Ch. 7: Your best life...later
By now Im sure you've realized that you have a choice to make. You can let life happen or you can actively run toward Christ.
It's impossible to please God in any other way than whole hearted surrender!
"Do you want to see God more than you desire security?" This is what it all comes down to. Are you going to trust God with your whole life or just a part of it?
Christian's like to play it safe. We dont leave a lot left for God to take care of, just in case it doesnt happen the way we want it to.
"How would our lives change if we actually treated everyone we came into contact with as Christ?" Would our lives change?
"What are we doing right now that requires faith?" Are you doing anything????
Our prayers are heard by the same God who told Noah to build the Ark (and then fulfilled His promise for a flood) and and who raised raised Joseph from a slave to second in command over the land. God is still doing mighty things in our lives just like He did in the lives of those we read about in the Bible.
Even with all of that being true, we still compare ourselves to other Christians all the time. We dont see how God has blessed us; we only see how God has blessed them. We have to stop focusing on other people's relationship with Christ and bring our attention back to our own relationship with Him. Then we will be able to see the world through His eyes and seek out the "least of these" around us.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Chapter 6 Crazy Love
Chapter 6: When you're in love...
When you're in love with someone, you want to be with them. That's how we are with our human relationships; shouldnt we be crazy over the top with our relationship with Jesus!?!?! He is madly in love with us and what do we give Him in return? A few minutes here and there telling Him what we want Him to hear and not what is really going on. Why do we short change God and give and give to our earthly relationships? The thing is, loving God makes loving others better! Here is what we talked about in the Bible study. Sorry its so late!
"I want to want thee"
Here's a question: If we got to heaven and had everything we could ask for, but God wasnt there, would it matter? Would you be content with the good things but no relationship with Christ? If you are deeply in love with God, you could never be satisfied in a heaven without Christ.
We cant make ourselves love God more but we can let Him mold us.
We tend to form a cycle in our lives. We present impossible standards for others to meet when we cant meet them ourselves. We get angry with God when things dont go the way we want them to. Who are we to demand anything from God? Shouldnt it be there other way around?
If we dont love God like we should; He knows.
God is the one who changes us; its not anything we can do on our own.
When you're in love with someone, you want to be with them. That's how we are with our human relationships; shouldnt we be crazy over the top with our relationship with Jesus!?!?! He is madly in love with us and what do we give Him in return? A few minutes here and there telling Him what we want Him to hear and not what is really going on. Why do we short change God and give and give to our earthly relationships? The thing is, loving God makes loving others better! Here is what we talked about in the Bible study. Sorry its so late!
"I want to want thee"
Here's a question: If we got to heaven and had everything we could ask for, but God wasnt there, would it matter? Would you be content with the good things but no relationship with Christ? If you are deeply in love with God, you could never be satisfied in a heaven without Christ.
We cant make ourselves love God more but we can let Him mold us.
We tend to form a cycle in our lives. We present impossible standards for others to meet when we cant meet them ourselves. We get angry with God when things dont go the way we want them to. Who are we to demand anything from God? Shouldnt it be there other way around?
If we dont love God like we should; He knows.
God is the one who changes us; its not anything we can do on our own.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Leftovers anyone???
Ch. 5 Serving Leftovers to a Holy GOD
Was this a hard chapter for you to read? It was for us who are in the Bible study on Wednesdays! So many times we give God what we have left of ourselves instead of giving Him what is rightfully His! We often give God what we think He can take care of and cling tightly to the things we want to control. That is not how Jesus did it though! In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Luke 14:33 says "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." DANG! Jesus says give up EVERYTHING! Not a little bit, not most of it...EVERYTHING! Being a lukewarm Christian is not an option! Either you live for Jesus or you dont. Thats all there is. Who are you living for; yourself or Jesus?
Here is what we talked about on Wednesday.
"Can I go to heaven without truly and faithfully loving Jesus? I dont see anywhere in Sscripture how the answer to that question could be yes. Do we die to ourselves daily? God doesn't just want us to have good theology; He wans us to know and love Him. God's grace is true and real. What does all or nothing look like in America? What would we look like if we gave it all to Jesus, today? Are we challenging our growth? "Physically sickness we usually defy. Soul sickness we often resign ourselves to." "Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but succeeding at things in life that dont really matter."
Was this a hard chapter for you to read? It was for us who are in the Bible study on Wednesdays! So many times we give God what we have left of ourselves instead of giving Him what is rightfully His! We often give God what we think He can take care of and cling tightly to the things we want to control. That is not how Jesus did it though! In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Luke 14:33 says "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." DANG! Jesus says give up EVERYTHING! Not a little bit, not most of it...EVERYTHING! Being a lukewarm Christian is not an option! Either you live for Jesus or you dont. Thats all there is. Who are you living for; yourself or Jesus?
Here is what we talked about on Wednesday.
