I love my friends Wesley and Monica Skinner. They are two to the most beautifully passionate about the gospel people I have ever met. I don't mind telling you that they are the real deal because I am a witness to their anointing to be in ministry. They have worked on Cru staff (Campus Crusade) for at least 5 years in the US and then 1 year in a country closed to the gospel (well, good thing is that God doesn't see it as closed). They are the type of folks who live out the calling with true commitment. I am honored that God has allowed me and Jeff the opportunity to walk alongside them in ministry. Right now they are in a season where they wouldn't have written the script this way, it is a time in which they are having to wait on God to fill their financial coffers so they can move onto ministry at the University of South Florida. They are waiting.... and longing... and hoping... |
| Wesley and Monica are gifted worship leaders |
Imagine being an unsuspecting shepard boy out in the field minding your sheep, being a dutiful son, the youngest, never thinking your life would amount to much more that keeping the sheep. Your big dreams were to be pleasing to your father, to have a beautiful wife, a small flock. You are the youngest. You play your role. But then a man comes and pours oil on your head and you are called the new king of Israel. Before you know it your world of sheep and stars is now men called Goliath and stones to throw and people to inspire. You become a warrior and you start running for your life from the man Israel calls King.
God gave David a calling to be King, but for a long time he was nothing more than a wandering mercenary. Was he content in the field with the bleating of sheep, or did he ever wonder for more? Once God's call came and the oil covered over David, he could not just go back to the sheep. God stirred up dreams in him, he stirred up desire, and he stirred up extraordinary gifts of leadership. Before too long, David took his place on Israel's throne and His place in the lineage of Jesus.
The beauty of God is that He takes our mundane dreams and He gives us extraordinary. It is God's call that led David to become King. It is God who put the longing in my friends' hearts to be tellers of the gospel story. Yesterday Monica said something along the lines of "there is nothing in the world we would rather do".. than this.. this work of ministry. When God pours that oil over your head it is hard to go back to human relations. I don't think that is what God is asking my friends to do. He will open up the heavens for them and their Cru account will come to full measure, and they will go. In the waiting I pray God will give them rest. In prayer for them I had been thinking of a desert place and praying that it would rain on them. Today it is raining and instead of thinking my friends are standing on dry ground the picture in my mind is a child sleeping peacefully. I pray their time of waiting will be a restful sleep in their Abba's lap, and when the morning comes, they will be ready for the task.
Friends, God will stir up dreams in your heart that only he can make reality. Trust Him with you dreams. He is good. I love this Psalm. God is strong and God is loving. Everything He does in our lives is motivated by His love for us and by His great strength.
Psalm 62:11-12
New International Version (NIV)
11 One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”
two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
according to what they have done.”
Here is a link to Wesley and Monica sharing their vision.
And also, if you are a lover of Jesus, be generous with supporting the people He has sent to bring the gospel to the nations. You may know a couple like Wesley and Monica, join their mission through financial support. God may not be asking you to go, but I would venture a guess that He still wants you to be apart of the going...
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