V GENUINE MOTIV TION JULY
YOUNG CHRISTIAN MAN
2011
DARE TO BE STILL SHIFTING SANDS p.8
TEXTBOOKS FOR LESS! p.16 RESTORING THE YEARS THE LOCUST HAS EATEN
p.4
p.6
YOUNG CHRISTIAN MAN 04
Feature Article: Restoring the Years the Locust Has Eaten
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On The Couch: Dare to Be Still
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Can You Relate: Shifting Sands
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May God Bless the Hell Out of You: Editing My Life
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Cornered by Grace: The Missing Hole
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Press On: How to become Addicted To God (Part 3)
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The Tool Box: Don’t Let Books Eat You Alive!
JASON MAXWELL
Randy kosloski
Thom Mollohan
THE MERRY MONK ROBERT BEAMES WILL DOLE
Jeffrey Bridgman
a publication of On My Own now Ministries
www.onmyownnow.com
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JULY2011
Editor In Chief / Rob Beames Art + Creative Director / MIKE MURO & DANIELA BERMÚDEZ
RESTORING THE YEARS THE LOCUST HAS EATEN
feature article by JASON MAXWELL
I was about 16 when my good friend from church, Mike, and I started thinking and talking with each other about how far it was okay to go in physical intimacy with girls. My Dad was our pastor and, of course, I grew up in a Christian home. Mike’s parents were divorced — his Mom was a Christian, but his Dad wasn’t, and Mike had a fairly wild older sister. Mike and I were both basically good kids and wanted to do what was right in the area of physical intimacy, but my Dad never really gave me much guidance in this area and Mike’s dad’s advice probably would’ve been to go ahead and sleep around. As I recall our basic outlook on the subject was, as any teenage guy’s would be, that we were extremely attracted to good-looking girls and, while we had never been involved with a girl in any way at that point, we were sure eager to explore this new and inviting frontier. At the same time, we were also just beginning to explore a more heartfelt Christian faith and we had some sense that the Bible had something to say about how we should conduct ourselves in this arena. So we asked James, our youth pastor, a great guy of about 25, for whom we both had a profound respect and whose company we enjoyed a lot. James pointed us to a book called Sex for Christians, by Lewis Smedes, who was then a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in California. I don’t recall that we read the whole book, but I do remember that it was clear that sexual intercourse was something that was to be reserved for marriage. That made sense to me, as marriage is the ultimate commitment of mind and heart to another person, and it stood to reason that the ultimate physical commitment between two people should not preceed these other commitments, but rather should accompany them. But short of knowing I should abstain from actual intercourse, I didn’t have much guidance to go on. In the summer after high school graduation, I went away for a week with my church youth group to build houses for people living in a dump in Mexico. Seeing the plight of the people we were trying to help was deeply moving. But what is most memorable to me from that week was that, one evening when we were all together singing praise songs, I felt what I can only describe as the presence of God. I came back home eager to get serious about my faith. About two months later, I was off to college far from home and knowing no one. I was pretty innocent. I had never gotten drunk or done drugs or been involved with girls at all. James, my youth pastor, had been thoughtful enough to find out who the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship leader was at my college and I aimed to connect with these fellow Christians when I arrived. From the first night at college, however, I was knocked off the rails. A junior down the hall in my dorm took me under her wing and led me off to a party on campus. They were serving punch and, having quite a sweet tooth, I downed cup after cup of it. Little did I know that it had been spiked with grain alcohol, a nearly tasteless 190-proof liquid that
rapidly began to alter my consciousness. Along with a few beers, the combined effect had me vomiting in the closest bathroom. I was so far gone that I had to be helped back to my dorm room, where I passed out and slept the rest of the night. The next morning, I awoke feeling pretty good… for about five minutes. I then felt like heaving again and quickly lay down again — for the rest of the day. Thus began my college career with the fire of my newfound faith getting doused right at the start. This inauspicious beginning was sadly not just a momentary blip or a minor detour. It set me in a wayward direction for about the next eight years. At some point, I made a half-hearted effort to connect with the InterVarsity folks, but I didn’t feel that I really fit in very well. I also would go to church with some frequency, but for the most part, I took the path of least resistance which led to being a mild partier and a fairly uncommitted student. I still was aiming to save sex for marriage, which was going well as I hadn’t yet managed to hook up with too many girls. I was a shy, unassuming kid from the wrong side of the tracks in high school and none of the girls there paid any attention to me. It was a big boost to my self-esteem that a few girls were actually taking notice of me. And, almost without exception, they didn’t object to hooking up. Everyone was doing it, so along I went for the ride. And, since I didn’t know where to draw the line short of actual intercourse, I quickly succumbed to the thinking that anything short of that was basically alright. Sometimes things would go so far that it seemed that sex might be a possibility. Yet I was still maintaining my commitment to wait until marriage, and I amazingly exercised enough self-control to keep things from going too far. If I happened to mention my commitment to the girl I was with, the likely response was, “Oh, that’s so commendable!” “Commendable” never struck me as high praise, especially since I wasn’t really acting