The Furious Longing Of God | Pt.1

Galatians 2:20 (NCV) - I was put to death on the cross with Christ, and I do not live anymore - it is Christ who lives in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself to save me.

"In a fascinating footnote to that verse, the Jerusalem Bible adds: "The living acts of a Christian become somehow the acts of Christ!" (Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing Of God, 2009, 31.)

If you hadn't guessed it, I'm reading through the book The Furious Longing Of God by Brennan Manning. I got it through a viral blogging site and it's my first book I've received from them that I've been able to read here recently and beginning blogging on. I would have to say that so far this book is leaving me very refreshed. It's not telling me things I didn't know or unlocking some new spiritual truth but, it's refreshing some things in my heart and in my mind I haven't thought on in quite a while. It's good to be reminded of God's love for me. Of how He longs to know me and be with me. He longs to have such a relationship with me that I am completely replaced and that my actions reflect Him completely.

One of the things I have enjoyed the most about this book is the questions at the end of each chapter. Sometimes chapter questions are simply to have the reader review what He's read. Here Brennan lays out questions that cause you to dive deeper into what you've just been reading. In the chapter on FURY, the first question particularly started digging deep into my heart: "There is the "you" that people see and then there is the "rest of you". Take some time and craft a picture of the "rest of you". This could be a drawing, in words, even a song. Just remember that the chances are good it will be full of paradox and contradictions."

I was immediately reminded after reading through that question of a song by Switchfoot in which singer Jon Foreman croons "This is your life are you who you want to be? This is your life is it everything you dreamed that it could be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose."

There is the YOU that people see then there is the REST OF YOU. What do you look like? Are YOU who YOU want to be?

The Footsteps Of Faith: Based On Romans 4

“Faith is the basis of all relationship and effectiveness in the Christian life.”

-Dr. Michael R. Mitchell

What is faith? According to Hebrews 11:1 (NCV) – “Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.” It is with this faith that we thrust forward into the thoughts about what faith means for every individual on the planet. Have the basics of faith in Christ changed over time? Do they change based on cultural shifts or norms? Let’s take a look at Paul’s account in Romans 4 of Abraham’s faith for some clues to how this all comes together.

Faith More Than Works: The Faith Of Abraham

Paul begins his topic by addressing how Abraham was made right with God. In verses 2 and 3 Paul writes on how Abraham was made right with God not by works but by faith. Paul goes on in 14 & 15 to say that if it was the law, or works, that saved Abraham then faith in God is worthless. Paul concluded that Abraham was made right with God though his faith and not through anything he did.

It’s the same way today; we are not made right with God through our works. We are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

Circumcision and Baptism: Outward Expressions Of Inner Faith

The other question that arises with Abraham was, “Does circumcision make you right with God.” Paul gives Abraham as an example stating that circumcision is not what made him right with God rather it was his faith in God.

A modern expression of circumcision would be baptism. Baptism doesn’t make anyone right with God. Infant baptism doesn’t save the baby. Baptism, as was circumcision, is an outward expression of inner faith.

Faith In Christ: One Death For All

Finally Paul’s examples of Abraham are not just so we can remember Abraham or to make Abraham’s name famous but so that all could know that we are made right with God through faith. Paul closes with these thoughts “God will accept us also because we believe in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Jesus was given to die for our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.”[1]

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[1] Romans 4:24b-25 (NCV)

Putting Off & Putting On - Colossians 3:5-16

Living a consistent and holy life day after day is something that for many Christ-followers is a constant struggle. Many don’t know where to begin or how shape their lives around the things of God. Trusting Christ as Savior may be the easiest part of becoming a Christ-follower. It’s easy to identify with Christ as the One who saves His children from death and Hell. The hard part comes in trusting Christ as Lord. There are many who don’t want to give over all of the areas of their life. They don’t want to surrender to Christ as Lord, if He can get them out of Hell then fine but other than that can’t He just leave well enough alone?

Unfortunately this type of thinking has spread over the last few decades through many American churches that Jesus is simple a ticket out of Hell; say a prayer and go to Heaven. Wouldn’t want to do that? In a room full of children, or adults for that matter, one can ask the question: “Raise your hand, if you want Jesus to save you of your sins and take you to Heaven when you die.” Every hand in the room will shoot up. No one wants to go to Hell. The life that Jesus calls His followers to is so much more than that.

The apostle Paul in Colossians 3:5-16 gives a glimpse of what it looks like to really follow Christ and how to life a consistent and holy life day after day by “putting on” and “putting off” certain areas of the heart.

In Colossians 3, the apostle Paul is addressing a Christ-follower’s new life in Christ and how their life should look in the day to day. In verse 4 of the text Paul writes that “Christ is your life and when he comes again you will share in his glory.”^[1] There are no subdivided areas of life in which Christ does not have authority over. Christ is the life of the Christ-follower. He permeates every breath.

