Have you ever had one of those moments in life where you realized you weren’t as good at something as you thought you were? Well, back in August I wrote my last blog post (since removed) and not only was it not received well… it wasn’t written or handled well. For those involved, if you read this, I do apologize. However, this blog post is going to be on the same topic but it’s going to hopefully shed some light on what I see God doing in His Church in a more approachable way.

There was something else I found out I wasn’t so good at just last weekend. I got the immense privilege to attend Passion 2011 where 22,000 college students and leaders came together to worship, give, learn, and encourage all for the name of Jesus. But while I was there I got to hear from Francis Chan and the one thing that stuck out to me was when he set up this scale on stage. This scale is more of a “scale of justice” where it balances out if the two items in question are of equal weight. Francis said to put your life on one side and scripture on the other and think about whether they really balance out. That’s when it hit me: I’m not good at living in line with scripture. I always said I believe in it and I follow it but there was one huge part that, even though I may have believed it, I certainly did not live it out. Perhaps you might relate with me here… I had to ask myself “do I really live as if hell is real?” Keep following me here… I believed hell was real but my actions did not back that up.

See, if I actually lived as if hell is real (and scripture is very clear that it is) there would be much more responsibility in my own life and there would be much more urgency in my actions and interactions with others. If I believe that people who do not know Jesus are going to hell and I have a way of showing them (not just impersonally throwing a tract at them) then why am I not doing it? Suddenly I look at my life and I see so much waste. Why am I putting so much energy into things that don’t matter? Do you see this in your own life? As I write this I’m worried this imagery is not going to make sense but I hope and pray that it does.

Now one can look at that scale example again and easily see how scripture can outweigh our lives but have you ever thought that perhaps we take things out of scripture through our actions to make it weigh less and balance it out with our lives? That’s what I did in the area of “hell.” Sometimes our actions show what we really believe in and if we only focus on the parts that make us feel happy or that we know any person with the ability to feel will accept we end up missing the whole picture.

If you’re like me then you probably started thinking about what it would look like if everyone lived this way. That is, living in a way that we constantly examine our lives through the lens of scripture. (Because doing it once isn’t enough since we are prone to sin and failure). Well, if everyone lived this way, and I’m assuming you feel this way too if you’re still reading this, the Church would look radically different. Because if lives are starting to look more like Jesus then the Church will start to look more like Jesus. You know that the Church is people and has absolutely nothing to do with buildings and denominations. So if the people start to look more like Jesus then the world might start to see Jesus more instead of this overly political, divided group of factions. Gone will be the days of churches lifting up their superstar pastor or worship leader because they will be lifting up the name of Jesus. Gone will be the days where people associate Christians as right-winged conservatives who hate abortion, hate homosexuals, and are extremely hypocritical because they will know what we stand for and not what we stand against. We will stand for Jesus. We will hate sin as scripture describes, which includes abortion and homosexuality, but we will love the sinner, which includes those who had an abortion or have struggled with homosexuality.

The Church (that’s you, if you’re a believer, and me) must return to scripture as its roots and we must use it to examine our lives so that the world sees Jesus through our words and actions. That is why Jesus set up His Church… to be His hands and feet to this broken world spreading the Good News to the farthest ends of the earth and baptizing people until He returns! Someone was bold enough to share the Gospel with you and give you the best relationship you’ll ever have… now there is someone out there waiting to hear it from you.

There is so much Jesus is doing to refine His Church right now. I started seeing it a year ago, a few of my close brothers in Christ are seeing it, and at Passion 2011 we definitely saw it. There is so much more I could say on this topic and there will be more blog posts to follow but I want you to realize, as I just learned this past weekend, the starting point is you and me: individuals willing to change no matter how hard it might be. The problem starts with us and, if we change, it will end with us.

Scale of Justice

But I cannot let the past hold me back. There are two paths in life that scripture describes very clearly: the wide path that leads to destruction and the narrow path that leads to life. It is very clear to me that the path I have been following is not the narrow one but the wide one because I did not look like Christ, I did not share the gospel, and my only concern was for myself. I may have been following the narrow path for a while when I became a Christian but I quickly diverted to the wide one and I realized how deep I was into that path after hitting the bottom this past winter. I realized I look like so much like the world… and it is impossible to be like Christ yet look like the world (if you think it’s possible go ahead and show me scripture that proves it… you won’t find it). All I wanted was a safe life with a wife, kids, and a career that could easily support that and keep things “safe.” Who in America does not want that? We’re told that’s what we are supposed to go for or we are considered a failure by our families and communities. But does that look like Christ?

