Continue The Conversation (Week 1 of Sync)
One of the downsides to preaching is the lack of participation. I can’t stand to be a talking head. So, one of the things I want to try to do on the blog is to take a part of Sunday’s message to discuss here. This is a great opportunity for you guys to interact, comment, question and continue the conversation that we start on Sundays at Cross Point.
I hope you will feel free to participate whether you were there or not. So here we go…
In yesterday’s message I said, “I hear Christians all the time saying they think one of the problems with the world is that we just simply want too much. We want this and we want that. I don’t agree. I think in reality we want too little. I think most of us have settled. I think we have settled for a mediocre version of life. I think we have settled for a mediocre version of life where we chase after such frivolous things like money, and success and power, and applause.”
Last night someone sent me this great quote from C.S. Lewis where he said..
Our Lord finds our desire, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
I went on to say…”It’s almost like we have forgotten that spiritual transformation is possible. It’s possible that Christ can be formed in us. It’s possible to love like Jesus loved and live like Jesus lived. It’s possible, but first we must want that. We must want that more than we want anything else in this world.”
I followed by admitting that I’m not really sure I want this more than anything else. I would like to say I do, but I think I would by lying. If you looked at where I spend my time and my energy, you would come to the unfortunate conclusion that there are many things in this world I want more than Christ being formed in my life.
How about you? Do you want too little? Have you settled? Do you want this more than anything this world has to offer?
Pete
71 Comments:
I feel like I have spent the majority of my spiritual walk settling. I started specifically praying last week that I would become more of a doer of the word rather than just a hearer. This series is meeting me exactly where I am right now.
[Reply]
brandiandboys
11:52 am
So even though I won’t get this message until next week, I am still going to answer.
I totally have settled. There are days where I try to be a ‘good person’ but don’t think beyond that. The fact is, the desire of my heart is to be the hands and feet of Christ, something tangible for people. I desperately want Christ to use me entirely to His glory. But somewhere there is a battle to just go through my day without giving into Him, and instead giving into the distractions and noises around me. Can’t wait for the series to start in Dickson!
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fullofboys
11:56 am
This series is meeting me where I am as well. I blogged about it here: http://jessicaturnersblog.blogspot.com/
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Jessica Turner
12:04 pm
wow. i’m going to have to ponder on those words a bit before i can even answer. and i’m praying that those words transfer to my heart AND mind…and to my hands AND feet (and not just my mouth, which is where things normally start and stay.)
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Courtney
12:32 pm
I’ve settled for many years. Lately I’m beginning to see the greatnest of all that God has to offer, but I think that comes with time. We start off asking for little things (rent payments, cars, friends) but I believe the more of those little things he gives us, the more open our eyes should become to the greatness he has to offer! Why settle for material things when he can do so much more!
One of the very first things I ever recieved from God was one of the biggest things he could have given me. I recognized how big it was at the time and I think that’s why I was able to see past the little things so soon…The first thing he ever gave me when I rededicated my life to him was PEACE.
I wouldn’t trade that for 10 cars right now!
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Rachel
12:34 pm
I guess it would be a form of settling. There are things that I have prayed for for so long and it seems like I loose hope and stop praying for them. So I settle for the current situation I am in. I know that I need to continue in prayer and have the faith in God to know that he knows the desires of my heart and that trusting him to answer my prayers what I should do. I tend to have the thoughts of I am not good enough for God to answer my prayer that way, there is no way I could live like that, or even the thought if i dont deserve it. I need to realize that God wants me to be faithful to him in prayer and communicate with him and FULLY trust that he knows what he is doing and in his timing will fullfil the desires of my heart. After all he does give me the desires of my heart. I wont settle for anything other than what God has to offer me and that is always the best.
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Jenny
12:34 pm
@Courtney, I understand. I’m still allowing the words to sink into my own heart. Praying for you.
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Pete Wilson
12:39 pm
The sermon on Sunday hit me pretty hard. Thank you for your honesty Pete.
I will admit that my priorities in life have been far from where they should be lately. What scares me most though is that I could not answer the question: “Do you want Christ to be formed in you more than anything else in this life.”
