Author John Eldredge was in town last night to speak as he tours the country promoting his latest book, Walking With God

Here are few notes from the evening……

John 10

1) The Offer – Life

• Christianity is an offer that extends way beyond forgiveness.

2) The Setting – Danger

• We live in a dangerous world…..a world at war.

• A lot of Christians walk through life with a chosen ignorance of reality.

3) The Condition – Listen to my voice. Follow me. Stay close to me.

• There is conversation intimacy available with God.

• He is a speaking God.

• It is His nature to communicate.

• We are relational beings……..and we are created in the image of God.

• The whole trajectory of scripture in 2 words……Come Closer.

• A progression…..Clay & Potter -> Sheep & Shepherd -> Servant & Master -> John15: I no longer call you servants……..I have called you friends. -> His beloved. Bride.

• Can you imagine any relationship without dialog?

• The heart of God is actually jealous over you. He yearns for you.

How does he speak to me?

• Through the scriptures (A sure foundation for your faith)
• Through the counsel of Godly people
• Through circumstances
• He speaks anyway he wants to.

• Most of our struggle is a struggle with interpretation.
• There are other factors at work in a broken, fallen world at war.
• You cannot cultivate a conversational intimacy with God without some place for quiet in your life.
• Make yourself present.
• Quiet. Present. Start with small questions.
• Quite often the reason we don’t ask or don’t hear is because we don’t want to hear.
• How does God raise a man to be a man? Mostly through hardship.

John Eldredge says this about Joy in his new book Walking With God

Joy as a category seemed….irrelevant. Nice but unessential. Like owning a hot tub. And distant too. The hot tub is in Fiji. Wouldn’t it be nice? Ain’t going to happen. Life’s not really about joy. I’ve got all this stuff that has to get done.

Then he asks…..

Really now – how much do you think about joy? Do you see it as essential to your life, something God insists on?

Those are good questions. I would say I think about it. Even experience it. But essential? That God insists on it? Never thought of it like that.

He offers up these scriptures where Jesus talks about joy……

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11 (NIV)

Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks! John 16:24 (MSG)

I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. John 17:13 (NIV)

I want to be like David when he said…..

He proved he’s on my side; I’ve thrown my lot in with him. Now I’m jumping for joy, and shouting and singing my thanks to him. Psalm 28:7 (MSG)

Just noticed that Wild at Heart and Waking The Dead author, John Eldredge, is now blogging here

Well, sort of…..only 4 posts so far. Hopefully, he will keep it up after the upcoming release of his new book, Walking With God.

John will be speaking nearby in The Woodlands on April 17th. Ordered my ticket today minutes before the event sold out.