"Can I go to heaven without truly and faithfully loving Jesus? I dont see anywhere in Sscripture how the answer to that question could be yes. Do we die to ourselves daily? God doesn't just want us to have good theology; He wans us to know and love Him. God's grace is true and real. What does all or nothing look like in America? What would we look like if we gave it all to Jesus, today? Are we challenging our growth? "Physically sickness we usually defy. Soul sickness we often resign ourselves to." "Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but succeeding at things in life that dont really matter."
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Chapter 4 Profile of the Lukewarm
Chapter 4 Profile of the Lukewarm
"So there is an incalculable, fautless, eternal God who loves the frail beings He made with a crazy kind of love. Even though we could die at any moment and generally think our puny lives are pretty sweet compared to loving Him, He persists in loving us with unending, outrageous love."
Are we sold out for God? Do we always assume we are the good soil? Jesus wasnt interested in those who fake it. "Speakers dont use Jesus' tactic to eleminate people who are not sincere seekers." Do you find this to be true or not? To those without the Holy Spirit we sometimes sound like we are talking in parables. We want God and... we dont want just God. There are stipulations we put in our lives so we dont give God complete control over every part of who we are. How do we interact with the world. How would our lives be different if we suddenly stopped believing in Christ? Would our lives look any different? There has to be a heart change. Lukewarm people do not live by faith. They structure their lives so they never have to. Are you living by faith or by sight? Here's the thing; if we are living by sight, what happens when we become surrounded by darkness? How do we know where to go? We should recognize our lives as God's own and not ours. What are we going to do with what God has given us? Put it on a shelf or use it????
"So there is an incalculable, fautless, eternal God who loves the frail beings He made with a crazy kind of love. Even though we could die at any moment and generally think our puny lives are pretty sweet compared to loving Him, He persists in loving us with unending, outrageous love."
Are we sold out for God? Do we always assume we are the good soil? Jesus wasnt interested in those who fake it. "Speakers dont use Jesus' tactic to eleminate people who are not sincere seekers." Do you find this to be true or not? To those without the Holy Spirit we sometimes sound like we are talking in parables. We want God and... we dont want just God. There are stipulations we put in our lives so we dont give God complete control over every part of who we are. How do we interact with the world. How would our lives be different if we suddenly stopped believing in Christ? Would our lives look any different? There has to be a heart change. Lukewarm people do not live by faith. They structure their lives so they never have to. Are you living by faith or by sight? Here's the thing; if we are living by sight, what happens when we become surrounded by darkness? How do we know where to go? We should recognize our lives as God's own and not ours. What are we going to do with what God has given us? Put it on a shelf or use it????
Chapter 3 Crazy Love
Chapter 3 Crazy Love
"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so"
We have all heard, and probably sang, this song sometime during our childhood, but have you every really sat down and thought about what those words mean? Jesus loves ME; not my great singing voice or my stellar grades on that biology test; ME. Do you really understand that Jesus is a person who loves you through it all and whether we thank Him or not, will always be here supporting us?
Here is what we talked about in Bible study on Wednesday. Feel free to comment or add your own thoughts!
How do our feelings about our family impact our feelings toward God? How do the relationships with our parents affect our relationship with God?Do you feel wanted by God? Why is it so hard for us to realize God truly wants us?Do we fear God? Why dont we fear God the way the Bible says?God knew us before we existed. How hard is it to wrap our minds around that? God has designed us for specific work and tasks and people to interact with. He has a definite plan in mind for each of us.Why does God love us so passionately when we don’t feel or appear lovable?Isaiah 64:6 “All your works are like filthy rags” Our good never outweighs the bad.The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.“The greatest good on this earth is God!” God’s goal for us is Himself.
"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so"
We have all heard, and probably sang, this song sometime during our childhood, but have you every really sat down and thought about what those words mean? Jesus loves ME; not my great singing voice or my stellar grades on that biology test; ME. Do you really understand that Jesus is a person who loves you through it all and whether we thank Him or not, will always be here supporting us?
Here is what we talked about in Bible study on Wednesday. Feel free to comment or add your own thoughts!
How do our feelings about our family impact our feelings toward God? How do the relationships with our parents affect our relationship with God?Do you feel wanted by God? Why is it so hard for us to realize God truly wants us?Do we fear God? Why dont we fear God the way the Bible says?God knew us before we existed. How hard is it to wrap our minds around that? God has designed us for specific work and tasks and people to interact with. He has a definite plan in mind for each of us.Why does God love us so passionately when we don’t feel or appear lovable?Isaiah 64:6 “All your works are like filthy rags” Our good never outweighs the bad.The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.“The greatest good on this earth is God!” God’s goal for us is Himself.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Did you finish the chapter?
Seriously? Did you? This post's purpose is for the people that have missed the discussion aspect of the study to ask questions or throw in a powerful two cents that you would like to have talked about during the study. It doesn't matter how small or big it is. As long as its relevant we want to hear how your King is talking to YOU!
stop praying.
