our vision

follow Him

In our culture today much emphasis is placed on leadership. Leadership is a great thing, and we need leaders and visionaries to usher us into new territory. But, the problem with much of leadership development is the desire for power. Power in the hands of bad leaders always ends in corruption.

In the story of the Bible, leadership is not the goal—followership is. How could one ever know how to lead unless he was a great follower. In Second Temple Judaism as well as rabbinical Judaism, rabbis were the leaders, but the rabbis never became leaders until they were the best followers.

Jesus didn’t begin with an invitation or call to leadership…He began with three words, “Come, follow Me.” It didn’t involve a deep knowledge of where they were going, how they would get there, or how long it would take. The goal was to follow as close as they could with a trust that their rabbi would lead them to where they needed to go.

In Genesis 12:1 we see this call very clearly, “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you.’” In other words, God said to Abram, “Follow me…start walking and don’t stop until I tell you to stop; and you won’t know where you are going until you get there, because I’ll show you where you are supposed to go.” We are not called to settle down, build a city, create a great name for ourselves, or build our own kingdom…our call is to FOLLOW HIM—it is the spirit of the Bedouin in which He calls us. Wherever He is, is where we want to be.

our mission

grace and peace

grace: (hesed: a working Hebrew definition) the consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, furious love

peace: (in Hebrew it is shalom) a lexicographical definition would be: being whole, complete finished, restored, uninjured, safe, rewarded (especially for good), payed for services. it also means tranquility, being well, free from fault, happy, mature, sound, blessed laughing, and a covenant of peace. a reflexive meaning of shalom (Hebrew: hashalam): shalom is achieved by replacing or restoring what is lacking or lost.

in every one of the apostole Paul's letters in the Bible, he begins with the phrase "grace and peace." what if everything we did began with grace and peace? what if every conversation, the start of new days, relationships, etc. began with grace and peace? is there anything more powerful in the world than grace and peace?