very commendably. I recognized it then and even more so now, when I can say with the certainty of hindsight that I would not want some guy treating my wife the way I treated girls in college. And the thought of my daughter someday being treated that way sends shivers up my spine! Something of a crisis point came between my junior and senior years of college. Up to that point, my longest relationship had lasted about a month. But toward the end of my junior year, I became involved with a girl with whom it seemed like there was long-term potential. In fact, we managed to stay together for three whole months! One of the major areas of conflict became the fact that I wasn’t willing to have sex with her. She couldn’t understand how I could go almost all the way, but not all the way. Even still, I managed to hold to my standard and the relationship ended. I was devastated and started to do some deep thinking about why I needed to wait until marriage. I also began to question my faith. She was Jewish and I wondered what gave me the right to question her belief in God.
GM : 05
As my commitment to save sex for marriage was deteriorating, so was my certainty in what I had believed. Toward the end of my senior year, my defenses had weakened and my hormones and curiosity had gotten the best of me. Just before graduation I hooked up with a girl named Ellen and we slept together over a period of a few months after graduation. I didn’t even tell her it was my first time. When we had sex, I felt stupid and almost alone, even though I was engaging in something that was designed to bring a man and a woman into profound closeness. Our relationship sputtered on for several more months, but I knew she wasn’t the right woman for me and finally I had the courage to call it quits. A couple of years passed with no real relationship possibilities until I met a woman who caught my eye at a friend’s party one evening. Irene and I hit it off quickly, and though we lived in different cities, we kept a long distance relationship going for over a year. We began to talk about marriage and, as I was getting weary of my job, I decided to move, and, in fact, I moved in with her. I had no idea the biggest crisis in my life was fast approaching. The Bible speaks of the Prodigal Son “coming to himself” when he was at his lowest point. Eight years previous I had felt the presence of God, calling me to follow him. Now at 26, I had allowed myself to venture far along the path of easy fun and superficial relationships. I was seriously contemplating spending the rest of my life with a woman who I realized, as I began to come to my senses, was not someone I wanted to marry. I didn’t know what to do. I felt trapped. Irene was pressuring me to get married. We went shopping for rings, and foolishly, I spent a lot of money on a ring and then proposed to her. We even set a date. After this, I began to feel like a trapped animal. I went out one afternoon with my good friend Mike and just talked incessantly the whole afternoon about my situation. In addition to feeling like I was about to make a huge mistake, I was also beginning to feel stirrings of wanting to recommit to Jesus, from whom I had turned away eight years before. I began to see more clearly that I did not want to be living with a woman I was not married to — I didn’t even want to sleep with her any more. It finally became crystal clear to me that I would have to stop sleeping with Irene, move out of her house and end the relationship. It took a few weeks, but I was finally able to work up the courage to do this. She did not take it well, to put it extraordinarily mildly. At the same time, I did what I should have done eight years before. Whereas I had felt the presence of God that week in Mexico when I was 18, I didn’t know that I needed to make a definite commitment to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. And none of the adults in my life at that time helped me with this. Maybe they assumed because I was a pastor’s kid, I had already taken this step. But this time I knew that I had to turn completely around, walk away from
GM : 06
the direction I had been headed in my life (the Bible calls this “repentance”) and put myself in Jesus’ hands. I had messed up big-time and I knew I could only go forward with His help. I’m a pretty introverted, nondemonstrative person, but during the days of this crisis, I remember driving in the car, crying and praying out loud to Jesus to help me, to forgive me and to guide me forward to a much better place. And He did. Irene talked about taking her own life in the weeks after our split. She kept asking if we couldn’t just get back together. Some of my good friends went to her aid and, after hearing her side of the story, sided with her and against me. I had about two days of wavering, where I questioned whether I’d done the right thing. But after that, I felt a deep peace and certainty that I was headed in the right direction. I’ve been a U2 fan for a long time and one of my favorite songs is “40” from the “War” album. The song is a recitation of the words of Psalm 40, which I hung onto in those difficult days: I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the Lord (Psalm 40:1-3 NASB). The months after this big crisis were the most difficult of my life. I had to find a new job and I lacked direction. I began to go to church every Sunday — something I hadn’t done since I was in high school. I tried to read the Bible and pray every day, not always successfully, but at least I was trying! And I got together regularly with Mike to talk and pray. He had also wandered from God and was getting more serious about his faith just at the same time I was. This was a real blessing to both of us. As I grew in my trust in God and His faithfulness, I became interested in Christian mission work. One Sunday, I saw in the church bulletin that a man who started a ministry in South Africa was coming to speak at our church. South Africa had interested me since college days, and I thought it would be fascinating if I could somehow go there to work with a Christian organization. After he spoke, I asked him if this was possible and he said that it was, though I would have to raise money to cover all my own expenses.
