"Your nature is a hard thing to change; it takes time. One of the extraordinary transferences that happen in your spiritual life is not that your character flaws go away, but they start to work for you. A negative becomes a positive: you've a big mouth: you end up a singer. You're insecure; you end up a performer who needs applause. I have heard of people having life changing, miraculous turn-arounds, people set free from addiction after a single prayer, relationships saved where both parties, 'let go, and let God." But it was not like that for me. For all that 'I was lost, I am found', it is probably more accurate to say, 'I was really lost, I'm a little less so at the moment.' And then a little less and a little less again.. That to me is the spiritual life. The slow reworking and rebooting of a computer at regular intervals, reading the small print of the service manual. It has slowly rebuilt me in a better image. It has taken years though, and it is not over yet." --Bono (U2 by U2)
Raising up an Apostolic and Prophetic Generation
“I was given instructions that I assume was one of the primary reasons for the encounter. It was the guidance to pray for the rising up of a new generation of leaders—prophets of the apostolic mould. Leaders who could once again gather the people of God into communities of radical faithfulness.” –Richard Foster, Prayer In 1978, as Richard Foster was praying and strolling across a beach in Portland , Oregon , something unexpected took place: God started talking back to him. He does not know how long the conversation went on, but it was a thrilling experience. During this time, Foster noticed a large rock in the middle of the water which was being beaten by waves, but stood as a bastion of unconquerable strength. Then he saw an ancient tree which had been hit by lightning. The tree was dead in the middle and only had a few parts on the outside that were still alive. As he looked at th...
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