It is light of this thinking that one might do will to “put off” or “put all evil things out of your life”^[2]. Paul lists a number of things that “make God angry”^[3] and need removing from the life of one trying to life like Christ. The list includes some of the following: sexual sin, letting evil thoughts control you, greed, bad temper, hurting others, using evil words, and lying.^[4]

^{This type of living is common for those that are lost. It’s the way that many who have chosen to follow Christ used to live but it is not the type of living that helps one to be “made new”[5] and “become more like the One who made you”.[6] There are certain things that can cause one to become more like the Christ. These things are true for all people just as salvation is for all people through the shed blood and complete atonement of Christ Jesus.}

^{This sacrifice on the cross is how Jesus showed the all people His love for them. It is because of this life that Christ showed for all people that those who follow Him choose to “put on” or “clothe themselves”[7] with things that are please to Him. Such as, “mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” [8] These are all inward character traits and values that require an outward action. One might show these character traits by serving others in need or forgiving a debt or a wrong someone owes. Paul encourages the reader to forgive others as Jesus forgave their sins.[9]}

^{It would seem that this relationship with others is a key part in the developing of the Christ-follower. Paul encourages one to “Let the teaching of Christ living in you richly. Use all wisdom to teach and instruct each other by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”[10] It is in the form of community that God wishes for one to grow. Man was never made to be alone. This is why in Genesis God made Eve out of Adam’s rib in order to be his “helpmate”. One would be severely lacking in life to not participate in the process of becoming more like Christ with a group of Christ-followers.}

It would seem that “putting on” and “putting off”, in Colossians 3, are referring to lifestyle habits or choices. Before knowing Christ many were lost in their own destructive and selfish lifestyle patterns. When finally recognizing Christ as not just Savior, but also Lord one begins the process of being made into a new person and being made to become more like Christ.

The big theological word for this process of being made into the image of God is called sanctification. Paul describes sanctification as a process. As one “puts off” the things that displease God and steal glory from Him and “puts on” the mind of Christ, Jesus becomes the filter for all thought, word, and deed.

One way in which this author “puts off” the things of this world is to remove them from his life. There are rating blocks on his TV and accountability software on his computer to help guard his heart and eyes from evil things. He also meets weekly with another older and wiser Christ-follower to help keep him in balance with other areas of his life and “put on” the things of God.

One must be sure to not neglect this area of spiritual discipline, as an unbalanced life will lead to failure and heartache later in life.

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[1] Colossians 3:4 (NCV)

[2] Colossians 3:5 (NCV)

[3] Colossians 3:6 (NCV)

[4] Colossians 3:3-9 (NCV)

[5] Colossians 3:10 (NCV)

[6] Ibid.,

[7] Colossians 3:12 (NCV)

[8] Ibid.,

[9] Colossians 3:13 (NCV

[10] Colossians 3:16 (NCV)

Apathy & The Modern Church

In recent years there are many Christ-followers who have come into the thought process, through false teaching, that following Christ means a one-way ticket out of Hell and nothing more. These Christ-followers, if you can call them that, are content to sit in a plush seat in an air conditioned building doing nothing but “soaking up the rays” of light and truth that come from the mouth of their pastor. If that is all following Christ has been limited to one will find themselves in a rather uncomfortable position upon reading the apostle Paul’s writings in Romans 12:1-2 and Ephesians 4:17-20. Paul lays down a picture of how one is to follow Christ that doesn’t line up with much of what is seen in the modern church. To simply sit doesn’t cut it according to these writings.

“In the Lord’s name, I tell you this. Do not continue living like those who do not believe. Their thoughts are with nothing. They do not understand, and they know nothing, because they refuse to listen. So they cannot have the life that God gives. They have lost all feeling of shame, and they use their lives for doing evil. They continually want to do all kinds of evil. But what you learned in Christ was not like this.” [1]

Paul lays out some hard things to swallow in this passage for those who are Christ-followers and not living like it. He basically calls them ignorant and stupid people, saying that their thoughts are worth nothing of value. Paul abrasively reminds them that this type of living is not what Christ called them to.

This could be the case for the modern church in our current culture. Christ-followers have become immersed in the idea that they “go to church” to “get something from it” rather than becoming immersed in the truth that they should “be the church” and “give God their lives in worship."

Some might align this with what is called the Pareto Principle. The Pareto Principle says that 20% of the people in the church do all the work and are actually growing active members of the church body; they are “being the church”. Then the other 80% are consumers, like sucker fish on the side of an aquarium they gorge themselves on all they can get until they have doubled in size but done little more than slide around sucking glass. This is not how this passage calls the Christ-follower to live.

In the book of Romans Paul shows the Christ-follower the type of life that Jesus has called him to live.

“So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.”[2]

Paul begs the believer in light of God’s great mercy, which is the salvation through Jesus Christ death on the cross, to offer their lives as living sacrifices. Sacrifices in the minds of these men and women would have meant something very different that what may come up in the mind of the modern church. Sacrifice to these people meant finding a lamb or a bull and slaughtering it. In the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament there is a long list of various rules and regulations and sacrificial ordinances that the followers of Yahweh were to adhere to. What did this word sacrifice mean under the new covenant that Jesus had set up when he died on the cross? How were they to offer themselves, as sacrifices, yet remain alive?

