St. John Studies

How do you feel when you have a “bad” day? A bad week? A bad year?

I believe I have been blessed in my life. Of course I have a bad day every once in a while but there have been few times in my life where I have had a bad week or a bad year.

It has happened but not often.

I can think of two events in my life when I had bad years.

Everyone has times of crisis or trauma. Things happen and they are not all good but I wonder about people who go through crisis or trauma without God. I wonder about people who have bad weeks, or bad years without God. How do they do it?

Not well.

I know.

I have not always known Jesus.

I came to my Lord and savior 19 years ago in the middle of a crisis [my second bad year event]. God pulled me through this period after I turned to Him for help. He restored me to life in Christ.

Some people don’t have that kind of experience, where they can pinpoint a time and a place where they got on their knees and cried out for help, a sincere desperate cry for help.

That’s ok. People can find Jesus in many ways. It does not have to be so dramatic.

My introduction to Jesus was dramatic.

I know people in my life who don’t know God right now and I am always a little concerned about praying for them to find the Lord because the “finding” might come in the middle of a crisis.

Anyone can “do the math” on me and determine that I was born again at the age of 44; some would call me a “late bloomer.”   There were times of crisis or trauma before I established a relationship with God and those days were not easy. In fact I had a hard time pulling my life back together.

You might ask, what did I lack?

I am going to use metaphors to explain what God does for me now.

He provides an anchor in times of trouble. Yes, as a believer I still have good days and bad days. But when I am a bit lost, I don’t want to stay lost for a long period of time. This morning, I had a multitude of problems on my mind. Like you, at times I get overwhelmed with my concerns. Sometimes there are just too many “loose-ends.” There are too many decisions to make. Maybe just too many things to have to think about.

Then I think about Jesus. How no matter what is going on in all the other aspects of my life, I know that I know Jesus. That’s the most important thing. I know He loves me and will care for me. I know He will guide me to the right choices. I know he will forgive for me my weaknesses and will provide strength that I don’t really have.

He is my anchor.

He is my inspiration. I have heard the expression “behind every good man is a good woman” and I believe that can be true but one thing that I do know is true is that behind every good Christian is a God who inspires him or her to be a better person.

God sent his Son Jesus to earth to instruct us about how to live. He set the bar high. We can’t carry out the mission that Jesus carried out but we can try. You see Jesus provided inspiration for all of us to live better lives.

His life model was not intended to discourage us. His life model was not intended to deflate our egos. His life model was not intended to lead to our complacency. His life model was intended to inspire.

What he did with his life showed us what we can do with ours. It is better to not compare to ourselves to Jesus Christ but take his life as a motivation to do better. His courage can give you courage. His dedication can lead to your dedication. His devotion can make you become more devoted.

At times, as we have studied Crazy Love I have been actively questioning my courage, my dedication and my devotion. The book can do that to you. Pastor Chan sets the bar high. Francis Chan seems to have little fear as he puts himself in positions where God has to come through to help him.

You can ask “why can’t I minister to those in the inner city? Why can’t I sell my house and become a missionary to the Congo? Why can’t I become a pastor and devote my life to leading others to Christ?”

I don’t know.

Maybe one day you will engage Jesus on a deeper level, make a more serious commitment and spend more time doing His work.

But right now, thank God that you have what you have.

Thank God that you have him as an anchor.

Thank God that he sent his son Jesus to earth to inspire you and me.

Yes, there are always the good days and the bad days; the good weeks and the bad weeks and I hope not but maybe a year can get really tough. But with God, the days we have can be better.

Because we have Him.

No matter what happens, we have Him.

He makes all the difference.

As we near the end of Crazy Love, I have wondered about the emotional journey that Pastor Francis Chan has taken us on as we have gone through his book.

I watched his Chapter 10 video and I have read Chapter 10 and I sense an open ended and noncommittal recommendation on his part.

Why would this be?

Why would he chide us to act throughout his book and then get to the end and then back off?

