Posted in General Posts by Ben Mullett on 4/2/2012
This month has flown by. Its really hard to even try and process with so many changes coming up. This month once again has been so different from the others. We’ve been working at a Christian summer camp for teens and getting it ready for when all the kids come in June. This is the first month we have had hot water and a bed to sleep in instead of a tent. I knew coming in to this month was going to be hard to keep the same dependency on God when because of having so many of the “normal” comforts that I do in the States.
There’s something that happens in us when we don’t have everything that we could want. It takes our eyes off of ourselves and puts them on the one we need to provide. When I do have those comforts I have to choose to be weak. I have to choose to fast, to wake up early and pray. I want that dependency that brings me to say in every moment “Lord, if I don’t have you I’ll die.” Of course I’m not speaking of physical death or even a spiritual death because I know that I will be with my Beloved forever in eternity. It’s a death to the thing inside me that loves Him, that comes alive at His voice. Its when I begin to drink from broken cisterns (Jer. 2:13) instead of letting the fountain of life fill me to overflowing. I don’t want to try and love out of my own strength.
There is a book about a monk named Brother Lawrence. It’s called The Practice of the Presence of God. He would be in constant communion with the Lord during the day not finding a difference between prayer time and time just cooking for the monastery. It was said that people would come just to watch him cook because it was as though everything he did was as if he was doing it for a king. When he would fail he would just say to God
“Lord, I will do nothing else if you leave me to myself. It must be you who hinder my failures and mend what is amiss.”
That has helped me a lot in the past couple years. I often think so highly of myself that I forget that without God I am nothing. My very nature is to run from him. It is His work inside of me that causes me to love Him more. I don’t want to look away when He shows me his face. I want to look right into His eyes. Those eyes that loved me before I knew Him. Those eyes that burn with passion for His son, His Beloved One.
This month has been a journey of seeing how much in me still wants to try and do it on its own. May He remove everything in me that hinders love and give me feet to go to the High Places with Him. (Psalm 18:33)
It’s the Great Adventure! The Greatest Romance of all the Ages!
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Posted in General Posts by Ben Mullett on 3/9/2012
This month God asked me to do something that was difficult. Because all 46 of us have been together this month we’ve shared a lot of our hearts with each other. One of the things we’ve been beginning to do is make list of things that we have always wanted to do in this life. Even if they seem crazy or out of reach, we write them down to begin to live life intentionally. God has been bringing a lot of revelation to us this month about how easily in the west we can get caught into conforming to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:1-2) and as a result leaving that adventurous heart that he has put in us aside.
I have been a dreamer from the day I was born. My parents really fed my love for adventure by just letting me go for it! I decided that this month I was going to begin to write these things down and actively start to pursue them. So I began…
Driving the coast of Australia in a hippie van and begin to share Jesus with the surf culture there,
road bike Japan,
Go to at least 100 countries,
Hang glide the Grand Canyon and Hawaii
Live self sufficiently for at least 1 year
Live in silence in the wilderness for at least one month
Memorize the Gospel of John
Learn to play 10 instruments well
Snowboard in BC, Valdez, New Zealand, and Chile
Blow an Alp Horn on the top of a mountain in Switzerland
The list went on and on.
I love talking about these kinds of things, and not just talking about them in a way of “oh, that would be cool, but I’ll never be able to do it.” I believe that I can really do these things. After writing these things down, I went to bed for the night. The next day I felt a heaviness on my heart. That night I felt God speak to me. He said to me “you need to give that list to Me.” I pulled the list out and I realized that I needed to add some things….
My Comfort
My Pride
My idea of Ministry
Affirmation from Others
Knowing my Jesus from just feeling and experience
The list went on and on….
I then took my lists to the beach and looked over them. I then held them out, took a match, and lit them on fire. I started to cry. I said to my Lord, “what ever you want me to be, I’ll be, whatever you want me to do, I’ll do. I just want to love you more.”
