Working out my Faith and more on this obsession

I heard someone recently talk about working out, how people get obsessed with working out and they love it and it becomes a passion and obsession and they take it to excess. I know that at first the working out was a struggle for even these people. The first little while it feels like there are no results, just pain and soreness, but then results start showing up from being disciplined and one starts to love the workout high or runners high, or just the feeling of getting the adrenaline going, being physically active and seeing one’s body get stronger and look better!

This can be compared with our spiritual disciplines. I have heard people the last couple of years start to shy away from disciplines, it almost seems like the “in” thing to just follow the spirit and throw out the disciplines. But, as the old term goes “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!” (I couldn’t resist using that phrase!) I am all for the spirit leading us, but we still need spiritual disciplines in our lives. It is the same as this physically training, at first it is difficult, but as we train and push through the hard times God rewards us… and eventually we will break through the proverbial wall and feel Christ’s presence in a new and incredible way!

We don’t need to be afraid of disciplines, they don’t remove the spirit from our lives, but they help us. They give us another avenue to hear Christ’s voice. I pray that as we train and keep moving forward as Christ’s disciples that we will fall more and more in love with Him each day. That we will become obsessed with Him and want to know Him more and more deeply every day. That the obsession that people have for working out, for music, for drama, for their significant other, that those obsessions will be dwarfed next to our obsession with our Creator!

As was shared with me recently (I find it amazing that a thought will be in my head and then I will hear several people in the same day share something that reinforces my thoughts and prayers!), “Prayer is not the purpose of the Christian life, neither are any of the vital disciplines that Jesus modeled for us. The disciplines, however, set into motion a mysterious transformation as we deepen our intimacy with God. Transformation then is set into motion by our heart’s desire to follow Jesus and in humility submit ourselves to the practice of the disciplines in community. We allow others to help us keep our commitments to God. A discipline will join a new order of life, a life of discipline and accountability, to be transformed into the image of Christ. There is a new way of saying this that I have found very helpful. We should train to be godly, instead of trying to be godly” (p.19-20, Bill Hull, Jesus Christ Disciplemaker).

I pray that I will fall in love with Christ and that the disciplines that can be used to draw closer to him will become a passion rather than a chore. That I will never be satisfied with doing my "15 minutes a day", but will constantly be wanting more of Him, in anyway that I can get to know Him!

My Obsession!

While reading this I think you should listen to “You are Mine” by Mute Math, or “Obsession” by David Crowder Band or Delirious?. I have been listening to these two songs a lot lately. On Friday for coffee break I turned out the lights in my office and just sat back and listened to the lyrics and worshiped God.

So, I have seen people change a lot when they fall for that "special" guy or girl; suddenly they like different types of music, or bands, or even suddenly have a passion for music, sports, etc for the first time! Wouldn't that be incredible if we fell in love with Christ in this same way! We would love what He loves and do what He does! Think about that, the way that a "liking," "crush," or even "love" for a person on this earth and how that changes who we are. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that there is really anything wrong with this change, these relationships should change both people involved in a positive way, closer to Christ and be mutually helping the person grow. We should look for relationships and build into people and be built into for change in both parties, and more so in the close, tight relationships, and then more so again in a marriage relationship.

But, I digress! Think about how these relationships change us and how much a relationship with our creator can change us! I was listening to a Vineyard song called "Beautiful" and I want to sing this love song to Christ above all else in this World. I want to fall in love with Him in such a tight and intimate way! I want Him to love me (as He does more than I can ever comprehend) and cause me to love Him so deeply that I am obsessed with Him and want to be like Him and want to do what He loves and be where He is, and have His heart! I want to be obsessed with Him and like what He likes and be passionate about what He is passionate about. I want to become like Him!

We become the person who we emulate. This could mean something small, like being Wayne Gretzky or Alexander Ovechkin whenever playing street hockey. We try to reenact their moves, or have their style or dress like them. Or we try to sing like our favorite singer. We start to have the same sense of humour, or have the same mannerisms, or little quirks of our friends, the people we look up to, or our significant others. The people we study or spend a lot of time with we start to become! We see this so often with couples, they start to become the same person in many ways. Suddenly the guy doesn't mind chick flicks, or the girl starts to cheer hard for the Canucks... or even little things like they both start to do that little biting of their lip when they find something humorous, or say that little inside joke. When people look at the couples they start to see each person in the other.

I want to emulate Christ! I want to have His interests become so much a part of me that I do not even know that I am doing them! I want to become so much more like Him that when people see me they see Him. I want to have His little quirks and passions!

I want the desire of a lover for Christ! You know that obsession where the significant other is on your mind at all times!? When you go to bed the last thought is of that person you care for, and the first thought when you wake up is of that special person. I want my last thought as I go to bed to be that of Christ and the first thought as I wake up to be Him! I want the little pauses in my day to be filled with Him and how much I love Him and how He loves me! I want to desire to know Him more, to have a desire to talk to Him and to hear from Him!

I hear of newly married (or even long time married) couples where one leaves on business or a short vacation with the guys or girls. Everyone jokes about how the one left behind now has freedom and is "Batching it" and must be loving being single again. But, the honest response is always that they miss their partner almost as soon as they leave! And this missing isn't because the guy now has to make the meal! It is because he feels that part of him is missing, he does not feel complete without his partner. This same thing is said about the person who is away; they want to share their experiences with their significant other. She sees things that her husband would be fired up to see or he sees things that he knows that his wife and he could enjoy together. They do not feel the enjoyment apart that they would together. I want this to be the same as my love for Christ! I want to share my moments with Him! I want to learn from Him and to include Him in every aspect of my life! I pray that my experiences will feel hollow without His involvement in them!

