Life Goes On

I've just finished the book "Questions of Life" by Nicky Gumbel.  This is a book I wish I had read years ago and had placed in the hands of many young Christians.  Addressing fifteen questions that people ask about the Christian life such as "Who is Jesus?", "Why Did He Die", "How Can I Have Faith?" "Who is the Holy Spirit?" and "How Can I Make the Most of the Rest of My Life?", Gumbel uses a wonderful mix of anecdotal material from his own experience and that of others and down to earth application of scripture to create a fascinating and informational book.  I found myself wielding my highlighter on almost every page.  One of my favorite highlighted sentences is "Some people have only got the pilot light of the Holy Spirit in their lives whereas when people are filled with the Holy Spirit, they begin to fire on all cylinders." Born out of the Alpha discipleship course, this book captures the core truths that s...

Every Tuesday I visit shut ins, mostly at Nursing Homes.  Over the years I've observed people as their physical being gradually ceases to function and ultimately they die.  I'm struck with the dignity with which those who are Christ followers face this inevitability.  Many of them become increasingly homesick for their promised, eternal dwelling place.  At times they even seem to long for the end of human life so that the reality of eternal life can begin. On the other hand, I also deal with family members who struggle with the decline of their loved ones and who strive to do all that is humanly possible to get just one more day with them.  Sometimes this is even in the face of extreme suffering.  These experiences have led me to think more deeply about the reality of life and life ever lasting. I've come to believe that human life is merely "spring training" for the season to come.  During this life there are specific skills I need to learn to prepa...

I realize that the title I've chosen for this post is also the name of a book by Watchman Nee.  However, I can't think of a better title for what I wish to convey in this post.  From my observations, it seems that most Christians have accepted a life style that is far beneath what Christ had in mind when He said in John 10 "I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly."  In light of His declaration, I've had to re-evaluate my own life.  I'm not living with the expectation of God's abundance being demonstrated through me.  That doesn't mean that I should live an opulent, showy life style, but it does mean that my life should be so "out of the ordinary" that people take notice.  I believe that when we Christians live beneath our privilege, we do the cause of Christ great harm. I believe it was Vance Havener who said, "We've lived sub normal lives for so long that if we become normal people will think that we are ab...