Live the Dream

John C. Maxwell says, “The dream is free, but the journey isn't. That's why dream believers are common. Dream buyers are rare.” Whenever someone tells me that they believe in what they say I never doubt them. We all have dreams. When you are a kid you think about what sports player you are going to grow up to be like or the person you are going to marry. Stuff like that. And the cool thing is that we believe it wholeheartedly! There is no reason you should not believe it. Until someone comes along and tells you why you will not achieve your dream – for whatever reason. These people are straight up busta's.

I don't know about all those naysayers and why they like to steal dreams, but they do. It is prolly an inadequacy in their own lives. I've heard it was said that “misery loves company.” And I guess what I am saying is that you need to hang out with peeps who believe in you. I remember when I was in ministry with Cobb and he would talk about ht dream with me. And to his credit, he is not a huge “dream guy.” he is very down to earth and is good at the bottom line kind of stuff. He spent a lot of his time taming me and my big dreams. He never told me that I couldn't do something; he challenged me to think about how to be more effective in my ministry.

He would tell me that we were going to change a city together, one student at a time. He told me that would could change the world, but it would take work to chisel each piece of the stone. He believed in his ministry and his peeps. He believed in me and my big dreams. He knew that I was going to be something and make the world a better place. He knew that each of our staff members and students had the potential to make the world better. He knew that we were going to change lives for JC and make the Kingdom expand.

I used to love hearing him talk about Kingdom ministry. When I was in his youth group as a junior and he made a CORE team of students he was very honest. He told me that he did not know all of the answers and that we would learn together. And we did. We succeeded and failed together. He would help me to see the lessons in both the good and the bad parts of our ministry. He spoke a lot about ministry for the “long haul” and how each day and moment was a stepping stone. He encouraged and loved each of us.

I feel blessed to be a part of Cobb's ministry when it was smaller. I feel blessed to have been a part of it when it was growing and when it was huge. He never got caught up on the small details or much of the present. He was always striving for what ministry looked like in his head and in his heart. And for that reason I still hang on his every word and thought today. He continues to grow in his knowledge of ministry and that is why I do the same. The dream has not been fully realized, but we are living the dream each day. Who are you doing ministry? Who are you dreaming with? Who is making your ministry better? Lean on them. Learn from them. Live the dream with them.