Noise

Several months back Eddie was out of town and I found myself falling into bed way too late after trying to finish up some projects.  I was absolutely exhausted and couldn't help but smile as I crawled into my comfy bed.  I was quickly being lulled to sleep by the sound of our fan when silence and complete darkness overcame the room. 

It took me a few moments to realize our area was experiencing a power outage.  I gladly stayed in bed, knowing it would probably come back on in a few minutes.  I closed my eyes, eager to get some sleep.  But the minutes passed and I could not fall asleep.  It was very dark and completely quite- presumably a great sleeping environment.  But this is not what I was used to.  Normally the darkness was weakened by street lights, clocks, etc..  And the quite, it was usually interrupted by our loud fan and running a/c.  I could not relax, instead all my senses seemed to be heightened. 

It was at that moment that God allowed me to learn a very important biblical principle.  He gently spoke to me that I was too used to noise.  I lived life with near constant distraction- even when I slept.  The "noise" of life dulled my senses- physically, emotionally and spiritually. 

I had all but lost my ability to truly be still. 

There are far too many things that crowd our days and in turn our minds- to do list that just keep growing; schedules that keep getting busier; music in our house, in our car, and on our phone; TV with hundreds of channels, Facebook, Pinterest, and much more!

So it should come as no surprise that I strongly resonated with chapter five.  Chan writes, "Our lack of intimacy often is due to our refusal to unplug and shut off communication from all others so we can be alone with Him." (page 109)  Stillness is a spiritual discipline that must be developed and exercised.  Do you take time each day to be completely still and quite before God? 

Chan wraps up this book with many incredible principles in chapters five and six.  His writing is quite challenging yet encouraging as God's love for us is at the center of it all.  I pray God used this book to grow and encourage you.  Take some time to process what you learned.

If you have not ordered your book for next month, please do so quickly so you can stay up with us.  The link to order is on the previous post.  I am very excited for April!

Chapters 3 & 4 + Our Next Book

Well we have been moving slowly through this first book as I was giving people time to order/buy there books.  But slow is good when the topic is as important as this one.  We will finish up this book with one last post this Friday.  I Would really like to hear more from each of you as to what impacted you in Chapters 3 & 4.  So please comment away!

With April only a week away, it is time for everyone to order our next book.  It is titled "The Plan of Your Life" by Dr. Chris Stephens and can ONLY be ordered through his website and cannot be bought in stores so please order yours as soon as possible so you can be ready for next week.

http://drchrisstephens.com/books/

Chapter Two

Have you ever known someone who's life and faith exuded what true surrender to God really was?  Were you amazed by them?  Did you wonder how they did it?  Did it even create a fear that maybe, just maybe, God would call you to be like them?  Chapter two of Forgotten God thoroughly addresses our fears of true surrender.  It is not that we think God is distant or not powerful enough.  At the root of it all is our selfishness.


If I don't see the results I want, do I see God as failing?
What if I surrender to God and he asks too much of me?
What will other people think of me?


Chan writes, "When it comes down to it, many of us do not really want to be led by the Holy Spirit.  Or, more fundamentally, many of us don't want to be led by anyone other than ourselves."  We become comfortable in our lives and fear what God would really ask of us if we truly held our lives with an open hand to God.  The funny thing is God is not nearly as concerned with what you do as who you are.  Sure God has plans for us and some of those plans may not line up with YOUR plan for life.  But His plans center around our hearts being molded into His image, surrendered to His pruning process that can be painful.  But if you trust, I mean really trust that God is good then there is nothing to fear.


I have heard people express their fear in saying, "What if God calls me to Africa?"  Well, if He does than I can assure you there is no other place you would rather be since His plan is good and perfect.  However, for most of us he is simply trying to strip us of our pride and selfishness so in our day to day lives here in Keller we see our days of errands, play dates and work in a whole new light.  God sees each day not as a to-do list, but as an all out rescue mission for those who are far from Him.  God may not be calling you to Africa but He very well may be calling you to talk to the Target employee, serve your neighbor who is going through a divorce or reach your co-worker.


What are your thoughts on Chapter Two?

Chapter One

I attended the same church from first grade until I graduated from college.  It was a very conservative church that taught me to love the bible and Sunday potlucks.  Church grandmas can put anything together in a casserole and make it taste good!

I went on to attend a conservative Christian university where I got my degree in Youth and Family Ministry.  While many others studied business or science, I studied people and scripture.  My senior year arrived and I had a whole plan laid out for my future.  

Little did I know what God had in store for me.

In December I went to a new church and that visit, my friends, would change my life forever.  I saw the vision of this church lining up with the longing in my heart for people to be reached and a life lived more passionately for God.  I began going to every class or training I could.  It was at this point that many beliefs I held began to be challenged.  My conservative roots had taught me very little about the Holy Spirit except to fear it.  

I was intrigued, confused and even prideful at the same time.  I had been a Christian for 14 years and was a few short months from having a degree in ministry.  How was it possible that my beliefs of God and scripture could be so wrong?  It was in that moment that I had a choice, to stand firm on what I believed for so long because that was what I had been taught or to choose to read the bible with a fresh set of eyes.

Armed with a new bible and a highlighter I set out to read, highlight and study every scripture in the New Testament about the Holy Spirit.  By the time I was through Acts my highlighter was about worn out and I was in complete awe of what God had done in my heart.  Page after colored up page was proof of God's plan for the Holy Spirit to be a much bigger part of my life than fit in the little box I put Him in.

Allowing myself to open my heart to truly learn to live by the Holy Spirit completely changed my life.  God had to get me to this point in order to prepare me for the life He had planned.  I could not possibly live the life I do without the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.  But learning to read the bible with new eyes- completely open to what God says- was even more life changing.  The truth is, I would have never been open to this without being in a safe and healthy spiritual community that I trusted.

The first chapter in this book truly is life changing.  Chan does an amazing job explaining the need to read God's word with new eyes.  This is absolutely essential in being able to learn God's true plan for our lives.  But why is this so important?  Because without plugging into the power of God's Counselor, how will our lives look vastly different than non-believers?  

Let's Get Started

And so our journey together begins!  For each of you, this journey looks different but it all begins the same- with faithfulness.  Your faithfulness to grow in your personal relationship and in wisdom through small disciplines.  


The first book we are going through is Forgotten God by Francis Chan.  I have waited to post so each of you had time to obtain the book.  Please read Chapters 1 & 2 this week.  Of course you can always read more- it is so good it is hard to put down!


Also, please comment when you read this posting so I know you are joining in.  You will find the (very small) comment link at the bottom of each post on the very right.