Let’s consider some reasons:

Guilt I don’t think Pastor Chan wants us to feel guilty if we are not doing the Lord’s work every minute of every day. Some of us may be far below that level of “action” in our lives. He understands that God extends grace to us and even though we may be falling short in our devotion to God, God understands our weakness. He knows that we live in a very distracting world with all kinds of factors which can take us away from what really matters.

Burn-out Have you ever been around a person who is trying so hard that they just get too stressed out to be effective? They work and work and work and accomplish some things but they are never satisfied.   They keep on working hard to make things right, striving to achieve a level that is above what the rest of us feel we have to do. Then fatigue sets in. They hit a “bump in the road” or maybe two bumps and things get harder. Then you hear that they have quit their work altogether. Pastor Chan knows that the concept of burn-out is very real and Christians who are striving to work for God can experience this.

Lack of support Some people who feel the need to work for God don’t get the support they need from their coworkers, friends and relatives. Some of the hardest criticism comes from people we are close to. When you know God has put a job before you and you know He wants you to do it, you can’t explain to others how you “know” this. Others will doubt your decisions. They will say things to make you question yourself. Sometimes a comment like “How do you know?” will do a lot of harm. People can make you feel like you are insane if they ask you to explain a “God thing.” Instead of encourage, loved ones can discourage. Instead of celebrating your new goal for your life and God’s ministry here on earth, they question and raise doubt. Lack of support can kill a person’s enthusiasm and Pastor Chan knows that.

It is Your Holy Spirit after all   What do I mean by that? Francis Chan is a well-respected leader and too often, pastors are in a position to tell people exactly what to do. However, I sense he does not want to tell you what to do. He just wants you to be open to the Holy Spirit moving in you. It is not his job to command people; it is his job to ask you to respond to God’s commands. His Holy Spirit is unique to him, just as yours is to you. I have a pastor friend who is a problem solver. I guess some people want that. I suspect most people do not need a problem solver as much as a listener who can help them talk out their problems and come up with their own solutions. The best solution is one that is Holy Spirit directed.

Finding Fault Have you considered your activity level and how that matches up with what Pastor Chan has written? What if you think you are pretty devoted and you are spending a lot of time doing God’s work right now? What if you see others not devoting themselves to His work? What if you see lots of areas in your church where we are missing opportunities to serve? Should we grumble and criticize? The answer is no. God does not intend us to be prideful about our service to others. God does not intend us to compare what we are dong to what others are doing. In fact, I believe God would be very disappointed if we did that. He wants us to be humble as we do our Lord’s work. Too often we want the credit for something God is doing. That just distracts others from the work of our Lord and Savior.

So what is the purpose of Crazy Love?

Pastor Chan wants to “move the needle.”

Pastor Chan wants to “get us off our dime.”

Pastor Chan wants to get us “off the bubble.”

I could go on and on with the clichés but you get the point. He wants us to act. He wants us to do something with our lives. He feels Christians need to have one thing going for them in life.

We need to have a purpose.

And let’s be honest. He feels we should all have the same purpose…to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Why does he get noncommittal toward the end of Crazy Love? He wants us to open up to God, let God give us a purpose and he wants us to act.

Act with a Christian purpose.

Today, please watch the video and reflect on what Pastor Chan has said to us about living the Christian life.

He has sincere hopes for us.

Don’t grumble about your church.  Don’t grumble about your life.  Ask the question what is it I must do before I die?  Now that you feel you have learned something about living as a Christian, don’t be judgmental of others.  Be humble.  Take what you have learned and do something with your life.  Consider the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit works in you.  Find a way to listen to your Holy Spirit and respond to it.  Don’t have perfection paralysis; looking for perfect circumstances in order to take action is a waste of time.

Tomorrow, we will have an announcement about the next St. John study.

Enjoy the last chapter of Crazy Love.

As we work though Chapter 9, I have posted thoughts on decision-making and how God can help us in this process.

In fact the last post was on three ways that God guide us through decision-making.

I ended the last post “OK, What’s Next” with the lines, “Our task is to follow and trust.”

