Earlier this year, our family attended a
Christian music festival. At the festival, there were lots of
tents and booths with vendors and ministry display tables. As I perused those
tables, I came across a booth for “Adventures
in Missions.” I got to chatting with the man working the
table, and we talked for quite awhile.
I came away with lots of reading material,
including a book written by the founder of AIM, Seth Barnes. “Kingdom Journeys:
Rediscovering the Lost Spiritual Discipline” sat on my shelf for a couple of months
before I picked it up recently.
I never would have imagined how quickly I
would go through the book! Once I cracked it open, I was amazed at how many
times I wanted to nod an emphatic “yes” after reading a paragraph. J
While I think it’s important to note that I
don’t agree with everything in the book, I found it to be a very valuable read.
Barnes’ words resonated deeply within me. I think that there is such great
value in taking what Barnes terms a “Kingdom Journey.” So many people in our
culture—both young and old—are never truly stretched and forced out of their
comfort zones. Entering into another culture with a clear mission really shakes
your world! Jesus and the disciples modeled “Kingdom Journeys” for us in the
Bible. Our world will never be the same because of those 13 men!
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the
book:
“I
wanted to fully respond to God’s call, but my faith was shallower than I
realized. I had trusted Jesus to save me
from hell, but I hadn’t begun to understand the life He offered before death.”
“It
took a physical journey to complete a spiritual one.”
“When
people go on a pilgrimage to a holy shrine, they go to discover God. But in so
doing, they find that God is not in the destination, but the journey. . . A kingdom journey removes the scales from
our eyes and allows us to see God all around and even within.”
“Somewhere
in the midst of our journeying, we begin to wake up to spiritual reality. What
was blurry, starts to come into focus. And when it does, we can’t help but ask,
‘Why? Why does a journey do this? Why do I have to leave when all I need is
already around me?’ A journey is an act
of leaving – a process of physical abandon that teaches us how to do the same
spiritually. Perhaps, to find your true identity you need to abandon
everything else.”
“Where
is your life headed?
What
is the purpose for your existence?
When
will you really be satisfied?”
“We yearn for something more, a
hardwiring to search for the kingdom of God itself. That’s why, for all of its
consequences and pitfalls, restlessness is not a curse. Restlessness is a
gift.”
“Kingdom
journeys may differ in their details, but share similar stages. The two-month
kingdom journey to Guatemala may take you down the same spiritual road as the
two-year Peace Corps trip to Burundi. They
all involve a commitment to go. The difference is why you go, what you do when you get there, and how your life changes because of the journey.”
“What
sets a kingdom journey apart from gap years, road trips, and volunteer jaunts
is the central focus on Jesus’ kingdom. A
kingdom journey is first and foremost about expanding God’s reign in the world
and increasing it inside our hearts.”
“We
go to work, endure traffic, eat our breakfast, lunch and dinner; and go to bed
at the same time every day. Routine is normal, even healthy, but if the ruts go
too deep, our spirits begin to whither. If
we never get out of our comfort zones, we can’t grow into the places God has
prepared for us.
“A kingdom journey is most effective
when we abandon what we think we cannot abandon. With less, we discover the core of
who we are. Our true self emerges from the rubble of the false self.”
“This
is the point of a kingdom journey: to
learn that life, itself, can be filled with such radical dependence on God that
you will never want to return to a “normal” life ever again. You will be
wrecked for the ordinary.”
Having been on several missions trips—which I
would consider small-scale “Kingdom Journeys”—I can attest to the last quote.
Every time I go on a mission trip, I find that returning to what we consider
“normal” in America gets harder and harder. What I yearn after is the closeness
in my relationship with Christ that comes when I am stripped down to the
necessities of life. The more we have of Jesus, the more we will want of Him.
I would highly recommend this book for ages
16 and up. I think you will find it inspiring, convicting, and—hopefully—life-changing!
