Dream In Soul

Check out the latest updates from Dream in Soul’s SOAR Youth & Young Adult section:

Say Yes To Your Purpose For Such a Time As This: Inspiration from Beckah Shae

Beckah Shae shares her testimony of how she grew to know God and embraced her purpose…

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Phil Wickham on Pursuing Purpose and Finding God’s Will

“You are not to young to find out and seek what God wants you to do with your life right now…your voice isn’t too small…” – Phil Wickham

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Artist Snapshots & Music Pick: Level 3:16 – Love

Started as a part of the Impact Movement (a ministry geared toward college students) and now in partnership with Cross Movement Records comes Level 3:16 bringing a fresh, energetic and spiritually uplifting sound…

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Ministry Spotlight: The Dream Girlz Gathering & GLAM Camp Founded by Melinda Watts

Recording artist Melinda Watts, winner of the Gospel Music Channel’s singing competition Gospel Dream, knows firsthand about the power of dreams and the importance of being given the opportunity to grow into one’s purpose. As a former teacher her heart has always been geared toward youth, especially girls who grew up in difficult environments…

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There’s only so far our striving can take us. If we surrender our plans and paths to God He can take us on a journey beyond what we can imagine.

One step guided by God can take you farther and higher than 1000 steps in your own will- trust & obey…

- Julene

Interview by Julene Fleurmond, Editor of DreaminSoul.com and SOAR

Society sometimes sets aside “teenhood” and the early twenties as those fun, carefree years – but what better opportunity to discover who you are and explore what you were made for when you don’t yet have responsibilities like paying rent. Everyone has purpose and we as young people can serve God right where we are, impacting our friends, using our gifts and serving others in our corner of the world. Many leaders throughout history and in the Bible started walking into their purpose in their teen years, so like 1 Timothy 4:12 says:

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

Leslie Denman is passionate about young people and helping them to find and pursue their purpose while they are young. She is a certified Life Purpose and Teen Empowerment Coach (in other words when it comes to purpose, she knows her stuff;) and the founder of the organization Girls Living Life On Purpose, Inc. based in Dallas, TX. In this Interview Coach Leslie gives pointers on pursuing God and purpose boldly right where you are…

Dream in Soul: Hi, can you tell us a little about you and what do you do?

Coach Leslie Denman: I am a believer passionate about empowering people for purpose. As a Christian Life Coach, I am a Missionary of Hope to the countless women and girls that God assigns to me. I partner with the Holy Spirit to bring about transformation to the lives of people through coaching, speaking and training. I have a wonderful husband of fourteen years and two beautiful daughters and my most recent accomplishment that brings me so much joy is answering the call to ministry as a licensed minister.

DS: What inspired you to work with teens, especially young women? What were your own teen years like and how did you get grounded in God into your own purpose?

Leslie Denman: My inspiration to work with teen girls and young women started with my own search for significance and purpose. The last thing I thought my calling was – was to work with teens especially girls. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 29 and I asked God to reveal His purpose for my life. I declared to God that if He spared my life and revealed my purpose, I would spend the rest of my life fulfilling that purpose. I am happy to say that I am still here.

This journey has been remarkable. Looking back over my life and growing up in Omaha, TX, I remember standing in the mirror of my room hearing this small voice telling me that I was going to be great. I had no idea what I would be doing or how it was going to happen but I believed that voice. I carefully and secretly tucked that belief away in my heart. I had great parents and our life was pretty normal that is until I found myself pregnant at the tender age of fourteen and even then, I felt God’s hands of grace and mercy upon me. My parents made sure we were active in church and grew up hearing the word of God. God used that experience in my life to draw me closer to Him.

I remember going to church and watching people sing, shout and praise God and I would think “What is that all about.” I was a young girl with a heavy burden and I wanted to feel what those people were feeling. I wanted to be free. I would ask God in my own lil’ way to help me know Him like that. Soon I would find myself angry and frustrated for many years to come. At the time I did not know that God was answering my prayer.

DS: What is the first thing you would say to someone about pursuing their purpose? How does s/he discern what it is and move forward to pursuing it?

Leslie Denman: Great question. The first thing I would say is “WHY? Why are you pursuing your purpose?” May seem like a simple question, even strange to some but it is the answering of this question, you hear the heart and motive of the individual. Luke 6:45 says “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Discovering your purpose is just the tip of the iceberg. Walking it out is like an award-winning drama complete with plots, schemes and twists. An individual clear about their WHY will not only discover their purpose but they will walk it out in a spirit of excellence. Discerning one’s purpose can be both exciting and yet frustrating. It’s exciting in that you will discover that you are gifted and passionate about so many things; frustrating in that you don’t know what to pursue…

A Leap of Faith Into Who You Are in Christ – Heart to Heart with Dr. Naima Johnston-Bush

Dr. Naima speaks about how she learned to trust in God as a young woman and gives advice on embracing your identity in Christ…

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Author and singer Dr. Naima Johnston (now Dr. Naima Johnston-Bush after she got married a while back) spoke to us previously on Dream in Soul about how to find and follow your calling (click here for the two-part interview). In this Heart to Heart she speaks about how she learned to trust in God as a young woman and gives advice on embracing one’s identity in Christ…

Inspiration: Spensha Baker on Purpose

Spensha Baker reminds us that our purpose is to live for God, in this beautiful song…

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It’s All About How You Look At It – UPSIDE the Movie

Upside is a movie about Solomon White, a teen athlete who seemed to have it all but whose vision is flipped after an accident…

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It’s a question many of us ask at one point in our lives: What is my calling? Where does God want to use me right now; in ministry, in a certain career? For me the question was most urgent after I graduated from college (which I wrote about earlier on Dream in Soul). It was the typical post graduation anxiety – “uh oh – I’ve got be an adult and face the ‘real world’? What do I do now?”

I was confused as to where God was leading me, if I should pursue studying in a certain area of ministry (in my case I felt it might be youth ministry) and I searched my heart and prayed to God to show me which direction He wanted me to go. After a campus ministry conference a few months after graduation I asked one of the leaders Pastor Sample, a youth pastor at a local church, what his advice was to someone who felt they might be called into youth ministry. His answer and how he broke it all down was a blessing to me, especially how he explained how you have to hear clearly from God where He is specifically leading you. I thought his advice was fitting for anyone who was questioning the path of their calling so I wanted to share:

Question: How Do I Know if I Am Called To A Certain Ministry?

A: Special training for ministry is great and so is Bible college or a ministry school…but the main thing is that you really hear from the LORD.

He will call you (it sounds like He is) He will give you specific instructions. Do not run out ahead of Him and do not be behind Him. Go at the pace He wants you to go.

You do not need a special degree or anything…you need a confirmed word of the LORD. He never calls the qualified, He only qualifies the called.

When the Lord calls there are usually 5 steps:

1. Calling – divinely dissatisfied with what you are doing – you know you are being called to a specific direction.

2. Training – this is usually done by man…ie..bible school, training school…