No! A life following Christ does not look “safe.” I’m sorry it just doesn’t. It involves more risk than you’ll ever have to face in any other area in life. It is not enough to say you’re a Christian, do good things every once and a while, and say you’re saved. Christ told us to take up our crosses and follow Him. That means we must consider ourselves “dead” and follow Him. Anything short of that is not a life sold out to Christ and you will most likely fit right in with the world and its ways. Christ warned that since the world hated him it will not look favorably on His followers either. (Does the world look at you favorably?) With greater risk comes greater reward… any investor will tell you that. But if you play it safe you end up with pretty much the same stuff you started off with. So how is it any different from risking your entire life for the sake of the Gospel? The narrow path means that the great majority of people are not on it… you will not look like your neighbors, you won’t have the same things as your neighbors, you won’t have the same careers, incomes, families, and so on… but your reward is so much greater! You have a choice and only one path leads to life… do you look like everyone else or do you sacrifice everything for the sake of the gospel?

I decided after this winter and the certain things that happened to me that I never want to live a safe life. I would rather live paycheck to paycheck so that I’m forced to rely on God than live comfortably like so many Americans (and the American “church”). I want to be in jobs that put me right on the front lines of interacting with people and making a difference in their lives instead of working in a cubicle from 9-5. I don’t want my life to make sense to the majority of Americans… the people on the wide path… I want my life to make sense in light of eternity with Jesus. My whole life must be ministry and not any single part. I choose the narrow, risky, and uncomfortable path… now the question is posed to you: what path do you choose? As Robert Frost said in one of his poems: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Pray with me:

“Lord, this is a tough message and I pray that it makes sense to me. Help me explore this more in Your Word and see how this relates to my life. May Your voice be louder than all the others in my life so that I know the truth and can chase after You all of my days. I pray that I become more outward focused so that others can hear this good news and know of this reward. Please make the reward real to me as well… I pray that I come to not only know what You have in store for me but that I will desire that reward more than anything. Jesus, You are everything and I pray that I live always and only for You. Amen”

I have major trust issues… not so much with people but with God. Everything stems from that because if I trusted God completely I would have no worries over my life or where anything was heading. The definition of trust that I found is very interesting: “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” I think that all of those points are very important in trusting God:

1. Do I believe God is reliable?
2. Do I believe God is true and that He tells the truth and He is who He says He is?
3. Do I believe God is able?
4. Do I believe in the overall strength of God… is He big enough to help me and do what is best for me? (Yes, 3 and 4 are the same but it’s one thing to say God is able to do one thing and another to say God is able to do all things).

Honestly I still struggle with all of this… after a terrible winter I had to ask these questions because I just wasn’t sure any more. Is God who He says He is? Is He really going to hold to His promises or am I out of luck? Because I didn’t know the answers to these questions (I’m talking real answers not churchy sayings and cliches) I realized I couldn’t trust other people… after all if I can’t trust the God of this universe, who is the only Being who can love me unconditionally, how can I trust other people? I didn’t trust my church leadership and I didn’t trust someone who was close to me. But all I had to do was learn to trust in God and all that would fall into place. I gave my life to Him… my life was bought for a price and it is no longer mine. I have to trust that my Lord will lead me where I need to be… it’s not always going to be easy and it will be painful but in the end nothing could replace the reward I’ll get (I have to know what that is and believe that too). After all… hope that is seen is not hope.