Do I really want that? I realized that if I do decide that I want Christ to be the center, there will have to be a lot of change in my life…my thoughts…my desires. I don’t even know where to start…
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Laura
12:43 pm
Pete- OK, seriously, GREAT message yesterday! It’s one of the best I’ve heard in a long time. (Uh, no offense to all of your other messages!) It was SO right on! I was thinking about what my major noise was and what was noise I can turn off or tune out of (obviously my “noisy” kids have to stay!). The computer was at the top of the list (since I rarely, if ever watch tv. Mindless reading would be a close second.
I have set pretty good boundaries around the computer time (you can tell as my blog suffers a slow death) but still, this morning, the first thing I did in the few minutes before my kids woke up was turn the computer on – not open up the Bible. I think true spiritual transformation gives you a hunger for the disciplines you’ll be addressing. It’s not that I don’t have the hunger, it’s that the “addictions” sometimes take precedence.
I do want too little, I have settled. You czn see it in how I spend my time. On your blog instead of in my Bible. In reading a magazine instead of in prayer. (No offense to your blog – which is great btw or magazines!)
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Carmen
1:01 pm
Wow. These are words to chew on …I don’t think it’s that I personally want too little … I think it’s that my faith doesn’t match my wants or the desires God has placed there … I think it is easy to let the noise around me distract my faith … I still need to chew on this
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heather
1:03 pm
How many times have I said that life gets in the way with life. I tend to run from one thing to another and miss out on so many opportunities to thank God – or to place Him first in my life. Thinking through my day, I sleep as long as I can before getting up, I go to work, I go to lunch when there is time, I work some more, I come home, I eat dinner with my family (when life doesn’t get in the way), I (a) watch TV, (b) ride my bike (rarely happens anymore), (c) take my wife or daughters somewhere, (d) do yard work or chores around the house, (e) I take care of the bills, (f) I visit with neighbors occasionally, or (g) I crash and burn, and then I go to bed and start it all over again the next day. That isn’t even addressing the weekends. Notice anything missing? I do – God. Am I settling for less when I do these things? Sure seems like it. Am I choosing the “world” over God on a daily basis? Sure seems like it.
In a word – Ugh…
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Michael
1:16 pm
The sermon in our church touched on the same thing yesterday and it made me think. Do I settle for the things of this world and forget how much my God has promised me if I would just ask and earnestly seek him?? Somehow I find time to do everything that I “HAVE” to get done in a day, however getting my bible study in on a daily basis is always on my “really mean to get to it” list. The message in our church yesterday was about the hokey pokey, at the end of the song it says you put your whole self in, the question was do you put your whole self into seeking God? Then when you find him let him turn yourself about? I believe that I have every intention of doing so, until the phone rings and the noise begins….
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Lauren
1:45 pm
@ Carmen. I get it. I went through a season where I was doing the same thing. I was actually choosing to read blogs in the morning in place of spending time with God. How crazy is that?
I had to do a little blog fast until I could get that priority back in order. Now ever morning I have my quiet time before I even think of opening up that computer. Sounds so simple but I’m so easily distracted.
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Pete Wilson
1:46 pm
Honestly, I still read the blogs first in the morning….but only Christian bloggers….and they inspire me all day. I spend more time in the word now than ever before because I am challenged…and I attribute some of that to the Christian bloggers. Pete, I loved your message last night. I blogged about it myself a couple of days ago. I have been stalled in my Christian walk…but am so happy today that I am somewhere between “close to God” and “God is the center”. I’ve examined my own transformation from the time I accepted Christ, and I am a totally different person. (AMEN). And like your lovely wife, I want to be a “doer” not a “hearer” of the word. Pete, I don’t know what I think about wanting too much or not enough. I haven’t processed that. I think anyone (and all levels of wants) just get too caught up in caring too much about what others think about us. We only need to impress our God. We serve ourselves and we serve others’s expectations. We need to get back to serving God even if it means losing the world, losing some friends, losing some popularity, losing money, losing favor with man, etc. I think I’ve said it a million times…but the book “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn helps put all of this into perspective. It is a life changing, biblically based, book. If we could get an accurate picture of Heaven in our minds, we will do life differently here. I believe that. (sorry so long and over the place)
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Melissa Irwin
2:05 pm
It seems like God has been bringing together multiple facets of my life(various conversations, this blog and others, a book I just finished – The Shack, and our new Sunday School series) all to the same intersection. Where does desire meet truth? If I say that I want Christ to be the center, and yet do not live to that extent, and I not living a lie?
