Set apart for God

In discussion with a lovely lady about GGA, I was recommended a book called 'Set Apart for God - the call to a surrendered life' by John Mulinde, and so far I've devoured about half of it.
It's possibly THE most challenging book I've ever read (apart from the Bible).
John Mulinde is a Ugandan pastor and heads up 'World Trumpet Mission' (www.worldtrumpetmission.org) from Kampala.

The challenge, easily worked out from the title, is to be 'set apart' for God's purposes. To be 'in the world but not of it' and to allow God to completely transform our minds so that our purposes are completely in line with what he wants for our lives, to not be influenced by the world's culture, yet at the same time still living in it. It's about seeking after God so thoroughly and desperately that you'll pay any price to see his intervention.

He starts off with a vision he had around the time of 9/11 when he was watching the NY Firefighters tirelessly working to rescue all they could, with many of them not coming out alive.
This is what God said to him as he watched:

'What those men are doing today is not a result of a decision that they made this morning. It is not a decision they made as a reaction to the tragedy you are watching now. Many years ago, each of them made a decision to join a profession that would demand selfless service to save others' lives.'

John Mulinde continues: 'That decision shaped their destiny. They underwent training and preparation for crises of all sorts. They allowed themselves to be trained to cope with extreme conditions of tension and danger. In their training, any personal weaknesses that would easily compromise them were identified and dealt with. The discipline that would make them strong enough and bold enough to deal with any circumstance they might face was steadily incorporated into their inner fabric. None of this was achieved in a matter of days. It took time slowly to change their priorities and values. They learned to despise the things that matter so much to other people, the things that would hold them back. They learned to uphold values most that most people dismiss as too high. In other words, a long time ago they 'set themselves apart' for such a task and such a time as this. When the day came, they were there and they were ready!'

I am challenged by how much this should be the case in my life, in all of our lives if we call ourselves children of God. I'm only just getting to the 'process' bit in the book, but I'm pretty sure that this will have a profound effect on transforming my thinking and attitudes and in renewing my mind...