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Saturday, October 26, 2013

Would You Follow?

Imagine you are walking down the street, any ol street and you are approached by a man.  As he gets closer, you know in your heart and in your soul that this man is the one you have been waiting for.  This is the Christ, this is Jesus, and he says "come follow me".  It's time to make a choice, do you go?

To follow, you walk away from everything.  He isn't staying at your house, so it's time to leave your home and all your stuff.  You will probably be looked down on by your neighbors, since you won't be there to mow your grass.  Would you still go?  You will have to leave your family, your job, your hobbies, walk away from your responsibilities and your obligations.  Bills won't get paid, things won't get done, you may be called a slacker and a coward for running away from your life. Will you go?  Jesus said you can't go back, you can't look back, let them take care of it, you just follow.  Will you follow?

On the road, you won't be able to provide for yourself, you will be dependent on others, will you follow?  You won't be able to pay for your food, for your bed, for your necessities and you will be dependent on others to take care of you, to support you.  You will depend on Jesus for your daily care.  Will you go?  You will be a nobody, just one of the crowd who follows, just a face.  No one wants to hear you speak, they are only interested in what Jesus has to say, will you still go?

You are no longer in charge, you are not the leader.  Jesus will decide where you go, where you stay, how long and why, will you follow?  Jesus is calling the shots, making the rules, He is Lord, Master, Boss, the head guy.  Will you follow?  Your experiences, your resume, your training, your education, they no longer matter, the previous years of your life thrown away.  Will you go?  You will be disrespected, mock, abused, maybe arrested or even killed.  Will you go?  Those in charge won't understand, even the religious will mock you, call you crazy, say you are wrong, demand for you to fall into line.  You will be pressured from everyone on the outside to quit, to turn back and to stop this insanity.  Will you still follow?

The rules will all change.  You now sleep without a house, you no longer go to your office or warehouse, store or factory.  You just follow.  Can you live without the materials, can you worship without a church, praise without a band, learn without a classroom?  Can you change your whole life for this man who tells you to follow?

Have you changed your life to follow Him now?  He still bids you to come and follow, but maybe you have just added Jesus to your life without changing much.  Are you the same person as before, just with a few more rules?  Have you decided to follow Jesus your own way, with your own power and your own rules?  Do you walk in your way, with your strength and your abilities, depending more on your experiences and your talents?  Are you trying to be Jesus yourself, or are you following?  Maybe it's time to follow, walk away from your life and walk behind Jesus.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

No Fertilizer, a review of Organic God

I have read some books with "Organic" in the title, lots of reviews and some guides.  Most of them on churches, church planting, Small Groups, Sunday School, some on relationships and marriage, a few on gardens (very few).  I have a pretty good idea what most people mean when they say organic, so I figured I would check out this one, expecting it to have some feel good fertilizer. . . you all do know what organic fertilizer is, right?  I was really surprised.

In this book, Margaret Feinberg is real, raw and open.  She talks about her experience with church, with love, with career, but mostly a real and honest relationship with God.  I find that so many just go through the religious motions, we know what to say and do, how to act and the right words to pray.  We don't have a real relationship with God, we simply do what we have been told, modeled and what we assumed was right.  This books tackles that issue.

Ok, i'm gonna be straight, I'm not emotional, and sometimes Margaret has a tendency to be a little more emotionally driven than I relate too.  With that being said, I was surprised and encouraged by this book.  I was hit between the eyes with a few things, Margaret talking about the American church having her dress dirty and ripped, make up smeared and hair a mess, but still the Bride of Christ and we should treat her as such.  Sorta smacked me a little.  It was a good read, a good book and a good perspective, I would recommend it.  Four out of five stars.