A Life that transcends
I was reading an article from www.relevantmagazine.com called "Ruined". Incredible. And so true. I think that everyone else can really just put my thoughts into words. It's amazing! Read the following and be as excited as I was/am!
In the book Dangerous Wonder Mike Yacconelli writes, "I'm ready for a Christianity that ruins my life, that catures my heart and makes me uncomfortable." At times, we all need to be ruined; we need to let God disrupt our lives-taking us to a place of absolute need. Following Jesus was never meant to be the safe alternative to an unpredictable life; following Jesus is inherently life-altering, deconstructive and always evolving.
Authentic spiritual formation involves Gof actively tearing down the walls and ripping out the guts of our weak-minded, self-willed faith to make room for something incredibly powerful, something innately beautiful and something completely other.
Our churches and our relationships are radically changed when we are given license to be broken; in a way, when we uncover our weakness we are celebrating a liberating promise that God will show up in our lives-that we need Him. We need to give each other some slack, making room for our shortcomings and creating environments that nurture raw faith.
In many ways, I think God is anxiously waiting for our weakneses to emerge so His power can penetrate our safe attempts at Christianity. Revealing your weakness is not safe, but following Jesus was never meant to be safe, in fact, following Jesus will probably ruin your life, in a good way. What will it ruin? It will ruin your ability to keep pretending; it will tear down your ability to live in this world without caring for it, and it will utterly ruin your chances of living-out your days as a fugitive hiding from grace.
I just love it. That's exactly how I feel and thanks to Brian Orme I can now express it.
I was driving in my car the other night on my way home from Starbucks. And I thought, "There's nothing in this world or anyone in this world who can make my heart feel like it does for Jesus. Nothing" I sat there and just smiled, completely overjoyed at it all. It's hard to wrap my mind around it, but I don't have to. It's for me and Him. I just love Him. I can't help it.
Let me explain real quickly why I was at Starbucks, or rather why I haven't been there in a long time. Used to, at least once a week I would go t Starbucks at Arapahoe Crossing with my headphones, a book, my Bible, my journal, a pen and a white chocolate mocha and just be by myself. Well...I haven't done that in weeks. I had something on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night every week. I realized this weekend that I was craving alone time. Although I am outgoing, I am really an introvert, needing to be by myself to regroup and reenergize. I needed this badly. So I made a decision. I was going to something at church every Wednesday night. And as great as this was, I had to make a choice about what I needed most. I had to think about me. I needed alone time so I have decided not to do the Wednesday night thing anymore. I am replacing it with my date at Starbucks weekly. I already feel great and it helped me to refocus again. [Always good.]
Well...toodles. Back to work. Another day, another nickel. :)
In the book Dangerous Wonder Mike Yacconelli writes, "I'm ready for a Christianity that ruins my life, that catures my heart and makes me uncomfortable." At times, we all need to be ruined; we need to let God disrupt our lives-taking us to a place of absolute need. Following Jesus was never meant to be the safe alternative to an unpredictable life; following Jesus is inherently life-altering, deconstructive and always evolving.
Authentic spiritual formation involves Gof actively tearing down the walls and ripping out the guts of our weak-minded, self-willed faith to make room for something incredibly powerful, something innately beautiful and something completely other.
Our churches and our relationships are radically changed when we are given license to be broken; in a way, when we uncover our weakness we are celebrating a liberating promise that God will show up in our lives-that we need Him. We need to give each other some slack, making room for our shortcomings and creating environments that nurture raw faith.
In many ways, I think God is anxiously waiting for our weakneses to emerge so His power can penetrate our safe attempts at Christianity. Revealing your weakness is not safe, but following Jesus was never meant to be safe, in fact, following Jesus will probably ruin your life, in a good way. What will it ruin? It will ruin your ability to keep pretending; it will tear down your ability to live in this world without caring for it, and it will utterly ruin your chances of living-out your days as a fugitive hiding from grace.
I just love it. That's exactly how I feel and thanks to Brian Orme I can now express it.
I was driving in my car the other night on my way home from Starbucks. And I thought, "There's nothing in this world or anyone in this world who can make my heart feel like it does for Jesus. Nothing" I sat there and just smiled, completely overjoyed at it all. It's hard to wrap my mind around it, but I don't have to. It's for me and Him. I just love Him. I can't help it.
Let me explain real quickly why I was at Starbucks, or rather why I haven't been there in a long time. Used to, at least once a week I would go t Starbucks at Arapahoe Crossing with my headphones, a book, my Bible, my journal, a pen and a white chocolate mocha and just be by myself. Well...I haven't done that in weeks. I had something on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night every week. I realized this weekend that I was craving alone time. Although I am outgoing, I am really an introvert, needing to be by myself to regroup and reenergize. I needed this badly. So I made a decision. I was going to something at church every Wednesday night. And as great as this was, I had to make a choice about what I needed most. I had to think about me. I needed alone time so I have decided not to do the Wednesday night thing anymore. I am replacing it with my date at Starbucks weekly. I already feel great and it helped me to refocus again. [Always good.]
Well...toodles. Back to work. Another day, another nickel. :)
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