Everyone checkout a great song at www.kaylayvonne.com - great job Kayla!

-charles

So an amazingly talented cousin of mine just released her first single....check it out at www.kaylayvonne.com.

"It has become abundantly clear in the second half of the twentieth century that Western Man has decided to abolish himself. 

Having wearied of the struggle to be himself, he has created his own boredom out of his own affluence, his own impotence out of his own erotomania, his own vulnerability out of his own strength; himself blowing the trumpet that brings the walls of his own city tumbling down, and, in a process of auto-genocide, convincing himself that he is too numerous, and labouring accordingly with pill and scalpel and syringe to make himself fewer in order to be an easier prey for his enemies; until at last, having educated himself into imbecility, and polluted and drugged himself into stupefaction, he keels over a weary, battered old brontosaurus and becomes extinct."



Back to Chan...he then extracts from James 4:17 that, "...when we stock up on knowledge without applying it to our lives we are actually sinning."  I agree.  How about pausing for a second to contrast the scary revealing in Romans 1:21-22, "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools."

They knew God!!!  How crazy is this?!!  You can know your wife and not love her.  You can know God and not love him.  Anyone see what is going on here?  Knowledge junkies like myself fear the lack of application of knowledge (wisdom) as we try to absorb as much as we can waiting to apply it ourselves.  There are healthy applications of this, but there are also unhealthy applications that we choose to ignore.  "I'll get to it soon, " or, "I'll think about that later," when we learn a new truth God has taught us is easy to push aside as we continue to collect information.

I'll close the review of Chan's book with the amazing verse he quotes at the end of his book:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." - Romans 14:17

-charles

P.S.  Anytime I disagree with Chan please do not feel any less of him.  I look up to Chan greatly.  I would venture to say that there is not one single person in this world that I agree with 100% of the time.  Chan is being used for God in powerful ways and when he provides opportunity for dialogue, it is just another one of those opportunities.   

Forget About His Will for Your Life!


-charles

A Real Relationship.

In chapter 5 of Forgotten God, it seems that Chan starts by asking the question, "do you serve God as a stressed-out, guilt ridden slave or as one of his beloved children?"  Granted, the term slave still fits and sometimes we are stressed-out, Christians are not above this, but we don't rest in that and that is where the Holy Spirit comes in.

He then contrasts this question to being 'known' by God according to Galatians 4:6-7, 9:

(6-7) - And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.


(9) - But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

Some questions of Chan's to ponder:

• Have you ever thought about what it means to be known?
• Do you know God or just know about Him?

Something I think of the idea that we are all created in God's image, but we are not all his children.  This is a very difficult concept to grasp, but God is a just and holy God so his judgements on those of us who choose to go against are not 'unfair' as some of us would like to ponder.  As God's 'image bearers' we see his holy stamp on us in a unique specific way and have a special place in this world that the rest of his creation never received.  This brings a heavy responsibility of how we treat others.  They are born sinful, just as we are, but they are image bearers of God.

Chan then brings in Romans 8:15-17 to continue to defeat the idea of living a fearful live in slavery as believers in Christ.  He then shifts to two possible potential obstacles 1) Comfort and 2) Volume.

Comfort (Maybe Your Life Is Too Safe)
I once heard this statement, "comfort and equilibrium is the beginning of death."  I definitely agree, we almost begin to die when slip into a life of pure comfort and avoid risks at all cost.  When we take risks and test our faith in God by stepping out on our faith, trusting him, and following where we think he is leading us (confirmed by the boundaries of scripture) we then feel uncomfortable and unsafe.  When you don't know clearly what the next step is, it is scary.  When was the last time you really and honestly didn't know what to do next?

This is a place where God seems to refine us by pulling us out of our comfortable little lives.  Safe in the corners of our existence, quiet, not getting our hands dirty we drift through life in chapters of our lives hoping not to be in that place again.  We don't want to 'not know what to do.'  It is obvious, I know, but why do we ignore scriptures call on our lives about being uncomfortable?

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you - 1 Peter 4:12

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing - James 1:2-4

Peter almost makes fun of you for thinking that trials shouldn't happen to you in your life and James helps you wake up and see another perspective of what trials are really doing.  I think the heart of this is that we are trying to rely on ourselves for the answers at the fork in the road and not God's Holy Spirit.  We fear trials primarily because we don't have control, but when did we really have control in the first place?