I tend to put all my life in a list of things to do…read my Bible, clean the house, teach my kids, volunteer, cook dinner, manage my blog, spend time with my friends, spend time in prayer,little league, pay bills, worship, play, honor my husband, correct my kids, read, etc….It seems like I am the one who keeps the shackles on, I can not blame evil powers or entities.
So I am thinking of a new plan. NO RULES!!! NO LIST!!! Just one focus…Honor God and live in the Freedom of the Cross. Theology might be like rocket science, but relationship is not. My relationship with Christ is all that matters. A relationship without rules and limitations that I place on myself and more importantly, that I place on Christ.
I am done. No more excuses. Only Christ. I just want to HONOR him in everything.
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April
2:16 pm
great stuff, pete. we’ve got to get to nashville to check out cross point…
i wrestle with this all the time. i battle insecurity and an inferiority complex that rears it head all the time. i can get so freakishly focused on the macro…the big dreams, vision, ideas of what God is up to with us…that i miss Him in the micro…the moment by moment invitation He gives me to join Him in what He is doing. it’s when i miss the micro that i start to settle…when i miss the micro, the macro seems ridiculous and out of reach. when that happens, the enemy kick starts my insecurity and inferiority complex…
so for me, the key to not settling is obeying God in the small, seemingly insignificant invitations He gives…buy the gas station clerk a coke, have a convo with the homeless guy at Sbucks, send an encouraging text message, etc. the only way to get to the macro is to obey in the micro. if that makes any sense at all…:-)
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jay hardwick
2:17 pm
My personal history would say I want applause more than most thing. It certainly wouldn’t say I want, ‘to love like Jesus loved and live like Jesus lived’. (unfortunate but true)
But, I do realize that I am looking for more, something outside the standard mold of todays “Christian”. I’ve always felt that todays “Christian” lacked a sense of ‘Reality’, as if something was missing.
There is something about the life of Christ that is attractive yet dangerously exciting.
I wish I had a book of all the small talk conversation Jesus had, something that didn’t require interpretation. Breaking down life to the point of just living and not discussing how to live.
[Reply]
rlh27
2:25 pm
settling is complacency..I want it all!! Whatever HE wants to give to me, I want it and I want to use for the kingdom..settling for less than that to me seems like defeat. just my two cents
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Darla
2:27 pm
Pete,
Such powerful thoughts.
I asked Daniel, my husband, about your last question you had on distractions. He gave me an answer that has had me thinking for the past few days. He said, “I think what distracts me is what I could be. It’s that gap between who I am currently and who I know I have it in me to be that is both overwhelming and distracting.”
Like you’ve been writing, we are focusing on closing that gap.
It’s seems God is doing a work Churchwide in drawing us closer to Him, encouraging us on to discipline in order to block out distracts and to become more effective for the kingdom.
I’m enjoying this series.
[Reply]
danielle
2:28 pm
As someone who came (was brought?) to Christ later (26, with no church background good or bad, in a jail cell); I think there is an element of “familiarity breed, if not contempt, than apathetic contentment…”
I remember (and hopefully always well) something I heard years ago: There is one person for whom the Lord can do absolutely nothing – and that is the person who is content where they are.”
[Reply]
Jack Hager
2:28 pm
I’ll admit that I don’t want it more than anything else. I’m not sure I want it more than most things. I think I’ve become numb to the idea that Jesus wants to make me into something more.
For me, it’s about whether or not I believe he really can, will, or even wants to do that. And that line between doing it for legalistic reasons and for spiritual reason is very thin at times.
In regards to the CS Lewis quote (I love Lewis, btw). But I must say: I’ve made mud pies in the slum but I’ve also been on many vacations at the sea… to be honest, neither last.
I don’t mean to sound so negative, just being honest.
[Reply]
mpt
2:38 pm
I’m still processing this message from yesterday & am really glad the cd was made available b/c I am going to listen to it again this week. There were several points that really made me think. I’m really looking forward to the rest of this series b/c I sure am addicted to “on”.
