Linson Daniel, Jon Hietbrink and Eric Rafferty
14 min read ⭑
“We’re learning that when the Holy Spirit invites us to pray for breakthrough, it’s because God already wants to bring breakthrough. What a joy that we get to participate with the Spirit in this work!”
How is God moving in our generation? Where is he changing hearts and transforming lives? And how can we partner with him in that work? Those are the questions Linson Daniel, Jon Hietbrink and Eric Rafferty are exploring in their latest book, “Reviving Mission: Awakening to the Everyday Movement of God.” Linson (a pastor at Metro Church in Dallas), Jon and Eric (both of whom work with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship) believe now is the time for leaders and laypeople alike to revive God’s mission on earth by encountering him personally and establishing life-giving rhythms within community.
Read on to get an honest look at what stirs Linson, Jon and Eric in their faith, how they find spiritual renewal (get ready for some quotes from “The Office”), the challenges they encounter in ministry and relationships, and the books and poems that have impacted them most.
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
The meals we enjoy are about so much more than the food we eat. So how does a “go-to” meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?
Eric: Food is definitely more than just palate and preference! Food is one of the things that has helped me really understand what it means to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Many of the milestone moments on my journey with Jesus have been marked by memorable meals: beef fry, bitter gourd and paratha at the dinner table of an Indian family who took me in during my freshman year of college when I was 1,500 miles from home and very lonely. Fifteen-cent churros on the streets of San Miguel De Allende, Mexico, that brought tears to my eyes in a joyful season of celebrating marriage and friendship. And probably the best meal I’ve ever had — Sichuan boiled beef — during one of the lowest moments of lamentation in my life as a parent. When I took my first bite of succulent/spicy/numbing beef (a dish I had read about but had never tasted) I felt the presence of God pour over me and fill me as I wept awkwardly at a table by myself in a restaurant that was trying to close. I heard the Holy Spirit say, “It’s not enough that you know about me in theory. I want you to taste and see and experience for yourself each and every day how good and loving and powerful and faithful I am.”
Linson: Being an Indian American, food plays a central role in family, church and community gatherings — especially homemade food. Nothing beats my mother’s cooking (rice, chicken curry, fried fish, cabbage, okra and yogurt curry). To some, it may just seem like food, but for me, the dining table at my parents’ house is a place of true comfort, genuine relationships and deep identity.
But the American side of me loves to grill. I love manning the grill and having my house full of people. Burgers, hot dogs, steaks, lamb chops, chicken — you name it. I will learn how to grill it and make space for you to enjoy it with my community. I love hearing and retelling stories that make us laugh and draw closer together. These gatherings last for hours, but the time flies.
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity do you love engaging in that also helps you find essential spiritual renewal?
Linson: I love quoting “The Office.” I have a talent for inserting these quotes into everyday conversations. My church staff team finds it funny sometimes, “and when I mean sometimes, I mean all times, all the times, every of the time.”
To be honest, searching for and sharing “The Office” memes and quoting them unnecessarily in conversation is a quirky interest that doesn’t immediately present itself as a spiritually renewing activity. But it does build team camaraderie, creates a space for enjoyable work and provides much-needed levity and buoyancy to work and ministry.
Yes, things in this world are serious, but in the midst of all that important work and ministry, we can still hold a joyful perspective, and “sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don’t even know where it’s going. I just hope I find it along the way, like an improv conversation. Improversation.” Ha!
Jon: I am not at all handy. I know just enough to make a mess of various projects around our house! But a couple of years back, I got an idea to try and build a stone fireplace on our back patio. It wasn’t any great feat of engineering (basically LEGOS for adults), but I loved building it, and I really love sitting beside a crackling fire, especially on cold, still winter mornings. I love the progression of sunrise — from the darkness of night to the subtle glow on the horizon to the pastel clouds that reflect the coming sun to daybreak. I love the visceral contrasts in that kind of space — biting cold and searing heat, velvet darkness and glowing embers, total silence punctuated by morning birdsong. Though it might sound crazy to be sitting outside in the dead of a Midwestern winter, there’s something about the stillness of that kind of space that is deeply settling for my soul.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness; every human too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you deal with it?
