Who We Are
The Wilderness Place was born on a back porch on April 24, 2021, when Abba’s declaration of beloved identity pierced the heart of a young, broken pastor. This was a defining moment that would change everything. A covenant brotherhood was birthed on that back porch between two men who would later become the two shepherd-fathers of The Wilderness Place, Tim Ladner and Jarred Rushing.
This was the moment that God used to usher us out of the legalistic system of religion and into the wilderness where He could start speaking to our hearts and maturing us as sons and daughters.
The Wilderness Place is not a church you choose for yourself, but a Kingdom family that you are planted in. We are a family of sons and daughters being seated in our beloved identity and endeavoring to make Jesus the center of everything in our lives.
Religion is the most dangerous thing on the planet. It’s a sophisticated trap.
For years the spirit of religion and legalism have robbed us of intimacy with Jesus by creating an endless list of anxiety-fueled demands that had to be met before any enjoyment could be experienced. It’s clear to us now that if our internal world is not ruled by rest, then we are likely still a slave to that religious system that tells us that His love is only encountered to the degree that it can be earned.
This system produces pride in the ones who can run fast enough and work hard enough to achieve a measure of success, and it creates shame in the ones that can’t keep up, causing them to hide their inner-leper from the public eye.
Only one thing establishes the rest that we long for and that’s the presence of Abba who has called us “His Beloved,” unconditionally, from before the foundation of the world.
The increasing presence of beloved sons and daughters in our culture tells us that the religious “slave trade” system is struggling to maintain its hold. There is an ancient path to freedom being built in the wilderness, and it’s beginning to disrupt and dismantle what remains of the system.
We are not interested in the current, western, religious expression called “American Christianity” and we are unwilling to settle for the best that religion has had to offer for the past 1,800 years. We realize that old forms, old wineskins, and old systems must be removed if we are going to walk in the fullness of the Kingdom of God.
So we are creating a new path…in the wilderness.
A path our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be able to take and not have to know the fear and shame of religion, only the perfect love of their Abba who calls them beloved sons and daughters in whom He finds the greatest delight.