What are you doing right now?

I cannot believe it is already Thursday!  Where has this week gone to?!  It pains me that my time off has already come and gone and I am just now getting to my dose of Crazy Love for this week. BUT, the time certainly wasnt wasted. 

I found a whole new book that I must recommend.  No lie, I digested this book in a day.  It's that amazing!  It's called Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  This true story of Todd's son, Colton, serves as an inspirational look at God's hand and the promise of Heaven.  Colton had a visit to Heaven during a life threatening surgery and this book recalls of the details from this 4 yr old's perspective, as told by His dad. I could NOT put it down.  If you have questions about Heaven or wonder if Heaven exists, READ THIS NOW.



Now, onto this week's thoughts on Crazy Love!

In chapter 7, Mr. Chan challenges our thoughts on living out love. Are we doing things that are "safe", to show God's love?  Or are we trusting that, in all situations, God is going to show up and therefore we are doing things out of faith in His hand...even if they aren't always the safest? The beginning of this chapter gives multiple scripture based examples of men and women who God used, who weren't perfect by any means, but had undying faith and therefore God used to exalt Him. His best cannot happen when we take root in our comfort zones.  We have to be willing to place full faith in Him and step out, even when that is scary.

   - "Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers."

Are we predictable?  Do our outreaches end at feeding the homeless, an occassional visit to a widow, a few flowers sent to a funeral, and taking meals to shut ins? Because if that's all the world sees us do, then yes, we ARE predictable.  Those activities, while beneficial to the recipients, are generally safe.  Think of the impact we could make if we decided to not be so "safe" in our outreach.  What if we got down in the dirt and showed love to the completely unlovely? Jesus did.  What if we actually pushed past stereotypes and loved people because HE first loved us? What if we got out of our safe little Christian bubbles and actually sought to reach the LOST..and not just the backslidden or easily accessible?  Oh the options!

Ministries all over the world are doing this very thing, so why arent we?  XXXChurch is reaching out to those in the Adult Entertainment industry by setting up Bible booths at porn shows, offering church services to Vegas visitors, providing a way out for prostitutes, strippers, and ex-porn stars and providing accountability to those suffering a porn addiction.  This ministry is showing God's love to those who the church deems "unsaveable and dirty".  Mercy Ministries is reaching out to lost and broken women who have been told by the church that, they too, are past saving. The church doesnt know how to deal with the ugly truths of eating disorders, self mutilation, addictions, sexual abuse, unplanned pregnancy, and more.  But by reaching out to these women, Mercy is showing God's mercy and providing hope and healing, transforming lives and restoring hope.  The founders of these ministries saw the need to get "uncomfortable" and step out of the box to live out love in faith.  How much more could be done to further the kingdom if we all lived out love in this way?

  - "Christians today like to play it safe.  We want to put ourselves in situations where we are safe "even if there is no God." But if we truly desire to please God , we cannot live that way.  We have to do things that cost us during our life on earth but will be more than worth it in eternity."

The chapter concludes by asking "What are you doing right now that requires faith?".... So think about it, what, right now, are you doing that is stretching you to the point of fully relying on God to accomplish. Anything?  If the answer is nothing, I challenge you (and me as well) to push ourselves out of the place of comfort and into the place of faith. Let's start not making sense to the world.  Let's live out our love in faith.

When You're Snowed In....

I'm writing this from the frozen tundra that is St. Louis.  While some areas got hit fairly hard, Fenton (in particular) dodged the bullet.  Don't get me wrong, we got quite a bit of ice and sleet but on the snow end we ended up with only about 4 inches, where other areas had 12+.  Kind of a bummer considering the snowpocalypse that the meteorologists were predicting.  I have been stuck at home for the past two days and for what?! 4 inches of snow?!  Bah.

 I finally couldnt take the cabin fever anymore and ventured out for a Zumba class this afternoon.  Made it there safely and am SO glad I went.  I just started Zumba last week but am already hooked! I'm hoping along with my other crazy workouts, this will help me get to my final goal.  Have any of you ever taken Zumba, and if so, what were your results?

One bonus of being stuck indoors was being able to catch up on some movie watching and getting some extra reading done.  Have any of you seen "Burried" w/ Ryan Reynolds? WOW. Some kind of crazy but I definitely recommend it....even despite the fact that I have an (so I've been told) irrational fear of being burried alive.

I also saw "The Social Network" for the first time and was highly impressed.  What a crazy story behind the conception of Facebook.  Not only did I learn new things about Facebook and Napster, but also about Victoria's Secret.  The screen play was great and the acting was actually legit. (And...P.s. Justin Timberlake is in it... and, well, I got to have a girly crushing moment lol)  I highly recommend this one!

So on top of movie watching, fire having, game playing, puzzle solving, and DVR'ing, I also got in not 1 but 2 chapters of Crazy Love. I know I normally go into long descript over each chapter but for chapter 6 I have chosen just to interact with a few quotes and ask for your feedback on your reaction to the book thus far.

Chapter 6 is entitled "When You're In Love" and basically compares our actions in human love with our actions in spiritual love toward God. How do you act when you're in love?  Do those same actions transcend to your relationship with God?  Do you think about Him, talk about Him, and want to be with Him all the time? You should. And if you don't? Don't force it... here's why:

   - " It does no good to muster up more love for God, to will yourself to love Him more.  When loving Him becomes an obligation , one of many things we have to do, we end up focusing more on ourselves."