Jon: I come from a family of Midwestern farmers, whose work ethic and responsibility were foundational values (my grandfather was still working on the farm into his 90s). Obviously, these are helpful virtues in many ways, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve seen the way that they often express themselves as hyper-intensity that wreaks havoc on both my internal and external worlds. Internally, I can carry a subconscious agitation that makes it very difficult for me to be present or content. Externally, some of my closest relationships end up being marred by a kind of subtle judgment and criticism that can make connection and affection challenging. Although this shadow is easier to hide in professional settings (typically, it looks like passive-aggressive critique), to be honest, I have a much harder time hiding this in my closest relationships. My wife, Stephanie, tells me I may have the worst poker face in the world and often feels my critique before I’m even consciously aware of it.
Eric: Disappointment with God is my kryptonite. I think I’ll spend the rest of my life learning to trust the character of God and his sure promises when what I so often see right in front of me feels like tangible evidence that God is not doing the things he’s promised. I probably sound like a major downer to be around, but I’m actually a pretty hopeful person (and an Enneagram 7). I’m generally optimistic and have an easy time accessing faith for others, but in places of contending for long-term breakthrough in my own family, I’m pretty susceptible to disappointment.
As the parent of a special-needs child who’s had a really challenging journey, especially with school, a difficult day or week can either send me spiraling into despair or striving for breakthrough on my own strength. Striving is the trickiest response because, on the outside, it looks a lot like faithfulness. But in all honesty, a mindset that says, “If I parent consistently enough or advocate effectively enough, I can produce the breakthrough that my son needs!” isn’t putting any faith in Jesus. It takes an intentional choice for me to place my hope in who God is and what God has promised to do, regardless of what I see. I’m grateful for friends and family who have walked similar paths and have built habits of basing their hope on Jesus himself and not their circumstances!
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
By the grace of God, we’re in the final stages of publishing a book with InterVarsity Press called “Reviving Mission: Awakening to the Everyday Movement of God,” which just came out at the end of December. As with any book, it’s been a labor of love, and although we’ve certainly had moments of profound flow, we’ve also certainly known plenty of toil (copyediting is not for the faint of heart).
Fundamentally, it’s a book that seeks to articulate a simple model of everyday mission in the way of Jesus that we hope will be a real encouragement to both leaders and lay people who are looking to take their place in God’s everyone, everyday mission.
At the heart of the book is a model we’ve articulated as the four E’s of reviving mission. First, we encounter God as the God who is here and moving all around us. Second, we explore what God has done, is doing and will do in the places and among the people we are sent to. Third, we empower those we meet by helping them connect to God by serving and sending them. Finally, we establish communal rhythms — both habits and habitats — so that life can flourish.
We hope readers will find it to be a fresh, joyful and perhaps even buoyant book that will feel like a timely word that fits our cultural moment, and we’re really hopeful God might use it as a “new wineskin” to steward all that he’s doing in our day!
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
Eric: For a lot of my life and ministry, I didn’t know any better than to lead in the economy of my own resources (my skills and abilities, my financial resources, my relational networks). When something seemed stuck, I just had to keep trying with what I had, often with frustrating results. It has been life changing to learn how much access to the supernatural resources of God we have through the Holy Spirit!
My work mostly involves helping people start new campus ministries in parts of the country where it’s been difficult to start and sustain college ministry. We hit a lot of walls and face a lot of obstacles! The Holy Spirit is constantly invigorating our work by revealing how God wants to bring breakthroughs in those contexts. Sometimes it’ll be hearing a uniquely instructive Scripture during a time of prayer. Sometimes our team will gain a common sense of conviction as we wrestle with a challenge. And sometimes we recognize the voice of the Spirit inviting us to pray for a very specific breakthrough (a change of heart for a campus administrator, a breakthrough of funding for a particular leader, for God to send missional workers on a particular campus, etc.). We’re learning that when the Holy Spirit invites us to pray for breakthrough, it’s because God already wants to bring breakthrough. What a joy that we get to participate with the Spirit in this work!