Chan asks a hilariously obvious question, "Why would we need to experience the Comforter if our lives are already comfortable?"

Duh?!  If you are already comfortable, why do you need a comforter?

Do we purposely throw ourselves in danger's way to experience that closeness?  Um....no, but there are some major thoughts to share here.  We are not called to live 'safe,' but when are called to walk in danger then do it.  Hastily and foolishly endangering our lives is not what God is asking from our testimonies, just a trust in his purposes and will for our lives.

Volume (Maybe Your Life Is Too Loud)
Great opening question by Chan; when was the last time you had an uninterrupted conversation with anyone?  Or how about, "when was the last time you were not distracted or multitasking?"  He mentions Jesus' constant fight to pray alone with the Father (Mark 1:35) and partially mentions the famous Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God."  This is a Christian virtue, to phase out the world, not merely for relaxation's sake, but to connect with the one who created you.  If you told your wife you love her wouldn't you spend time with her?  God isn't your wife for sure, but the principle is the same: relationship.  If we truly love and follow God, won't we mimic Jesus' example and strive to find that time to love God turning our hearts heavenward...and through the one he gave us to effectively communicate (the Holy Spirit)?

Are you his temple?  I often wonder about the implications of being God's temple.  What happens when I sin?  He grieves.  He doesn't leave like some mystical being controlled by our whims, he grieves.

The "promised" Holy Spirit
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith" - Galatians 3:13-14

We are adopted as children and can pray as Jesus taught us to...Father.  Not just to a 'friend' or a 'god,' but father.  Wow.

When is the last time you sought God with all of your heart?

I'll end with my notes for a Bible study we did on this chapter:

A Real Relationship.

Two potential obstacles (Comfort and Volume)

1) Comfort (Maybe Your Life Is Too Safe)

2) Volume (Maybe Your Life Is Too Loud)

Are you his temple? 

-charles

Chan really does ask the tough questions that shoot straight to the center of our heart's desires.  He starts this chapter with an illustration and then the question, "why do you want the Holy Spirit?"  Is it for your own desires or is it to be used for his kingdom?  How would I answer this question?  I'll attempt.

Why does Charles want the Holy Spirit?  Trying to be as transparent as possible (sorry for the political term), I feel my urges fight strongly to try to use God as a genie of sorts.  I look around and see what others have and then struggle, fight, and work hard to get their positions in life.  Not all comparisons are bad, if we're doing bad then a comparison to good is a good and right comparison.  Is this a good heart?  A root of jealousy within to motivate a covetous heart to get what I want?  Thankfully that is not the only thing I feel deeply though.  Cuing into Mr. Chan's earlier question in chapter one, "when was the last time you saw the Holy Spirit at work?"  I am led to a place where I deeply desire; brokenness that forces dependence on Him.

The Spirit was very obvious when I broke up with my last serious girl friend.  I felt God convicting me in how to lead our relationship and protect her and after a long while, I finally listened.  When we stopped our illicit behaviors God took me to the next level...."you need to break up with her."  I didn't want to.  I fought it and just couldn't believe it.  Why would God ask such a thing right now?  I loved her during the last year and half of our relationship helping her through the loss of her mom.  I was such a child inwardly and didn't know how to help a woman through a bereavement process, let alone with the loss of her only mother.  But I knew what God was telling me was as clear as the day was bright.  Adding another layer of complexity to this relationship was the fact that I was laid off of my job for almost 6 months now.  Getting a job was always easy, but I just couldn't find work anywhere and my unemployment was about to run out.

After a short set of unremarkable circumstances God helped me make the decision and I broke up with her.  What happened next still fills me with joy when I think back to these days.  The very next day I got a contract....in Dallas, which was far away from her.  A good friend of mine had a partially 'under construction' house on a lake close to Dallas and let me stay there for free.  Off to Dallas I went.