This is hard to do but it is necessary. My wife and I are in the process of decision-making and we both are going through times of change in our lives and in our family’s lives. Susan is a very private person. We do talk but she is not an overly sharing person. She rarely tells others what is on her heart, even to me, her best friend. I on the other hand, am open.

I am going to be open with you now.

I pray about God’s guidance and I look for things that tell me I am making a good decision. What do I look for? I look for peace even in times of change. A sure sign that God is involved is for me to have internal peace when everything outside of me is in transition, even upset or turmoil.   I also look for a good fit for the circumstances in my life. I don’t make things fit together. God does that. I just have an open eye for the work of the Great Arranger. He can make “all things work for the good of those who love Him.” I have a strong belief that things don’t happen by accident. I am patient person as I let God guide me in my life. I have the attitude that He knows what is best for me. He knows what is best for me more than I know what is best for me. I can let go of things because I trust Him.

I am not saying that I have some special connection to God. What I have is available to any believer. I just try to pay attention and listen. I just let Him be my Guide. All I do is follow.

In Revelation, Peter has a miraculous escape from prison.  He was bound with chains and was sleeping between two soldiers. An angel of the Lord appeared and a light suddenly shone in the cell. The angel told Peter to get up and when he did, the chains fell off. The angel told Peter to follow him and Peter did, despite the fact that he was not even sure that this was real. He thought the angel was a vision. The angel took him past the first guard. Then the angel took him past the second guard. Then they came to an iron gate leading to the city. It opened by itself! [from Revelation 12].

What happened to Peter? He just followed his Lord and Savior.

What is our problem in these circumstances? We want to know things in advance. But really, there is no need for this knowledge.   If we get to the iron gate and it is not open, maybe the timing is not right.   Maybe God wants us to go somewhere else and find another gate. If we agonize about a closed gate we will miss another opportunity that is available. We have to trust that God will open the gate when the time is right. Maybe He wants to work on us some more. We are not prepared to go through the gate.

This process requires faith and patience.

Not knowing.

Waiting.

We have an awesome God but he asks a lot from us.

That’s what Chapter 9 is all about.

The chapter is about people who have turned their lives over to God and He has shown them what to do.

This leads me to the two open-ended two commandments in Matthew and Mark that will drive you insane if you try to pick them apart.   Jesus was asked once which commandment of the Law was the greatest. He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30–32; Matthew 22:37–39). What God wants is really quite simple: He wants us. All our service for God must flow from those two commands to love, or it is not real service; it is fleshly effort.

How do you deal with such vagueness?

He will show you how to deal with it…but don’t make the most common mistake–don’t tell our God how to guide you.

Unless you want a life that is totally lacking in peace.

He will swing the gate open, when He determines that the time is right.

One thing that I have noticed about living this life here on earth. I bet you have noticed it too. Nothing stays the same. Some folks try to keep things the same but you can’t do it. Life is about change. You have to be able to adapt to your changing circumstances.

Chapter 9 in Crazy Love is about people who have dedicated themselves to letting God work through their lives, the doctor who spent his life trying to cure mossy foot, the lady who adopted the baby from Tanzania whose mom had AIDS, the man named Rings who gives all his money away to feed the homeless.

All these people got to a point in their lives where they felt the need to change, the need to increase their commitment to God.

God pulled on their hearts and then they had to say to Him, Ok God, what’s next?

And they truly did not know…what was next.

But they dedicated their lives to Him anyway.

What is available to us to help us decide what to do? I am not talking about a “book” or a website. There is no magic help number for you to call. There is no guru on You Tube for you to watch.

But there is help…help from God.

In the scriptures. God has a written record of what to do, how to do it and a treasure horde of His advice. Right in your Bible.

The Bible has lots of counsel about what to do. Most importantly, God has shown through the Word that prayer and relationship with Him will help in any circumstance.

There are words to tell us what to do with our God-given gifts.

There are words to tell us how to develop our characters.

There are words about how to handle our material possessions, etc.