I’m learning that the true adventure in this life is to follow the One who put that desire in me. I believe that God did put these desires in my heart (Psalm 37:4), but all of these things are worthless and empty without God. And with Him, even in the worst circumstances, I can have joy. He is a good Father and he knows how to give good gifts to His son. I never expected to go surfing this month or snorkeling, but that is God’s heart. He goes beyond what we could ever ask or imagine. Whatever He asks me to do in this life, I surrender. I just want to love Him more. The Great Adventure is the journey into the heart of God, to see the Beauty of the Lord! Further Up and Further In!
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Posted in General Posts by Ben Mullett on 2/9/2012
A month in Las Lagunas, Dominican Republic:
Hiked up a nearby mountain every morning to watch the sun come up and worship/pray. Psalm 119:147 “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.”
Took an hour off road ride in the back of a truck through the mountains than hiked two hours to an amazing waterfall for Dania’s birthday.
Preached a sermon with a translator.
Got an amazing vision from God that gave me just a taste of the love that he has for me.
Led worship in Spanish for the first time.
Learning to love my team more and more.
Learning to ask God everyday what I’m supposed to do.
Swam in a random lake that looked dirty from the outside, but when you got in….. MAGNIFICO!
Taught guitar classes with very limited Spanish.
Ate lots of Rice and Beans. Soo Gooood!!
Took bucket showers and went to the bathroom in the squatty potty.
Slept in my tent for a month.
Took some baths in a river and got swept down stream in the rapids.
Gained two new sets of Grandparents and many new friends.
Falling more and more in love with Jesus.
Played with kids until my legs fell off.
Had no alone time unless I woke up before everyone.
Jumped on a random horse in a field with a really spiny back just about wasn’t able to ever have kids
This whole month has been so surreal and yet so normal. I feel like this is what I was born to do. I love this pursuit of the heart of God, to seek out the beauty of who he is. It’s the Great Adventure! The Great Romance!
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Posted in General Posts by Ben Mullett on 1/27/2012
Its so hard to try and put the last two weeks into a blog. It’s one of those things that must be experienced rather than told. However, I want to do the best that I can to give you a feel for this, even if its just a taste.
The trip began with a flight into Ft. Lauderdale. Our Squad stayed at a local Romanian church while we trained for the next four days. The presence of God came in a powerful way as we began the process of leaving everything we knew for the hope of being more like Jesus and more in love with Him than ever before.
Friday morning at 5am we packed up and headed for the airport. We started by walking with full packs, than catching buses, than a train, than another bus, and finally after a short delay, the airplane.
Upon arrival we met with our contact Miguel and packed two of our teams stuff on the back of his small truck. Justin and I piled in the truck with a few Dominicans and Miguel. We had a couple hours to go over customs and what to expect in the places we were going. My team was heading to a small village called Las Lagunas that was tucked back in the mountains. We said goodbye to the rest of the squad and the rest of our teams piled on the truck. We traveled back into the mountains on a beautiful starry night with 16 people and all our packs piled on the small truck. The whole thing seemed surreal and yet so normal. We slept in a small apartment for the night in the little town of Padre Las Casas. The next day we piled on another small truck and said goodbye to the other team. We traveled up a small dirt road, across a river, and up a mountain to what we now call home.
Las Lagunas
On the mountain looking down on the village
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Posted in General Posts by Ben Mullett on 10/24/2011
It's difficult to even explain what has happened in just a short week. There is a burning in me that wants to say everything, but also a struggle because I know that what I say will never be able to give you the same experience. Nevertheless, I pray that God will give more Revelation of his love to all who read this because his love is not based on the length or skill of my writing. All he needs is an open heart that just wants more.
I went into Training Camp with a real hunger just to meet with God. He poured on me so much more than I could have imagined. The first 3 days we had a lot of sessions that forced us to let God free us in ways we didn't think possible.
John 8:36 "Whom the son sets free is free indeed."
I saw God this past week free people from wounds they didn't even know were there.
I saw him heal wounds that people thought would never be healed.
I found a new family of men and women of God who are about to shake the nations with the love of Jesus.
I saw people prophesy who didn't believe they could hear the voice of God.
This week I saw the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth.
There is a stirring that is happening all over the world; a longing for something more. This training camp is only the beginning of what God has in mind. The world is waiting, so let's rise up church and and live in the destiny that awaits us
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