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Jonna
2:38 pm
I want bits and pieces of transformation most of the time. My favorite verse the in the entire bible is also one of the shortest. Phil 1:21 To live is CHRIST, to die is gain. For such a short verse it sure is hard to get your mind and life around but to me it represents the idea of transformation. I try to remember that this transformation is (or at least appears to be for me) a process and not an event. I just can’t let myself use that as an excuse for a lack of Christ in my life.
[Reply]
Harold McKee
2:50 pm
Great once again Pete.
I used to settle and focus my attention on the material things until about 4 years ago. (I call it the Want Stage of My Life) I had a job situation that coincided with a sermon that led me in a different direction with my thought processes.(long story but CRAZY how that happens)
I swore to myself at that point, no more settling and wanting. More giving of time and treasures, less of wanting and whining.
I live a completely different life now. Not saying that there aren’t those days or that I have it all figured out, but life has been so much more joyous the past 4 years. I also have been able to focus on what is really important…and it is not the stuff!
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Joseph
2:58 pm
absolutely i have settled for a life of mediocrity. mostly because i have a false sense of security within my own bounds. if I were to let go and venture out that would mean more is expected from me. am i ready to handle that? am i willing? these are the questions i ask myself daily. my true desire is to desire Him fully. but i allow my flesh to convince me to settle….
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tam
3:11 pm
Years ago I cried out to God, “Make my heart break with what breaks Your heart, let me rejoice over the things You rejoice.”
He took me up on that prayer and life got very hard…good…but hard.
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Michelle
3:19 pm
I expect too little rather than too much because I fear the unknown. The immediate effects of T.V., spending, whatever, are known quantities. No surprises. The immediate effect of opening my heart to God’s blessings is an unknown quantity…and I fear the unknown.
When I trust and do open my heart my life becomes….alive. Not that things go as planned and everything is hunky dory by any means…but I’m truly alive.
Why would I ever choose to wallow in self-centered fear? I guess because I’ve managed to convince myself that it’s EASIER to be dead than be alive; being alive can get a little scary.
It’s sad when people expect too little because they don’t know the joy that’s possible in Christ Jesus. That a believer would know that joy and still turn from it can only be explained in my mind’s eye as Satan pulling off some of his finest work.
[Reply]
Bill Renfrew
3:21 pm
GREAT message, PP!! But I have to say that I absolutely LOVE wanting more and more of Him, all the time. I haven’t always been this way…it’s really been since I’ve quit my “outside job” and have been a stay-at-home mom for so long that I’ve become this way. At first (upon quitting my job) I felt “lost”…like I really had no place in life, I was a “nothing” (sorry to say that)-but that’s how life makes you feel-you do “nothing” outside the home so you are “nothing”… but then I slowly began to do more things with God and then I joined an outside Bible Study, then things just took off!! I can’t explain it – but I KNOW deep, deep, deep in my inner being/soul that I want HIM more now than ever….all the time and I’m willing to die right now for Him. I pray before I make decisions and I don’t care who you are or what the circumstance is, if it’s not about God then I’m NOT doing it. PERIOD. I had no idea this (whatever “this” is) was out there….then I realized, the exact same God who CREATED THE UNIVERSE, gave Moses his strength, gave Noah his strength, gave Job something I never knew existed, is the EXACT same God today and guess what, I CAN HAVE THAT TOO!!!!! I believe that slowly, but surely, I am getting it. But it’s all about HIM, not me. I really could go on and on about this….I get so hypyed up!! But then I’d be doing your job….hahhahah…
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DEb
3:30 pm
@ MPT So True!
@ rlh27 Thank so much for your honestly. I bet a bunch of us are seeking applause over Christ.
@ Bill “It’s easier to be dead than be alive”. You’ve got me thinking bro.
You guys are really stretching me today. What a great conversation.
[Reply]
Pete Wilson
3:34 pm
DEb, thanks for putting Him in reach. We want to make it hard and it is really all about being in love with the Savior. He tranforms us because of our relationship with Him. (I think you pretty well wrapped up the series for Pete now.)
