I realize that it has been a pretty long time since I got on here. I would love to say that its been because that I have just been too busy. But, more honestly, its because I have been too lazy. I haven't really had anything hit me or anything that I felt led to talk about. But, I am back today with some thoughts on the current chapter that our small group is discussing tonight, chapter 7.
I will get to the thoughts on the book first and then I have something else I want to share. The really challenging part of this week's chapter is the idea of longing more for heaven than for our life that we have now. We have it good in America. There is pretty much anything that you could want within driving distance. And we all have abilities to get there. When Chan asks, are we living in a way that shows that our hope, our desire is not for this life but the next, we have to ask ourselves if that's true. In the video for this chapter, the question is posed this way. Do you long for Jesus to come back today? If you could have the choice, would that be what you want? I had to stop and think about it. Yes, I desire to love God and strive to show that love. I want to learn more about Jesus and hopefully in doing so model my life in a way that reflects His character. But, are there things in this life that I want to do before Jesus comes? Would I feel like I missed something if Jesus was to come today? I reluctantly answer yes to those questions. I guess that's part of our human nature, but its also something that we have to surrender to God. Its not something to be beat up over, but a need to bring before the Father and allow Him to minister to that lack of love.
I am not saying that I don't plan. I have to. I have to plan on things that will happen until Jesus comes back. However, I don't have to desire them more. I think that the line there is a very thin one to walk. Maybe its part of the reason that we HAVE to ask for God's guidance on a daily basis. Its impossible for us to try and tackle it ourselves. These are just me working through my thoughts on this chapter and I might not ever get it right. But, I am willing to share those with you.
Now, on to something I wanted to share about the last post that I wrote. I prayed with my wife over the areas that I have been feeling like I am disappointed with God. I didn't hold back either. If I felt scared, I said I was scared. If I felt hurt, I said I was hurt. I know that might sound like it just makes sense, but I definitely have been putting on a face of "ok-ness" before God for a long time. I don't know if I have ever felt so good about something that I have no control over in a long time. I know that nothing about the situation has changed but I have a little. Andy Stanley said this about prayer, "Prayer isn't about changing God, its about changing you." I can say that honest, open, prayer with God does change you. You feel like He really cares and is listening, or at least I did. So, if there is an area that you feel like God has been silent on in your life. Just tell Him how you are feeling there. Especially if you haven't ever prayed how you feel to God before. Let Him do what He longs to do, care and love on us. Its hard sometimes, but its so worth it.
Showing posts with label crazy love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crazy love. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Its a Crazy Wednesday
Gosh, that is really a cheesy title, but I will leave it. Its that day when I think about the current chapter in Crazy Love and then talk about it here.
In chapter 5, Chan talks about the difference between a struggling Christian and some one who lives a life that isn't about following Christ. I offer the link to this video by Driscoll as a very concise and good answer. He offers it within the first minute and then gives a good example. Sort of an aside, I love Driscoll's plain speaking nature and direct answers. I might not be totally sure on the whole elect vs free will thing, and that might be the only area that I really disagree with him, but I find a lot of truth in his words. However, as Chan mentions in the video, we are told to test and find out what is true in God. Either way, Driscoll will tackle a few things that other ministers seem to shy away from and I respect him for that. Aside over.
Chan asks if we invented the idea of the casual Christian. He even says that Jesus never asked us to go and make Christians of all men, but disciples, those who will follow His teachings. He didn't say, but if that's too hard, let's just get them saved so that they can get into heaven and not really ever change. But how often are we preaching such a gospel? I didn't mention it on here, but I have to others about the message when I went to my mom's church. The preacher mentioned how he will never preach the "do you know where you are going if you die today?" invitation anymore. He said he didn't want to scare people into a decision. I loved that. Its not just a "get out of hell" card when you surrender to His love.
I have mentioned the book unChristian and I was reading last night something that just completely fit in with this mindset. It said that of all 18-29 that were surveyed, 65 percent said that they had made a personal commitment to Jesus, just a little less than the Boomers whose percentage is 73. Thus, the majority of Americans say that they have ALREADY made a significant decision to follow Christ. However, when you get more specific about what that means, a biblical worldview (believing the Bible, God is all-powerful, all-knowing and still rules the world today, that salvation is a gift from God, Satan is real, a Christian has a responsibility to share his or her faith with others, the Bible is accurate in all it teaches, unchanging moral truths exist and such truths are defined by the Bible, Jesus lived a sinless life,), then the percent of 18-29 that believe that falls drastically to 3 percent (only 9 percent of Boomers). Then they put it in people numbers. They say that means out of 95 million Americans who are 18-41, about 60 million will say they have already made a commitment to Jesus, but only 3 million of them embrace the biblical worldview. That is astounding to me.
