I was called into the ministry at age 17. After awhile that was all I thought about. It was a young dream, all concerned about being the best student, the best preacher, starting the best church. And as the years passed in college I dreamed of starting a church in upstate New York, where "our" denomination had no churches. A pioneer would blaze the trail into the New York wilderness... and so on. Passion.

If passion alone were enough to make dreams come true, there would have been several new churches in that part of the country in short order. As it turned out, none were formed. Passion has its limits, but nothing good is done without it.

Later we did start a church around the Bible college that still stands. A passion for educating children led to the formation of Christian schools, one of which also remains.

But the two big passions of my life would involve the persecuted church. Those former passions involved the head a lot. Excitement. Some ambition. But when I was about 40, I experienced something else. It was in the heart. It was a burning, aching feeling, stimulated by the stories of suffering behind the old Iron Curtain.

Romania called first, and eventually led me to re-locate in Chicago, where many Romanians dwell. Shortly after my move, Communism fell, and something within me fell too. It would be over 15 years before anything like Romania would rise. That rising would be the nation of North Korea. This passion was so strong that it nearly destroyed me. In short, the ministry to the North Koreans contributed to a nervous breakdown.

I now believe that another passion is on the way, if it has not already begun. Prophecy to me indicates that this passion will be my final one, the beginning of the end.

I have come to believe that persons without a passion or even a desire to have one, are in the lukewarm state and are in dangerous territory spiritually. To these people, Jesus is just one of many gods in their life. He is a casual acquaintance, the subject of a morning visit once a week, if that.

How can I get it back? I heard a preacher recently talking about a conversation he had with God. He went into God's presence as we often do, complaining about all his problems. He was a bit taken aback to hear that inner Voice of God responding to him, "I hear your problems, but don't you know I have problems too?"

"Lord, what's Your problem?" the preacher asked. Then it was that the Lord laid out to him the needs of a particular area, and how that preacher and those who followed him would be able to minister correction to the problem.

A God Who has problems. Needs. Desires. A Will. Why, this is radical to some of us. But did not Jesus teach us to pray, "Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done"? God's will is His problem. It is not being done in so many places, because God's people are not aware that there is anything beyond their own needs that cry out for help.

Ask God what His problem is in your home, or school, or place of employment, or community. Ask Him how you can help to solve that problem, so that God's Kingdom will be established there.