The Most Powerful Force in the World

The most powerful force in the world is not nuclear energy harnessed by man or hurricanes unleashed by nature – it is passion. It was God’s passion for us that prompted him to send his only son to rescue us. It was Christ’s passion that drove him to the cross. It was passion that compelled the Apostle Paul to invest his life in the service of his master. It is passion that drives countless people to do acts that change the world, for better or for worse.

Passion for ministry has been a powerful force in my life since the late 70s. That is when I first met Frank Tillapaugh. At that time he was the pastor of Bear Valley Church in Denver, Colorado. Frank’s primary message to his congregation was that their church needed to be unleashed and committed to ministries in the city of Denver. The people of Bear Valley responded to his message in a big way. They launched new ministries and got involved with existing ministries throughout metro Denver. In 1982 Frank wrote what turned out to a best selling book, entitled, Unleashing the Church: Getting God’s People Out of the Fortress and Into Ministry. Once the book was published people came from all over the world to listen to the message of what it means to be an unleashed church.

In the Right Place At the Right Time

As for me I didn’t have to go far to be impacted by the message and ministry of the “church unleashed.” I lived – and I use the word “lived” loosely – just a few miles from the epicenter of the action. At that period of my life I was mired in the counter-culture, involved with crime and drugs. I was desperately trying to find some answers before my life style put me in the grave. It was at that low point that that one of Bear Valley’s myriad of ministers walked into my life. Indulge me for a moment as I tell you how that encounter changed my life and unleashed my passion to live for Christ.

I had been staying, or should I say hiding, from some dangerous associates at my parent’s home for over two weeks. I would spend twenty-four a day in my bedroom, ready to flee if necessary. After the two weeks I worked up the courage to venture into the family room each evening around 10pm, to watch the evening news with my parents. One evening as the news was finishing around 10:30 pm, the door bell rang. My Mom greeted a man at the door who simply said, “Hi my name is Jerry Donaldson, do you mind if come in?”

My mother, forever the southern lady, said, “Not at all, please come in,” and, as if on cue, she introduced him to my dad and then to me. It was immediately obvious that the stranger had come to see me. Jerry looked at me and asked, “May I talk to you for a minute?”

His visit caught me by surprise. But my mom seemed to be happy to see him and that was reassuring to me. I wasn’t afraid as much as I was confused, at this odd late night encounter. What I didn’t know was that my mom, in desperation to have someone talk to her messed-up kid, had called Jerry. She called him because he is a professional counselor, and she had asked him to come over and to talk to me. He listened to her story, i.e. a grown child out of control. But he had told her, “I’m sorry, I don’t make house calls. However, if you can get him to come to my office I will see him.” Then he took all of my mom’s information and said, “I hope to see Rich at my office soon.”

That night Jerry couldn’t sleep. Something, or Someone, compelled him to get out of bed and pay me a visit. His wife begged him no to go, but he insisted. So there he was in the family room, asking me, “Can I talk with you?”

Still weary, I asked, “are you a cop?” When he answered, “no,” I said sure, “Sure, sit down.”

As a teenager I had attended a Billy Graham Crusade; and when Mr. Graham extended the invitation for those who wanted to ask Christ for forgiveness and receive eternal life, I responded. Even though I had committed my life to Christ, I had not given my life to him completely. I knew about Christ from the Young Life meetings that I had attended. But, while I had asked him to be my savior, I never committed myself to his lordship. During my twenties the lure of drug culture became the most powerful force in my life. Little did I realize, on that evening when the stranger turned up at my parent’s house, that I was about to complete the commitment that I had made as a teenager.

Before he left that evening, Jerry told me that he was on the pastoral staff at his church and invited me to attend Bear Valley. The following Sunday, as I sat in service, I remember feeling very alone and out of place, but I was desperate. During the sermon I remember Frank, saying something like, “We want this to be an unleashed church, a church where everyone is encouraged to pursue the ministry God has gifted and wired them to pursue.” The challenge to find and passionately follow God’s call to ministry struck a deep cord within me.

That was the beginning of my deep desire to unleash God’s passion for ministry in my life. Soon I found myself involved in the singles’ ministry and connecting with both the church’s coffee house for street kids and a group home for delinquent girls, called the Cornerstone. I was inspired by the dozens of community ministries that people from Bear Valley were pursuing. Slowly my life began to change, and God began to shape me into a new person. I caught Frank’s passion to reach out to church leaders with the message, “If you pursue your passion for God, he will unleash his miracles into your life and into your community.”