I think this fits in so well with what Chan was talking about. So many people claim to have a connection to Jesus, but we don't ever think about what that might mean if we are to live it out. It is a challenge but it also heart breaking. In the video that Chan does, he asks if this chapter made you question your salvation. Its ok if it does, which is why I posted the video of Driscoll to sort of quench any doubts Satan might attack you with. After watching the video last night and thinking about my life, I just prayed thanks to God for all that He has shown me in the past couple years. That I can, without doubt, know where I am with Him. I might sin or mess up and do something that doesn't please Him, but I don't doubt where my heart is. I was so moved to tears thinking about how blessed I am and how I am thankful that I can pass that along to children if God ever gives us them or just others.
I hate that there is a real chance I won't be at the small group tonight to discuss everything. I want to share these thoughts. Thankfully I can do it here. I give anyone who reads the same option if they want.
In chapter 5, Chan talks about the difference between a struggling Christian and some one who lives a life that isn't about following Christ. I offer the link to this video by Driscoll as a very concise and good answer. He offers it within the first minute and then gives a good example. Sort of an aside, I love Driscoll's plain speaking nature and direct answers. I might not be totally sure on the whole elect vs free will thing, and that might be the only area that I really disagree with him, but I find a lot of truth in his words. However, as Chan mentions in the video, we are told to test and find out what is true in God. Either way, Driscoll will tackle a few things that other ministers seem to shy away from and I respect him for that. Aside over.
Chan asks if we invented the idea of the casual Christian. He even says that Jesus never asked us to go and make Christians of all men, but disciples, those who will follow His teachings. He didn't say, but if that's too hard, let's just get them saved so that they can get into heaven and not really ever change. But how often are we preaching such a gospel? I didn't mention it on here, but I have to others about the message when I went to my mom's church. The preacher mentioned how he will never preach the "do you know where you are going if you die today?" invitation anymore. He said he didn't want to scare people into a decision. I loved that. Its not just a "get out of hell" card when you surrender to His love.
I have mentioned the book unChristian and I was reading last night something that just completely fit in with this mindset. It said that of all 18-29 that were surveyed, 65 percent said that they had made a personal commitment to Jesus, just a little less than the Boomers whose percentage is 73. Thus, the majority of Americans say that they have ALREADY made a significant decision to follow Christ. However, when you get more specific about what that means, a biblical worldview (believing the Bible, God is all-powerful, all-knowing and still rules the world today, that salvation is a gift from God, Satan is real, a Christian has a responsibility to share his or her faith with others, the Bible is accurate in all it teaches, unchanging moral truths exist and such truths are defined by the Bible, Jesus lived a sinless life,), then the percent of 18-29 that believe that falls drastically to 3 percent (only 9 percent of Boomers). Then they put it in people numbers. They say that means out of 95 million Americans who are 18-41, about 60 million will say they have already made a commitment to Jesus, but only 3 million of them embrace the biblical worldview. That is astounding to me.
I think this fits in so well with what Chan was talking about. So many people claim to have a connection to Jesus, but we don't ever think about what that might mean if we are to live it out. It is a challenge but it also heart breaking. In the video that Chan does, he asks if this chapter made you question your salvation. Its ok if it does, which is why I posted the video of Driscoll to sort of quench any doubts Satan might attack you with. After watching the video last night and thinking about my life, I just prayed thanks to God for all that He has shown me in the past couple years. That I can, without doubt, know where I am with Him. I might sin or mess up and do something that doesn't please Him, but I don't doubt where my heart is. I was so moved to tears thinking about how blessed I am and how I am thankful that I can pass that along to children if God ever gives us them or just others.
I hate that there is a real chance I won't be at the small group tonight to discuss everything. I want to share these thoughts. Thankfully I can do it here. I give anyone who reads the same option if they want.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Lukewarm People
Chapter 4 from Crazy Love is probably the most challenging. It puts forth some standard events or thoughts in the minds of most of the church-going population today. We are having our small group tonight, so my wife and I decided to type them up and hand them out on a sheet of paper. We did this for convenience for all of us. But what it did is have me take a look at the statements once more. Before I get into any specific statement, I wanted to say something about my looking at these.
When I read these the first time, it took a while. This chapter probably took more out of me and took me more time to really think about than any other. I guess that is sort of the goal with it though. When I read these statements, I would think about my life and the times when I might not have spoke or even said the words, but my life spoke exactly what they said. This past week, I have taken a few moments to read the statement and then I would pray for forgiveness from the times that it was true in my past and ask for God to help me to keep it from being true in the future. I don't think that I allowed it to beat me up, but just took the time to recognize my dependence on God for His strength when I want to take an easier way.