[Reply]
Harold McKee
3:36 pm
I wish I could keep up and read all the posts, but I can’t at work so I will just respond shortly. Pete, THANK YOU for your honesty and vulnerability! It is worth so much to me and the church. I’ve been praying and thinking through yesterday’s sermon, and for now, the thing that makes the most sense and brings the most hope and this time is this verse:
I remember my affliction and my wandering,the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them,and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:19-26
[Reply]
Linnae Hoppe
3:45 pm
hey very interesting stuff Pete… I actually re-quoted that CS Lewis quote this morning on my blog after reading your post today
http://bigearcreations.blogspot.com/2008/06/im-such-nipple.html
but the context that it struck me in… was just how dumb and selfish we are at our core. I call it being “nippular” (the Seinfeld nipple on the soul reference)
It’s stunning to me to again and again discover just how many decisions and reactions that we all have are rooted in selfishness (and consequently our own comfort)
[Reply]
Dave
3:56 pm
Pete,
It’s actually a LOT HARDER for me to be dead than alive…but the opposition sometimes convinces me otherwise. I’m happy to say that’s the minority of the time. But I want it to be that way NONE of the time.
I finally put bibles in all our bathrooms so I’d be sure to read scripture every day no matter what. It’s working. Sometimes twice! 8>0 My enemy is very creative, so I figure whatever it takes. It’s when my family is in the Word that we expect more, and He always delivers.
[Reply]
Bill Renfrew
4:14 pm
I have spent my whole life settling because addiction convinced me that I wasn’t worthy of anything more. Now that I am moving out of addiction and establishing a relationship with God that is based on TRUTH, I am no longer content with a lukewarm faith. There are many things in my past that are difficult to explain here…..suffice it to say that my favorite parable is the prodigal son and I am clinging to my Father with no desire to let go. My desire to know Him, to please Him, to understand His will for my life, to be used by Him, to praise Him, to glorify Him overwhelms me. His grace overwhelms me. His mercy overwhelms me. I’m no longer down with settling!
[Reply]
givemejesus
4:25 pm
we’re splashing around (congratulating each other) in a muddy puddle when just over the spiritual horizon is a vast ocean filled with delights that would blow our minds and hearts!
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New York Mary
4:33 pm
Yeah…this is so very true. In the beginning of our journey to the mission field, my husband and I sold everything and moved so stuff wasn’t really our distraction…but then as we have been here other things took the place of “stuff” and sure enough we have grown comfortable. It is kind of ironic actually…we have teams come and individuals who visit and they remark on the “good work” and are amazed at the life we live and the sacrifices that are made…and I guess that is true, but God calls us to live in TOTAL obedience. Period. I know that He wants my whole heart. Not just the stuff I give to the people on my blog or to my husband or even to my friends and family. He calls us to give and live whole heartedly. He wants so much more then the stuff we do or say or how we live. He wants my dark corners and the judgment and the thoughts I haven’t taken or refuse to take captive. So in the place of money, power or applause, I have allowed my own ideas and insecurities to block my view of the Cross. Sure, I am probably “doing” a lot for the cause, but making sure my heart is right…well that is a whole other story entirely.
But on a side note…when I first read your post, I thought your applause comment said Applesauce. I got so excited. But it didn’t. Sad, sad situation.
[Reply]
kristiapplesauce
4:42 pm
I really enjoyed reading this post. Just recently the Lord has been reminding me of the scripture that says “You have not, because you ASK NOT.” needless to say, Ive been much more. : )
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Kelli
4:55 pm
Pastor Pete, I have been in a spiritual slump and your message was just the wake up call that I needed. I just started an amazing book by Bill Hybels entitled Just Walk Across the Room. This book is showing me the importance of not only desiring spiritual transformation in my own life, but the thrill of pointing others to Him. The only way I’m going to be able to do that is if I turn down the noise in my life and keep my ear fine tuned to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I am starting with the small goal of Bible BEFORE blog reading. Thanks for that idea!
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Holly Black
4:59 pm
@ New York Mary, that is a great thought. I wonder how we might actually be encouraging “mediocrity” in the context of Christian community?
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Pete Wilson
5:00 pm
Pete as a minister’s wife I think I have spent way too much time settling for the mediocre in efforts to “not step on anyone’s toes.” I have spent years having to bite my tongue and not say things that need to be said in fear of upsetting someone in what ever church we may be serving at the time. It gets very frustrating for me when I am trying to follow God and I don’t feel like I can because the people around me are not in the same place I am.
[Reply]
imgladyouasked
5:23 pm
Pete, C.S. Lewis said something else, it’s something I have to constantly remind myself of, when faced with the distractions of the world in which we live. He said, “Enemy occupied territory-that is what this world is.”
