As I was sipping my lukewarm coffee this morning, I was reminded of Revelation 3:16, where God describes the stagnant faith of one of the seven churches. Francis Chan lists out the characteristics of a Lukewarm Christian in his book "Crazy Love" and they are good to reflect on as we can so easily slip into comfortable Christianity.
Lukewarm people:
1. attend church fairly regularly
2. give their money to charity and to the church...as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living.
3. tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.
4. don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.
5. are moved by stories of people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act
6. rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends.
7. gauge their morality or “goodness” by comparing themselves to the secular world.
8. say they love Jesus, and that He is a part of their lives...but only a part
9. love God but they do not love Him with all of their heart, soul, and strength
10. love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves.
11. will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money, and energy they are willing to give.
12. think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven.
13. are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor.
14. do what is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty.
15. are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control.
16. feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America.
17. do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to.
18. probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever.
one glimpse into how God is at work in and around the world...
Monday, December 6, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Known By God
I will admit that I have a growing fascination with other languages. Maybe it's because of the exposure I have had to several now, or maybe it's the fact that my eyes are being opened to a depth in the meaning of words in other languages. For instance, in English, we have one word for love, while the Greek language has several words to convey different types of love.
The word that I have been chewing on for a year now is Nolwazi, a Siswati word meaning "God has known her from the womb". I first encountered this word when a young girl that I met last year in Swaziland named her daughter this. God has known her from the womb....this young baby was born as a product of incest and rape, and is destined to live a tough life in Swaziland...yet God has known her from the womb.
I have been thinking about it lately, because my new nephew was (finally) born this week, after months of anticipation, and a couple of weeks of impatient waiting! As I have prayed for this little one, I have been overcome by the fact that God has known him from the womb. I love how Psalm 139 reminds us that even before we are born, God has ordained every one of our days! As I have been working on a blanket for my nephew, I was reminded of how the Psalmist continues to talk about the fact that God knit our parts together in our mother's womb. God knows the passions & dreams He will put on my nephews heart; God knows the ways He has wired my new nephew to bring Him glory & tell people about Him!
And I am humbled and amazed by this even more today, as I celebrate my own birthday - that 31 years ago, when I was in my mother's womb and my parents were anticipating the birth of a 7lb baby boy, and out came a 10 lb baby girl, God knew me. He knew the unique ways He would wire me, the ways He would pursue me, the ways He would lead me through trials and hardships in order to refine me and draw me closer to Him. He knew me from the womb, knowing all of the days of my life before one of them came to be!
And still, after all of these years reflecting on this, I still am overwhelmed that God knows me. That the God who named the stars, who knows how many grains of sand are on the beaches, who knows all of history and all of the future, who made the sun rise this morning, who created gravity and DNA, who is completely perfect and holy....that God knows me.
The word that I have been chewing on for a year now is Nolwazi, a Siswati word meaning "God has known her from the womb". I first encountered this word when a young girl that I met last year in Swaziland named her daughter this. God has known her from the womb....this young baby was born as a product of incest and rape, and is destined to live a tough life in Swaziland...yet God has known her from the womb.
I have been thinking about it lately, because my new nephew was (finally) born this week, after months of anticipation, and a couple of weeks of impatient waiting! As I have prayed for this little one, I have been overcome by the fact that God has known him from the womb. I love how Psalm 139 reminds us that even before we are born, God has ordained every one of our days! As I have been working on a blanket for my nephew, I was reminded of how the Psalmist continues to talk about the fact that God knit our parts together in our mother's womb. God knows the passions & dreams He will put on my nephews heart; God knows the ways He has wired my new nephew to bring Him glory & tell people about Him!
And I am humbled and amazed by this even more today, as I celebrate my own birthday - that 31 years ago, when I was in my mother's womb and my parents were anticipating the birth of a 7lb baby boy, and out came a 10 lb baby girl, God knew me. He knew the unique ways He would wire me, the ways He would pursue me, the ways He would lead me through trials and hardships in order to refine me and draw me closer to Him. He knew me from the womb, knowing all of the days of my life before one of them came to be!And still, after all of these years reflecting on this, I still am overwhelmed that God knows me. That the God who named the stars, who knows how many grains of sand are on the beaches, who knows all of history and all of the future, who made the sun rise this morning, who created gravity and DNA, who is completely perfect and holy....that God knows me.
"But whoever loves God, is known by God."
1 Corinthians 8:3
1 Corinthians 8:3
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
World AIDS Day
Today is World AIDS Day, and if you're like me, you sometimes are numbed by the statistics and overlook the fact that individual lives are devastated daily by this horrible disease. Here is a great video that shows a realistic picture of what it looks like to live and die from AIDS in Swaziland.
And here is a woman who died from AIDS while I was in Swaziland...ironically, her (now) 2 year old orphaned son's name means HOPE.
And here is a woman who died from AIDS while I was in Swaziland...ironically, her (now) 2 year old orphaned son's name means HOPE.
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