Pastor Pusch

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Chapter 5: Serving Leftovers to a Holy God

Wow! The last two chapters have been heavy hitters. “Profiles of the Lukewarm” was challenging. It sent the mice racing upstairs in your head. Well, chapter 5, “Serving Leftovers to a Holy God” sent the mice into overdrive. I’ve been thinking all night and all morning about what I was going to write today. The truth is that I still have no idea. My mind is still mulling over the pages I have read over the last several days. Our conversation in the Crazy Love group last night went in several, although good, directions. There’s just so much to be discussed. So, what I am going to do is open up the hatch, and let’r fly.

1. Lukewarm Christians. What do you think about when you the words Lukewarm Christians? Is there such a thing? I would suggest to you, as would Chan, that there is no such a thing as a Lukewarm Christian. Either you’re pursuing God or you’re not. This is not to say that one doesn’t struggle with sin or with their pursuit of God. However, there is a huge difference between struggling and blatant/ “intentional” disobedience. The truth is, as Christians; as disciples of Christ, we will without a doubt struggle in our walk with God. We will struggle until that day we are made perfectly complete in Christ for all eternity. Until that day, our pursuit of God will bring about its struggles. It is there where we must completely rely on the Holy Spirit to get us through. Even when the walk seems easy, do not mistake that as something you have a accomplished, but rather it is the Holy Spirit working through you.

2. Too Busy. I hate that word, busy. Everybody is busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Sir, I can’t help you, I’m busy. I would love to talk to you, but I’m busy. You need to be led to Christ, maybe they can help, I’m busy. Prayer? Busy. Word of God? Busy. Alone time? Busy. Fellowship? Busy. Church? Busy. Small Group? Busy. Volunteer? Busy? Teach a class? Busy. Pursue God? Good concept, but BUSY. Busy. Busy. Busy. All too often the reason why we find ourselves in a rut it is due in large part because we are TOO BUSY! Many times we’re busy about the things that don’t really matter! “Quit calling it busy, and start calling it evil!” – Francis Chan

3. Serving Leftovers to a Holy God. What a title. What more is there to be said? Often times, God gets the leftovers because that’s all we have left or all we have time for. We’re too worried about the “things” that need to be added to our lives that we do not “seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” Our Pastor has been taking us through the Model Prayer (sermon series). During the last two weeks we have looked into what it means to pray “Your Kingdom come” and “Your will be done” and have concluded that it, not so simply, means that we must say goodbye to our kingdoms and domains and welcome his Kingdom view. It means to let go our our own selfish will and desires and to pursue His will in our lives. What is His specific will for you? I cannot answer that question, but Jesus said, “if you love me, keep my commandments.”

I have a 4, 5, and 6, but I really feel that I need to stop there. Pursue God passionately. Pray that I will do the same!

“O to Grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”

 

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Chapter 4: Profiles of the Lukewarm

Have you ever tasted something so bad that your only option was to immediately spit it back out?  I know I’ve done it. I shared with the class last night that I’m a “drink milk from the carton” kind of guy. I told them a story about a time when I took a drink when the milk came out lumpy. After washing my mouth out, I went back and saw that the milk was one week past the expiration date. From that day forward, I always check the date and refuse to drink even at one day past. Utterly disgusting (no pun intended)! How about a rotten cherry tomato? They don’t look so bad on the outside. Have you ever bit through one in your mouth only to have the taste of trash take over. Ok… how about this?  Have you ever had that sensation that you needed to belch, only when you did, you got way more than what you bargained for? You know what I mean? It’s that acidic taste that no amount of toothpaste can ever take away. What you got was a small taste of vomit. Yeah… that’s it.

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, “These things say the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Revelation 3:14-16

As a part of His rebuke to the church of Laodicea, the Lord uses the word ‘lukewarm’ to describe their spiritual condition. The people of Laodicea knew all too well about the state of lukewarm. Although the city was known for its banking industry, wool manufacturing, and their “eye” medical center, they were also know to have had a terrible waterway system. In fact Laodicea was most dependent upon surrounding cities for its water supply (mainly Hierapolis for hot water and Colossae for cold). The problem with Laodicea was that when the waters finally reached the city, it was neither hot nor cold. It was a bad-tasting lukewarm.