Satan’s number one goal is to keep each one of us from becoming the person Christ wants us to be.
T.J. and I were having one of our famous father-son talks the other day. It was about the different faiths and the things people trust. I came back home and starting jotting down the story. I made a notation…..it really sounded spiritual until I read back over it. I wrote, there have been only a handfull of people I would trust with my life and only one I’d trust with my soul.
When I re-read it, I realized, it would be a good idea for me to trust Him with my life, too.
Do you think maybe we trust Christ with our soul, but refuse, at times to trust Him totally with our lives?
[Reply]
Tommy Sircy
5:31 pm
Dear GivemeJesus.
Been there. If you’re looking for other people who you can relate to in that way gimme a shout. It’s good for me…I need to hear it every day. Email is good.
bill
billorders@comcast.net
[Reply]
Bill Renfrew
5:47 pm
one of my biggest problems is knowing the difference in settling and being content in what God is doing in my life at that time…has that ever been a problem for you?
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jason
6:05 pm
imgladyouasked,
I wish you had a blog or details…for reals, I heart you and so connect with you on that one. YOU ARE SO NOT ALONE!!!!!
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kristiapplesauce
6:10 pm
Amen! I so agree with you on this. Our God is powerful! Our God is a God of miracles! We need to really ask God to help us see with His eyes, don’t look at our “small” church and say “move here” ask and believe wholeheartedly to “move” in His church…”His people the church”. Of which there are many millions, can you imagine what that would look like? All of us moving in one accord…Love. Loving God and loving people.
Maybe what I’m trying to say is, we need to think of the impossible (in our eyes) and then ask God for it, knowing in His eyes it is not only possible but very likely not very big either! And then do it again and again.
I could go on, but I’d end up veering off I’m sure and I don’t want to get off track.
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HisLifeformine
6:11 pm
@imgladyyouasked, I can’t tell you how embarrassed I am at the amount of time I have wasted on this! I struggle with it ever day!
@Tommy, Glad your back pal. We have missed you here at withoutwax.
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Pete Wilson
6:21 pm
i find it to be true that i don’t want Christ as you described. i say that not with that being a fact but a reality. i know deep in the innermost part of my being that is what i want more than anything – i yearn that but as paul said in rom. 7 the things i end up doing is not that which i want to do. oh wretched man that i am. in my life i find that i have allowed other things to squeeze out this wanting of HIM above all else. i am though in PURSUIT of HIM. HAVE NOT YET ATTAINED but pressing full court even with all the bad plays i have made and do make. thank god the game is not yet over.
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kingsleygrant
6:24 pm
I absolutely think I desire less than what is available to me. And as a result I have lost some vision for what the Lord wants for me. I’m fighting to even remember some dreams that He placed in my heart.
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tps
7:23 pm
I think we encourage mediocrity by not speaking to His holiness. If we get the real picture of who He is, won’t we want to follow His beauty?
What’s the saying? Don’t put duty before devotion. If we do out of a sense of ‘ought’ then we are acting out of the flesh, but if devotion for our Lord and His ways are first from our gratitude and love for Him, we will do. Won’t we?
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Michelle
7:28 pm
tps I got to the place where those dreams faded too. I have noticed through out life that I can always remember my failures but have trouble remembering all the great things God has done for me. I think that has been an age old problem and why in the old testiment there were so many different names given to God to remind them of what he had done. They also built a lot of altars for the sames purpose. Maybe we need to build more altars so we are reminded of the dreams God has given us and the things He has done. Don’t give up on those dreams. If He placed them there it was for a reason.
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Harold McKee
7:31 pm
@ Harold, True that!
[Reply]
Pete Wilson
7:57 pm
Hi Pete. Praise the Lord for this wonderful idea where members in your congregation and the world to participate in conversation with you.
Personally I lack the faith and tenacity to follow Jesus. Covet your prayers. Thank you.
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gleechoo
8:04 pm
I so didn’t even take what you said personally. I took it globally. Is that a bad thing?
Maybe so in that it can’t be global if it isn’t personal first. I think I do pretty well most of the time. I do get comfortable though more than I should, I’m positive of that.