Now, to sort of look at a couple that I both struggle with and just sort of smacked me.
"Lukewarm people will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money and energy they are willing to give."
As a group of believers, we are so willing to give our leftovers. That's next weeks chapter and I am sure that I will have lots to talk about this, but for today, I think that the statement should serve as a challenge to us and see if we are just giving things that cost us nothing. This came up this week to me. I talked about it yesterday, about teaching Financial Peace. My first thoughts were about how I don't want to give up a night during the week to lead the group. Then I thought about how I was already giving this semester and I should just wait till next semester. Is that the type of life that God called us to? NO! I had to confess my willingness to put my personal comfort in front of anything that God wanted for me.
"Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven...Regarding this, CS Lewis writes, 'If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."
How often do we think about what our day will hold rather than what our eternity will hold? Even while in church, our minds wander off to where we eat at or what we are going to do for the rest of the day. Our days are filled with schedules and lists but seldom do we focus on things that not for this world. I love the quote from CS Lewis. I think that more than ever that it is applicable today.
"Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don't depend on God on a daily basis....The truth is, their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God."
This made me stop and ask, would my life be different, really, if I wasn't a Christian? The hard truth is that for too many of us that life wouldn't be a big difference. I want to say that my life would be drastically changed. The truth is that I don't know if that's true. Yes, I know that I would think differently and that I probably would act differently. I still think that I would be a "nice guy" though. I don't say this to berate anyone. I say all this to make myself be challenged for something more than just a label and more of the close personal relationship that changes lives that Jesus called us into.
I want to link to SCL today because I think its a great post. I will be trying to "give the gift of going second" tonight at our group. I don't want just superficial talk, I want to show them that we can be open and honest with each other even when its not pretty.
When I read these the first time, it took a while. This chapter probably took more out of me and took me more time to really think about than any other. I guess that is sort of the goal with it though. When I read these statements, I would think about my life and the times when I might not have spoke or even said the words, but my life spoke exactly what they said. This past week, I have taken a few moments to read the statement and then I would pray for forgiveness from the times that it was true in my past and ask for God to help me to keep it from being true in the future. I don't think that I allowed it to beat me up, but just took the time to recognize my dependence on God for His strength when I want to take an easier way.
Now, to sort of look at a couple that I both struggle with and just sort of smacked me.
"Lukewarm people will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money and energy they are willing to give."
As a group of believers, we are so willing to give our leftovers. That's next weeks chapter and I am sure that I will have lots to talk about this, but for today, I think that the statement should serve as a challenge to us and see if we are just giving things that cost us nothing. This came up this week to me. I talked about it yesterday, about teaching Financial Peace. My first thoughts were about how I don't want to give up a night during the week to lead the group. Then I thought about how I was already giving this semester and I should just wait till next semester. Is that the type of life that God called us to? NO! I had to confess my willingness to put my personal comfort in front of anything that God wanted for me.
"Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven...Regarding this, CS Lewis writes, 'If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."
How often do we think about what our day will hold rather than what our eternity will hold? Even while in church, our minds wander off to where we eat at or what we are going to do for the rest of the day. Our days are filled with schedules and lists but seldom do we focus on things that not for this world. I love the quote from CS Lewis. I think that more than ever that it is applicable today.
"Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don't depend on God on a daily basis....The truth is, their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God."
This made me stop and ask, would my life be different, really, if I wasn't a Christian? The hard truth is that for too many of us that life wouldn't be a big difference. I want to say that my life would be drastically changed. The truth is that I don't know if that's true. Yes, I know that I would think differently and that I probably would act differently. I still think that I would be a "nice guy" though. I don't say this to berate anyone. I say all this to make myself be challenged for something more than just a label and more of the close personal relationship that changes lives that Jesus called us into.
I want to link to SCL today because I think its a great post. I will be trying to "give the gift of going second" tonight at our group. I don't want just superficial talk, I want to show them that we can be open and honest with each other even when its not pretty.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Crazy Love Thinking
Today starts my posts about our small group and my personal reflections on Crazy Love. I have mentioned it a couple times in the past and how our group is reading it for this semester's study. This week we looked at chapter 3, aptly named "Crazy Love". (Yes, I realize that I am starting to talk about the book on chapter 3.)
