🔥 The Mandate I Carry

Inspired by the words of Kris Vallotton and Chip Brogden

I have adopted the mandates of Kris Vallotton and Chip Brogden as declarations that resonate deeply with my own life and calling. While the facts of our stories differ, the spiritual trajectory is familiar to many who visit this blog. Our journeys echo each other in themes of pain, redemption, and purpose.

✊ I Wasn’t Born for Passivity

I wasn’t born to be a passive pundit, drifting like a ship on stormy seas beneath the schemes of darkness.

I wasn’t created to be a weatherman, merely forecasting the next crisis.

No! I was born behind enemy lines—placed here with divine intent as a force to be reckoned with.

I carry a heavenly mandate to destroy the works of the devil.

I have been commissioned to:

• Set captives free
• Release prisoners
• Rebuild ruined cities
• Make disciples of all nations

⚔️ The Road I’ve Walked

I have been assaulted, slandered, and hated.

I’ve tasted depression so dark I despaired of life, and anxiety so severe it paralyzed me.

I spent 20 years building businesses, laboring through payrolls, competing against ruthless rivals.

I was once celebrated among the top in my field—

Until the dust settled and I was left with $1.6 million in debt, my house gone, and my hands empty.

I’ve known heartbreak, betrayal, abandonment, and abuse.

I’ve faced the shame of poverty.

I know what it feels like to stand alone on a field with no one cheering, no one choosing me.

I’ve heard the mockery of being labeled stupid, untalented, and unworthy.

I’ve seen violence up close, hiding as a child behind locked doors while my mother endured yet another drunken rampage.

I grew up steeped in fear and silence.

🛡 But I Will Not Be Broken

I refuse to let the past dictate my purpose.

I will not wallow in regret or let bitterness drain the hours I have left.

Self-pity is a thief.

It steals time meant for rebuilding cities.

My scars are not signs of defeat—they are evidence of survival.

I was born to win.

I was equipped to shape history.

I was empowered to extend the borders of God’s Kingdom.

I was redeemed to display the unreasonable, unrelenting love of my King.

This mandate has become my mission—and with God’s help, I will fulfill it.

(Excerpted and adapted from Kris Vallotton’s blog)

🕊 The Prophetic Mandate

By Chip Brogden

“The prophetic person does not passively wait for anything.”

The prophet agonizes over the state of the world,

Wrestles with God,

Sees His purpose,

Declares it to others,

And rises daily to pray, fast, and fight for its fulfillment.

The prophet:

• Watches over the Ekklesia
• Guards it from drifting
• Weeps when it wanders
• Calls it back to alignment
• Discerns the invisible enemies
• Warns, challenges, and demands submission to Christ’s supremacy

The prophet stands above the fray,

Clinging to the wall like Nehemiah, refusing distraction:

“I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.” —Nehemiah 6:3

Prophetic calling means being “on duty” day and night, in all seasons, in all conditions—

Not always outwardly, but inwardly, it must never cease.

(Excerpted from Chip Brogden’s blog)