Father, Son and Who?

if you had to describe the Holy Spirit to someone, who He is, and what He does, what would you tell them? Do you really know anything about Him other than He’s the 3rd part of the Trinity?

In Chapter 1 of "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan, he gives us some background on the Holy Spirit. John 14:16-17 Says,

“16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

So this Holy Spirit (Who is God) will come and live in me? Be a counselor to me..forever? He gives me the power to fight sin, and grow spiritually? (Galatians 5:16) This is awesome. Many of you will say, “Yeah, I already knew that.” But has that changed the way you live?

Chan gives an illustration that I think hits the nail on the head. He says “If I had an encounter with God where he entered my body and gave me a supernatural ability to play basketball, wouldn’t you expect to see an amazing improvement in my skills? After all, this is God we’re talking about. And if you saw no change in my athleticism, wouldn’t you question the validity of my “encounter”?

The Forgotten God

Francis Chan has come out with his second book "The Forgotten God" This book is all about the Holy Spirit - Take a look

Forgotten God Francis Chan Book Trailer - kewego

If you would like more information on this book please click here

Lukewarm and Lovin' it!

So what is this cliché phrase “lukewarm Christian?” We hear it all the time, we know it’s not what we should be like, but what is it? What does it look like, and how do we know if we’re lukewarm or not?

Revelation 3:15 says – I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth

In Chapter 5 of “Crazy love” by Francis Chan, he explains that the phrase “Lukewarm Christian” is really an oxymoron; there’s no such thing, to put it plainly, churchgoers who are “lukewarm” are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven.

So how do we know if we’re lukewarm? Chan gives us a few examples of what they look like.

Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and he is, indeed, a part of their lives, but only a part. They give him a section of their time, their money, and their thoughts but He isn’t allowed to control their lives

Lukewarm people’s lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God

Lukewarm people swear and drink less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever.

Jesus’ call to commitment is clear: he wants all or nothing  

How rich are you?

How Rich Are You?

View more presentations from Seth.

To Check out how rich you are compared to the rest of the world check out - http://www.globalrichlist.com/

Francis Chan's Website

Below is a link to a video of Chan's church website. Check it out - It's really nice! http://www.screencast.com/t/GpLl7o88oaM

Life is short; don't waste it (on yourself)

A couple of years ago, I sat down, looked at my life and thought to myself “I’ve been on this earth for 18 years, but what have I done for Christ? What have I done to bring Him glory?” Sadly, I came to the conclusion that the majority of my life had been summed up with, my wants, my desires, my plans. In chapter 2 Francis reminds us of how short our lives really are. The short, finite, period of time here on this earth is time that we should use to invest in eternity. (Matthew 6:19) (If you can't see the video below just Google "Francis Chan Balance beam")



 

What have you done in your life that’s counted for God’s glory?  If you were to sum up your life up until now what would it consist of? Just kind of going with the flow, having fun, enjoying life? Maybe you live for the next big thing. Or maybe you don’t really know what you’re living for; you just want to finish college, get married, find a good job, live comfortably in the suburbs with obedient children and take a nice vacation every couple of years. If that’s all you’re striving for, I’m sorry, but you’re wasting your life.

Matthew 10:38-29 “And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Life is short, don’t waste it (on yourself)

Interview with Jason Garrison

I interviewed Jason Garrison, a sophomore in college, about what he thought about the book.

Q - What does the title “Crazy Love” mean to you?

A - In the book, Chan gives the illustration of how we would be impacted by a truck if we were run over by it- not a pretty picture. Yet if we’ve received Christ we’ve been impacted by something greater than any truck. We've been impacted by His Love yet oftentimes we live like nothing has happened.  

Q - What was your favorite chapter?

A- I would have to say “Serving leftovers to a Holy God” it really challenged me to live a life that offer’s God my best, ya know? Not just reading a quick devo so I can mark it off, but really spending quality time with God.

Q - What was the most challenging thing to you about the book?

A - The severity of being lukewarm. The Bible says that God would rather have us Cold-totally against him, then to be lukewarm. God says that he will spit those who are lukewarm out of his mouth. Christ wants a commitment, not just an empty decision.

Q - What is the impact of crazy love on your life?

A - It made me conscious of how easy it is to become lukewarm. It practically showed me what a life devoted to God looks like.

Q - Who should read this book?

A - I think pretty much any Christian would benefit from reading this. It really challenges the status quo of what a Christian life looks like.

Stop Praying

Does God ever become too familiar to you? In Chapter one of "Crazy Love" Chan challenges us to take a good look at God for who He really is before rushing into worship or any half-hearted prayer. Many times we get so caught up in the haste of life we forget to give God appropriate admiration.  How often do you just sit in wonder of the majesty of God? Do you ever feel paralyzed by the insignificance of us compared to this awesome God? Before you finish reading this post take a couple minutes to watch the “Awe Factor” – it'll helps put things in perspective. If you can't see the video below, go to > http://www.crazylovebook.com/  videos>  Awe Factor

Isn’t that incredible? After I saw that video I felt so frail and weak, yet in such awe that there is a God that created all of that. So often I rush into a robotic prayer of apathy that I clearly wouldn’t pray if I truly understood the magnificence of God. Why is there such a disconnect there? Why are we so apathetic toward God oftentimes? 


I believe it's because we don’t have a correct view of God. We start to feel self sufficient, God gets smaller, and we get bigger. Consequently we have no need of God to help us through our day –or so we think. We forget how incredibly helpless and needy we really are. Spiritual amnesia is flaring up again.


 When the things of this world distract of from God, we need a reality check. I don't know about anyone else, but I need a reality check everyday. We need to deliberately remind ourselves of His glory each time we pray.

Next time you start to pray, stop. Think about who you are praying to, and the kind of worship and reverence He deserves. For more about God's glory, check out Revelation 4