I yearn to be OBSESSED!

My Calling in music!

OK, so here is some of what I really want to share!

As I was driving back to Hepburn from visiting my brothers for Thanksgiving I was listening to some amazing music that got me thinking!

As I was listening to music I thought about how much God loves us! There is a song by Jacob and Lily, called "Child of the King," that shows how valuable and loved we are. The song talks about just being in Christ’s presence and how we are Christ’s treasure! We are children of the King and are so precious to Him. We are His prized possession! I want to be in Christ and just abide in Him!

The next song that I heard spoke of how Chris has redeemed us (“Embracing Accusations” by Shane and Shane). Each of us is so lost, and there is no way that we can possibly ever live the lives that we have been called to, we can not earn our way to Heaven. But, the amazing thing is that it does not end there! It does not end with our failure, because He has redeemed us. No matter how many times we fail or fall into the same pit over and over again, he is there to accept and save us! We can’t do it on our own, but only through Christ! He has defeated death and sin and has redeemed us!

The next song spoke of how we are to have the same heart as Christ (“Tears of the Saints” by Leeland). I yearn to have the same heart as Christ! That I will be so moved by the pain that I see in the World! Christ is crying for the lost and hurting in this World! I pray that Christ will move in my heart, and that I will never be the same! I am loved and redeemed by Him, and I pray that I will have His eyes and Heart!

OK, I have to leave for hockey practice now… I will get to the brunt of my thoughts soon! This is crazy… I haven’t even gotten to my real thoughts yet! I keep thinking of more that I want to say, and it makes it longer and longer!

More than "just" content to drive these lonely highways with my random thoughts and God

Well, I drove home for thanksgiving this weekend (well, not really home... it was a weird Thanksgiving. I went to Eston to visit my brother, and we stayed at my Aunt's house for the weekend, and she wasn't even there! She was in Regina for the weekend. We had grilled cheese sandwiches on Sunday, and popcorn chicken on Monday!) and for once I really enjoyed the drive by myself. I didn't start to crazy, but instead had some time to just think and listen to music, and most importantly I was able to take some time to listen to what God had to say to me. It has been quite a while since I have felt God's presence or felt Him impress something on my heart that I felt like writing down and sharing. After my drive back to Hepburn I quickly ran to my computer to get some of my thoughts out! It has been really neat to feel Christ encouraging me and speaking to me in this way... As I was going to sleep on Monday I had to get up and write up some more, and then first thing in the morning I had some more to say. I am not saying that it is that profound, but it is really encouraging to me! It will take a few blogs maybe, so that you don't get too confused by all of my thoughts!

To start off with, some non-inspirational insights. There are some really poor drivers out there! I get a kick/feeling of fear from drivers... from those who drive waay too slow (like 20 km below the limit)... to drivers who don't signal (I want to turn left, but am not am waiting for the next car, and then they signal at the last second and turn! I could have went, but now have to wait for the next light)... or people driving waaaay too fast and being impatient/getting cut off. It was crazy, I almost got in like three head on collisions because people tried passing when they shouldn't have! And finally, people following waay too close on the highway. I think that many people do not know how to drive on the highway. If I can't see the following cars headlights then what will happen if a deer jumps out and I hit the brakes? We are not driving in a city at 50 km/hr, but 100 km/hr!

This is getting long already, so I will process my thoughts a bit more before sharing them! I need to figure out the right way to break my thoughts up into more concise thoughts.

But, one thought I have had for a while is the way that many of us tend to pray! I have heard many people when making a request or just praying in general say the word “just,” as in “Lord, just do this for us”, or “I just pray that this event will run smoothly,” or “I pray that you will just heal this person of their sickness if it is your will.”

God is a God of more than “just!” He is beyond “just” and “if!” I am watching how I pray, I want to pray in anticipation and faith! I know that God will go beyond “just” and can and will blow my socks off! I want to see Him go WAY beyond just and do the miracles that He wants to in my life! I am watching how I pray, I pray that even in the little things that God will go beyond “just” as He yearns to do and does continually!

What an adventure to go beyond “Just!”

The Unknown God

I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. Acts 17:23

I recently read of an interview from a few years ago with the Portuguese player Luis Vidigal about his team-mate, Figo. What is so special about Figo, was asked, of someone who had the opportunity to study him at close quarters.

Vidigal replied, "Figo has something special in his feet. He thinks and acts very fast. He is extremely difficult to stop. He is really blessed, without a doubt. Although he doesn't recognize that that blessing comes from the Lord".

Many sportspeople fall into that category – they are blessed by God with a body that works well. In many cases they have a special talent that sets them apart from others. But often they do not recognize God as the source of the talent.

Writing to the Romans, Paul says that there is no excuse for not recognizing that their talent is from God: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse". Romans 1:20

As we represent Christ in the world of sport (or whatever we do in life) it is our task to help our team-mates, fellow committee members etc to see and recognize the God who is present with them, albeit unknown to them.

As we play with them and seek to share something of our experience of God, we need to pray for them, that they will be open to see and experience the God who loves them.