The Bible tells us that we have to rely on the Holy Spirit in times of change. If we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit and follow this awesome “Helper”, there will be advice in times of change. Paul says, “Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds” (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

Some who are facing decision time in a season of change may say, “I just need a yes or I just need a no.!” The Bible may not give you specific answers; a yes or a no, but the attitude formation that will help you in times of change is there. I quote from one of my favorite authors John Stott when he says: “Generally speaking, it is correct to say that the will of God for the people of God is in the Word of God.”

Recognize that most of God’s guidance is unconscious.   The writer of Proverbs says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5,6 – NIV).

What does that mean for us in times of change and decision?

Put your need to understand “on hold”. We want to peer into the crystal ball and see success in our future. That is so reassuring. However we have no crystal ball and we should not expect God to give us one.

What we do have is a promise from God that He will direct our paths.

For many of the people that Pastor Chan writes about in Chapter 9, I wonder if their peace about their decisions came from Isiah chapter 58, when God says to his people that if their concern is for the needy in society, the oppressed, the naked and the hungry, then one of the results will be that “The Lord will guide you always” (see Isaiah 58:6-12). In other words, if our motives and goals are right, guidance is something that will just happen. God has promised that.

It may not be a thought that makes sense to you.

It may not be a panel of friends that agree with you about your decision.

Mom and Dad may not approve of your change.

But you will feel it is right; I truly mean to emphasize the word feel.

Ok, now I am going to get really confusing because I am going to state that God expects us to use our intelligence . In the very well-known verse in Matthew [22:37] we are told to love God with all our mind as well as our heart.

Guess what? One of God’s gifts to us is our very insightful mind. We need to use it to think so we are not operating like an animal, relying on instinct. Psalm 32:8-9 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle”

Use your mind as you ponder making a change.

This is part of Christian maturity.

Eugene Peterson, the great translator of the Bible into a contemporary format called The Message, explains this use of the mind very well : “The early stages of Christian belief are not infrequently marked with miraculous signs and exhilarations of spirit. But as discipleship continues, the sensible comforts (those that depend on our physical senses) gradually disappear, for God does not want us neurotically dependent upon Him, but willingly trustful in Him. And so He weans us.”

Yes, it would be nice to always have a blue print before us to help us with decision-making but God does not want us to be baby Christians forever.

God gives us wisdom to know the best path to take. He may provide the tools and the materials but we have to make something ourselves by using our intelligence. A mature Christian does not need any more than that.

What’s next?

Don’t tell God how He must guide you. His job is to open doors. Our job is to read His word, feel His guidance and use our minds.

Our task is to follow and trust.

Sanctification…

I have written about it before but in light of Chapter 9, I feel compelled to write about it again.

I am going to ask you point blank.

What are you doing to grow in your faith?

Growing in your faith is sanctification. It is what we are designed to do.

When we are brought right with God we experience justification [justifying grace]. All our sins are forgiven and we know that we are in the arms of our loving Lord and Savior. Some report a born again experience. Others do not. Some say that they have felt justified for many years. They have not had a dramatic change of life.

What happens after justification?

Sanctification.

RC Sproul says it is like coming into focus. In his book Pleasing God he talks about what a Christian can do to “please God.” To please God, we must grow in our Christian life. Before we get right with God [justified] we are out of focus; have scales on our eyes or cataracts. Ephesians 2: 2-3 says we are born into a spiritual darkness. God’s tender grace brings us into focus. Jesus heals the blind man in Mark 8: 22-25 but that man begins to see in stages. He reports that he sees men walking around and they look like trees walking. Later Jesus applies other healing techniques and his sight comes into focus.

Our sanctification or spiritual growth does not come instantly. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” is in Matthew but this is the end state of man. This is after the growth is over and death has arrived. Life is a series of growth spurts. We are designed to learn.

