I have two words for day 1 of the fast…Dick. Brogden.
There’s nothing like a heavy dose of Biblical Christianity versus my American Christianity to drive me to my knees before Jesus. And so the fast begins.
Note: if you missed Dick’s sermon stop here and check it out at http://cplace.org/resources-media/sermon-archive/.
You can also check out Dick’s website for some pretty cool follow up info to his sermon - http://live-dead.org/.
Yesterday I spent time just dwelling on the words from the sermon. So real. So authentic. So meaningful coming from someone who’s suffered, been rejected & is willing to die for Jesus.
I’ve considered myself willing to do whatever God asks. But lately God’s been giving me countless opportunities to put my money where my mouth is and I’m discovering I’m not as willing as I once thought. In fact, in some areas I’ve got a white-knuckle grip on comfort and safety.
As Dick drew a clear picture of the Jesus of the Bible, who doesn’t promise a good school for my kids or a neighborhood I feel safe in at night or who might want me to go to an unreached people group where safety is a distant memory, I felt challenged to the core yet again.
When will I be so captivated by Jesus that I lay down my fears?
When will I know His love so well that I trust Him with everything?
The thing that was so beautiful to me about the sermon was that after Dick told of a Jesus that loves us endlessly and who allows suffering, rejection and death to sear His truths into our lives, Pastor Rick came forward and asked people to choose this Jesus. To surrender to a Savior that isn’t packaged in a pretty little box with a shiny little bow.
And they did.
A truckload of people were so captivated by this Jesus…they came forward to give their lives to Him. It was so powerful. It’s one thing to accept the American Jesus that has love, good plans, and happy times for us. It’s a totally different thing to give your life to the Jesus that requires you to die to yourself and live for Him. That’s epic.
For me, it was a reminder to quit whining about my fears. It’s time to shut my mouth and get on board because I want to be part of something epic…something where the Sovereign Lord uses a peon like me to be part of a plan that’s measured by eternity.
For now, I’m not living dead. I’m living in a messy battle where day-by-day I fight to kill my selfish desires for comfort and safety. I fight to know the Word and put it into action, sacrificing every last square inch of me to be like Jesus…in my house, in my neighborhood and in the world.
My prayer for these 21 days is that God will move me (and you) even closer to living dead so that the God of the Bible would be glorified and so that someone would come to know the love and the epic adventure that’s only found in our Jesus.
There’s nothing like a heavy dose of Biblical Christianity versus my American Christianity to drive me to my knees before Jesus. And so the fast begins.
Note: if you missed Dick’s sermon stop here and check it out at http://cplace.org/resources-media/sermon-archive/.
You can also check out Dick’s website for some pretty cool follow up info to his sermon - http://live-dead.org/.
Yesterday I spent time just dwelling on the words from the sermon. So real. So authentic. So meaningful coming from someone who’s suffered, been rejected & is willing to die for Jesus.
I’ve considered myself willing to do whatever God asks. But lately God’s been giving me countless opportunities to put my money where my mouth is and I’m discovering I’m not as willing as I once thought. In fact, in some areas I’ve got a white-knuckle grip on comfort and safety.
As Dick drew a clear picture of the Jesus of the Bible, who doesn’t promise a good school for my kids or a neighborhood I feel safe in at night or who might want me to go to an unreached people group where safety is a distant memory, I felt challenged to the core yet again.
When will I be so captivated by Jesus that I lay down my fears?
When will I know His love so well that I trust Him with everything?
The thing that was so beautiful to me about the sermon was that after Dick told of a Jesus that loves us endlessly and who allows suffering, rejection and death to sear His truths into our lives, Pastor Rick came forward and asked people to choose this Jesus. To surrender to a Savior that isn’t packaged in a pretty little box with a shiny little bow.
And they did.
A truckload of people were so captivated by this Jesus…they came forward to give their lives to Him. It was so powerful. It’s one thing to accept the American Jesus that has love, good plans, and happy times for us. It’s a totally different thing to give your life to the Jesus that requires you to die to yourself and live for Him. That’s epic.
For me, it was a reminder to quit whining about my fears. It’s time to shut my mouth and get on board because I want to be part of something epic…something where the Sovereign Lord uses a peon like me to be part of a plan that’s measured by eternity.
For now, I’m not living dead. I’m living in a messy battle where day-by-day I fight to kill my selfish desires for comfort and safety. I fight to know the Word and put it into action, sacrificing every last square inch of me to be like Jesus…in my house, in my neighborhood and in the world.
My prayer for these 21 days is that God will move me (and you) even closer to living dead so that the God of the Bible would be glorified and so that someone would come to know the love and the epic adventure that’s only found in our Jesus.
- Jen Riddle
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