Lukewarm

So as you already know if you've read my last few post posts, I have been reading "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and it's really been working on me a lot this week. Last night I read chapter 5 which entitled "Profile of the Lukewarm." "Here's some interesting thoughts that Francis lays out in the chapter...

" Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for 'extreme' Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call 'radical' what Jesus expected of all his followers. (James 1:22, James 4:17, Matt 21:28-31)

Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbours, co-workers or friends. They do not want to be rejected, nor do they want to make people uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion. (Matt 10:32-33)

Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him a section of their time, their money and their thoughts, but He isn't allowed to control their lives. (Luke 9:57-62)


Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focussed on today's to-do list, this week's schedule and next month's vacation. Rarely, if ever, do they consider the life to come. Regarding this, C. S. Lewis wrote, 'If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.' (Phil 3:18-20, Col 3:2)

Lukewarm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and taking risks for God. (1 Tim 6:17-18, Matt 10:28)

Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don't have to trust God if something unexpected happens - they have their saving account. They don't need God to help them - they have their retirement plan in place. They don't genuinely seek out what life God would have them live - they have life figured and mapped out. They don't depend on God on a daily basis - their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God. (Luke 12:16-21, Amos 6:1)"

Now Chan laid out a ton of other things that lukewarm people struggle with in their lives in Chapter 5 but these really spoke to me and my life personally. I mean I haven't had to live by faith a lot in my life because i feel like God has blessed me in so many ways, for example I have been pretty tight with money over last few weeks basically having to depend on my parents for cash a lot and I have been looking for another job. So today, I get an opportunity to earn some cash doing some work that was completely unexpected. Things like that I think enables me to not live so much on faith. I'm moved by stories all the time of people doing unbelievable things for the Lord but most of the time, I don't act for many reasons and it was really shown to me through reading "Profile of the Lukewarm" that I need to change all of these Lukewarm tendencies that are in my life. Let's face it, we all have times in our life where we aren't giving God everything we got in everything we do but God desires for us to recognize when that's taking place and fix your heart. Revelation 3:16 "So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Thald be would be terrible for God to spit my out of his mouth, therefore I'm gonna take Chan's call to examine my heart and life and change whatever is allowing me to be lukewarm towards God and Christianity. I think you should do the same so I am going to do the same so I'm going to leave you with this question the Francis raises about our lives as Christians.

Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus Christ? Or do the words half-hearted, lukewarm and partially committed fit better?

Think about it and act. See you tommorrow.

Blessings
Joe
Revelation 3:16

Joe the Time Maximizer

Whaddup World! So all day yesterday I was thinking about what I should name my next blog post. Here are some of my ideas

Lookin like a Fool with your Vans in the Snow

What a Day

WOW(not world of war craft)

My life without Facebook-Day One

Haha, now I know that all of your favorites out of all of these has to be the first one and until I realized how great these past few days have been because of my improve time management, it was the obvious choice. It snowed like 6 or 7 inches on Sunday and yesterday as i was walking, I thought about how silly I am for not having a pair of boots to walk through the snow in. I love vans so much and the checker pair that I have now are my shoe of choice on most days but on a snowy day like yesterday I kind of wished that I had some boots so my feet and socks wouldn't get wet. I also would look more like a person from Northern Illinois who has a handle on how to dress in the winter with snow. Today was much better for my feet so the vans will be sticking around for now.
Now the next 3 titles are what I really want to talk about. I absolutely love not being on Facebook, the web and not watching lots of t.v. as I did up to Sunday. I have gotten so much stuff done over the last two days, its crazy and super great. Yesterday after work and class, I came home to study for about 3 hours and then I took a test while I watched One Tree Hill, one of my favorite shows ever. After this I left home to do some homework in the library with friends which was fun and then come home after an exhausting day to hit the hay.
Okay so this might not sound like a super cool day but I'm very proud of myself for not wasting my day away like I have the tendency to do at times because as Francis Chan talks about in "Crazy Love" James 4:14 reminds us that our lives here on earth are "a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away." I think that everyone knows this but they don't take it to heart. That's why facebook, tv, video games and so many other things can be detrimental to people's lives at time. I read an article for one of my classes in which a girl talked about how much time she wastes on Facebook. Sarah checks her facebook a dozen times in a given day. That's so crazy but I have to admit that I wasn't far behind her. There are so many distractions in life that are hard to overcome at times but if you do, your life can end up being so much better. I've been learning that over the past two days and it's been great. I write for the school paper's sports section and usually I procrastinate to the point where almost everyone else on the staff has their articles in and I'm still scrambling to get all of mines in on time. In the absence of Facebook, t.v. and all of the other distractions in my life, I was able to pound out all of my articles that I need for tomorrow TODAY!It feels great and I know that my colleagues will appreciate it so much.
I've been finishing my reading of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan and its pretty sweet! I haven't gotten too much farther than I was on Sunday but I'm going to read a few chapters tonight so my next post will definitely include some Chan words of knowledge. Good Stuff. Well I gotta get going since I have small group and some other things going on tonight. Much Love folks and see ya next time.