When I got there I plugged immediately into a local church, worked and caught up on my bills, and felt a freedom I had never felt before.  I wasn't pursuing just what I wanted, was still in the dumps materially, but felt more alive than I had ever felt before.  God blessed me with new friends in the church from the first day and we connected musically together playing at a few different venues for Christ (I played guitar).  It was like waking up from a deep dark painful sleep, I honestly don't know what other cliche to use, but that's how it was.  I could feel alive again and in a fresh new freeing spirit that was only from God.  The story gets even more amazing, but I'll stop there and just say, God pursues us and I'm so thankful for that truth.  I was pursuing dust and dirt (all our future demise) and God shook me out of it.

Further into chapter 4 Chan trips along a few subtle concepts I disagree about.  He mentions the Spirit's work (page 92) through us for "the common good," but I disagree, I think that this statement would more accurately be stated as "God's common good."  If you leave the term as 'the' then it becomes relativistic on who the 'the' is.  He definitely empowers us to be his witnesses, but what the common good is can be a slippery slope to major issues.  He doesn't just leave it there in his book though.

Another statement that surprised me was his statement (page 92), "Do they see a person who lives according to the Way of Jesus or someone who does business according to capitalistic and self-centered standards, just like everyone else?"  I understand what he is saying about 'like everyone else,' but he trips on a word that isn't evil in itself...capitalism gets picked on a lot these days.  It is a word used and abused in many social circles today and I'm not afraid of the word myself.  Maybe a definition can help pull us through the confused thoughts about capitalism.  One definition of capitalism is, "An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit."  The key is 'private owners for profit,' which I would argue that Paul, Jesus and a slew of other examples in the Bible would agree with.  Paul was a tent maker (Acts 18:3) and made his own money in order to provide for others and he even mentions for those who used to steal to now work for a living so they can give to others (Eph 4:28) and that those who don't work shouldn't eat (2 Thess 3:10).  Capitalism doesn't = selfishness, it means working for personal profit, which can be used for whatever you feel the profit should be used for.  Is profit bad?  No, but selfishness is.  Money is not bad, but it should not be our life's goal either.  I'll drop this argument and move on, but just think about the fact that both rich and poor can both be greedy.  Capitalism should not be delegated as a negative by-word of working hard.

I also disagreed with this statement on the bottom of page 92, "When we submit to the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit, He helps us become more holy - more like Jesus."  If he had replaced 'more holy' with 'more sanctified' I would have agreed.  The scriptures tell me I'm broken and dead apart from Jesus and with Jesus I am purified before a Holy Father.  Are we automatically just like Jesus in all of our ambitions in life?  Of course not.  When we begin to believe we start an amazing painful, soul crushing and soul joyful process call sanctification.  It is the process of being transformed into the likeness of his Son Jesus.  The Holy Spirit begins testing our hearts through trials (not punishment, but discipline) as he trials those he loves (Heb 12:6).  What good father would let his son continue to hurt himself?  Does this make us more holy?  No, because holiness is a question of righteousness, which we have none apart from Christ and can't build up a bank of holiness.  We either are dead and belong to the kingdom of this world or we are alive and belong to the kingdom of righteousness, there is no between.

Now Chan jumps us into an amazing foundation that I struggle with remembering...love trumps all (1 Cor 13:1-3).  Chan reminds us of Paul redirecting our focus from supernatural gifts (gifts of the Spirit) to love.  God will do many amazing things in our lives and around us as we live, but those 'things' are not life's goal, love is.   But what does that mean?  Love?  What about love?  Loving others requires unselfishness and courage to focus those we're loving to our source of love, Jesus Christ.  Remember what Jesus said (Luke 10:27), "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your strength.  And love your neighbor as yourself."  First love God then love those of us who will usually hurt you because we are fighting within ourselves to be selfish (James 4:1).

In the midst of talking about capitalism and the possibilities of selfishness and materialism we'll end today with a thought that hit me in the face like a refreshing breeze yesterday.  I wasn't scared of this thought and it actually brought joy to my heart as I continued to ponder it:

"I do not want to die an old comfortable life, but I want to die for God however he would call me."

This world is so very temporary so let us let go of our idols and hold onto Jesus with all of our hearts.  It will be over soon.

-charles

Lightening strikes the Willis Tower in Chicago....sweet.  I don't think anyone feels right calling it the 'Willis Tower' as it is still the Sears Tower in most of our imaginations.  Just can't shake the voice of Gary Coleman...

