January 24, 2007

•     It's been a while since I've had anything worth saying, but tonight I listened to this sermon from Francis Chan that's on this Passion EP on iTunes (It's 99 cents if you want to check it out) and I was inspired in a way that I haven't been in a really long time. If you're reading this, we're probably close friends, because nobody really does the xanga thing any more, and there's one or two of you who when we talk it's generally a pretty contemplative time and in the last year or so it has digressed from conversations of passion and hope and life to something else, something very smart, a genius thesis, and a general consensus of confusion about life. Whenever we have these conversations I walk away feeling very smart and I think you do too, but has it been a while since I sparked life inside of you, since you in me? If some thing does not work toward life (and I mean life in the soul), what is it worth?

      This sermon was about whether or not I care what the will of God is. It was about Colossians 1 and Revelation 3. "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, meaning Paul was an apostle because of the desire of God for him to be so. Paul goes on to say he never stops praying for the Colossians, and what he prays (because he says he is always praying for them) is that the church would know the will, the desires, the wants of God for them. His dominating prayer is that they would know God's will. He implies that he is ALWAYS praying for this!

      Francis says after this, if you really knew the WHOLE will of God for your life would you want it? He goes on to talk about the fact that he was leading this church and it was doing really really well and he got scared because god says there is this narrow road to Him. Narrow.

      I wonder then if I have gone through this progression in my faith, from (1) prideful and arrogant because "I'm living right," to (2) a discovery of this glorious grace and mercy God has "lavished upon us" and accordingly, a reverence and appreciation for that love, to (3) a taking for granted that grace that has led rather than to hope and life, to something else. It didn't lead to more grace on my part, but more nothing, more everything of anything. I found freedom, so I took freedom and became a slave, back to being prideful, arrogant, and selfish with all the guise of humility and goodness.

      There was a time when I wanted the will of God above anything else and it's time to come home. I've been searching for relevance rather than truth. I am so foolish, because we all starve for truth, so truth is relevant. There is no making Christ relevant. He is.

      Also I wish you would also listen to Corinne Bailey Rae, especially her song, Put Your Records On. It might just make your day.

  With love, Dave.

  • 3:12 am
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