The Passion Process

What Are Your Passions?

I challenge all of you to make a list of your top 10 passions, the activities or things you currently love to do most, or would most want to do. The list of passions we are creating should help you clarify your vision for where convergence lays - the place of our ultimate assignment. In the place of "convergence" your gifts, talents and acquired skills are freed up from other things so that we can do what maters most- your passion. Along with this challenge to develop a passion list, I caution you NOT to include on that list all your favorite spiritual activities, such as praying, worshipping, or being in the presence of God; not because these arent important, but because these spiritual activities are the natural appetites that are universal to all believers who have tasted the powers of the age to come. So you may love to worship, or minister to people, but the key question is what is behind this. The clearer you get on what really causes delight, the more accurate the results. So take time to compile your own personal list of 10 passions. I want you to focus on 10 extraordinary passions. Dont consult with anyone else about what they think ought to be on your list. Its what lights your fire, not what lights their fire, that were looking to capture on that list.

Doing BOTH
For example, my son was a pre-teen when he asked me, What would be better- if I was President of the United States, or a revivalist?" My wife kicked me under the table and gave me the look because there was a time I would have said, I was in business, son. I was a corporate guy. I had my own business,,, but God called me out of that into the ministry. If God calls you out- that's great!" But my wife kicked me at the right time because I was working these very issues out in my own mind. I had changed a lot over the years and no longer felt that one profession (preaching) is necessarily more sacred than another. Any calling from God is equally wondrous and significant. In fact America could use a few more anointed Politicians, broadcasters and job creators and a few less anointed preachers. Not knowing what to say,,,at that that moment these words came right out of my spirit: Why dont you do both? (Thank You, Jesus! Flesh and blood did not reveal that to me.) Why chose? Do both? In other words,

let life unfold and embrace every season and calling and feel free to combine your spirituality as a revivalist with your call to be President. That's what David was, a Shepherd of a nation! And theres no doubt about it, my son has a governmental anointing on him, whether or not its presidential. I was happy to hear him think, hummm.....Politics.

Sample List of Extraordinary Passions

I want you to go beyond the ordinary as youre putting your list together. Dr. Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, listed his top passions for a book written by a friend. When I heard his list, I said to myself, This is what I want to hear the Body of Christ come up with. So to make sure that you set free those big passions that havent surfaced yet in your life, I want to share with you the passion list that Jack Canfield wrote. (By the way Chicken Soup for the Soul has sold something like 100 million copies.) Heres Jacks original list. This reads like the list of a person with a healthy sense who he is and what he really wants. - Being of service to massive numbers of people - Having an international impact - Enjoying celebrity status. I have to interrupt the list to say that I love what Jack wrote here. There are some Christians who would never dare write that they want to be famous - yet they are always comparing size of ministries, churches, etc. To continue Jacks list: - Being part of a dynamic team - Having a leadership role on a dynamic team - Helping people live their vision - Speaking to large groups of people - Having an impact through television and media - Being a multi-millionaire with a world-class headquarters and a support team - Having lots of free time - Studying with the spiritual masters regularly - Being part of a spiritual leadership network - Creating a core group of ongoing trainers who feel identified with my organization - And having fun, fun, fun!

STOP HERE! Im setting the bar for your list of passions with this list. Dont put items on your list that are too abstract. In other words I can envision what it might look like to help people live their vision, speak to large groups, be a celebrity, have an international impact, etc. What you write has to be clear enough and concrete enough so that its not abstract and vaporous like, Empowering others. Write something that has handles on it like, Empowering massive numbers of others to live their vision. Make it clear enough so that I could see what it looks like when you are doing it. Are you getting this? Some of my students have had a tendency to write extremely nebulous descriptions. The problem with nebulous is that you cant see it. If you cant see it, you cant say it. If you cant say it, you cant have it.

Develop Your Own List

Keep in mind what I said about your statements needing "handles" and about making your statements concrete. To help you develop your list, I will walk you through the process. 1. First make a list of the things you currently enjoy doing most. What lights you up on the inside? What brings you most alive? What has to absolutely be in your life for you to be fulfilled? What kinds of activities can you get lost in, loosing track of time passing while youre doing them? Generate as many of these items as you can - even more than 10 if you have that many. 2. Before moving ahead to pare down that list, take some time to think about some other things youd like to do, maybe always wanted to do, but have seldom or never done. Were looking for the extraordinary here, so go for it! Put it all down and dont hold back. Write as many as you can. Now its time to pare down both lists to a combined total of 10 items. One way you might do that is to read each statement or item out loud slowly. Mark as keepers the ones that really grab your heart or make you feel excited - or give you emotional juice. Continue going over the list in a similar manner, item by item.

Watch the NEXT video in the process to see the power of this list in action!