A Vision on Missionary Ridge

May 4, 2008 – Durango, Colorado

About 7 miles and 2500 feet of climbing from my house is a ridge that was the site of a very large forest fire in Durango about 6 years ago.  I rode my bike up there last fall and was struck by its desolate beauty.  I had planned for some time to take a long ride along the road.  In the end, though, I really just wanted to hear God speak.  So, I opted for a shorter mountain bike ride to leave ample time for some rest and reflection.  I hopped on my bike and rode uphill for about 45 minutes until I reached the gate that warned of the inherent dangers of entering the burn area. I continued past the gate for sometime and then, almost immediately as I entered the beginning of the burn area, I felt God say, “Andrew, you were once a burned-out forest.”  I was floored. I love it when He speaks and turns the ordinary into something extraordinary, confirming what my heart and His Spirit were inwardly telling me.

When I got to the top of the ridge I surveyed my surroundings and felt like this site represented the western church, or at least the church I grew up in.  The individual burned trees seemed to represent “mature” believers that had succumbed to the worries and distractions of this life, which lead “imperceptibly to death”.  But something amazing was happening.  The forest floor was now teeming with new life.  Young saplings were thriving everywhere.  I don’t know whether the saplings represent my generation or my daughters, but I saw in them God’s promise for the future of his Church.  I wondered whether I was a sapling or a burned tree.  Suddenly I realized it didn’t matter what I was because I knew God was going to bring new life to those old burned trees, in the same way He breathed life and gave movement to a valley of dry bones.

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Then I noticed that, in the midst of all the charred devastation, a few trees had not only survived but thrived.  These trees tended to be in small groups, and I immediately felt that they represented those believers who survived the fire of life by living near Jesus.  I thought it interesting that they were in small groups, which I believe is a wonderful illustration of the need for community.  It is through intentional discipleship and community that God strengthens us, so as to endure the fires of this fleeting life.

Overwhelmed, I shouted twice at the top of my lungs “BRING LIFE,” then knelt on a rock and prayed for this life, not only for myself but for the Church.  As I stood up I realized where I was standing.  I was on “Missionary Ridge.”  Again, I was blown away by this revelation.  It was as if God was saying “I am bringing new life and stirring a new generation,” a generation that will understand that our lives are always missional, wherever He takes us.

Later, as I reflected and prayed over the “burned out forest,” one other layer revealed something else.  It seemed clear that it represented not so much a promise, as it represented what God is actually doing in his Church.  If you see each tree as an individual institutional church, then the ashes become the lives of believers.  As these ashes fall to the ground they provide nourishment to the soil and are like seeds being planted by God. The saplings are the house churches sprouting up in immense numbers with great life and vitality.

The natural course of growth for a forest would be for these saplings to fight each other for life, and then eventually the larger ones would block the light and those below would wither and die.  Isn’t this what we as humans do?  We desire institutions, governments and a hierarchy, because they make us feel safe and approved by men.  Like the Israelites, we want a king so that we can be like other nations.  We want churches built from wood and stone, not by the spirit of God.  We put our hope, faith and future into buildings and human authority.  But something new is happening.  God’s Spirit is stirring in his Church.  By the power of His Spirit these saplings will all grow and experience life— a life together.  The natural course of the human age will be replaced by the natural course of life by the Spirit of God. This burned out forest will once again live; only this time the larger trees will not drown out the light from above, and the smaller trees will thrive alongside those once burned out trees to which God has brought new life.

This is an amazing place that speaks powerfully of God’s promise for our future.