We sit here, in Florence, South Carolina. Its our world, its what we know. But what about the things we don't? I don't think we could ever fully comprehend just how large our lack of knowledge truly is. Yet, God knows it all. Everything. Everything that there possibly is to know and understand he comprehends in full! I cannot begin to fathom such a fact. Although God created and knows everything we are an absolutely HUGE deal to Him. Last Wednesday the group discussed that God knows the hair on our heads. Out of all the things in the universe, both seen and unseen, our Lord takes the time to know each one of us personally, so personally that he does indeed know absolutely everything about us.
Yet when we step back and observe the love God has for us, we cannot begin to really grasp the love that he deserves. Not only because its so much, but also because of ourselves. We are so selfish, with our time, our money and everything else. But why do we think we have any control with a God so sovereign? He sees everything, while we only view a small moment that we too often think will last. If we consider just how outside of time God truly is we can hardly imagine why he would want to take the time to be involved in such a moment of His time. Our eighty years on earth are nothing compared to the depths of times that He spans across.
The challenge that we come draw from this is to turn off a bit of the noise of our everyday lives. Our cellphones, iPods, computers, cars, EVERYTHING! To just take a moment of our lives to really take in God. Though he is not something that can even be contained in us. He's far to big. But if we fill ourselves with Him then we can come just a bit closer to fully grasping His, despite how impossible it really is. This should lead to our fear in God. We should tremble in his almighty love for us and his complete creation.
Do we love Him like he deserves?
Yet when we step back and observe the love God has for us, we cannot begin to really grasp the love that he deserves. Not only because its so much, but also because of ourselves. We are so selfish, with our time, our money and everything else. But why do we think we have any control with a God so sovereign? He sees everything, while we only view a small moment that we too often think will last. If we consider just how outside of time God truly is we can hardly imagine why he would want to take the time to be involved in such a moment of His time. Our eighty years on earth are nothing compared to the depths of times that He spans across.
The challenge that we come draw from this is to turn off a bit of the noise of our everyday lives. Our cellphones, iPods, computers, cars, EVERYTHING! To just take a moment of our lives to really take in God. Though he is not something that can even be contained in us. He's far to big. But if we fill ourselves with Him then we can come just a bit closer to fully grasping His, despite how impossible it really is. This should lead to our fear in God. We should tremble in his almighty love for us and his complete creation.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
-Psalm 19:1-4
-Psalm 19:1-4
Do we love Him like he deserves?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Getting Started with Crazy Love
"Because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything."
The purpose of this blog is to allow everyone who is interested in the Francis Marion BCM bible study of Francis Chan's Crazy Love to participate in the most effective way possible. It has come to our attention that not everyone is able to come to the Bible study during the discussion time on Wednesdays at 12:30. But we want as many people as possible to be involved in the study. Therefore, everyone who wants to have questions answered and to be part of the discussion should feel free to participate online and, when possible, during the discussions.
This blog will be updated on Sunday afternoons and some time shortly after the group discussions on Wednesday. Both will serve a different purpose. Sunday updates will have a brief subject beginner of the chapters and will allow the ability to ask questions or enter progressive points after thoughtfully reading each chapter. This will be done through commenting (which will be expanded upon later). Mid-week updates will allow those who have questions to view some of the discussion topics and conclusions that the Wednesday afternoon group have drawn. Feedback to any of the entries are welcomed and encouraged!
Although, you will not be capable of leaving comments without becoming a member for the Blogger community. Its an easy set up and by clicking on the 'Create Blog' tag at the top right of this page you can create an account to join the study. It is requested that once you have created an account to let us know by simply commenting on this post so we know who all is logged on for the journey through this book.
The purpose of this blog is to allow everyone who is interested in the Francis Marion BCM bible study of Francis Chan's Crazy Love to participate in the most effective way possible. It has come to our attention that not everyone is able to come to the Bible study during the discussion time on Wednesdays at 12:30. But we want as many people as possible to be involved in the study. Therefore, everyone who wants to have questions answered and to be part of the discussion should feel free to participate online and, when possible, during the discussions.
This blog will be updated on Sunday afternoons and some time shortly after the group discussions on Wednesday. Both will serve a different purpose. Sunday updates will have a brief subject beginner of the chapters and will allow the ability to ask questions or enter progressive points after thoughtfully reading each chapter. This will be done through commenting (which will be expanded upon later). Mid-week updates will allow those who have questions to view some of the discussion topics and conclusions that the Wednesday afternoon group have drawn. Feedback to any of the entries are welcomed and encouraged!
Although, you will not be capable of leaving comments without becoming a member for the Blogger community. Its an easy set up and by clicking on the 'Create Blog' tag at the top right of this page you can create an account to join the study. It is requested that once you have created an account to let us know by simply commenting on this post so we know who all is logged on for the journey through this book.
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