Our church's mission is to Ignite a Worldwide Passion for Jesus and the keyword is certainly passion. If you aren't passionate about God, you can't expect those around you to be inspired by you and to be passionate about God. Passion gets us out of bed in the morning. When you have passion, you're ready to go...now! Without it, life is boring, routine and monotonous. It's God's desire for us to live with passion and live above mediocrity.

Love the Lord with all your passion. Put some emotion in you love for God. In America, it's okay to show passion for anything besides God. If someone put a yard sign in front of their house that said "Vote for Jesus in 2008", most of us would think they were crazy. If a fan wore a helmet to a football game that said "God" on the sides, imagine the looks that that fan might get. Why is that so abnormal? In fact, it's a sad state of affairs when one feels that they must hide their excitement about their Creator.

You have to make a choice to have the burn--the spiritual fervor--for God forever. You can't just find God and then coast. We need to be people that get focused to keep that spiritual fervor going.

Several things might be killing your passion right now. Let's identify them, then work to get past them:

An unbalanced schedule. You might have passion fatigue, where you give and give and give, but never feel comfortable enough to receive. That is not Biblical; you must take time out to receive His word. You might be a taker instead. You attend Bible Studies, attend a Christian lecture series and go to every Christian conference, but never act upon your ingested knowledge. This makes you a spiritual porker. You take and take and take without ever giving.

Unused gifts and talents. You were put on this Earth for a reason: you are here to contribute. Seventy percent of Americans are in a job that has nothing to do with their gifts nor talents. Now, you can do one of two things: quit your job and devote yourself to your passion or--and this is the first choice for now--you can use your gifts and talents in ministries at church.

Unconfessed sin. If you're feeling guilty all the time, you won't have passion. You can't have joy and you can't have passion if you have guilt about sin. Some will try to do good things to make up for sin, but that won't cut it. Jesus died for you, so confess your sin and release that guilt to Him and embrace that passion.

Unresolved conflicts. We tend to spend our time stewing over our conflicts, hoping that the other party feels the pain that we feel. Guess what? They aren't thinking about it. Simply turn that conflict over to Him and focus on Him with all your passion!

Lack of Christian friends and a Christian support system. We were created to function in relationships. The toughest punishment any inmate can ever receive is solitary confinement. Some of us live in self-imposed solitary, thus living without a community outlet. Be active in your church and be part of the action. Who do you spend your time with outside church? Where are you outside of church? None of us is strong enough to fight Satan alone. God intends for us to do it with a Godly community. We need each other and we need to rely on Him.

Lack of purpose. Embrace something that will move you closer to God. What can you do to promote Him more than yourself? Work toward finding that purpose in your life that brings God next to you.

A malnourished spirit. When we don't devote time to Him, we don't truly know Him. Read your Bible, study the word, then meditate on it and open your mind to what He's trying to tell you. God feeds the soul, nourishing you.

People with passion do great things for God. What causes people to want to teach in the inner city? What leads people to worship team practice on Sunday nights? What leads people to do things that are bigger than themselves? It's passion!