WithoutWax.tv by Pete Wilson | Tag Archive | C.S. Lewis
Tag Archive - C.S. Lewis

The Love Of The Telling

June 10, 2011 in Leadership, Spiritual Growth with 39 Comments

C.S. Lewis nails the greatest fear I have for my ministry in the following quote.

Every poet and musician, but for Grace, is drawn away from love of the thing he tells, to love of the telling till, down in Deep Hell, they cannot be interested in God at all but only in what they say about Him. For it doesn’t stop… you know. They sink lower – become interested in their own personalities and then in nothing but their own reputations.

How scary is that? And it’s not that far fetched if you’re honest with yourself.

It’s very easy when you sing to fall in love with your music.

It’s very easy when you preach to fall in love with your presentation.

It’s very easy when you write to fall in love with your words.

Oh, how I pray I’ll never fall more in love with what I say about God than God himself.

Empty Promises

September 8, 2010 in Cross Point Church with 7 Comments

Have you ever read anything that made you stop and go back and read it again and again? A few months ago I read something that stopped me dead in my tracks. C.S. Lewis wrote this in Mere Christianity:

Most people, if they have really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. The longings which arise in us when we first fall in love, or first think of some foreign country, or first take up some subject that excites us, are longings which no marriage, no travel, no learning, can really satisfy. I am not now speaking of what would be ordinarily called unsuccessful marriages, or holidays, or learned careers. I am speaking of the best possible ones. There was something we have grasped at, in that first moment of longing, which just fades away in the reality. I think eveyrone knows what I mean. The wife may be a good wife, and the hotels and scenery may have been excellent, and chemistry may be a very interesting job: but something has evaded us.

This passage was part of the inspiration that has led me to launch a new series at Cross Point this weekend entitled “Empty Promises.” If you’re in town I hope you’ll consider joining us. If not, you can always watch or listen HERE.

You can also invite a friend HERE.

3 Questions That Will Change You

January 13, 2010 in Church Leadership, Spiritual Growth with 98 Comments

God has been doing some serious heart surgery on me over the past few weeks. I’m a little embarrassed to admit this but God has pointed out to me, through a couple different situations, that I need to address the issue of pride in my ministry. Pride has become this insidious and destructive thing that has kept me from becoming the leader God wants me to be and furthermore it’s become a thick barrier to my relationship with God.

It was C.S. Lewis who said,

As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

This recent journey has led me to three questions that have been keeping me up late at night, causing me to break out in a cold sweat, and exposing traces of pride I didn’t even know existed.  I dare you. No, I double dog dare you to slow down for a minute and honestly ask yourself these three questions.

1) Am I willing to allow another person to do what I think I must do?

2) Am I willing to do what I am doing, even if no one else knows I am doing it?

3) Am I willing to let God use me for a season, and then be okay with Him later putting my work into the hands of another?

Which question leaves you the most exposed?

Have I Ever Wanted Anything Else?

July 28, 2009 in God, Religion with 52 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about heaven lately. I don’t know why. No big life changes, it’s just been on my mind.

To be honest most of my life I’ve loved the idea of heaven, but I’m not sure I’ve ever been ready to go. As the amazing theologian Kenny Chesney says, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody want to go right now.”

I think the problem is our imagination is broken. What if I were to ask you…

Would you like to wake up and never feel guilt again in your life?

Would you like to wake up and never have to deal with any physical or mental shortcomings and love absolutely everything about yourself?

Would you like to wake up  and  be in the presence of the one person who loves you more than anyone in all of creation and who will love you more each day?

Would you love to wake up and see the unstained creation of a glorious God which makes anything you’ve ever seen pale in comparison?

Would you love to wake up and be free from the doubt,  questions, longings and pain which cause you to know inside that there has to be something more?

Would you love to wake up and feel complete joy, purpose and acceptance minus such feelings as lack of self esteem, anger, disappointment, stress, worry, and bitterness?

The answer to any and all of these questions would be yes right?

I think C.S. Lewis summed it up well when he said…

There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven, but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever wanted anything else.

Any Thoughts?