Sproul cites a book that we have all heard about but probably none of us have read: Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. In this book Christian, an everyman character, is the main character and he is on a journey from his hometown, the “City of Destruction” (“this world”), to the “Celestial City” (“that which is to come”: Heaven) atop Mount Zion. Christian is weighed down by a great burden—the knowledge of his sin—which he believed came from his reading “the book in his hand” (the Bible). This burden, which would cause him to sink into Hell, is so unbearable that Christian must seek deliverance.

The reason Sproul cites this work which used to be in everyone’s home along with the Bible is that the book does describe a man who is making progress. It is hard. There are many obstacles in his way but he perseveres toward the Celestial City.

The yearning of our Holy Spirit makes us want to move toward improving our lives and we fight it, the world fights it and we can even ignore it and regress in our Christian life.

We are ignoring our Lord and Savior when we fight growth, give into worldly pressure to stagnate or regress. I am convinced that the way to please God is to make the effort to grow in your Christian living. In chapter 9, Pastor Chan challenges us to live better lives and gives us 14 examples of people who are giving their all for our Lord and Savior.

Sproul writes “the Lord is intensely interested in our welfare and our maturing. He wants us to learn more and more about God and how to please Him. He wants us to change, like the healed blind man, so that our vision clears, so that we grow in how we perceive the world and how to act in it. Growth and change in such perception means learning more and more about what pleases God. This growth in pleasing God is called sanctification.”

We might not feed the homeless, we might not go on a foreign mission, we might not nurse the poor but we can grow. We can learn about God and see where that takes us.

Ancora Imparo is a phrase that has much meaning for me. To me it summarizes what Sproul and Pastor Chan are saying.

Ancora Imparo is Latin for “still learning.”

Chapter 9 is unusual.

Pastor Chan lists 14 examples of God- following people.

When I say “God- following” I mean people who have sacrificed for our Lord and Savior. I mean people who have developed a lifestyle of living with little because they want little. What they have, they have given away. They have given away what they own so people who have nothing will have something.

As I write this blog I sit in a comfortable bed. Let me describe my surroundings. I am writing with my laptop in my lap [it is totally paid for]. My bedroom is clean and bright, well-lit and the air conditioner just clicked on. The house is a comfortable 72 degrees. I have a flat-screen tv about 10 feet away [all paid for] and it will furnish me with entertainment at the flick of my remote control. The bedroom is furnished with cherry bedroom furnishings, early American. My wife and I bought this bedroom ensemble about 35 years ago and it has held up well. Last year we renovated the master bathroom, spending a large sum of money to get a professional contractor to reconfigure it to my wife’s specifications. The old bathroom was nice enough but we decided we wanted more.

Why am I telling you all this?

To admit that I am far from the lady I saw on the Kroger parking lot the other day who had a poster board draped over her body. It said “I am having hard times. Please help me!”

To admit I am far from the two men I saw on the bench in front of Micah Mission Center, smoking cigarettes the other day. Homeless? Drug addicts? I don’t know.

To admit that I am far from the man and woman I saw at the Coffee Connection downtown in Hopkinsville. Down and out? Unemployed? Nowhere to go?

Why am I telling you all this?

I drove past all these people. I did not stop. I don’t know their stories because I did not ask. I just assume they are destitute because I saw them with a poster board, at Micah and at Coffee Connection.

This is the way I am.

Knowing I should help but doing nothing.

Driving past.

Are you with me?

Do you drive past?

Why don’t we stop and try to lend a hand? Why don’t we stop and ask a question or two?

In church Sunday, a sweet lady stood up in the 2^nd service and witnessed to the whole church. She witnessed about the men from jail who helped at this year’s Taster’s Luncheon. They were “trustees” who were out of their cells for the day to bus tables and help out in other ways at our church-wide luncheon. She said that a letter was sent to one of the men thanking them for their service to our church. That inmate wrote this woman and said it was the only letter he has ever gotten in jail and it meant so much to him to help out and to be appreciated.

It was just a letter.

But it meant so much.

As she witnessed, her husband was saying beneath her witnessing voice, “We are all sinners. We have all done wrong in our lives.”

What true words.

