October the 2nd, Two Thousand and Seventeen (ever since we had calendars)

So here we go. Another blog entry.
My name is Shane, and I’m sitting on my sofa.
It’s a brown leather corner sofa with a giant rip in it thanks so 14 years of sitting on it, and my son jumping on it daily.
And it’s sitting in my house in Dundonald…..
Which is sitting just outside Belfast.
I’ll not explain where Belfast is sitting. That’s what Google maps is for.
It’s also what geography classes are for…..actually that’s not true.
I’ve no idea what geography is for.
It seems it’s about everything.
Everything to do with the planet and people.
Weather systems. Geology. Human demographics. Settlement. Volcanoes. Earthquakes. Rivers. Cartography. The environment. Population. Birth rates and death rates.
Basically everything to do with the planet and people, which is a lot.
It seems geography touches little bits of everything.

Last night we had around 80 people in a room in Belfast.
Thankfully they weren’t all on this sofa.
They were invited for an interest night for Presence Church.
We invited anyone who wanted to hear the story of why we decided to move to Cork to plant a church, and what we felt God had showed us he wanted to do there.

We worshiped, shared the story of our call, shared the dreams in our heart, and then asked 5 people who are spiritual fathers to this nation and good friends to us, to pray for us, commission us and send us out. Then we prayed for a bunch of people and prayed for them to experience the favour and breakthrough that we had experienced after the last 8 years of our life. That’s a whole other blog.
Breakthrough is contagious.
Our story and encounters with God are promises that he can do it with others.
If he can change my life, he can change yours.
Or as some people say, our testimony is the spirit of prophecy.
We were blown away by how God moved and how people spoiled us and supported us.
At one point, most people gave money out of their own pockets and began investing in this church plant. This dream.

God came close.
It was a good night.
It was a powerful night.
It’s been great fun watching the way that people respond as we cast the vision.
Some faces just have smiles that become so wide, that Heath Ledger would have been proud.
Some people got all weepy, and rubbed their eyes occasionally.
Some looked serious not sure what to do with what they were hearing.
And with some you can visibly see their heart starting to pound through their clothing as they caught the vision.
Vision, like most parts of the kingdom is “caught” and not “taught”.
And many people caught it.
Like I said it was powerful.

So I’m sitting here very stunned and wondering what’s going to happen now.
I love casting vision.
I love talking about God, and the dreams he has shared with me.
I love wondering what else God longs to do in this world, and how I and the rest of the Church could be a part of it.
I’m a futurist.
I see a preferred future that God has impressed upon my heart, and i can’t help but want to tell others.
I figured if it really is a God given vision people will catch it.
However I don’t just want to cast vision to see people get excited and catch the church planting bug, or the Cork bug, or revival in Ireland bug or even the kingdom of God bug.
They are all good bugs to catch but for me i want people to see Him.
I want to cast vision that will cause people to pay the price, no matter the cost, to see God, and help others see God.
I want to cast vision that will cause people to take up their cross, and follow Jesus as a real person, and do all the same stuff that Jesus did.

I believe most people want to give God their very best, and try to do so regularly.
I believe that most people would feel bad if they realized they could be giving more to God, and doing more for Him.
I guess I’m writing this hoping that they are the kind of people that Presence Church is full of.
I’m praying that they are the kind of people that will come with us and join the Church planting launch team.
I’m starting to realize that casting vision is essentially showing people what God is like, and what he is about.
Godly vision reveals God’s heart.
His preferences. His dreams.
It tells us something of what He cares about and what He is like.

It’s not like this is my idea, or I came up with this.
This is all God’s idea.
All of it.
The church is his idea.
The kingdom is his idea.
Life is his idea
And it only really makes sense to let the one who came up with the whole idea, tell us how he thinks it all works.
Do you ever wonder why he came up with those ideas in the first place?

Jesus could have done anything with his life, but walked the earth as a homeless Rabbi, caring for the poor, the broken, the least, the last, the scum, the prostitute, the demonised, the cripple, the blind, the ones who would betray & call out Crucify him, and the ones who would arrest and plot his death in some sly way.
That’s who he chose to be.
Yet he walked in power and authority at the same time, and healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the leper, casting out demons, and brought heaven to Earth for countless people.
That’s how he chose to live the life that God called him to.
He chose to obey God and do whatever God called him to do.
Jesus ONLY did what he saw his Father doing, and Jesus lived a life that was all about his Father’s business.
I won’t be satisfied until everything we do is all about Him.
Because it is all about Him.
It really is all about him.
Everything.
Kinda like Geography….