-charles

This is the third post of a review on the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan (see post one and post two).

CHAPTER 3

What does the Holy Spirit do?  Chan starts off by reminding us that what we believe (doctrine) may not change what God will do, but it matters as it will shape what 'we' will do.  He also adds that we should hold fast to solid doctrines and be careful about ambiguous doctrines.  Here's a short quote from page 65, "The point is not to completely understand God, but to worship Him.  Let the very fact that you cannot know Him fully lead you to praise Him for His infiniteness and grandeur."  Also, any analogy of God will never encapsulate God's nature (e.g. God is like the three parts of an egg, like a flame, etc), but the trinity is obvious and implied (Isaiah 9:6). Listed below are a few bullet points he makes about the Holy Spirit:

1. The Holy Spirit is a person.
2. The Holy Spirit is God.
3. The Holy Spirit is eternal and holy - and he dwells in us...wow!
4. The Holy Spirit has His own mind and prays for us.
5. The Holy Spirit has emotions - we are told not to grieve the Holy Spirit.
6. The Holy Spirit has his own desires and will.
7. The Holy Spirit is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

I omitted the Bible verse references and main points because I think the book does a great job of creating a more powerful atmosphere than this blog can do....so read the book.

He ends the chapter with a list of 'fruit' that the Holy Spirit can have in our lives.  I admit that I feel like I've ignored the Spirit a lot when I read through the list.  Like I've been trying to do it all on my own.  Sure, I believe in Jesus with all of my heart, but I have ignored Jesus' thoughts about the Holy Spirit as I kept an unhealthy focus on the physical world hoping to bow down to Jesus in person.  Wasn't that the focus of the song 'I Can Only Imagine' by Casting Crown?  Why else did this song resonate with so many of us so powerfully?  We are so excited to see Jesus, but sadly I think we are not worshiping the Holy Spirit that he has given to us today when we only think of the physical present world.

There are two verses I want to end with; John 16:7 and Acts 2:38-39.  In John, Jesus reminds us of why the Holy Spirit is such a big deal and Acts has Peter reminding us how to respond to God:

"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you" - John 16:7 (ESV)


"And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." - Acts 2:38-39 (ESV)

-charles

This is the second post of my review on the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan (see post one here).

Why do a chapter-by-chapter review of a book?  As I could count many possible reasons for doing so I'll just stick to the actual reason I chose to do so.  Why?  To hopefully walk a little deeper in a book that I think will be profound.  So far so good, now on to chapter 2 :)

CHAPTER 2

Wow, he hit the nail on the head.  Coming from a largely conservative background, similar to Mr. Chan, he understands my struggles and my questions deeply about the Holy Spirit and isn't afraid to address them.  Let's walk through some thoughts and questions in this amazing chapter:

1. What if God doesn't come through?  We feel as though we have to cover for God not coming through in our lives when we pray for something and it doesn't happen...but that's a problem.  The real issue is what we're praying for; something promised by God (like giving the Holy Spirit - Luke 11:13) or the gifts God gives?  James investigates this issue further.  Point: pray for what God promised.
2. Do I even want this?  If we are honest with ourselves we will all admit that we don't like the thought of someone telling us what to do, especially if it is uncomfortable, which is usually what God does.
3. Is my reputation in the way?   We all have fears about what others think of us.  Why is this important, because our fears sometimes drive unhealthy behaviors (e.g. ignoring investigation of the Holy Spirit for fear of others judging us).
4. God Fear.  1 Thessalonians 5:19 and 20 - "Do not quench the Spirit," and "Do not treat prophecies with contempt."  This has always been something I've just browsed through not paying attention to like Mr. Chan.  While we fear individuals being overly zealous joy about things that 'God said to them,' we need to not ignore their words.  We need to do what scripture says and "test everything" (1 Thess 5:21-22).  Point: next time you hear someone tell you 'god said...' just merely test their words to scripture, do not just push their words away as 'crazy' or 'misled.'

How do great nations fall?  By an internal erosion of ethics, a mass of citizens voting themselves the treasury, and the fall of a common unity of existence.  How is that for a quick list of adages.

Think of how great nations were started.  Traditionally a common injustice was felt throughout a population, they united, and fought the existing rulers.

