.holding nothing back

It's time for believers everywhere to give ourselves over to the concept of reckless abandon.

reckless abandon - a complete surrender to SUPERnatural impulses without restraint or moderation; freedom from inhibition or conventionality.

This concept is more than a concept. It's an attitude, an action and more importantly, a state of being. It says, in essence, "I choose not to allow anything or anyone, including myself, to hold me back from living my life as God designed...in abundance and complete surrender to His purpose and plan!"

In this life, there are countless obstacles that would present themselves in order to dissuade or distract us from living the abundant life. Obstacles brought about by the enemy or just obstacles from life itself. However, many times the obstacle standing in our way is in fact ourselves.

I've identified several ways that we as believers hold back:
1. Caring Too Much About What People Think
What will they think if I lift my hands in worship? Everybody will stare at me if I "jump for joy." I can't share the gospel, what will my friends say?

2. Absence of Trust
How can I follow God's plan for my life when I need x amount of dollars to sustain my comfortable lifestyle? My future is uncertain right now, so I'm going to do what I think is best for me.
See Matthew 6 and start seeking first HIS kingdom...

3. Ignorance of Who We Are in Christ
E.W. Kenyon said “The reason that the majority of Christians are weak, though they are earnest, yet they are weak, is because they have never dared to make a confession of who they are in Christ.”
We have to learn and acknowledge every good thing we have in Christ. (Philemon 1:6)

4. Focusing on Past Mistakes
No one will listen to me because I used to do the same thing they're doing. I can’t witness to my friends because they heard me cuss last week. I acted up in class last year so I won’t do well this year either. I failed 9th grade because I slacked off, I should just drop out.
Let's follow Paul's example in Philippians 3:13-14 by forgetting those things that are behind and moving forward! God has chosen to forget our sins and past mistakes. Let's accept his forgiveness and advance!

If we want to live the abundant life, we have to make a quality decision that we will live our lives with reckless abandon!

.fishin' tools

At the beginning of this month, our church started an outreach campaign called Launch. Based on Luke 5:4 where Jesus commanded Peter to "launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch," this campaign is an all-out effort to launch out in our respective worlds and be fishers of men.

So I've been doing a little research on some tools for doing just that in order to help our congregation make fishing a reality in their lives. One such tool that I've discovered is simply to create a link on your web page (i.e. blog, facebook, myspace, twitter, etc.) to one of the sites created by NAMB with a clear and compelling gospel presentation.

Here is a link to one that I like: FLIPZ.

Here are two more: ALIVE. SEEK.

So, go ahead. Launch out and put a link on your page. It may lead one of your friends into a relationship with Jesus Christ!

.eager or ashamed?

When it comes to preaching or proclaiming the gospel to others, we can be in one of two categories. We can either be eager or ashamed. Now I realize that you may categorize yourself in the middle, but you should work toward going in the direction of EAGER! If you're not eager, then you're ashamed.

Romans 1:15-16 NIV "15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. 16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." (italics mine)

eager - adj. - marked by enthusiastic or impatient desire or interest (impatient at delay or restraint)
ashamed - adj. - restrained by anticipation of shame (a consciousness of shame or guilt, i.e. embarrasment)

You and I should be eagerly looking for the opportunity to rescue the perishing instead of looking the other way when those around us are lost, hurting and dying.

Naturally speaking, what kind of human being would you be if you had a lifesaver and someone around you was drowning yet you didn't throw in the very device that would save his life? In the same way, you and I have the very thing that will turn their broken and tired lives around, yet we hesitate to dive in and rescue them.

Being ashamed will hold you back from not only sharing the gospel with others, but also from living life to your full potential. Break through the barrier of shame and recognize that what you have inside you is the POWER of God to rescue those in need.

.to ask or not to ask

As I was compiling some of our medical bills for Karis's birth and following readmittance due to high bilirubin, I noticed something interesting on our $1700 bill for anesthesia. It wasn't the fact that the insurance paid nada, zip, zilch, zero. We were expecting that because of our maximum maternity benefit being well...maxed out! No, the interesting thing was a phone number prefaced by "for assistance, please call..."

So, you know what I did? I called. I asked if they offered financial assistance or could set us up on payments. She explained that their policy was to usually not do any discount or write-off for customers that have insurance, but she would ask her supervisor for me. I thanked her and waited.

When she came back to the line, she said her supervisor was in a giving mood and they lowered our bill by 40%! I thanked her again...even more exuberantly! Our $1700 bill had just transformed into $944! That's the favor of God...overriding policies for His children!

