Why We Do What We Do - Part 2

In Part 2 of our five part video series, "Why We Do What We Do" Ryan Hairston and Deb Hirsch share something near the heart of the Forge DNA- All are invited to participate in this Grand MIssion of God. All the way from the expected ones- the established authors, large and small church pastors, itinerant speakers, and church planters, to the often overlooked- mechanics, stay at home parents, IT workers, grandparents, and children.

In this video, Ryan tells us a powerful story of his 5 year old daughter, proclaiming the anthem of the Kingdom, "Daddy, I think we need to love people...and we need to help other people love people too."

Because throughout the Scriptures everyone had access to Jesus- women, lepers, Gentiles, crooks and thieves, prostitutes and soldiers- everyone now has permission to join in the Mission of God.

Empowered & Equipped

Forge Dallas trains men and women to live as missionaries where they are already doing life. It is in the midst of our everyday lives that God invites us to join Him in His mission. We believe that all men and women, not just the “professionals,” have abundant amounts of potential to impact the communities and neighborhoods they live in.  Our goal as an organization is to come alongside these everyday people and empower and equip them to be the good news to those they rub shoulders with. When ordinary people are empowered, watch out, because this is when movement happens.

Here is the story of an individual who recently completed the Forge Dallas Residency and finished feeling empowered and equipped.

“When my wife and I started the Forge residency we were burnt out and frustrated with our experience of church. There seemed to be such a large gap between what I read in scripture and what I saw lived out in our church community. I was tired of coming to the same realization week after week that we were not engaging our world like Jesus did. I felt like there was a great divorce between what we said we believed as a faith community and the way we lived. I was tired of just talking about engaging the world. I wanted more but felt stuck. My church, it seemed was still trying to convince me that Jesus was worth following and what prayer to say to “sign up”. In our bible studies we seemed to do little more than acknowledge that we weren’t living the way we ought to be living. It was like collectively we knew something was wrong but didn’t know how to move past it, or for some reason seem to care. It was from this spot that we connected with Forge.

The people of Forge put flesh on what were only ideas. By that I mean to say that I found a group of people that were willing to follow Jesus into the world. They were willing to bring the Gospel of Christ to those who may never enter through the doors of a church building. They were willing to seek out the broken and engage them right where they were, whether in the neighborhood, the pub or the work place. What I found through the Forge residency was a group of Christ followers who had left the status quo of the American Church and stepped into the world with all of it’s mess. I found a tribe that was willing to admit their shortcomings and imperfections. A tribe that was ok with hard questions. The Forge residency has expanded my view of the Gospel. It has allowed me to see people as worth pursuing and equipped me with a gospel fluency that allows me engage the lost and broken. We started the Forge residency feeling frustrated and burnt out. We graduated a few weeks ago feeling equipped, empowered, renewed, and a part of tribe that despite it’s imperfections was willing to follow Jesus in his mission to seek and save the lost.”

Interested in learning more about Forge Dallas or the Forge Dallas Residency? 

Visit FORGEDALLAS.ORG  and/or CONTACT US.

Forge Dallas Resident Story - John

Forge Dallas recently finished its 2013-2014 residency. in this blog, John Reece, a residency graduate, writes about his experience as a resident.

Reflection on My Forge Residency

John Reece

The most recent chapter in my journey of faith has been significantly impacted by my participation in the Forge Residency that has just concluded. A few of these observations of influence are noted below, while the full impact has yet to be realized.

Some anchor points of background as I entered the residency include:

  • I have been on a quest of integrating my faith in all aspects of my life, and have made significant strides over the past ten years;
  • I have a heart for discipling and mentoring others; and
  • My wife and I desired to learn how to further express our faith on a daily basis.

The Forge Residency has expanded my vocabulary and understanding of what it means to live on mission, or missionally. There is a shift in perspective that I have come to understand. Instead of intentionally being focused on kingdom-minded activities in all areas of my life (e.g., marriage, parenting, work, and recreation), I now view all of my activities through the lens of realizing that I am participating in God’s kingdom.

My attention is focused on how I might demonstrate the gospel – God’s reign over his kingdom through Christ – embodied in my activities of life. With this adjustment of perspective, I am learning to stop trying to identify distinctly kingdom-minded activities. In other words, every activity is to become kingdom-minded, without a hierarchical distinction of value. There is no difference in value within God’s kingdom, for instance, between my coaching a little league baseball team or feeding the hungry. We are to look for ways to announce and demonstrate the gospel in every moment of life, and to go deeper in the relationships we have with others.

It has been very freeing for me to more fully understand that the gospel is God’s reign over his kingdom through Jesus Christ. My spiritual background focused on the salvation aspect of the gospel. With a broader view of the gospel, I am now free to establish relationships with and love others that have not yet started to follow Christ without an agenda of attempting to nudge them across the line of faith. My heart breaks for those who are missing out on God’s grace, and I am sent to love others in a way that offers a foretaste of God’s kingdom, to share God’s grace. I do not have to attempt to sell salvation.

I am more aware of the opportunities to announce and demonstrate the gospel in every aspect of my life, to those around me from different backgrounds and perspectives of faith.

I am focused on sharing with other followers of Jesus their general call of being sent by God to live out the mission of announcing and demonstrating the gospel, and to help them discover what that may look like in their life

The Forge Residency has influenced my journey and I am grateful for the experience.