Chan talks about taking a spiritual retreat where he is alone for 4 days. Before hand, he has a friend pray over him about what to study and think about during this time apart. And his friend says something like, "I know that you have wanted this time with Francis..." Chan talks about how at the time he wanted to shy away from that. But if you heard some one say that to you, would you react the same way? I would. For most of my life, my thoughts were, "yeah, God loves me, but that's because I am His creation". I wouldn't think about how His love is a deep desire for me. That just floors me to think of. I am amazed that the God, who created everything, wants not my empty attempts to be holy, but for me to allow Him to create something holy in me. I am constantly in awe of God's love for us.
I love the way that Chan phrases our place, "His being is utterly complete and perfect, apart from humanity. He doesn't need me or you." He doesn't need us, but he wants us. How do we not respond with an outpouring of love toward Him?
The question that Chan poises to the small groups in the video is what moments have you been fully aware and just "got it". Got God's love, and felt it so real. As I watched that, the one thought that came to my mind was a time that I will talk about more in my testimony when I am talking about my college years, but it was on a mission trip to Boston. That time is one of the few times that I can say that my desire for study didn't come out of a sense of obligation, it was genuine hunger. My desire for helping others, wasn't because I thought I should, but because I could. My life wasn't about pleasing myself, it was about what I could do for some one else. I was secure and knew that the only way that God's love for me made sense was so that I could share it.
What about your life? Have you had moments when you got God's love for you? If you want to join in these thoughts, check out Chan's Crazy Love. And no, I don't get any royalties for plugs. But I think its a great source for refocusing our lives. Next week, chapter 4, and some hard truths.
Chan talks about taking a spiritual retreat where he is alone for 4 days. Before hand, he has a friend pray over him about what to study and think about during this time apart. And his friend says something like, "I know that you have wanted this time with Francis..." Chan talks about how at the time he wanted to shy away from that. But if you heard some one say that to you, would you react the same way? I would. For most of my life, my thoughts were, "yeah, God loves me, but that's because I am His creation". I wouldn't think about how His love is a deep desire for me. That just floors me to think of. I am amazed that the God, who created everything, wants not my empty attempts to be holy, but for me to allow Him to create something holy in me. I am constantly in awe of God's love for us.
I love the way that Chan phrases our place, "His being is utterly complete and perfect, apart from humanity. He doesn't need me or you." He doesn't need us, but he wants us. How do we not respond with an outpouring of love toward Him?
The question that Chan poises to the small groups in the video is what moments have you been fully aware and just "got it". Got God's love, and felt it so real. As I watched that, the one thought that came to my mind was a time that I will talk about more in my testimony when I am talking about my college years, but it was on a mission trip to Boston. That time is one of the few times that I can say that my desire for study didn't come out of a sense of obligation, it was genuine hunger. My desire for helping others, wasn't because I thought I should, but because I could. My life wasn't about pleasing myself, it was about what I could do for some one else. I was secure and knew that the only way that God's love for me made sense was so that I could share it.
What about your life? Have you had moments when you got God's love for you? If you want to join in these thoughts, check out Chan's Crazy Love. And no, I don't get any royalties for plugs. But I think its a great source for refocusing our lives. Next week, chapter 4, and some hard truths.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
First night of a new Semester
The new bible study kicks off tonight. We will be looking at Francis Chan's Crazy Love. It looks like we will have a couple extra faces and a few more people interested. I think that the "trailer" that the DVD offered was a great intro to our study. It was amazing timing that today kicks off our study. I say that because one of my favorite stops in the interweb is SCL. Jon's post today was just perfect. Both because it spoke to me personally with what I have been struggling with and because it went along well with the theme of giving of ourselves to God that Chan talks about.
I will just talk about how it affected me personally. Jon talks about how we are reluctant to give up our time in order to see God's will accomplished. I think that this is a major problem with the body of believers today. We have so long raised money for foreign missions, or held a love offering for things far away from us. However, we seldom have given of our time to show God's love. Our money, while not always easy to give, is much easy to part with than a Saturday when we wanted to sit and do nothing. We live in a culture that is so involved with what we can get and what we think we deserve. Our pastor Jeff gave an illustration a few weeks ago about this. Have you ever been driving in a parking lot and people have refused to walk along the sides and instead walk right down the middle of where you are supposed to be driving? Even if its not really verbalized, they are thinking that they don't have to move, that you will have to move around them.
Seldom do we take the time to realize how blessed we are and how much we can give, even if its just our ears to listen or our hands to help. I don't point fingers, because more than anyone else reading this, I am guilty of it. I have been so self-involved that I have been more willing to give my "free time" to TV than to take 30 minutes to talk to the God who loves me more than I realize.
