happy thanksgiving...
this morning i woke up to a text message saying that one of my old teammates died in a car crash last night.
this life that i live is so fragile. i drove to portland today to be with my family. i couldn't help but have on my mind how easy it would be to get hit by a car and die. that would be the end. i'm not entitled to a long life, or to even make it past graduating college. i could die at any moment, really.
has my life, then, been worth living so far? am i making the most of the moments i have right now, or am i waiting until i graduate from college to really go after it and start living the fullest life? would i be satisfied with my life if it ended now? would God say to me, "well done," or would i weep at all of the opportunities i missed because i was wasting my time here on earth?
as i saw my family (my extended family is "religious" but many of them don't know God), i thought of how they could easily pass away too without even knowing God. i didn't do anything today, though...i wasted today away. sure, i read and prayed today...but did i do anything about it? did i love as God commanded me to love? did i neglect my gift? did i hoard the grace of Christ in order to simply be comfortable?
things have been getting harder for me. i knew it would come when i began to step out and make war with the enemy through this "change the world campaign." things with addie have been hard, and i've been really selfish about it. i have felt my weakness. i've been sidetracked by shame. i've felt isolated and alone. i've felt like i've let people down. i dunno...things are much harder than they were just a few weeks ago.
as i type this and think about how difficult things are getting and the cost of stepping out for jesus, there is a part of me that simply doesn't care about all the junk that's happening lately. why don't i care? its because i am tired of leading a "status quo" christian life. i'd rather taste defeat than live in mediocrity. i'd rather push my body and my spirit beyond breaking than simply sit comfortably in stagnant normality. i want to live a life of greatness. i want to be one of those heroes of the faith - not because of some sort of special quality about me, but because i simply stepped out in faith and God propelled me into greatness. 1 john 5:4 says, "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." the victory has been assured if only i would step out in faith.
for whatever reason, great suffering always seems to accompany great action...
Lord, give me the focus and the drive that you had as you entered the Garden of Gethsemane. You endured great suffering for the joy set before you. Your focus was narrow and true. Your hope was in our Great Father. You are my example. Help me to suffer as you suffered, and help me to not fall away on account of that suffering. Give me hope daily. Be nearer still.
amen.
"I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing i do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
22 November 2007
01 November 2007
decisions that define us
so...this is something that carter showed me, and the more i read it, the more it sinks in as something that i want to be a part of...
"Decisions that Define Us"
David B. Crone
We have decided that teaching the gospel without demonstrating the gospel is not enough. Good preaching, good doctrine, being good people, it’s not enough.
We have decided that having a good church club is not enough. Good fellowship; it’s not enough. Just being a member of that club is not enough.
We have decided that having good bible studies is good but not good enough. That just making it to heaven is not our goal, and that knowing about God without truly knowing and experiencing God is meaningless.
We’ve decided that having good programs is not enough. That change without transformation is intolerable, and that staying the same is not an option. We’ve decided that gifting without character is futile.
We have decided that singing songs without worshipping is hollow and having meetings without God showing up is pointless.
We have decided that having faith without works is not enough and having works without love is not acceptable. That our function comes out of our relationship: first with the Father, and second with each other.
We have decided that reading about the book of Acts without living the book of Acts is unthinkable.
We have decided that confident faith is good: bold faith is better.
We’ve decided that hearing about the Holy Spirit without experiencing Him is silly. That believing in His presence without seeing it manifested in signs and wonders is hypocrisy. That believing in healing without seeing people healed is absurd. That believing in deliverance without people being delivered is absolutely ridiculous.
We’ve decided to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit led, and Holy Spirit empowered, anything less doesn’t work for us.
We have decided to be the ones telling the stories of God’s power, not the ones hearing about them.
We have decided that living saved but not supernatural is living below our privilege and short of what Christ died for.
We have decided that we are a battleship and not a cruise ship. An army not an audience. Special forces, not spectators. Missionaries, not club members.
We have decided to value both pioneers and settlers. Pioneers to expand our territory, and settlers to build on those territories, but we are not squatters: people who take up space others have fought for without improving it.
We have decided to be infectious instead of inocuous. Contagious instead of quarantined. Deadly instead of benign. We have decided to be radical lovers and outrageous givers.
We have decided that we are a mission stations and not a museum.
Therefore, we honor the past, but we don’t live in it. We live in the present with our eyes on the future. We see past events, successes, and failures as stepping stones, not stop signs. We pursue learning in order to be transformed, not learning in order to know. We are people of engagement, not observation. We focus on what could be, not on what is or has been. We are not limited to the four walls of this building, our influence is not restricted by location. Not even the nations are out of bounds. We are more concered about how many we send out into the world than how many we convince to come into the building. This building is meant to be filled and it will be, but it will not be the measure of who we are or the measure of our effectiveness. We raise up world changers, not tour guides. We train up commandos, not commiters. We are a people of our destiny, not our history.
We have decided that it is better to fail while reaching for the impossible that God has planned for us than to succeed in settling for less.