We don’t need to look down on anyone, the man from jail, the couple at Coffee Connection, the smokers at Micah or the woman with the poster board at Kroger.

Yet we do.

We don’t connect.

We drive past.

Yes I am far from the people that Pastor Chan writes about in Chapter 9. I have my comfy life. I follow God only to a certain point. Beyond that point however, I get really anxious.

I don’t want to know him in a way that shares my excess with those who are less fortunate.

Chapter 9 is packed with lots of people who “really live that way”…they choose to sacrifice for our Lord and Savior.

They are not driving past.

I hope you watched the video.

It is representative of Chapter 9 in Crazy Love.

Doing insane things for the Lord.

Why are they insane?

Because they are acts of faith.

They stretch people beyond where they want to go.

The things Pastor Chan describes in the video and Chapter 9 make people uncomfortable.

They demonstrate a level of commitment beyond anything you ever imagined.

Wow, isn’t it easy to be safe? It is so nice. You just go to church, be fed by the pastor for 20 minutes and then go home. That’s all that is required to be a Christian.

Is that all that there is?

I ask you this question. Are you growing in your faith?

Don’t get me wrong, in the video Pastor Chan is citing examples of people who have sold everything and gone abroad on a mission trip that is long lasting, not just a week overseas. These people have made lengthy commitments. I have two friends from high school who became Wycliffe Bible Translators. They went to foreign lands and spent years translating the Bible into the language of the area where they were assigned.

Folks, that is what I call commitment.

People do these kinds of things but what if that is way beyond your reach?

And what if extending your faith is something you can do in a less dramatic fashion?

Won’t God honor that?

Of course He will.

You are giving to the church in a grudging way. You have been very short with your tithe and what you give, you have not given with a happy heart. You become serious about bringing your tithe to the appropriate amount.

God will honor that growth effort.

You are called on to get involved with youth at church and you keep saying “No, I am too old; let the young ones do that.” You say yes and help Anita with chaperoning a trip or volunteer to help with Children’s connection.

God will honor that growth effort.

United Methodist Men need extra help with transportation for elderly church members who need to go to the doctor. You can drive but you have been fearful of the commitment. You say yes and get involved.

God will honor that growth effort.

The bus ministry is a fledgling effort. It seems that we just can’t figure out how to use it to pick up people. At times the church has run it for one or two people. You have ideas about how to get people involved and coming to church but you are scared to commit. You do commit and the bus has 5 people on it and them 10 and then 15 to 20 every Sunday.

God will honor that growth effort.

You are wanting to attend a class on Wednesday night. Maybe it is a class having to do with creating something. All your life you have told yourself that you are not very creative but you really want to attend. Down deep inside you know you need that. You say yes and you attend.

God will honor that growth effort.

It has been so long since you have done a serious study of the Bible. You never even open it much anymore. You find out about a translation you may like. You purchase a study guide to help you read it and you begin; the beginning becomes habit and you are reading the whole Bible through and you are understanding it.

Praise God, He will honor that growth effort.

Too often we hear stories of people like my high school friends and we feel “pale” in comparison. Maybe we feel angry that we can’t do what they are doing. Maybe you feel less Christian because we just can’t commit to going abroad for years at a time.

That’s not the best response to examples of Christian people doing dramatic things.

Where are you?

What are you used to?

What is a stretch for you?

Do it!

Don’t play the comparison game. It is a loser’s game. God knows where you are and what you need to do to grow. Just do what you need to do to grow.

But don’t stagnate in your faith, or even worse, don’t decay in your faith.

God does not want that for you.

Let inspirational Christians inspire you. That’s what they are good for…inspiration. But don’t feel like you have to march along with them step by step. You have to do what works for you and God.

God will honor your growth effort.

I don’t usually do this but as we begin a new week, I am going to reflect back on the previous week.

I don’t know if you know this, but I take this stuff seriously.

I guess that is the problem with writing a blog and thinking about what I write.

It has an effect on me.

