I saw this great article on Twitter from @catalystleader regarding an article on “The Perils of ‘wannabe cool’ Christianity” by Brett McCracken. Very good article that speaks about how I think we are trying to fit Jesus into “our” box and not fit into what God wants for us. Now I am just as guilty about being into hipster Christianity just as much as the other person but when I realize this, I try to take a step back and regroup. I know that the newer churches offer some great things but do they do it for the right and biblical reasons?
My pastor had me read “Who Stole My Church” by Gordon Macdonald a while back and I think it speaks to this in a lot of ways. As the Church, we are always changing and we cannot just do what is the latest and greatest trend. We have to come together and compromise. The older generation is not going to like what the younger generation likes and so forth. But we have to be able to agree that we have one common goal. To honor Jesus Christ and do it biblically. Radical by David Platt also talks about this in how we try to fit Jesus into our Americanized version of the Church. I think it something that we will always battle though. I don’t think it is something new or something that will ever go away. I just hope that as individuals, we do what Jesus would do and honor him with our utmost. That is the least we could for Him…you know since He saved us from so many things.
So I have been reading so many things about living radically and living for God recently. But it comes down to a simple thing in my opinion. Are you willing to leap or not? It sounds so simple. Just do it as Nike would say. There are so many things that God calls us to go and do but we have to be confident in our faith and God that when those times come, we just need to leap off of our “comfortable” perch and live a life for God with no hesitations.
But in saying all this this, it sometimes feels like my foot is FIRMLY planted on the ground. Oh man how frustrating is that!!!! I hear and read about people who live the lives SOLD OUT for God. It sounds so awesome. But, it is also no bed of roses. There are certainly hard times before you, should you choose that path. But to see what you can do with God and when you do get called to Heaven and you are told “Well Done”, the pain, blood, sweat, tears, smiles and laughter will be so worth it.
What a tough thing to wish,ask or pray for. Can you pray for this? Have you prayed for this? I am currently reading the book Radical by David Platt. This post goes along with a lot of what David Platt talks about. We as Christians in the United States are so fortunate and almost blind to what it is like to be a Christian in the day of Jesus. We have a church on every corner and they are really not under any threat at any time. Here is a great part of this article.
“This environment can be deadly to faith. It allows false faith to masquerade as real very easily. And its power to dissipate zeal and energy and mission-focus and willingness to risk is extraordinary because it doesn’t come to us with a whip and a threat. It comes to us with a pillow and a promise of comfort for us and our children. The former makes us desperate for God. The latter robs our sense of desperation.”
I feel like I want God to make me desperate for this. I want to be desperate enough to go to all ends of the earth and spread the name of Jesus Christ.
But do I really? Do I REALLY want to leave my air conditioned, cushy, friendly Sunday church service?
I think God can only be the only who gives us this strength and love…. and this is something I will pray for.
So, Myself and another Deacon at the church I attend are having a great dialog right now about Deacon’s and our roles in the church.
What as Deacon’s are we responsible for? What are our Duties?
Of course the first place to look is the Bible. It is something I am going to research and God will point it out to me. I believe this is something that my church and probably many other churches struggle with. We have moved into a mode of “what we have always done” or just being a figure head and not be true leaders in the Church. We can’t rely on the pastor for everything.
This is Mandy, Zachary James Smith, went to be with Jesus at 3:05 p.m. on Sunday May 16th. He is no longer in pain. The cancer has lost and Jesus has the victory in all of this. The battle has been won. I know you all loved Zac, and his presence is missed in our home. Please pray for peace and comfort for my family, as we now figure out how to continue his story to the best of our ability. Watch out because those kids of ours, well let’s just say they have a lot of wisdom from Zac in those little heads. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for them.
Death cannot take away what is already His. To God be the glory. Always.
-Mandy
Tags:
This entry was posted by zac on Monday, May 17th, 2010 at 10:48 pm and is filed under The Un-Category. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I have linked to this video before but I want to do it again. This is the video of Zac Smith. He passed away yesterday losing his battle to cancer. I encourage you to watch it. Feel his love of God during the hardest times in his life. His grace and strength are admirable.
I came up on this article over on Lifehack website. It gives us 42 ways to improve yourself. Here are a few that I like, find interesting or really need to do:
8. Wake up early. Waking up early (say, 5-6am) has been acknowledged by many (Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, among other self-help gurus) to improve yourproductivity and your quality of life. I feel it’s because when you wake up early, your mindset is already set to continue the momentum and proactively live out the day. Seth recently wrote a waking up early series which you should check out to help cultivate this habit.
16. Stay focused with to-do lists. I start my day with a list of tasks I want to complete and this helps make me stay focused. In comparison, the days when I don’t do this end up being extremely unproductive. For example, part of my to-do list for today is to write a guest post at LifeHack.Org, and this is why I’m writing this now! Since my work requires me to use my computer all the time, I use Free Sticky Notes to manage my to-do lists. It’s really simple to use and it’s a freeware, so I recommend you check it out.
26. Start a journal. Journaling is a great way to gain better self-awareness. It’s a self-reflection process. As you write, clarify your thought process and read what you wrote from a third person’s perspective, you gain more insights about yourself. Your journal can be private or an online blog. I use my personal development blog as a personal journal too and I’ve learned a lot about myself through the past year of blogging.
32. Start a 30-day challenge. Set a goal and give yourself 30 days to achieve this. Your goal can be to stick with a new habit or something you’ve always wanted to do but have not. 30 days is just enough time to strategize, plan, get into action, review and nail the goal.
There are so many more to choose from. It is a great article. Gives you some good tips, links for things to check out.
How do you stay focused or what do you do to change your ways?
RSS Feed
Twitter