It is interesting that the Lord would rather you be hot or cold. If ‘hot’ means that you are pursuing God wholeheartedly or “on fire for God”, it would make complete sense that God would want you to be hot. What about cold? If ‘cold’ means you are far from being where you need to be, why would God rather you be cold rather than lukewarm? At least at lukewarm you have some sort of inkling toward God. Interesting. Right? Lukewarm is a dangerous position. When you’re hot, you’re hot. God is working through you and in you. When you you’re cold, God can break through and begin to melt away the ice of your heart. When your lukewarm, you don’t really have a burning desire for God because you believe that you are good enough already. Good enough tells you that you’re not really that cold, but you’re not really that hot either. Good enough is dangerous. At least when you’re cold, you’re still moldable. When you’re lukewarm, you simply think you’re ok, but the truth is that the real relationship isn’t there.

“We are all messed up human beings, and no one in totally immune  to the behaviors [of the lukewarm]. However, there is difference between a life that is characterized by those mentalities and habits and a life that is in the process of being radically transformed.”

Week 2: Crazy Love
Chapter 1: Stop Praying

Who is God? All of us could give a great list of responses. If you were asked that question, what you say? Who is God? What has God been in your life? My guess is that our answers would look a lot like this. God is Holy, Good, Just, Love, Peace, Joy, Righteous, Faithful, Creator, Everlasting, Omniscience, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Eternal, Wise, and Great. He’s everything. God is my shelter, strength, provider, salvation, rock, hiding place, firm foundation, healer, sustainer, redeemer, friend, maker, Father, rebuilder, restorer, and rewarder. The list can go on and on. No doubt you have probably thought of a few names that I missed. The point is that we know this. Anyone of us can give these names/titles as a response to who God is and what He has done in our lives. He is God and we must have a high view of Him!

In chapter 1 of Crazy Love, Francis Chan challenges us to stop and really think about who God is. As mention before, we know those names and titles of God. We can sputter those things out at an instant, but Chan asked, “When was the last time we marveled at them?” When was the last time we really stopped and considered those names and titles we attribute to God? When we say, God is my redeemer? What does that mean? To say God is great? What do you think about? What does great mean? The problem with words is that if we are not careful, those words can lose their value. We mouth these titles so much; we hear them all the time and the reason we do not marvel at them as we should is because we allowed them to lose their value and become merely words. Stop and think. It’s amazing to think that God, who fits all of those descriptions, is crazy about you and desires a relationship with you. God wants you! Yes, He is all those things magnified to the greatest degree and all He asks of us is that we would know Him and love Him.

Chan talks about “spiritual amnesia” and how that affects our lives and nobody is above it. No matter how many times we have seen God at work, no matter how many times we have experience true worship, no matter how many times we utter the names of God and experience those attributes personally in our lives, we still forget.  We live in a world of distractions; things that attract our attention and divert our focus off the things that are eternal and everlasting. Chan writes, “It confuses us when loving God is hard. Shouldn’t it be easy to love a God so wonderful? When we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is. Our amnesia is flaring up again.” Are there times where you don’t feel like loving God or perhaps maybe it’s just not at the top of your priority list, or you just don’t think about it? I admit, I’ve seen those days before.  Chan concludes by saying, “In our world where hundreds of things distract us from God, we have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him.” We must make a conscience effort to place all that God is at the front of our minds. When we wake up, lie down, and go about our everyday lives, God must reign supreme in our lives.

Stop praying? Not really. However, before the next time you pray, think about who God is and what He is like and before you utter the first word, let those thoughts guide you through your prayer and life.
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For those of you who were in the group last night, thank you so much for a great time. I thought the session last night went very week. I would love to hear from you… even if you spoke up last night. I know there are a small handful of people who expressed interest in following the discussion on here (those who weren’t able to make and those who do not live near Nash to come). What are you thoughts on chapter 1 or about some of the thoughts I shared with you this post.

Blessings,
PastorPusch