Thankfully, one of the pastors from the church guided me in doing just that. Eighteen months later, I was on my way to South Africa, where for three years, I worked alongside this great man of God. I was in my early 30s and wondering if I would ever find a wife. I felt like I’d messed up enough with women that I certainly was not deserving of a godly woman, but I was also learning that my Father was a God of mercy and grace. I prayed to Him to lead me to the right woman. When I returned home, I signed up to become a counselor at a Christian summer camp for inner city kids, and I returned to the church I had been going to before I left for Africa. During class one Sunday, an attractive woman caught my eye. I had no idea who she was. Several weeks later, Mike and I went on a church retreat in the mountains so we could get to know some more people. When people asked what I did, I would reply, “I’m going to be a counselor at a Christian camp for inner city kids.” Then invariably they would say, “Oh, you should talk to Amy Grether; she works with a Christian ministry in the inner city.”
Amy was always gracious and patient with me, and especially so when the time came for me to tell her about my past. She had been waiting for the right man and saving herself for marriage. I dreaded relating to her the sordid way I had conducted myself with women for so many years. And it was hard for her to hear — her tears drove daggers into my heart. But God had brought to me a woman of courage and grace who wanted a real relationship of depth and maturity. Because we were committed to waiting for sex until we were married, we were able to talk, become friends and even pray together. About two years after we met, we were married. A year after that, we both went to South Africa to work with the same mission organization I’d worked with before. The Lord blessed us with four totally lovable children. We’ve had an extraordinarily blessed marriage and life together. I wish I’d followed God the whole way along and done things His way at every point. But, despite my waywardness, He’s forgiven and restored me, providing blessing far beyond what I could’ve imagined.
Hmm, I thought, Amy Grether — I wonder who she is. Later that evening I was walking back to my cabin and a woman I already knew came walking along with the very attractive woman who I had noticed at church. She said, “Jason, I’d like you to meet my friend, Amy Grether.” Bingo!
As for my time in the wilderness, God has promised that “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten”
I saw Amy briefly a few times over the summer and finally when I returned from the camp, I was able to work up the courage to ask her out. The problem was, though, I’d never actually asked or taken a woman out on a date! All my previous experience was in the pathetic realm of hooking up. Poor Mike, I had to keep calling him for advice.
This story was excerpted from the new book Purity’s Big Payoff/Premarital Sex is a Big Rip-off, edited by Donna Lee Schillinger. The most difficult task in the life of a Christian single today is maintaining purity until marriage. The payoff is perfect love and sex, just as our Creator intended. But if that’s so awesome, why aren’t more people choosing it? And how can premarital sex be so bad if so many people are doing it and loving it? People who were virgins when they married aren’t usually the type to kiss and tell. And when premarital sex goes wrong, no one wants to Tweet it. This awkward silence from both contingents isn’t helping the next generation to decide well on the issue of premarital sex. Purity’s Big Payoff/Premarital Sex is a Big Rip-off is a collection of 17 first-person narratives about successfully waiting for marriage to have sex—or not. Contributors on both sides of the issue candidly share in face-reddening detail what they learned on their way to the wedding bed. Young people aiming to remain pure will be encouraged and learn practical strategies for resisting sexual temptation. Those who wish they had waited will learn that it’s never too late to restore purity with God’s grace. Learn more at PuritysBigPayoff.com. Now on sale at major online booksellers, through your local bookstore or for a special price of $12 plus free shipping at www. OnMyOwnNow.com, which receives as a donation half of the proceeds of its sales. Also available in Kindle through Amazon.com. También en español: La Gran Recompensa de la Pureza / La Gran Estafa del Sexo Prematrimonial. Visite www.VivaLaPureza.info.
