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Great Boldness

I’ve been taking a fresh look at the Book of Acts.

The great boldness displayed by the early followers of Christ really kind of blows my mind.

Take Peter and John for example. In Acts 3, these guys go to the temple, heal a man along the way, and then start telling the onlookers about Jesus Christ. On the surface that might not seem all that bold. But keep in mind, they are doing all of this right in front of the religious leaders that had just orchestrated the horrific torture and crucifixion of their leader, Jesus Christ.

The religious leaders threatened Peter and John and ordered them to stop. And this is how Peter and John responded……….

But Peter and John spoke right back, “Whether it’s right in God’s eyes to listen to you rather than to God, you decide. As for us, there’s no question-we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard.” Acts 4:19-20

This is a great boldness that was not seen in Peter just a short time before on the night that Jesus was arrested. Peter had denied Christ….disowned Him. And now he stood with great boldness, risking his life, because of what he had seen and heard.

Wanna Get Away?

From time to time, we all need to get away from the…

• noise
• busyness
• pressure
• stress
• chores
• distractions

of life.

Jesus modeled this behavior for us…..

Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Matthew 26:36 (MSG)

While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Mark 1:35 (MSG)

As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer. Luke 5:16 (MSG)

Where do you go to get away?

My favorite place to get away……Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado

Don’t Close Your Eyes

I heard Switchfoot’s song, This is Your Life, on the radio during lunch.

The words of that song are such a great reminder for me.

don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes
this is your life and today is all you’ve got now
yeah, and today is all you’ll ever have
don’t close your eyes
don’t close your eyes

Strong Words

“sons of hell”

“blind guides”

“hypocrites”

“filthy”

“full of greed”

“snakes. Sons of vipers”

Those are strong words.

Those are the words that Jesus used to describe the Pharisees in Matthew 23.

Jesus could see right through their religious dress, their religious activities, and religious rituals.

On the inside, their hearts were dead.

God is not interested in our religion…..he is interested in our hearts.

Heaven

At church and in my small group we have been studying heaven.

Before we started, honestly, I didn’t understand the importance of doing a deep study on heaven.

After all, it is a perfect place in the presence of God and it lasts forever…..and I am going there someday. That was good enough for me.

Several weeks into this study, I am beginning to understand why God provides glimpses of heaven in His Word.

Here is what I am learning…….

• Focusing on the eternal nature of heaven allows me to more clearly see the temporal nature of this world and all the stuff in it.

• Focusing on the perfection of heaven allows me to more clearly see the brokenness of this world and everyone in it (including me).

• Focusing on the magnificence of heaven allows me to more clearly see the insignificance of my possessions in this world.

• Focusing on heaven allows me to more clearly see that I need to live differently.

Plan B?

If you have children…..or no children

If you have experienced loss or tragedy…..of if you haven’t

If you believe in God……or if you don’t

Watch the videos here

Thanks to Pete Wilson for sharing the videos…..but more importantly, thanks to Todd and Angie Smith for sharing your story.

Notes from an Evening with John Eldredge

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.

Joy…It’s Like a Hot Tub

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)

Another World

Excited about tomorrow night.

Our friends. Our house. Diving into a new study on Heaven.

If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.        – C.S. Lewis