Jon: To be honest, I really wish my life was marked by more consistent experiences and Holy Spirit dynamism that mark the lives of so many of my closest friends, including my wife. However, more often than not, my partnership with the Spirit feels more subtle than spectacular. One of the clearest ways I’ve come to recognize these kinds of subtle moves of the Spirit in and around me is through instances of what Pete Greig (founder of 24-7 Prayer) has called “divine symmetry” — experiences in my life and ministry that might appear on the surface as mere coincidences but that actually point to a much bigger story being written.
Although it might sound a bit strange, I often find the Spirit getting my attention through the repetition of significant dates or anniversaries, arresting parallels between daily situations and scriptural narratives or redemptive life or relationship patterns repeating themselves. I often miss them, but these kinds of signs remind me that the stories God is writing are always bigger, broader and more beautiful than we can realize in the moment, and they fill me with wonder.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?
Linson: My spiritual stream is charismatic/Pentecostal. It was only in the past decade that I really delved into the practice of silence and solitude.
My church is loud; it is filled with praise and proclamation. My community is loud; I am surrounded by vibrant expressions of faith and boisterous conversations. Our prayer meetings are loud; we contend in prayer and intercede for one another passionately. When we study the Bible, we can get loud, opinionated and honest. I love it. It’s normal to me.
So naturally, I didn’t understand that I could meet God in quiet and isolated spaces. But as the years have gone by, I am most moved by the still and quiet presence of God. (I know, please don’t take my Pentecostal card away!) I realize that I am not alone as I escape from the sounds and relationships of life, but in these reverent hushed spaces, I am alone with God — and just that one simple idea has changed so much of my spiritual journey. In all places, I am with God.
Jon: I have always really struggled to keep a consistent Sabbath. It’s not like I didn’t think it would be helpful, but I just struggled to figure out a way to make it work practically. However, during a retreat day earlier this fall, I felt a fresh measure of clarity and conviction from the Spirit that I needed to create a new habit of rest and Sabbath, and so I started tinkering with what I would call a kind of “day-end” liturgy and a very concrete 36-hour or so (two nights and one full day) Sabbath. It’s nothing profound, but at the end of each day, I do a simple breath prayer (You make | All things new), read a couple of poems (“Patient Trust” by Teilhard de Chardin and an excerpt from Wendell Berry’s “The Sky Bright after Summer-Ending Rain”) and then read Deut. 33:12 — “the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” It only takes a couple of minutes, but this kind of daily (and weekly) ritual of rest has become a concrete practice of surrender that’s been so helpful during a particularly busy season.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what resources stand out to you? What changed reality and your heart?
Jon: This is such a hard question as there are so many books that have been transformative for me, but the work of Kenneth Bailey (particularly his work on Luke 15 in books like “Poet and Peasant and Through Peasant’s Eyes”) was an absolute game-changer for me. When I was in my early 20s, I was in the midst of a multiyear season of depression, and Bailey’s exposition of Luke 15 — particularly his Christological reading of the Father who goes “down and out” in humiliation to redeem his lost son left me undone and weeping in my living room at the goodness and compassion of God.
Linson: When I was in college, my mentor handed me “In the Name of Jesus” by Henri Nouwen. He said that it was critical that I read and understand this book. He said that it was super short and I could handle it. Despite all of that advice, I still didn’t read it.
I found it much later when rummaging through some old college junk. My mentor was right — I read the entire book in one sitting.
The ideas from that book have shaped my understanding of leadership. I felt so exposed by the temptations listed in the book: the desire to be relevant, spectacular and powerful. However, I also felt encouraged to pray, confess, reflect and love God, myself and others.