(Joel 2:25 NKJVTM).
on the couch
DARE TO BE STILL by Randy Kosloski
“HE GOT UP AND REBUKED THE WIND AND THE RAGING WATERS; THE STORM SUBSIDED, AND ALL WAS CALM.”
- LUKE 8:24
Last year there was a water main break in a neighbouring community, which resulted in a huge flood, most of it underground, creating a monstrous sink hole on one of the main streets. The picture on the front page of the local paper displayed a pickup truck being pulled out of the sink hole by a crane. The entire pickup, aside from the tailgate, was immersed in the water of this sink hole. Now the municipality is replacing the water main, but in order to do so, they have to divert the water that normally flows through that pipe to an older, smaller one. As a result of this work the municipality has issued a water ban in that community. No one is allowed to use any outdoor water for the duration of the summer. The reason the municipal government issued this ban is because they are afraid that the water pressure will get too low. If the water pressure drops in an old pipe, the water itself gets more still, and then the contaminants from the pipe can enter the water and make it toxic. This water main break is analogous to the human mind. Dr. Dan Allender, in a sermon he gave at Willow Creek Community Church, talked about how when people are still and meditating, their own emotional toxins surface. It can make them uncomfortable and even scared. This may be why most people avoid being still and quiet. John Piper talked about how modern man has lost the ability to think. I would concur with Piper, because in order to think, we must take the time to be still so we can focus. Most people do not believe thinking is important enough to take the time to do it. The most common addiction I see in counselling is the addiction to “busy-ness”. Very few people seem to believe being too busy is harmful, but I believe that it is attached to nearly every emotional issue that the average person brings into counselling. Busy-ness is an avoidance of stillness. Thus, it is an avoidance of thought and meditation. I feel that the proof of this is in the counselling experience itself. Counselling is based on the principle that people know the solutions to their own problems, and a counsellor’s job is merely to bring those solutions to the surface. A counsellor is there to quiet a client’s mind and help him to listen to how God is directing them. Most often, people refuse to stop and listen, likely because people hate being convicted, being told that their wrong, or that they have to change. When we stop to listen and the water gets still, the toxins in our lives bubble to the surface. The pain, insecurity and the necessity for change that result can be scary. But the fear is a reality whether we choose to be still and face it, or not. Living with these toxins in our lives is painful, as well. The pain is not acute; it does not hit
all at once. But over time our interactions with people are affected negatively by toxins; so is our relationship with God, as well as our contributions in the workplace. The long term result of living with these toxins is a difficult and painful life. The good news is that we can let the water be still and clean out the toxins with the power of Christ because God has more in store for us than this painful life (Jeremiah 29:11). Instead of seeking temporary highs to help distract us from these toxins and our resulting painful life, we can live a peaceful life full of love. In his book The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis writes about how people are too easily pleased, “like an ignorant child,” happy making mud pies because we cannot imagine how wonderful God’s version of happiness for us is. To be still before God requires some courage and commitment. People need to have the courage to face their mistakes and to face the pain those mistakes have caused them as well as the pain it’s caused their loved ones. They need commitment to make changes regardless of the discomfort those changes may cause. Through prayer, we can seek understanding via stillness and meditation; we can learn to accept change. Neil T. Anderson is a good resource for learning how to be still and to pray through difficulties. He has discovered the importance of confessing before God at length, and to pull out sin from the past, which people have long forgotten, yet which still hampers them. Anderson seems to understand that cleaning out the toxins that impede people’s relationship with God will exponentially benefit their connection to God, and this will benefit their day-to-day lives. In his book The Bondage Breaker, he gives examples of people making use of a trusted friend, pastor or counsellor to help bring their prideful disobedience before God honestly and humbly. This is time-consuming, in addition to being scary, but it needs to be a priority. “He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm,” Luke 8:24. Notice that no toxins bubbled to the surface? The local municipality we discussed earlier didn’t want to take the time and money it would cost to clean their old pipe. Because of that an entire community is now suffering, to a degree, and not meeting their potential. Their lawns are brown, their cars are dirty and their gardens are failing. People of God need be more courageous than that municipality. They need to make the sacrifices required to clean out the toxins in their lives and to face the fear of change. God is more than capable of sustaining us through this process. Be still and quiet, and do not fear what waits for you there.