I begin to wonder about what the author is saying and I begin to wonder if I am living the way I should be living.

We worked through a chapter entitled “Profile of the Obsessed” and I begin to wonder why I am not obsessed.

Pastor Chan calls all us Christians out:

Why aren’t we giving to the poor, why are we so concerned about our safety, why are we so worried about fitting in, why can’t we get a handle on our pride and why is service to others such a burden?

Wow, feel like you are falling short?

Why can’t we be givers instead of takers, why aren’t we thinking of heaven a lot more than we do, why aren’t we “raw with God” in our prayers, why am I not reading my Bible more and why don’t I make better character-building choices?

Chapter 8 is a big blow to the Christian ego.

Let’s explore what is holding us back.

We are concerned about our finances. Will I have enough money to pay the bills? What about retirement? Yet God is wanting me to give.

After reading Chapter 8: God will give you what you need, when you need it if you only believe.

What about taking a chance to help someone who really needs help?

After reading Chapter 8: God will show you how to help others and provide what you need to help others, if you only believe.

What about taking on a job that is too hard but you feel He is calling you to do it?

After reading Chapter 8: God will show you what to do and give you the strength to do the work, if you only believe.

I would like to read the Bible more, watch Christian videos and read more Christian living literature, maybe even attend a Bible study, but my life is so full and I can’t cram in anything else. Yet God is calling me to grow.

After reading Chapter 8: God will show you how to put Him first. He will honor your new commitment to him and you will be surprised how He will reward your efforts to know Him more as you study His Word.

I know I should think about my Lord and Savior more but I compartmentalize God so much. I see Him on Sunday morning and that is about it. Sometimes I pray but not much.

After reading Chapter 8: God is everywhere in your life. He cares for you and wants to participate in every aspect of your life. He will open your eyes to His presence throughout your day if you let Him.

I put myself at the center of my life too much. I know I am that way. I can’t get the “pride thing” under control. I wish I could but I have a hard time putting other people first, much less God.

After reading Chapter 8: God is first. Slowly get to realize that you would have nothing if not for Him. Things of this world will pass away and so will you. What are you doing with your time here on earth? Helping others, learning about God so you can teach and witnessing for the Lord are good things to do but they require you to step out beyond your “self.”   The root of pride is obsession with “self”, which is a serious waste of time.

I am getting too old. I can’t do anything much to help God.

After reading Chapter 8: Some people can sell their homes and become missionaries. Some people can start a homeless shelter. Some people just have reached the point in life where their body will not let them do such things. But is there work to do? Attend prayer group at church. Pray for your Pastor and church leaders. Start your own blog. Join the prayer shawl group at church. Help out the United Methodist men transport our elderly to the doctor. Ask God what to do to help Him. He will give you work to do…age appropriate work.

I don’t want my friends to think I am odd.

After reading Chapter 8: They will. They will doubt you. They will wonder if you are doing what you are doing “for show.” They will criticize you and put doubts in your head and introduce additional fear into your life. They don’t want you to follow God. They want you to be the same old person you were and do the same old things you used to do.

It is a little scary to make a reference to a movie because readers will not have seen it and the reference will be meaningless. In 2000, I saw a movie called “The Castaway” about a hard-driving Fed Ex manager who found himself marooned on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific. He was all alone. He spent many days on the island just trying to figure out how to survive. The loneliness was excruciating to watch and I determined that I would have committed suicide rather than face the loneliness. The film struck me to the core. I still shiver as I put myself in the main character’s situation.

What Chapter 8 is calling us to do is follow God. Really follow God. You will be doing some crazy stuff and people will tell you that. But you must be strong in the Lord. You must believe in Him. When times get lonely, you must realize that you are not alone. He is right there with you. When people in this world begin to express their concerns, it is best not to listen to them because you are listening to a more important power, your Lord and Savior.

I began this blog with the simple word lonely.

It does not apply to the real believer, the real Christian.

I learned that in Chapter 8.

