Leaving Sundays: Crazy Love - Your best life....Later

Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers. - Francis Chan

Boom.

This is exactly what I think and how I feel! You already know the mantra from Sister Leymah

Going off track a little bit 

I keep thinking about Lukewarm churchgoers and how low energy and Uninspiring they are.

This is terrible because those with faith should be the role models and not celebrities.

I think about how young people need role models other than celebrities because celebrity is rooted in idolatry, lies, fantasy, myths, and often has little to do with reality.

Ask anybody who is close to that world and it's nothing like it's portrayed.  

Watch a few biopics and you realize that it isn’t worth it.

If you told people the reality of the situation, then you couldn't sell anything to people. Nobody wants to hear about what too many drugs and sleeping around ultimately does to you. They don't want to hear that someone is sleeping around because they are looking to fill voids and be validated or how lonely all that feels.

Young people and adults alike need role models in front of them who are doing crazy and live a rich lifestyle in truth not a fantasy.

It takes no faith to come to a church building and eat chicken or drink punch.

Back on track…Would our lives look any different if we stopped believing in God?

The point is that if people are looking at our lives and they wouldn't look any different if we stopped believing in God, then something needs to change.

If we can't tell stories that make people say, “Wow. How did that happen?” “That Must have been a supernatural force”, then we are doing it wrong.

It is easy to say these things but it is hard to live it! It is much easier to do what's Comfortable and boring.

As Chan says,

Christians today like to play it safe. We want to put ourselves in situations where we are safe “even if there is no God” But if we desire to please God we cannot live that way. We have to do things that cost us during our life on earth but will be more than worth it in eternity.

Playing What if and what would I do.... 

I have thought about a certain scenario that I could be faced with. Suppose I was presented with an opportunity that could solve my financial issues and provide me with all that I have ever wanted, but it would force me to compromise my beliefs and obedience to God.

What would I do?

The easy thing to say is that I would walk away.

I hope I would walk away.

I would pray for the Holy Spirit to convict me into walking  away

I would have to silence my inner critic and the critics around me telling me how stupid I am for passing this up.

Would I really be willing to say NO to all I have ever wanted in this earthly life for my faith and because I want to live in obedience to God?

Would I really trust that God has better?

In some ways I've already seen that God's plans are always better and so it would be easier to say no to everything I wanted on the surface but would violate my beliefs.

In other ways it would be easy to make excuses

I've waited long enough

Time is slipping away from me

My window of opportunity is closing

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity

The bottom line is that if I choose God then I need to choose Him all the way even if it means leaving all of my earthly desires on the table.

Counting the Costs....

When Christ says to count the cost of following Him, it means we must surrender everything. - Francis Chan

It means we must trust and not know where we are going or how things will get done.

For some reason I don't believe this is any accident that I keep pondering this scenario. Time to get my mind right!

What are you doing that requires faith?

Chan says he was presented with this question in Bible college and he realized his life would not look much different if he did not have faith.

I decided to think about this in my own life.

What requires faith in my life?

This business or movement to get off the ground. I've had several people tell me that what I'm doing is bigger than me and they see me on a bigger platform but right now it's just a struggle to pay bills and keep going

Nuff said.

In all seriousness this is requiring faith to believe there is something very big going on here. I just don't believe all this delay, preparation, and transformation is so that I can enter some boring, safe, and meh covenant of marriage. That's not what I want anyway.

This is somewhat of a sidetrack but

Earlier this year at our Goals gathering and gala, I got this SAY NO card as my message for the year.

As we've progressed through the year I realized I need to SAY NO to what would be safe, boring, and meh. Something that would be good but not great and crazy. I would need to SAY NO to what would be settling and not going for broke.

That is how I feel about the situation and then with my health discoveries this year it may be harder for me to carry a child and I am getting older so yeah it requires faith.

I believe God will provide but right now on the surface things aren't looking very promising but you know what? I'm Moving Forward.