At no point in time did God ever demand that we love Him or oblige us to do so.  We have free will for a reason.  He created us with it and certainly hopes we will use it to love Him but He does not force our hands.  When our love comes from a heart motive of obligation then guess what, it's no good to Him.  Who wants someone to love them because the object of their affection feels forced to do so?  Not me. "I only love you because I have to", "I'm only with you because I'm afraid to be alone", "I'm only spending time with you because (so and so) told me I had to".  Doesnt feel so great does it?  Do we somehow think that God is exempt to feeling hurt at our forced time with Him and feigned love for Him? If we're created in His image, including our ability to experience emotions, then yes, God feels the same hurts that we do and our inability to love Him with our full hearts hurts the heart of God.  Think about that.

The great thing is, we're not condemned in our inability to love correctly.  We're are flawed beings who are incapable of doing anything perfectly, including loving anyone.  But, Mr. Chan points this out " The fact is, I need God to help me love God."  He IS love, so who better to help us give love than the author of it.  There's no shame in asking God to make us better lovers of Him.  He wants us to love Him and I believe, that if we come to Him with humble and expectant hearts, that He will reveal to us the ways in which we can love Him better.  There's hope!

Chan points out that our pursuit of loving God is directly opposed to our pursuit of sin.  If we are intensely invested in our pursuit of loving God, our focus will be on that and not on giving into the sins of the flesh. Makes sense right?  It's all a matter of focus, perspective, and desire.  If your focus is the world, the world will drive you.  If you perceive that all you have to live for is you, yourself, and you, you will dwell in a self centered existence.  If you desire to attain the love of those who are earth bound, and give no thought to loving the Divine, you will inevitably live in a state of constent dissapointment.  But focus on Christ and His desires will drive you.  Perceive that we are only visitors here on earth, and you will live as each day is your last to spread the message of the gospel.  Desire to, with His help, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and your inate human desire to live in sin with be derailed. Got that?



To conclude:

 I think this really sums it all up.... I want to fall in love with YOU.

Blessings,

Ash

What's in your ziplock bag?

Have you ever taken a moment to consider what you're giving to God.  Your life, and everything in it, is a gift from God and what you do with that life is your gift back to Him.  Do you go to church every Sunday and just sort of go through the motions of singing when everyone else sings, bow in prayer when instructed, or partake of a matza cracker and Welches grap juice when the tray is passed?  What about throughout the week, do you still serve Him outside of the 4 walls of the church, and if so, what does that servitude look like? 

In chapter 5 of Crazy Love Mr. Chan challenges readers to consider what kind of love they are giving to the One who IS love. He begins by ruffling a few feathers by presenting His view that lukewarm Christians, Christians who half heartedly serve God but also half heartedly serve the world, are not Christians at all.  You might find this view to be fairly presumptuous, being that ultimately God will judge the lives of both believers and unbeliever and therefor it is not our job, however before you can jump on the train traveling down the "Offensive Line", He gives thorough scriptural evidence of the Lord's disgust for the lukewarm variety "Christian".  The Scriptures warn of trying to serve two masters, of having no God's before the One God, of our God being a jealous God, of God spitting out the lukewarm....need I go on?  Mr. Chan actually dissects the passage on "spitting out" and reveals that the greek word for spitting isnt merely a popcorn kernal pytalise but rather a "gaging, hurling, or wretching."  Are you ok with being "hurled" out of God's mouth?  Take time to read through the Gospels and you will most likely come to the same conclusion that he did: "My conclusion? Jesus' call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a "Christian" without following Christ is absurd."  Following Christ = following all that God has commanded...not just a few things...all things.






We shouldnt desire to follow Christ or to follow His commands out of fear for our salvation.  God doesnt ask us to serve Him out of guilt or fear.  He wants us to LOVE Him and therefore follow His commands out of that love.
                   - "God doesnt just want us to have good theology; He wants us to know and love Him."


So here comes the doozie of a look at the everyday Christian's approach to giving to God:

    - "It's easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left.  Hosea 13:6 says, 'When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied they became proud; then they forgot me.' God gets a scrap or two only because we feel guilty for giving Him nothing.  A mumbled 3 minute prayer at the end of the day, when we are already asleep.  Two crumpled-up dollar bills thrown as an after thought in the church's fund for the poor.  Fetch, God!"

Wow.  Were you struck and humbled by this as much as I was? How true this is.  I dont think that we do this intentionally, atleast not all of us, but I think we get so caught up in the busyness of our lives that we sit down at the end of the day and realize, "Oh ya, God, I forgot about you today....Here's a thought or prayer or donation for You. Thanks!" 

     - " Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God's point of view (and lest we forget, He is the only one that matters) , they're evil. Let's stop calling it "a busy schedule" or "bills" or "forgetfulness". It's called evil. "

It takes a renewing of the mind from thinking consistently earthbound to thinking and living in light of eternity. The enemy is sneaky and throws whatever he can into our path to keep us forgetting to remember who we serve.  If he can get us to serve money, or career, or family, or success, then he's done his job of turning our eyes from Jesus and turning our eyes to him. Remember that we are only on earth on a day pass.  This is not our home and we were never meant to try and make it as such. We as Christians are in desperate need of a paradigm shift.

Point blank, NOTHING should be more important to us than our relationship with God.  He is not an added element to our lives... He should be the main element in our lives.  He should not be an after thought, but an only thought.

Let's make a plan to quit serving our Majestic Creator a ziplocked bag full of frostbitten faithfulness.  It's time to give Him our first fruits and not our brown bananas.