I have described Pastor Chan as obsessed about God and he thinks all true Christians should be also. In fact, in Chapter 8 he has 13 markers for the “obsessed” person. Today I want to comment on the 7 remaining markers of the obsessed Christian.

7. “People who are obsessed with God are known as givers, not takers. Early last year we had a class at church on the popular book “I Am a Church Member” and one of the main points of the author was that some people come to church with their hand out. What can the church do for me? What do you have that will keep me coming? I am not sure that this is the correct attitude to have toward church. Are we not called to be givers and not takers? The church is to be a light of hope for the world.   We exist to help those who are truly suffering, not those who are looking for free services.
8. “A person obsessed thinks about heaven frequently. Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is in front of them.” Where do you want to be when you have your end time? Pastor Chan writes of his Aunt Clara who does not want to be in a theater if God takes her. He takes her to see a play and leans over at intermission and asks if she is enjoying the performance.   She says “Oh honey, I don’t want to be here right now. I just don’t know if this is where I want to be when Christ returns.” What are you doing in your days? Is it something you would be ashamed of if you met your Maker while you were doing it? Maybe you think Aunt Clara is too serious but her attitude is convicting, isn’t it. Sometimes I am not proud of what I am doing or what I am saying. Maybe I should think about heaven more frequently.
9. “A person who is obsessed is characterized by committed, settled, passionate love for God, above and before every other thing and every other being.” “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” [Luke 10:27]. Jesus boiled down the commandments to these two and they are big ones and they show a healthy obsession with God. Stop and really read them. Love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength and with all your mind. My goodness, really living a life with these ideals is serious work. Is He not calling us to be obsessed? Is He not calling us to love Him totally? I think so.
10. Pastor Chan speaks of “being raw with God.” What he means is total honesty resulting in peace. How do you pray? Are you totally honest with God? Do you have a problem that you try to cover up? Do you try to explain away your sins by hiding your real motivation as if God does not know your real motivation? Prayer is a time for really “laying it all out with God.”  He knows all about you; He “knit [you] together in [your] mother’s womb. Why try to hide from God when you pray? Lay your burdens down.
11. “People who are obsessed with God have an intimate relationship with Him. They are nourished by God’s word throughout the day because they know that forty minutes on Sunday is not enough to sustain them throughout the week.”   I know that I can’t get by with the minimum, which is the Sunday worship hour. I need Sunday School. I need my own study, whether it is the Bible, a Christian Living book like Crazy Love or even a video on Right Now Media. The more I get into the Word, the better I will be. Often, it seems that the ideas that I need in my life pop up as I study, as if the verse, the writer or the speaker knows my needs. This keeps me strong throughout the week.
12. “A person who is obsessed with Jesus is more concerned with his or her character than comfort. Obsessed people know that true joy doesn’t depend on circumstances or environment; it is a gift that must be chosen and cultivated.” I have known true joy and I have known true misery. As I recall moments of joy, I would really say that they are moments of contentment, moments that are due to day after day efforts at building my character. For character is built on day to day choices. When I know I have spent my time well, when I have avoided my problems with sin, when I have accomplished what I think I am proud of and maybe God would approve of, those are good choices. It is day after day, trying to do the right thing. Some would say that this life is boring but if it results in joy or contentment, that is a wonderful way to live.
13. Finally, “the person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the best thing he can do is be faithful to his Savior in every aspect of his life, continually saying ‘Thank You!’ to God. He revels in his role as child and friend of God.” God is complete as is. He does not need anything from you except your commitment to Him. Nothing you can do will earn your way into heaven.   Nothing you can do will make Him love you more.

What do we need to do? Just praise him.

Yes Pastor Chan feels that the real Christian is obsessed with God and he presents a long list of ways we can be obsessed. What we think about ourselves as Christians is one thing; what God thinks about us is another.

Maybe Pastor Chan is right; maybe obsession is a good word, especially when it refers to how we love and honor our God. The more obsessed we are, the better off we will be. The more we feel that being obsessed about God is a crazy thing, maybe that is a sign that we are not the Christians we should be.