Watching the news all around us, I can't help but think of our country's safety.  Outside the picture seems a little grim; Muslim extremists dedicated to attacking their rulers in order to bring sharia law and their collective hate of the world to fruition (the Muslim Brotherhood is not hiding their intentions everyone), China using their debt to manipulate our trade policies (who didn't see that coming...), our government sector unions continue to practice 'thuggery' (Wisconsin, teachers unions, etc) to bully society, and our nation's future children are losing their voices as they struggle to make it past the mother's womb.

What do we do here?  Do we try to mask the actual intentions of those organizations perpetrating their hate because of political correctness?  Do we continue to borrow more money allowing other countries to buy stake in our influences?  Do we sit idly by as our country's children's bodies are piling high as crimes against us?

Does anyone remember what was happening in Rome during the major invasion that finally crushed the great civilization?  They were watching a game.  "Go Cowboys!  Hey, what's that noise?....invasion."

A part of our American problem is that we are distracted spending too much time watching our favorite sports team, tv shows, movies, and other entertainment, to stop and see the shift of direction of the wind in this world.  Add to the fact that it seems that everyone hates the top dog so if we continue to ignore the bigger issues in this world, we will not survive.  The world will not be what it once was and the freedoms everyone takes advantage of will be gone, both in this nation and abroad.


America did not conquer the world, it helped it.  Was America perfect in all it's pursuits?  Of course not, but evil dictators are salivating at the thought of an American empire no longer in existence.  Do we have any idea what will take our place?  It is not going to be a pretty picture as a vacuum of America's positive imperialism disappears.  I argue for 'positive' because countries like Kuwait, France, South Korea and many many more have great reasons to welcome our help. 

In an America distracted we pick up our beer cans, turn up the music, high five our friends, and then watch the world pass us by as we root for our favorite teams while rocking out to 'American Woman.'  In an America distracted we ignore the things we could do to help those around us by voting in new legislature forcing them to do our job for us further imprisoning ourselves in an already doomed tax code.  In an America distracted we think that the world is here to serve us and forget about any of the people who gave themselves before us for what we currently have, thinking we somehow 'deserve' the rights given to us.  In an America distracted we somehow forgot whose lives we are giving privilege by voting away the lives of those little ones who would come and take our place for the next generation building our future.   We are in an America distracted.

With loss of morality, moral relativism is king and everyone loses.  With the loss of focus, pluralism is king and has tried to hand all world views equal merit, which is foolishness and everyone loses.  With the loss of Jesus as a focus, secular humanism is king and is leading everyone to worship themselves instead, which underpins all of the rest.

Jesus did not promise to give us a mighty nation, it just happened.  Jesus does not play politics and parties, but his morality is clearly defined for what is 'wrong' or 'right' and we all get to choose which 'rights' we will sacrifice when we vote.

The world is changing.  We humans have never changed, we are naturally evil and need a savior to crucify our sins.  Let's put down our entertainment and self serving bias' and try to help those who cannot help themselves.  The answer is not to give government more authority to do what we should be doing, so let's do it ourselves.  Form your own organization to make a change aligning the wills of those behind a movement, and make a positive difference.  Some are getting out there in the battlefields of ideas, so let's get out there and join them to fight oppression of hate filled rhetoric from Islam by loving Arabs and showing them another way (Jesus), or getting on the streets and helping those who are downtrodden, or adopting children who desperately need escape from a social system, or meeting the needs you see piling up around you.

Jesus forgive us for worshiping something and someone else besides you and give us strength as you actively flex your will and do what you will to this great nation.  May we not suffer the same pride as Germany and give our powers to evil and may we not suffer the same distraction as Rome and try to live on the blood and efforts of others before us, but be thankful.  Thankful for life, thankful for a chance to grow, but most of all thankful for you and your sacrifice, which gives the greatest hope of all.

-charles

This is the beginning of a series of reviews about an amazing book our MC (Mission Community) is studying called Forgotten God by Francis Chan.  Today's review is over chapter one.

I had two initial fears in reading this book:

1. That I'll start mimicking a Pentecostal's actions of jumping wildly in the aisles and screaming like a mad man possibly scaring others away from Jesus.
2. That I'll find out that I really don't understand the Holy Spirit like I should (that I could have read and not understood).

-charles