Gary Thomas

I went to church Saturday night alone on purpose, and more importantly expecting to hear from God. I walked in a little late, again on purpose, and quickly found a row to myself. Without knowing it, one of my favorite speakers and authors, Gary Thomas, was speaking. I absolutely loved it. God showed up.

Gary was speaking on Matthew 6:33- But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you.

Gary said this quote:
"An unfocused, or a scared Christian becomes a dead Christian."

He went on to give 12 different verses throughout the Bible that talked about God reminding us to be STRONG and COURAGEOUS. He reminded us that our focus point of the visions that God gives us should be like a laser. Strong and direct. Seeking first His kingdom means doing so in any circumstance. He also talked about how America is notorious for thriving off crisis to crisis, how throughout his life time he could count at least 8 "worldwide crisis", and how this world we live in will take any measure to keep us from focusing on His kingdom above all. We live under the pressure of living in a constant state of pending, inevitable doom.

He gave several examples of how we can become so easily unfocused and so easily scared when is comes to advancing the Kingdom. When Jesus hung on the cross his last words were, "IT is done."

What is your "IT"? What is my "IT"? Gary posed the question- How am I called to advance His kingdom?

The twelve verses: Gen 15:1, 21:7, 26:24 Josh 1:9, Jud 6:23, 2 Kings 1:15, Jer 1:8, Ez 2:6, Dan 10:12, Mat 1:20, 28:5, Acts 18:9