The New Middle Road

Taking Risks

fourteen children

"A few months ago I was speaking at a summer camp, and I was speaking to one of the organizations there that sponsor children. This volunteer told me about a sixteen-year-old girl there at the camp who sponsors fourteen children, on her own. I was astonished by this. Fourteen children (at about thirty dollars a month for each child) is a lot of money for a high school student to come up with. I talked to this girl and asked her how she did it. She told me that she works year-round and she works three jobs in the summertime to pay for the child support. While other teenagers are saving for a car, she's saving lives! Instead of spending her hard-earned money on herself and her future, she gives it to the fourteen children because she believes God loves them just as much as He loves her."
~Forgotten God by Francis Chan

...vital to grasp

"It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But it's absolutely vital to grasp that He didn't call you there so you could settle in and live out your life in comfort and superficial peace. His purposes are not random or arbitrary. If you are still alive on this planet, it's because He has something for you to do. He placed us on this earth for purposes that He orchestrated long before we were born. Do you believe you exist not for your own pleasure but to help people know the love of Jesus and to come fully alive in Him? If so, then that will shape how you live your life in the place where you are."
- Francis Chan in Forgotten God

My latest read

Dave recommended this for my latest read. Just started it last night.
Forgotten God by Francis Chan

Following Christ

"Something is wrong
when our lives make sense to unbelievers."
- Francis Chan

From Crazy Love:

As a pastor, I'm often called upon when life "vanishes like a mist." One of the most powerful examples I've seen of this was Stan Gerlach, a successful businessman who was well known in the community. Stan was giving a eulogy at a memorial service when he decided to share the gospel. At the end of his message, Stan told the mourners, "You never know when God is going to take your life. At that moment, there's nothing you can do about it. Are you ready?' Then Stan sat down, fell over, and died. His wife and sons tried to resuscitate him, but there was nothing they could do - just as Stan had said a few minutes earlier.

...I was asked to share a word with everyone gathered (at the home). There were children, grandchildren, neighbors, and friends. I opened my Bible to Matthew 10:32-33: "Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven."

I asked everyone to imagine what it must have felt like for Stan. One moment, he was at a memorial service saying to a crowd, "this is who Jesus is!" the next, he was before God hearing jesus say, "This is who Stan Gerlach is!" One second he was confessing Jesus; a second later, Jesus was confessing him!

It happens that quickly. And it could happen to any of us. In the words of Stan Gerlach, "Are you ready?"

I've just begun reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. David knows my attention span for "Christian" books is extremely short, but he says this one is different.

The forward by Chris Tomlin says:

As Francis so brilliantly illustrates, the life that Jesus calls us to is absolutely craziness to the world. Sure, it's fine and politically correct to believe in God, but to really love Him is a whole different story. Yeah, it's nice and generous to give to the needy at Christmas or after some disaster, but to sacrifice your own comfort and welfare for another may look like madness to a safe and undisturbed world.

I'm only in the first chapter, but have already appreciated how Chan has a website that goes along with the book. And with chapters entitled "You Might Not Finish This Chapter" and "Your Best Life...Later" - well, I have to say I'm intrigued.