Flame On!

As I walked into the room, the environment was charged with anticipation. People were seated. Many of their faces asking the same question: "What will this look like?" As I sat down among them, a sense of insecurity began to come over me. A thought flashed through my mind. Maybe I will just sit back and take it all in. They don't need anything from me. This room is filled with some incredible people. What could I possibly give?
FLAME ON!

Flame on. It's the phrase that the Human Torch uses right before he is engulfed in flames. In one moment he can go from the average looking guy (or really good looking guy if you ask my teenage daughter) to a man that is literally on fire. It's a phrase that would take on a whole new meaning for me this past weekend. A mindset that I would adopt. Knowing what I possess, what's inside of me, means all that is within the Holy Spirit is readily available. Regardless of how I feel. FLAME ON! is a reminder to tap into everything that the Father has provided.

WHO Koinonia became the incubator for this kind of thinking.
I recognized that our worship was not about having to bring God into our reality. It's quite the opposite. It is to bring us into His. As our hearts were turned to Him fully, I heard the words FLAME ON! I didn't have to work it up, but I did have to stir it up. Huge difference. Paul encouraged Timothy to "Stir Up the gift that is in you..." That's the classic way that we have read the text. Many of our newer translations read "Fan Into Flame..." Could Paul have been telling his young disciple to FLAME ON!?

This is what Koinonia is all about. It's where we fan into flame what the Father has placed within each of us. As we determine within our hearts to see the Lord among us, in us, and within one another, we are calling to remembrance what is already inside. We are moving past all of the negative thinking. We are not regarding the mistaken identities. We refuse to become mired in a person's shallow thinking of themselves. We look them in the eye. We speak life to the real identity. And we watch them burn.

I watched this process time and time again over the course of 4 days. Men and women alike, seeing themselves through the faulty lenses of performance. Focused on what they are not rather than who they are. Some were frustrated. A few were disconnected. Others were content to hide. Their minds had become consumed with the wrong things. I watched them fight. I watched others fight for them. I saw them determined to "take the land of their own heart." All of it coming to a beautiful climax: Hundreds of people burning with Him. Engulfed in His love. White hot with His passion.

This is the mindset that I want to carry every day. To be instant. In season and out. To FLAME ON! at any moment. I want it for myself and every other son and daughter of God. I want us delivered from the religious thinking that tries to douse the flame. I want us set free from the rituals that do nothing but try to cover the light. I want to see men and women, young and old, absolutely consumed with His love for them. I want that fiery love to spread beyond the walls of the church buildings and into the communities. I want the world set on fire.

FLAME ON!