So what do we do about this trust issue? With God it would be foolish not to trust… look at the story of Abraham. His whole life is about trusting God and believing in God’s promise (you really should read the whole story in Genesis 12 through 25)… God tells Abraham He will raise up His people through Abraham but the man had no children until he was over 100 years old… God held true even though it was certainly not on man’s timing. As for trusting other people let me say this: people will betray your trust because we are all selfish and prone to depravity. Even the one you love most can and might betray your trust. So do we not trust? Of course not! Trust anyways knowing that it is more loving to trust them and risk betrayal than to bury your heart away from them and have it die in your own selfishness. Sure your heart will be safe there but it will never grow and it won’t be able to love. Trusting will be a challenge but it will be worth it.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 (Emphasis mine)

“We’ve been hearing about this, God, all our lives.
Our fathers told us the stories
their fathers told them,
How single-handedly you weeded out the godless
from the fields and planted us,
How you sent those people packing
but gave us a fresh start.
We didn’t fight for this land;
we didn’t work for it—it was a gift!
You gave it, smiling as you gave it,
delighting as you gave it.

^4-8 You’re my King, O God—
command victories for Jacob!
With your help we’ll wipe out our enemies,
in your name we’ll stomp them to dust.
I don’t trust in weapons;
my sword won’t save me—
But it’s you, you who saved us from the enemy;
you made those who hate us lose face.
All day we parade God’s praise—
we thank you by name over and over.

^9-12 But now you’ve walked off and left us,
you’ve disgraced us and won’t fight for us.
You made us turn tail and run;
those who hate us have cleaned us out.
You delivered us as sheep to the butcher,
you scattered us to the four winds.
You sold your people at a discount—
you made nothing on the sale.

^13-16 You made people on the street,
urchins, poke fun and call us names.
You made us a joke among the godless,
a cheap joke among the rabble.
Every day I’m up against it,
my nose rubbed in my shame—
Gossip and ridicule fill the air,
people out to get me crowd the street.

^17-19 All this came down on us,
and we’ve done nothing to deserve it.
We never betrayed your Covenant: our hearts
were never false, our feet never left your path.
Do we deserve torture in a den of jackals?
or lockup in a black hole?

^20-22 If we had forgotten to pray to our God
or made fools of ourselves with store-bought gods,
Wouldn’t God have figured this out?
We can’t hide things from him.
No, you decided to make us martyrs,
lambs assigned for sacrifice each day.

^23-26 Get up, God! Are you going to sleep all day?
Wake up! Don’t you care what happens to us?
Why do you bury your face in the pillow?
Why pretend things are just fine with us?
And here we are—flat on our faces in the dirt,
held down with a boot on our necks.
Get up and come to our rescue.
If you love us so much, Help us!” ~ Psalm 44 (The Message)

Sometimes it’s hard to hear His voice and know what He is doing…

Do you really love Christ or do you just love the things He can do for you? Are you at a place where all of that simply wouldn’t be heaven without Christ? See, that’s what being madly and truly in LOVE with God means. It means that you love the Creator and not the creation. Think about this all week… I challenge you to really evaluate your life and ask yourself if you’re really in love with God or if you’re just going through the motions.

I remember the first time my church started singing the song “Chasing” by Charlie Hall. In it the lyrics say “And I’m chasing after You because You first chased after me.” I’m not one to blindly sing lyrics without comprehending them first and when I heard those words I just stopped and stared at them. I knew those words weren’t true in my life at that point. If anything I was running away from God. I knew He wanted me to surrender my hopes and dreams to Him but I didn’t want to do it. This led me to writing a song called “Runaway.” If you ever want to hear the song you’ll just have to ask me to play it. But it was at that point in my life where I realized people run from God and it wasn’t just me.

If you’re anything like me you have plans for your life. Perhaps you want a certain job, to live in a certain place, or to marry a certain person. And you constantly ask the question: what is God’s will for my life? Believe me I’ve asked that question so many times. At Passion 2010 I got a great reminder of how that question is so wrong. The question is not: what is God’s will for my life? It should be “What is God’s will for God’s life?” See life is not about you… and perhaps you’ve heard that before but the lies crept in again and you once again focus on yourself. Saying this life, this world is all about you is like being an extra in a movie that appears for five seconds with your back to the camera and telling all your friends the movie is about you. The movie is so much bigger than that and life is so much bigger than you. Now by this point you’ve probably thought about some of the plans you have for your life. Perhaps at some point you’ve realized that God may not actually want those things for you but you chose to go for them anyways. This is where you run from God.

