem, and setting up the new wireless router. All is good and working now. I always kind of enjoy working on technical stiff like this. I like the wires, and the configurations and all that jazz.

Anyway, part of our Christian Challenge staff meeting today was talking about our attempt to bring our organization into the 20th century. We are in desperate need of a consistent Brand image for our ministry so that we can more effectively communicate who we are and what we are about. Due to my above-stated interest in technical stuff am the most interested in helping with this assignment, and so I get to work on the re-design. I am not very skilled in the graphical arts, but I really want to see Christian Challenge be an effective ministry organization in the Phoenix area. And in this age, branding is one of those things that needs to be there so people can find you and connect with you 24/7. My hope with the website project is to be able to create a connection point for people to find out more about who we are and what God is doing in our ministry.

I like to post my dreams and grandiose thoughts on Mondays. Maybe it’s because, like I posted two weeks ago, Mondays are just good days for thinking about life and big things, or, maybe it’s because after weekends with the family and some downtime I come back ready and hungry for ministry. Whatever the reason, I like dreaming. One of the biggest dreams that I have ever had has to do with worship, and I first had it when I used to prayer walk around Sun Devil stadium at Arizona State University (ASU) when I lived in on-campus apartments for my two junior years. 

I know that there are at least 300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand!!) college students who live, work and study in the Phoenix Metro Area.* I knew for a fact when I was a student at ASU there were nearly 50,000 students at the ASU Tempe campus alone. I also knew that Sun Devil stadium could seat roughly 45,000 people. One evening as I prayer-walked around that stadium I had a vision of 45,000 students all gathered together in that stadium collectively worshipping God. I asked God to make that dream come true, and ever since then, that dream has been on my heart.

It may seem absurd, or ridiculous, or un-necessary, or whatever some people may think or object to, but the idea of 45,000 college students all gathering together to worship God not a pipe-dream vision of a utopian future, but for me, it’s a glimmer of what could actually be possible. I have a rock-solid conviction that my God is the same God who parted the Red Sea, the same God who hardened and broke Pharaoh’s heart, the same God who raised Himself from the dead, the same God who brought thousands and thousands of people to faith in days after Pentecost. I don’t just believe, I know that the Holy Spirit who lives in me and you is the same Holy Spirit who brought this very world into being. The God whose words made the day and night, the dark and the light is the same God who is working here and now to see HIS vision accomplished.

Now, I don’t know if it is actually God’s desire to fill a college football stadium with people singing to Him. But to me, the idea that there could be enough college students awake and alive with the passion and conviction of the Holy Spirit to fill a football stadium gives me shivers. Imagine what 50,000 transformed college students could do to change the world? Imagine those students not just excited about gathering to sing to God, but excited about going out and being Jesus with skin on? Imagine the life change and fresh wind of spiritual revival and renewal God could bring to this city, this state, this world! Now, if I can imagine that (which I can) and if I can dream that, then for God to be able to truly do things that are bigger than my imagination or larger than my dreams, God would have to do something huge! I don’t care if my little skimpy vision of 50,000+ college students all worshipping God in one place ever comes true or not, but I know that I want to be a part of whatever God has planned, and I want to see God move in huge ways, and I believe He is willing and able, and all I need to do is be faithful and obedient. Will you join me?

*That number only really includes the full ASU and Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) enrollment numbers. Considering there are a variety of smaller private colleges and universities and trade schools here I would assume that number is probably quite a bit larger. But since ASU and MCCCD openly publish their enrollment numbers, we use 300,000 as a ball park figure.

Monday morning is a really good time to sit back and think about what the rest of the week might hold. This week I am thinking about how awesome it is that I get the opportunity to do ministry on a college campus. I believe God wants to impact this generation of young people and I enjoy being a part of it. My only hope is that I am faithful to the call and I am obedient to the task at hand.