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hislifeformine
8:46 pm
Hmmm..I am not sure I want to reply to this, out of fear of sounding arrogant. I settled that question a while ago. (Probably five years ago when I had to confess something and I believed I would lose my ministry and I had to choose) I want Him more than I want anything else. I want to know Him. Know His heart for this generation, for His people, His desires, and put them ahead of my own. I think we spend way too much time trying to be good, and not nearly enough time getting to know Him. It is being in His presence that changes us. It should be knowing and loving Him that motivates us. Nothing more, nothing less. If we don’t WANT Him, we don’t know Him well enough.
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tawny
10:01 pm
aomehow the christian community has gotten away from the basics of what the gospel is all about, and we tend to allow more of a country club thing to take place..we don’t believe enough, or we dont want HIM to stretch us into what HE has planned…also the fact that we don’t always take into consideration that HE is soveriegn and HE is happy with HIMself..I do love the thought that you can’t kill a dead man..so what are we afraid of…maybe just the submission to a HOLY GOd we can not control?
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Darla
11:24 pm
i needed this!!! last night we started our summer schedule and had a “service project” night for our journey community…to be honest i wasn’t expecting very many people to show up at all…i was wrong!!! we had an awesome turn out and got the work done in no time…we even sat around and had a testimony time for people to share what God was doing in their lives or lives around them…
not that i was wanting too little, but i was definitely expecting too little…
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jon mckanna
2:21 am
Amen, Tawny!
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Michelle
2:57 am
i love how you have taken your preaching from Sunday and turned it into a conversation on Monday via your blog……awesome!
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Aaron
3:43 am
Sometimes I treat God like a Facebook friend – I never actually speak to him, but I’ve read enough of his status updates that I can fake a relationship pretty well. I’m excited about our collective journey this summer – something’s gotta change!
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Chris Nichols
3:48 am
I settle…I don’t want to but I find myself getting distracted. I think its that constant struggle between the spirit and the flesh. I can usually tell which one I am giving in to. I can honestly say that I do much better than I did a couple of years ago, but I am definitely not where I want to be.
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ncarnes
4:13 am
great message on sunday, pete. i won’t deny that i have a lot of noisy things in my life, and i got to thinking of all the things i do that don’t allow me to focus on God (ie play guitar hero instead of reading my bible) that i decided something’s gotta change. im excited about this series!!! perfect timing.
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krista
5:07 am
Since Sunday I’ve been thinking about the question do I want God to be formed in my life more than anything else? I found myself agreeing with P. Pete. The answer is honestly no. I don’t.
I want to want it be the one thing I desire the most. I want to be that type of person that insatiably drinks from the cup, but I’m not.
I think the problem is that I know the quick fixes work for a short while. I trust them. Getting a good job, a nice house, recognition, a good relationship….just the next thing. I want them because I know they work and I want just enough God to keep me running. Just enough God to keep me hungry and moving forward. But to have Him grow and consume my life is scary. It’s hard to trust that because I know it’s unlike anything else.
I know there were times when I was so close to God it was like I was grasping the hem of His garment and there would be no place I would rather be, but could God live in my life like that all the time? Do I want Him to be that intrusive?
I think this question scares me so much because it involves a complete act of surrender and laying down all control.
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Amanda Fordham
5:31 am
Wow, Amanda, that’s honest.
Search me O God and know my heart – Try me and know my anxious thoughts – See if there is any hurtful way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
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Michelle
6:05 am
@ Amanda, it scares me as well. The “complete act of surrender and laying down all control” has got to be one of the toughest things about truly following Jesus. It so reminds me of Christ in the gardsn simply praying “not my will but your will”.
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Pete Wilson
11:13 am
Amsnda,
Wow, you said it so perfectly. I’m like you; I know the quick fixes work. They have predictable outcomes.
I wish I didn’t lack the courage to trust God completely when I know He has outcomes in store for me that trump any outcome I could ever realize through quick fix.
I want him but not always. I trust him but not completely. I turn to him but not for everything. This is my life. And it’s particularly frustrating because it’s not at all rational. After all, when I find a restaurant I love it’s never a struggle to return. There’s no fear. Chances are I’ll even order the same dish because it worked so well the last time. I’ll also recommend it to my friends as a ’sure thing’, insisting that they try the same dish that so rocked my world. I want to share the joy.
Why don’t I do the same with Christ? Why don’t I tell more people that my unsolvable problems are routinely solved through my faith in Christ?