There are other reasons and examples of running away from God. Perhaps you’re scared to own up to what you’ve done and that you need Him to fix it. Perhaps you don’t think He will fix you. Maybe you blame God for doing something to you without realizing God works all things, good and bad, for good as long as you truly love Him. Let me tell you I know how you feel. There is a God out there pursuing you because He wants you to be a part of His story. The Bible says he will chase after you like one sheep leaving a group of 99 and He will not stop pursuing you until you stop running. But do note this: you need to stop running.

I’m writing this to say I’m tired of running. I want to surrender everything and rest in the arms of my Savior. It’s not going to be easy and there may be a lot of pain involved in the process but I’m ready to let God do what I can’t on my own.

This blog comes from an external site: changeourhearts.wordpress.com and is written by Nick Geisen

Tonight I got a great reminder from God about who He is and what He has done for me. Francis Chan spoke again tonight on this anniversary of my rebirth and God couldn’t have orchestrated that any better! I can’t stop thinking about what Francis challenged us to do: to have a passion and reverence for God’s Word and to read it saying “I agree with this AND I want to do this!”

Day three is coming soon! Thanks for your continued prayers for Passion!

God is definitely moving here. The movement is growing into a global awakening!! Please pray for all 21,000 of us here that we wake up! Pray that God revives our passion for our one True Love and that we don’t settle for the second rate love this world tries to sell us. Also pray that this momentum leaves this conference and revives the church. May you and I continue to live for God’s glory!

“Yes Lord, walking in the way of Your truth we wait eagerly for You, for Your name and renown are the desire of our souls”

This is where the name “268 generation” comes from. It is a simple declaration saying you will live to make God famous. It is the desire of your soul. As I get ready for Passion I have to question: has my life really been headed in that direction? Am I seeking to make God famous through my life? Or maybe I let myself, my desires, my “plans” get in the way… Do you ever feel that way? If you’re headed to Passion I encourage you to think about that specific thing in your life. If you can’t make it to Passion I want to encourage you to figure out what this verse means in your life. Do you want to make God famous and not yourself? Do you even believe you are supposed to live for God’s fame and glory?

Also, if you are going to Passion… John Piper and Francis Chan have specifically challenged us to pray for God to move during this time. Don’t just assume because your favorite speakers and musicians are there that God has to move. These leaders have certainly seen God do a lot through them but they are just like you and me and they alone can’t cause this generation to seek God’s fame.

Thanks for reading this. I will be posting more about Passion in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to tell you what God does through this movement!

For me this chapter looks like a rough one. I’m sitting here at the beginning of the end in terms of school. Graduation is soon approaching… just two more quarters! I know God wants to do something with my life the question is: what does God want to do with my life? (Does this resonate with you?) My degree, by itself, is worth less than monopoly money yet God definitely called me to be a “religious studies” major at a secular university. I haven’t the slightest idea where God is taking me after graduation. Do I stay here at OSU and continue serving at NewLife? Do I move back to Cincinnati where I grew up? Do I look into possible mission work abroad? There are seriously endless possibilities but only one of them is the next step towards the next chapter God is writing. So what do I do with all this uncertainty? How do I know I’m following God’s heart in all of this?

The simple, hard-to-believe answer is in one word: trust. I know you’ve heard it a million times so what makes this time any different? Perhaps you haven’t viewed trust in the right way. After all Jesus specifically said for us to have faith like a child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Remember when you were young and you simply trusted your parents with everything? You kinda had to because you had no idea how to face the world. If mom or dad drove the car somewhere you just trusted that they were taking you to the right place and that they knew how to get there. That’s what Jesus is talking about… to just trust Him in a way that you know He is taking you where you need to be and that you don’t even think of questioning where He is taking you. You are simply at peace that Jesus is in control.

Let me tell you I’m getting there. I certainly still have trust issues with God because if I did completely trust Him then waiting would be really easy. But waiting is hard. I know this message is very basic and you’ve probably heard it many times but I think if you are having trouble waiting on God then you really need to look at how you trust God. Just get to the point where all you want to do is rest in His arms because you will never experience more peace in your life: knowing that God is doing what He wants to do and that He is in control.

This blog comes from changeourhearts.wordpress.com and was written by Nick Geisen