Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Brian Houston y su esposa Bobbie son pastores principales de las congregación más graded de Australia, la Iglesia Hillsong, en Sidney, duya comunidad de más de 21,000 peronas sigue creciendo. Además, spervisan otros ministerios, entre los que están: Hillsong Music Australia, Hillsong Confrency y Hillsong International Leadership Collete. Hillsong Television transmite en más de 180 naciones.

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FOR THIS I WAS BORN

Thomas Nelson

Contents

Acknowledgments.........................................................ixPrologue................................................................xiSection 1: For This Cause I Was BornChapter 1 You Were Born for the Cause of Christ.........................3Chapter 2 Championing the Cause of the Local Church.....................15Section 2: The Cause and VisionChapter 3 Your Vision, His Cause........................................27Chapter 4 United Around the Cause.......................................45Chapter 5 An Eternal Vision.............................................55Section 3: The Cause and CallingChapter 6 Saved and Called..............................................63Chapter 7 Use What Is in Your Hand......................................71Chapter 8 The Blessing of Hard Work.....................................83Section 4: The Cause and PurposeChapter 9 Living on Purpose.............................................97Chapter 10 Time for Every Purpose.......................................113Chapter 11 Prosperity on Purpose........................................123Section 5: The Cause and the PriceChapter 12 A Heart Surrendered..........................................135Chapter 13 Living with Conviction.......................................145Chapter 14 Living Committed.............................................153Chapter 15 Blessed to Blessing..........................................163Notes...................................................................173

Chapter One

Time is ticking. Each of us will walk the planet for a certain number of days; we all have a specific number of breaths and heartbeats to expend. The question is: what will you do with the years, months, weeks, days, and minutes God has given you?

What cause, if any, will define your life? How will you be remembered? What legacy will you leave for your family and the generations to come? The answers rest with you.

In the midst of a society often defined by skepticism and cynicism, everyone contemplates and searches for answers and something to believe in. There are no limits to causes, both positive and negative, that vie for our commitment, passion, money, and time. We have our families, our mortgages, our work. And then there are the global causes of injustice, inequity, the fight against terrorism, climate change, the list is endless.

I wholeheartedly believe there is one cause that is greater than any other, a cause that when lived to fulfillment impacts every area of our lives. It gives meaning, direction, and purpose to every day; it influences your choices and decisions; it sets your children up to win; and it has the potential to affect all who cross your path.

It is the cause of Jesus Christ. There is no greater cause on the planet.

To understand the power of this cause, we have to look to the life of Jesus himself. Some two thousand years ago, he-an innocent man-stood in front of a judge and faced a barrage of questions that would determine whether he lived or died a horrible death. His is perhaps the most notorious trial in recorded history. To this day it sparks controversy and is the subject of many books and movies. Jesus did not have a vast legal team advising him on what to say or how to plead; in fact, he refused to defend himself against the injustice he suffered. Instead, he declared a truth so absolute that it confounded all who were present.

A weak Roman governor, desperate to appease the bloodthirsty crowd, asked a probing question of Jesus: "Are you a king then?" And he received a powerful, definitive answer:

You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world. (John 18:37, emphasis added)

"For this cause" is a statement of certainty and conviction. Jesus Christ knew exactly who he was, and the purpose for which he was alive was unmistakable. His was a cause so vital that he would willingly die for it.

Speaking of his impending death on a cross, Jesus declared, "For this cause, I came unto this hour" ( John 12:27 KJV). His entire life was encapsulated in that one powerful phrase-"for this cause."

Do you have such boldness and certainty when it comes to life's big questions? Why were you born? Why are you on the planet at this time in history?

It has been said, "Everyone who is born dies, but not everyone who dies has truly lived." God does not want you and me to die full of potential. He wants you to live for something worth dying for. When Christ's cause truly underpins your life, you will discover meaning and purpose, and your life will never be the same again.

Born Because

I was blessed to be in the delivery room for the birth of each of our amazing children: Joel, Ben, and Laura. I marveled at the miracle unfolding before me, and particularly at my wife, Bobbie's, pain threshold! I will never forget the feeling of sheer exhilaration as I held each baby for the first time. As their big eyes looked up at me, trying to make sense of this new, womb-free world they had entered into, I prayed over their God-given futures.

We all enter the world the same way-well, relatively. We have a mom; most of us are born in a hospital; we experience the shock of elevated noise and light levels. On the other hand, the circumstances we're born into may differ significantly. Perhaps yours were less than ideal. It is possible you never had a dad who prayed over your future, and maybe the family situation you were born into was not perfect or you were unwanted.

Coming to grips with the truth that you were born for a cause greater than yourself may be difficult. Your past, your family upbringing, and your choices to this point may have you convinced that your lot is settled and there is no way things can get any better.

I am here to tell you, as simply as I can, that there is a "because" factor in your life. You were born because the Father has a plan for you on the earth. He has a purpose for you that transcends your family, your upbringing, and your mistakes. It is greater than the limitations of your environment or the challenges of your circumstances.

Hillsong Church, the church Bobbie and I planted in 1983 and still pastor, is filled with extraordinary people and amazing stories, but not all of them had a great start. We have a dynamic and gifted leader in our church whose unwavering passion is to see people switched on to the cause of Christ. Today she travels the globe as a sought-after communicator. But go back some two decades, and you would encounter an angry young woman in her early twenties, wrestling with issues that stem from a strict Greek Orthodox heritage, sexual abuse, and a sense of inferiority because of her socioeconomic background.

Giving her life to Jesus Christ gave her the sense of direction and purpose that only comes with knowing she has an awesome, God-given destiny to fulfill. Christine became actively involved in our church youth group, and her life started on the course that has enabled her to go and do what she once only could have imagined.

Yet her story does not end there. Prior to her thirty-third birthday, she discovered she had been adopted at birth. This startling news came as a huge shock, and it could easily have thrown her off course and caused her...