Blessings
Joe Canady
Philippians 4:13


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WHO DAT!

Okay so for some reason its been over a week since I last blogged on here but I have good reason for the aforementioned blog neglect. My computer has been giving me issues so I couldn't use it for a good chunk of last week and I also have been pretty busy lately with school stuff and life in general. I will admit that laziness has factored into it as well but I have to start blogging regularly because I want to stop wasting time on FB and other sites that are super time consuming and I feel like a lot of things are going to be going in the next few weeks that will be "blog worthy." That brings me to a major thing that happened this week. First off, the Super Bowl happened and the New Orleans Saints showed that they have come a long way since they were called the "aints" and beat the Indy Colts for their first Lombardi trophy. I have been telling people that I wasn't really too into the game because the super bowl has lost its mystique in my life. I loved watching because I was surrounded by some hilarious guys who happen to be some of my best friends. I went home last weekend for my niece's birthday and also to watch the super bowl and something totally unexpected happened. Spring Break is about a month and really I was planning on going on a fun trip with my friends from back home and just have a great time with people that I love but God changed that. Saturday while I was sitting at home watching t.v. before the big party for my niece Tanaya, New Orleans popped into my hear. Not Reggie Bush and Drew Brees, but the people of New Orleans came into my mind and at the time I really didn't know why. I mean I had remembered the email that I had gotten the week before about a missions trip to NO for spring break but I had never considered going. I knew that God was trying to tell me something so I ended up praying about it for a few days and it had become clear to me that I had 2 spring breaks and they both went to doing things that had nothing to do with God and it was all about me and this trip was an opportunity to give Spring Break 2010 to God and allow myself to be used by him to touch the lives of a lot of people in New Orleans. After I made the decision on Tuesday of this week, I had to act fast because my application, deposit and 35 fundraising letters were all due on Friday. I got everything turned in and now I will be going to New Orleans for a week to work to continue to rebuild the area. Hurricane Katrina was 5 years ago but there are still so many people who are still recovering and I'm excited to go to lend a hand. It's gonna be great.
Despite this trip happening, I've been feeling a bit distant from the Lord and I know part of the reason why. Life has a way of being so busy and so full of distractions that God can quickly drop down on the priority list and that's exactly what has happened in my life. When your too busy for God, that's a big issue and I have decided that that can't be me anymore, so this week, I'm gonna restructure my life to make sure that God is number 1 again. One of those things will be getting away from Facebook and all the other social networks that I do on a regular basis. Another will be limiting my T.V. watching to about an hour a day or maybe less. I really only want to see Biggest Loser. LOVE THAT SHOW.
Earlier today I picked up a book that I have been wanting to read for a while and it's called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I have so far only read a few pages and it is already blowing me away. I am gonna read it this week and I'm sure I will have at least one blog about it this week. Well, tomorrow starts another week and I'm pumped to see what God does in it. Until next time folks.

Blessings
Joe Canady
"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matt. 20:28
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