We have decided that nothing short of His Kingdom come and His will be done in our world as it is in heaven will satisfy. We have decided that we will not be satisfied until our world freaks out and cries out, “Those that have turned the world upside-down have come here too!”
These are some of the decisions that define who we are as a community and how we live our lives. These decisions are not destinations, but rather journeys. Journeys along an ancient path. We’ve not found some new way. But rather rediscovered the path as old as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The same path followed by Moses, Joshua and Caleb, Paul, John, and Peter. The path followed by the 1st century church, a church that revolutionized the culture of the 1st century and beyond. It’s a path that will impact the world today. It’s a path of bold faith. Believing that what God says is really true and acting on it. It’s a path of outragous generosity, giving our life away to demonstrate His kingdom. It’s a path of radical love: loving God with everything in us and loving our neighbor as ourselves. It’s a path of liberty, freedom, and healing. On this path you will find significance, purpose, and destiny. It’s a path less-travelled, however. It’s not a path only available to a select few, but to whosoever will may come. It’s for people of every nation, tribe and tongue, for those in any occupation or vocation. No matter where you are in your life journey, there’s room on this path for you.
"Decisions that Define Us"
David B. Crone
We have decided that teaching the gospel without demonstrating the gospel is not enough. Good preaching, good doctrine, being good people, it’s not enough.
We have decided that having a good church club is not enough. Good fellowship; it’s not enough. Just being a member of that club is not enough.
We have decided that having good bible studies is good but not good enough. That just making it to heaven is not our goal, and that knowing about God without truly knowing and experiencing God is meaningless.
We’ve decided that having good programs is not enough. That change without transformation is intolerable, and that staying the same is not an option. We’ve decided that gifting without character is futile.
We have decided that singing songs without worshipping is hollow and having meetings without God showing up is pointless.
We have decided that having faith without works is not enough and having works without love is not acceptable. That our function comes out of our relationship: first with the Father, and second with each other.
We have decided that reading about the book of Acts without living the book of Acts is unthinkable.
We have decided that confident faith is good: bold faith is better.
We’ve decided that hearing about the Holy Spirit without experiencing Him is silly. That believing in His presence without seeing it manifested in signs and wonders is hypocrisy. That believing in healing without seeing people healed is absurd. That believing in deliverance without people being delivered is absolutely ridiculous.
We’ve decided to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit led, and Holy Spirit empowered, anything less doesn’t work for us.
We have decided to be the ones telling the stories of God’s power, not the ones hearing about them.
We have decided that living saved but not supernatural is living below our privilege and short of what Christ died for.
We have decided that we are a battleship and not a cruise ship. An army not an audience. Special forces, not spectators. Missionaries, not club members.
We have decided to value both pioneers and settlers. Pioneers to expand our territory, and settlers to build on those territories, but we are not squatters: people who take up space others have fought for without improving it.
We have decided to be infectious instead of inocuous. Contagious instead of quarantined. Deadly instead of benign. We have decided to be radical lovers and outrageous givers.
We have decided that we are a mission stations and not a museum.
Therefore, we honor the past, but we don’t live in it. We live in the present with our eyes on the future. We see past events, successes, and failures as stepping stones, not stop signs. We pursue learning in order to be transformed, not learning in order to know. We are people of engagement, not observation. We focus on what could be, not on what is or has been. We are not limited to the four walls of this building, our influence is not restricted by location. Not even the nations are out of bounds. We are more concered about how many we send out into the world than how many we convince to come into the building. This building is meant to be filled and it will be, but it will not be the measure of who we are or the measure of our effectiveness. We raise up world changers, not tour guides. We train up commandos, not commiters. We are a people of our destiny, not our history.
We have decided that it is better to fail while reaching for the impossible that God has planned for us than to succeed in settling for less.
We have decided that nothing short of His Kingdom come and His will be done in our world as it is in heaven will satisfy. We have decided that we will not be satisfied until our world freaks out and cries out, “Those that have turned the world upside-down have come here too!”
These are some of the decisions that define who we are as a community and how we live our lives. These decisions are not destinations, but rather journeys. Journeys along an ancient path. We’ve not found some new way. But rather rediscovered the path as old as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The same path followed by Moses, Joshua and Caleb, Paul, John, and Peter. The path followed by the 1st century church, a church that revolutionized the culture of the 1st century and beyond. It’s a path that will impact the world today. It’s a path of bold faith. Believing that what God says is really true and acting on it. It’s a path of outragous generosity, giving our life away to demonstrate His kingdom. It’s a path of radical love: loving God with everything in us and loving our neighbor as ourselves. It’s a path of liberty, freedom, and healing. On this path you will find significance, purpose, and destiny. It’s a path less-travelled, however. It’s not a path only available to a select few, but to whosoever will may come. It’s for people of every nation, tribe and tongue, for those in any occupation or vocation. No matter where you are in your life journey, there’s room on this path for you.
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