Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By A Relentless God by Francis Chan

     Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.  They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.

     Lukewarm people don’t realy want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.  They don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t truly sorry for it; they’re merely sorry because God is going to punish them.  Lukewarm people don’t really believe that his new life Jesus offeres is better than the old sinful one.

     Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves.  Their love of others is typically focused on those who love them in return, like family, friends, and other people they know and connect with.  There is little love left over for those who cannot love them back, much less for those who intentionally slight them, whose kids are better athelets than theirs, or with whom conversations are awkward or uncomfortable.  Their love is highly conditional and very seletive, and generally comes with strings attached.

     People who are obssesed with God are known as givers, not takers.  Obessed people genuinely think that others matter as much as they do, and they are particularly aware of those who are poor around the world (James 2:14-26)

     A person who is obsessed with Jesus is more concerned with his or her character than comfort.  Obsessed people konw that true joy doesn’t depend on circumstances or environemnet; it is a gift that must be chosen and cultivated, a gift that ultimately comes from God (James 1:2-4)

     People who are obsessed with Jesus aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else.  Obsessed people care more about God’s kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt

           “It is the way of Christ.  Instead of asserting ourselves, we crucify ourselves.  Instead of imaging all the things we can accomplish, we ask God to do what only he can accomplish.  Yes, we work, we plan, we organize, and we create, but we do it all while we fast, while we pray, and while we constantly confess our need for the provision of God.  Instead of dependence on ourselves, we express radical desperation for the power of his Spirit, and we trust that Jesus stands ready to give us everything we ask for so that he might make much of our Father in the world.

            Think about it.  Would you say that your life is marked right now by desperation for the Spirit of God?  Would you say that the church you are a part of is characterized by this sense of desperation?

            Why would we ever want to settle for Christianity according to our ability or settle for church according to our resources?  The power of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is living in us, and as a result we have no need to muster up our own might.  Our great need is to fall before an almighty Father day and night and to plead for him to show his radical power in and through us, enabling us to accomplish for his glory what we could never imagine in our own strength.  And when we do this, we will discover that we were created for a purpose much greater than ourselves, the kind of purpose that can only be accomplished in the power of his Spirit.”