I am going to be confessional about this stuff tonight. I want to be more willing and more open to using all that God has given me for His glory. I don't want to be closed off. I want God to show His love for others through me. Isn't that what we are called to do? Isn't that supposed to be our greatest goal? That's where my mind is right now.
I will just talk about how it affected me personally. Jon talks about how we are reluctant to give up our time in order to see God's will accomplished. I think that this is a major problem with the body of believers today. We have so long raised money for foreign missions, or held a love offering for things far away from us. However, we seldom have given of our time to show God's love. Our money, while not always easy to give, is much easy to part with than a Saturday when we wanted to sit and do nothing. We live in a culture that is so involved with what we can get and what we think we deserve. Our pastor Jeff gave an illustration a few weeks ago about this. Have you ever been driving in a parking lot and people have refused to walk along the sides and instead walk right down the middle of where you are supposed to be driving? Even if its not really verbalized, they are thinking that they don't have to move, that you will have to move around them.
Seldom do we take the time to realize how blessed we are and how much we can give, even if its just our ears to listen or our hands to help. I don't point fingers, because more than anyone else reading this, I am guilty of it. I have been so self-involved that I have been more willing to give my "free time" to TV than to take 30 minutes to talk to the God who loves me more than I realize.
I am going to be confessional about this stuff tonight. I want to be more willing and more open to using all that God has given me for His glory. I don't want to be closed off. I want God to show His love for others through me. Isn't that what we are called to do? Isn't that supposed to be our greatest goal? That's where my mind is right now.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Typing once more
I am really going to try and be a little better about posting on here. Mainly because I have some thoughts that are going on and I am wanting to get them out. Most of them deal with me just struggling with feelings and thoughts, but thats ok. Its one of the areas that I wanted to be transparent in this blog. I read something on Friday that really started my brain a chuggin'. I thought I would share that here.
Occasionally, I like to laugh. I know thats shocking and all of you are all super serious. But, I read the "Best of" from Craigslist on a normal basis. Most of the times its funny "Casual Encounters", which I usually avoid, or rants about some one's pet peeves that I all too often feel myself. But on Friday there was this post. I won't repeat it. Instead you should read it, and I will go into what it made me think about. The simplicities of life are often forgotten as we live our lives. When was the last time that you were thankful for having a light switch? I was just struck by that. It something that we all use everyday and never think of how it could be a luxury. I don't say all this to be down on us for our selfishness, but more so to be captivated by the gifts that we have. I mentioned how I loved the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. One of the points that I took from it was about how we often forget how amazing God is. We pray but forget that we are praying TO some one not just saying words. We get in the routine of prayer, but not the need for communication. When I was growing up, I was told that prayer is just talking to God. But thats the thing, its not JUST talking to God. Its talking to the creator of the universe. THE most powerful being ever. Yesterday we sang a song that has this as the chorus:
You are Holy! Great and Mighty!
The Moon and the stars declare who you are
I'm so unworthy, but still you love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great you are!
I have had that song stuck in my head. Last night as I was falling asleep, I was singing it to God as my prayer. I think that sometimes that I need the wake up call to remember how great our God is.
So, thats where my mind has been the last couple days. Does those words from a former Homeless man touch you in any way? What about the song? Do you often forget how amazing God is? Am I all alone?
Occasionally, I like to laugh. I know thats shocking and all of you are all super serious. But, I read the "Best of" from Craigslist on a normal basis. Most of the times its funny "Casual Encounters", which I usually avoid, or rants about some one's pet peeves that I all too often feel myself. But on Friday there was this post. I won't repeat it. Instead you should read it, and I will go into what it made me think about. The simplicities of life are often forgotten as we live our lives. When was the last time that you were thankful for having a light switch? I was just struck by that. It something that we all use everyday and never think of how it could be a luxury. I don't say all this to be down on us for our selfishness, but more so to be captivated by the gifts that we have. I mentioned how I loved the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. One of the points that I took from it was about how we often forget how amazing God is. We pray but forget that we are praying TO some one not just saying words. We get in the routine of prayer, but not the need for communication. When I was growing up, I was told that prayer is just talking to God. But thats the thing, its not JUST talking to God. Its talking to the creator of the universe. THE most powerful being ever. Yesterday we sang a song that has this as the chorus:
You are Holy! Great and Mighty!
The Moon and the stars declare who you are
I'm so unworthy, but still you love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great you are!
I have had that song stuck in my head. Last night as I was falling asleep, I was singing it to God as my prayer. I think that sometimes that I need the wake up call to remember how great our God is.
So, thats where my mind has been the last couple days. Does those words from a former Homeless man touch you in any way? What about the song? Do you often forget how amazing God is? Am I all alone?
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