I read it at least once a year, and the truths within the book still ring true in our world today. We need authentic, vulnerable and loving leaders now more than ever before.
We all have things we cling to to survive (or even thrive) in tough times like these. Name one thing you’re savoring and/or finding indispensable in this current season, and tell us what it’s doing for you.
Jon: A couple of years back, I was given a three-month sabbatical from my ministry responsibilities — it was such a generous and delightful gift. On the first day, I wandered into a local used bookstore to see if something would catch my eye, and I picked up a book by Annie Dillard called “Teaching a Stone to Talk,” which ended up launching me into a surprise exploration of and affection for poetry (and well-crafted prose). Since that point, I’ve been deeply blessed by the writings of Dillard, Christian Wiman, Langston Hughes, Billy Collins, Richard Wilbur and Wendell Berry. In particular, I’m now working my way through Berry’s “This Day: Collected and New Sabbath Poems.”
In the midst of a frenzied digital environment and an often overloaded plate of ministry responsibilities, there’s something deeply grounding about engaging with creative work that requires me to slow down, pay attention and savor the ways words and phrases work together. In many ways, engaging poetry has been like a tutor for my soul — the medium has become an invitation to attention, and I’m deeply grateful.
QUESTION #8: dream
God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
Jon: One of the questions I am getting used to is, “Do you think you’re going to write another book?” and although it’s daunting to consider starting a new project in the midst of a book launch, I will admit that I’ve mused a bit about how fascinating it would be to write about the resurrection appearances of Jesus. One of my favorite things about Jesus is how subtle he can be, so the chance to meditate on these kinds of subtly mysterious stories like the road to Emmaus, Jesus’ appearance to Mary in the garden, or his encounter with Thomas would be captivating, so we’ll see what happens.
Eric: As soon as we finished writing “Reviving Mission,” I got to work creating the “Reviving Mission Workbook” to help individuals and groups live out the everyday missiology of our book in their families, neighborhoods and schools. A book is a great way to learn, and a workbook with spaces to ideate and make action plans can be really helpful. But the best way to let ideas change our lives is to engage with them in community! That’s what I’m excited to do now that “Reviving Mission” and the “Reviving Mission Workbook” are out in the world. In the coming months, I’m excited to be working through this everyday missiology with church leadership teams, campus ministry teams and the diverse group of everyday Christians that meets in my living room each week!
Linson: I enjoy writing. Along with “Reviving Mission,” I am a co-author for a book titled “Learning Our Names.” However, before books, I used to write worship songs. I am a musician, so this felt natural. Lately, I have sensed God calling me back to writing and composing songs and music. I feel led to work with our church worship teams to release an album of new songs that capture the essence of being Indian-American Christians. I hope to capture the joy, tension and hope that we experience as followers of Jesus while giving others fresh vistas to see and worship God in a new light.
How do you sense the Holy Spirit at work in your life? Is it in big, flashy ways, like a giant cosmic arrow pointing you forward? Or in the quiet, mundane moments as he reveals to you a biblical truth or gives you a subtle conviction for what step to take next?
Elijah was expecting one of those cosmic arrows on Mount Sinai. Feeling defeated and weary, he came to the same mountain where Moses encountered the terrifying glory of God several hundred years earlier. But this time, God revealed himself a little differently.
“And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:11,12, ESV).
Questions for reflection: In what ways do you expect God to speak to you? How might God be speaking to you in a whisper? What is he saying to you now?
Linson Daniel, Jon Hietbrink and Eric Rafferty are friends, kingdom collaborators and coauthors of the new book by InterVarsity Press, Reviving Mission: Awakening to the Everyday Movement of God. They each lead in church and campus contexts (Linson is a pastor at Metro Church in Dallas, and Jon and Eric work with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship) and are passionate and deeply hopeful about God’s work in this emerging generation.