It’s no doubt that this way of thinking through the original readers for a bit of a loop. Paul tries to clarify a bit by stating that this living sacrifice is the spiritual way for them to worship. Before Jesus, the only way they could worship Yahweh the infinitely almighty God, was through the system of sacrifices that had been set in place. Jesus changed everything. He made a way for God become “intimately approachable”[3] by His people. It is through this that Christ made a way for the living sacrifice to be possible. This sacrifice wasn’t about the shed blood of bulls and lambs it was a bout the shed blood of Jesus and how to live a life that followed his teaching.

The problem with this living sacrifice thing is that some people thought they could take a break from the hard part of sacrifice, take the modern church and the Pareto Principle, and just cost on through. Or they felt as if they could do certain things saying it was for the glory of God when really it was to draw attention to them. Paul reminds these types of thinkers that this living sacrifice is meant to be “only for God”. He challenges them to a “new way of thinking” this requires taking the natural state of selfishness humans dwell in and giving that desire over to God as a sacrifice.

Christ-followers in the modern church seem to be thinking way too much about themselves than their sacrifices to God. Is this giving God everything? It doesn’t appear to be so. It seems like Christ-followers prefer to be fat and happy to growing in their relationship with their God and Savior.

So what is the solution? How does the church fix this problem? A dramatic rethinking of what “the church” is and how it operates must come into focus for Christ-followers. They must stop going to church and start being the church. It begins with asking questions like: “If a church shuts down, would the community know? Or care? Or be different? If the answer to those questions is NO, then the church isn't fully being the church... Hopefully this is changing.”[4]

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[1] Ephesians 4:17-20 (NCV)

[2] Romans 12:1-2 (NCV)

[3] “Infinitely Almighty” and “Intimately Approachable” terminology taken from Louie Giglio’s book The Air I Breathe.

[4] A comment on a Facebook status by Michael Larkin the pastor of Cinema Church in Hartford, CT.

Hebrews 6:1-8 (NCV): Thoughts

Hebrews 6:1-8 (NCV):^1"So let us go on to grown-up teaching. Let us not go back over the beginning lessons we learned about Christ. We should not again start teaching about faith in God and about turning away from those acts that lead to death.² We should not return to the teaching about baptisms, about laying on of hands, about the raising of the dead and eternal judgment. ³ And we will go on to grown-up teaching if God allows.  ⁴ Some people cannot be brought back again to a changed life. They were once in God's light, and enjoyed heaven's gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit. ⁵They found out how good God's word is, and they received the powers of his new world. ⁶ But they fell away from Christ. It is impossible to bring them back to a changed life again, because they are nailing the Son of God to a cross again and are shaming him in front of others. ⁷ Some people are like land that gets plenty of rain. The land produces a good crop for those who work it, and it receives God's blessings. ⁸ Other people are like land that grows thorns and weeds and is worthless. It is about to be cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire."

This passage brings so pretty heavy things to heart: Let's look at it in sections. (This is me simply looking at the text w/o any study materials and drawing some basic conclusions." 

Diving Deep: Grown-Up Teaching

Verses 1-3: Here the author of Hebrews, I take the stance that it was most likely Paul the Apostle, raises the idea that we should not go back to the basic fundamentals of the faith. Rather we should continue on to "grown-up teachings". Does this mean that we should stop teaching the fundamentals? At what point do we cease this teaching? When? I believe that here Paul is saying that there is more to God than simply the fundamentals. There is more to God than what we know. After we know and understand some of the basics we should dig deeper. We shouldn't just keep rehashing the same thing over and over again but rather we should dive deep into what God has for us. The kicker/reminder to all of this from Paul is that we can only go as deep as God allows. In verse 3 he says: "And we will go on to grown-up teaching if God allows." 

Walking Out Of The Marvelous Light: Never To Return? 

Verses 4-6: This verse hits hard for me. Paul is saying that there are those of us who have come to understand and accept the truth and life found in Jesus Christ and Him crucified and of those of us who believe this where there are those who "were once in God's light and enjoyed heaven's gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit." and then fell away or walked away from God. Paul quite plainly states that there are SOME of these people who cannot come back into God's light because by they walking away they are "nailing the Son of God to a cross again and are shaming him in front of others." I honestly don't have too much more to say on this beyond that I don't understand it all. How far does one walk away from God before it's too far? I've known friends who claimed to be followers of Christ only to walk away to complete Paganism only then to realize the error of their ways to turn back to Christ and now they follow Him whole heartedly. Were they not saved to begin with? The answer in my mind is not to see how close to the line we can tread but rather to turn away from the line and "press towards the prize". 

Good Crop / Bad Crop

Verses 7-8: Here Paul is giving the comparison between the unbeliever and the Christ-follower. The believer who dives deep into the "grown-up teachings" and their relationship with God will produce good crops. They will be blessed and rewarded in their relationship with Christ for spending that time with Him. Those who don't know Christ and therefore also haven't spent time with him will dry up and due to their sin they will be "destroyed by fire." I believe verses 7-8 are a capstone ending and conclusion to the first two sections here. It addresses both sets of people as verse 7 addresses those who have been diving deep in the grown-up teaching while verse 8 addresses those who have either walked away from God or never accepted him in the first place.