James 4:2b Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

So when $700 and some change is on the line, it literally pays to ask. The next time you're afraid to ask for assistance, remember the payoff for just a little bit of nerve. And be encouraged by the words of Jesus, "ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)

.kidnapped

A couple of weeks ago one of my favorite superman dolls was kidnapped from my office. (aside to Superman dolls - don't worry, guys, you're all my favorite). I came back to work after a long weekend to find an email in my inbox addressing part of the terrorist's demands.

The email went as follows: Since you have seemed to not have taken me seriously, the ransom for your stuffed friend has increased. You Must Now include O2 shirts in the ransom, one large and one small!!!! Here are some pics to show that your friend is still alive, barely!




P.S. AGAIN NO COPS OR HE GETS THE SUPER CYCLE!!!!!

I was heartbroken. I looked in the place where my Superman once stood only to find a bloody outline on yellow legal pad paper displaying the napper's first round of wants...a white chocolate reese's and hershey's symphony bar. Apparently, our criminal has a sweet tooth. I immediately went into CSI mode and noted all the clues that would let me in on who the deviant mastermind could be. My lightning fast mind quickly figured it out and I felt like a 3rd grader who'd won "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?" I responded to the email with one line: "We do NOT negotiate with terrorists!" But of course, after scrolling down, the fiend could see that I would give in to his requests. And I did. I tracked down what he needed (with a trucker hat in the place of O2 shirts) and immediately sent them to the appropriate destination. Within a few days, Superman had returned!!! My heart was full again! I held him and squeezed him and loved him so. He knew I had missed him.

And this thought followed: If I care this much about a "stupid doll" (aside to Superman dolls - You guys aren't stupid to me, I love you all!), how much more does God care about me?! He was willing to pay the highest price necessary to get us back from the evil mastermind, satan. He purchased our ransom with the blood of Jesus Christ. What must God have felt like once He had paid the ransom for you and I and we were returned to Him? We once were kidnapped, but now we're back into His loving embrace! Thank God for His magnificent love!

.blueprints & fingerprints

i attended a youth camp my junior year in high school. it was during a testimony service at the end of the week that a fellow student talked briefly about blueprints and fingerprints. while i don't remember the exactness of his words, the terminology stuck with me. i'll expound on the idea in my own words.

blueprints - plans, designs, details, smurf markings
jeremiah 29:11 is my favorite scripture of all time. i find myself quoting it and meditating on it quite often. i memorized it in the NIV..."i know the plans i have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

it's amazing to me that the master architect has blueprints for my life. a plan and design specifically for me. and he not only has plans for me, but plans for you, too. he cares about you so much that every lyric of your song was written before it's ever been sung. every page of your book penned before it's ever been read. every note in your melody composed before it's ever been played. every detail of your life etched in stone just like a sculptor creates a brilliant masterpiece. the very God of the universe has done that for you and me.

fingerprints - proof of touch, evidence, csi stuff
psalm 139:10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

the hand of our Creator is upon us...leading us and guiding us into his perfect plan for our lives. his fingerprints are the evidence of his existence in our lives. the fact is, for those that call Christ Savior, he has us right in the palm of his hand and NOTHING can snatch us from his grip.

oh that our lives would match up with his blueprints and we would live in such a way that people notice his fingerprints.

.be the arrow

If you know anything about sports at all, you've probably heard the phrase "be the ball." It may be used in connection with baseball, maybe after your teammate has wiffed a few times at the plate. Or perhaps in basketball when someone blows a wide-open layup. Or maybe in football when the receiver butterfingers a perfect pass. All in all, it's meant to be a phrase of exhortation, i.e. "get your rear in gear and play better!" You've probably haven't heard anyone say, "be the arrow". Even in archer's circles, I assume it's never used. I'm sure experienced marksmen have their own lingo and probably don't go around patting other dude's butts after a good shot either.

Either way, what does it mean to "be the arrow"? Well, I found this passage in the Message a couple of weeks ago and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Let's see what it does to you:

psalm 25:12 (the message) My question: What are God-worshipers like? Your answer: Arrows aimed at God's bull's-eye.

WOW! Every time I read this, I'm in awe of its simplistic confoundness. Let me explain. Those who worship God, living lifestyles of surrender to Him, are arrows directed at the center of God's perfect will for their lives. This idea is found elsewhere in the first part of Romans 12..."submit your bodies as a living sacrifice to Him (your spiritual act of WORSHIP)...then you will be able to test and approve God's good, pleasing and perfect will!"

So, be the ARROW. Live your life completely and wholly for Him and watch your life get right on target!