Posts Tagged philipgrey.com

as i begin my blogging adventures for the umptenth time here on my new domain it’s really.. exciting. i want to be able to create something worthwhile, that people are actually interested in and that causes some sort of impact on the world, maybe in an eternal sense. ultimately, i want people to be able to experience the things in jesus christ that i have. i want my life to be so mirrored in the ways of him that i look completely foreign to the world as he did. i want people to understand that having christ in my life has nothing to do with stupid laws or religion or checking boxes or some sort of self-help tool. if i fail to achieve these things, forgive me as i am human, but i’ll do what i can.
so here it goes:

as i sit here blogging this, snow is falling at a rate of 2 inches per hour. it’s intense around here. it’s crazy because exactly a week ago i was settling into a hotel room in orlando, fl. last weekend i had the opportunity of going down to the world headquarters of campus crusade for christ, an organization that i have become increasingly immersed in throughout my college years. a group of 40 of us college students had the chance to see what working at hq is all about, via an all expenses paid trip. it was truly eye opening and i could definitely see myself working down there someday to reach people with the gospel.

the fondest memory i have, that will probably NEVER leave me was my opportunity to meet the president of crusade, steve douglass. last saturday, we all were invited to his house for authentic texas cookin’. it was insane. i sat down at some random table with like seven of my peers, and five minutes later mr. douglass is sitting literally directly next to me.

the wisdom this guy poured out over the next forty minutes was astounding. i’m going to talk about one specific thing: vision.

at one point in the evening, i asked steve what his vision was for campus crusade over the next say.. 10 years. he responded with this “movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows christ.” now, let me share some background with you. this phrase he uttered also happens to be the vision of campus crusade as an organization. i hear it time after time in my experiences with crusade, people spouting it out more than john 3:16. so naturally i quickly discounted his phrase as some sort of larger allegiance to his company. then he shared how HE came up with this vision. he was sitting in his living room and it popped into his mind, like some sort of supernatural epiphany. this wasn’t reiterated lines but truly god-breathed. this changed my perspective on EVERYTHING. this mans vision for what God could do in people’s lives was outstanding.

one other thing struck as me absolutely incredible that he said. he discussed how he had just had meetings with friday with some of the leaders of the top christian movements in the world, we are talking the big guns like the baptist church and the major evangelical community. this group has been meeting for the last few years (3 or 4 times a year) for an amazing goal. their vision is this: they have a plan to complete the great commission within the next 10 years. complete it. all tribes and tongues, the whole deal. they are going to be looking for donors soon in the pursuit of this. how absolutely insane is that? when i heard this news it rocked my world. there is a very real and practical possibility that every person will have the opportunity to come to christ in ten years. if what some of the theologians say is true, that could mean the coming of christ.. in ten years. before i am even 31 years old. this possible reality makes me want to change the way i go about my life. for some reason this just made the gospel and great commission become all the more real to me, instead of distant christian theory. it makes me want to live my life like it really counts and to my fullest potential in christ. i encourage you to think about how to live YOUR life like christ is coming in ten years, what would that mean for how you practically go about it?

talking to mr. douglass was an awesome experience. it was incredible to see how god is working in his life like no other, but really the god given vision i gained from the things he said made so much more of an impact than  any man could.

phil