The only answer I can come up for not returning to same reliable source of comfort, truth, strength and hope that is right there waiting for me is that there is somebody who’s working very hard to see that I don’t.
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Bill Renfrew
1:53 pm
Towny said, “I think we spend way too much time trying to be good, and not nearly enough time getting to know Him. It is being in His presence that changes us. It should be knowing and loving Him that motivates us.”
This is spot on. Our spiritual transformation is bound to wanting Jesus. Wanting Jesus starts with a decision to trust which requires the breaking of all of my idols, all of those things that I look to to give me false value, false security, and a false sense of control. But we can only have this trust when we learn first that we are not trustworthy, when we recognize that all of our idols will let us down. Sometimes it takes the idols almost killing us (like in extreme cases of addiction, or a loss of a career or loved one) to reveal that what we have embraced to define us as false. Our trust in ourselves must be broken (i.e. we must confess that at root we are sinful) before we can understand how far more trustworthy Christ is.
Only in coming back frequently to the fact that I am more sinful than I dared imagine and more loved by God than I dared hope can the spiritual transformation really begin to germinate. Meditating on God’s love, compassion, grace and mercy towards ourselves (we who had made ourselves his enemies) cultivates a heart of care for others (neighbors and enemies alike) that in turn leads us to turn to the world marred by sin with the intention to mend it in Jesus name. Only then are our actions like Jesus’ and only then are they motivated by gratitude and not religious obligation (read here “pharasaical motivation” as in “my good actions or my morality is my way to power over others” which is just another idol). Our awareness of and gratitude for what Christ has done is the engine that powers the development of spiritual transformation. Discovering where our trust truly belongs liberates us from the power of sin, frees us to do real and amazing work for the Kindom as wells as pitching the “mud pie” habit almost entirely. May we all get there eventually!
Great conversation!
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Jeff
5:36 pm
I think this series is going to be great. I brought 2 friends to church yesterday who had never been to Cross Point and when we went to eat afterwards they kept saying, “Wow. That was so good!” or “That was just what I needed.” I totally agree and look forward to what’s to come! There is something amazing when your soul is still and you are connected with God. You know, when that anxious feeling in your chest is quiet and you quit thinking about everything you “have” to do. Unfortunately, on most days I do not stop long enough to find that stillness. I rush from one thing to the next and forget that NOTHING is more important then spending quality time with God, finding that stillness, and remaining in His presence throughout the day, no matter where I may go. I hope to work on that and this series will be great inspiration.
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Bethany
10:01 pm
Pete, this is my second time to your blog. I have seen you and your wife on Tam’s blog.
I am moved by the message here. I think that there is a continual temptation to exist in a watered down state. To seek HIM first, to taste and see that HE is good requires that we come to him first and foremost, seeking and tasting. I know that I have deliberatly settled for faux, rather than waiting or perservering for the REAL. I want to be allured to HIM, to taste of Him and how good HE is so I will never be drawn away to the subtle delicacies of this world. I am encouraged however, that as I continually offer to Him my sacrafice of praise, the empty spaces, the broken pieces, He gives me the strength in my weakness. He changes me from glory to greater glory. He makes intercession for me. He does a work that only HE can do. I pray that we as the body of Christ will be so hungry and thirsty for HIM, and HIM alone, and that as we taste anything else, it will not satisfy. It will pale in comparison.
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therealstorie
10:26 pm
Amanda: I loved your post. Your words are true for me as well.
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just sayin...
7:05 am
What a paradigm shift. Realizing that we really do want too little, as opposed to too much. In hearing you say that on Sunday, I felt a shift inside me. I keep a pretty full plate most days, but full of what? Full of noise, mindless tasks, endless emails/voicemails/im’s/texts (and of course there are blogs to keep tabs on!) But really when I think about it, there is so much space above my plate that is NOT full. This space between myself and God. There are times when it all gets to be too much and then I look up in despair and seek God’s presence in my life. Why not look up and around for Him throughout the day? Strive to flesh out this life I have today? This is what I want to teach my kids, not the hurry-scurry now I need God, now I don’t dance.
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Brooke
5:02 am
Great quote from CS Lewis… I might use it on Sunday in my message… great post!
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brendanwitton
8:27 pm
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