Califoregon Living

A few years ago, David came back from a Worship Leaders conference and was telling me about this incredible pastor he had heard speak.  He bought the book the pastor had written, "Crazy Love", and this book was one David resonated with and I looked forward to reading it, but it stayed on my "to read" list for a long time.

Fast forward to now, and we have found ourselves blessed to be a part of a fantastic small group through our church.  The book we are currently reading is "Crazy Love".  I took the book to the hospital where my mom was recuperating and was able to read it to her in its entirety.

This book is radically affecting our family  in how we are approaching our future life choices.  This book has challenged our faith, our status quo, and I am excited to share it with you.

Through this book, our group looked to see if the American church is modeling what is in the Bible.  This prompted excellent discussion, and conviction that the church as a whole might be "missing the mark."

We also talked about how the world views Christians.  Are we living lives of obedience or are we living lives of comfort?  Is there room for both?

How do we as parents model Jesus to our children?  Do they see us having an infectious and contagious love for Him?

You might have heard the saying, "There are no lukewarm Christians in the persecuted church."  I magine what our country would be like if Christians were persecuted.  The discussion about being a lukewarm Christian was very thought provoking and soul searching.

How often do we go to pray and just go through the motions?  Do we really look at jesus?  Do we stand in fear and awe?

I you were to physically stand before Jesus today, what do you think you’ll say?

I hold on to stress as a part of my daily life.  I am not much of a worrier, but I do hold stress internally.  It’s something I have always done, and am not sure how to live otherwise.  This has been a long process between me and my Maker to shape me according to His will and not mine.

Francis Chan states that when we worry, it is because we don’t trust God enough.  When we are stressed, it’s because what we are involved in means it’s important enough to be impatient.  Both behaviors keep trusting God out of the equation.

We need to recognize that God is the main character in our life.  It’s not us!  Our life needs to be all about making much of God.

When life is good, we can enjoy God’s blessings and still be obsessed with God.  This is the time to be before Him with praise and thanksgiving.

When life is tough, we can show that God is great through peace and inner joy, regardless of the exterior circumstance.

My part in my life to to bring God glory.  To point to Him.  Like Toby Mac says, "we were made to love Him."

Think about our daily life.  When we study scripture, how does this affect my walk and my witness?  Are they just words soon forgotten?  or do we embed them in our heads and hearts and apply them?

Where is our focus when we walk, read, look around, listen, do our chores…?  Why don’t we treat every moment as miraculous? 

How can we change this?  Our group discussed about praying to overcome the worldly desires.  To offer up small "breath" prayers throughout the day.  To create visual and aural cues throughout our homes to help keep us focused on Jesus.  To intentionally SLOW DOWN…

This book also opened my eyes to where I invest the majority of my energy and effort.  What struck me most was the statement that there are many who minister to the rich, yet only a few who minister to the poor.  That is a true statement for me and something that convicted me to the core.

Another convicting statement: "something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers."  I have spent much of my Christian life trying to blend with the world, to fit in, to be accepted.  But, really, if that were the case, am I pointing to Jesus to the degree that I am meant to?  I mean, if I were made to love and worship my Creator, and yet no one sees that but those attending Sunday service, am I doing the will of my Lord, or am I doing the will of my world?

This book planted seeds in the hearts of me, my family, and those in our small group, regarding service to those in need.  In discussing this book with our pastor friend, John, he recommended two other books that I read:

• "Under the Overpass" – This is a story that documents the journey of two college men who spent six months homeless (by choice) and experiencing first hand the homeless life in the largest homeless cities in America.  An incredible read.
• "Same Kind of Different as Me" – written by two men.  One author was a share cropper from the deep south who hopped the rails and lived homeless for many years.  The other author is a successful art dealer.  These two mens lives intersect through the heart and action of the art dealer’s wife.  Another amazing story.

As a result of these books and the leading of the Holy Spirit shaping of our hearts, our family will seek to serve the homeless on a regular basis.  We are beginning by making and serving a lunch once a month at the Broderick Christian Center in Sacramento, along with our small group members.  This is a homeless day shelter, serving about 70 people.  We are also praying for opportunities to serve as the Lord sees fit.