GM : 09
SHIFTING SANDS R
CAN YOU RELATE BY THOM MOLLOHAN
Several years ago, I was the guest of a small church about an hour’s drive away from my home. As I traveled, the bright light of the early-morning April sun made the newly budding leaves emerging on the tree branches seem to glow with the fresh green of spring. As I pulled into the gravel parking lot of the church, the building struck me as a cheerful and welcoming place. Indeed, the pastor and a lay leader were waiting to greet me at the door and they ushered me into the old but charming structure where we prepared for the service that was to shortly follow. After worshiping our living Lord with their church family and sharing a word of encouragement from the Bible with them, they generously invited me to join them for a meal in a small fellowship room connected to the sanctuary by a long hallway with small rooms on either side which were set apart for Bible study classes. During our meal together, we shared some of the respective spiritual journeys God had taken us on so far. At some point in these conversations, I happened to remark about how pleasant their worship facility was, and how I was sure it had been a blessing to their community for many years. The moment the words left my mouth, an expression bordering on glumness crossed a few of the members’ faces. I wondered if I had said something to offend them.
GM : 10
The pastor noticed my confusion and quickly said, “Well, it’s funny that you should say that. We’re not going to be in it much longer.” I glanced at the others seated around and their expressions all had the same wistful look similar to the same regret that had flickered over the pastor’s face. “Well, that sounds like something either really exciting or something really sad,” I replied after a moment. “Not knowing what the future holds for us,” a lady answered, “sometimes we forget ourselves and look at these circumstances from eyes of flesh and get a little sad. But God is in control. He has a plan for us.” “What’s happening?” I asked. “What are these circumstances you speak of?” One of the men laughed. “This building was built on property given to the church a long time before any of us were even members. It turns out that the ground it was built on, and the ground all around this area, is sand… or mostly sand anyway. We’ve done all right by it for a long time, but now it turns out that sinkholes all around here are causing all this ground to shift. We’ve been notified that this building isn’t safe and we’re going to have to vacate it.” As this news sank into my mind, I could sense that these brothers and sisters in Christ were wrestling with the temptation to feel anxious about their future together as a church. It proved to be a very difficult time for the congregation as a whole. Thankfully, they were able to have their main worship in another church’s building when the other church was not holding services – the generosity of the other church family was just amazing. Yet, their pastor, not only had to deal with losing their church building, but also had to endure some very serious and traumatic experiences in his family – a death and a series of debilitating illnesses. They finally came through the valley of night, and were able to see God’s faithfulness in spite of that season of confusion and dark discouragement. In fact, although their old building may have been built on sand, their lives and testimony were constructed on something infinitely more dependable than any building, financial asset or human relationship. The fact that their confidence was built on the faithfulness of Christ, poured through the windows of their souls when cataclysmic storms raged against them. Although their tender souls were bruised at times in the tumult about them, they have been lifted up, and now joyfully share the hope that sustained them with others in their community.
Their physical circumstances years ago may have been a gentle admonition from our Father in heaven to be sure that their faith was not built on mere feelings, or on the delusion that a Christian’s life will be without pain and problems. Jesus reminds us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33). Just as dangerous as building our lives on emotions, it is a grave error to build our lives on anything other than Christ Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
It isn’t enough to go to church, dear one. If the Word of God isn’t somehow transforming our lives through our choices, our values and even our being, then it seems that we may be building our houses on sand. What will be your fate when the hurricanes of hurt and typhoons of trouble crash into your life, toppling over the things to which you’ve given yourself? Will you be lost in the waves of circumstances swirling about you, as you reach out hoping that somebody will throw you a lifeline? Don’t wait until a catastrophe hits home before you tether yourself to the only real lifeline there is: Jesus and His love for you. He gives us a special promise, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him,” (James 1:12).
Thom Mollohan and his family have ministered in southern Ohio the past 15 ½ years and is the author of The Fairy Tale Parables. He is the pastor of Pathway Community Church and may be reached for comments or questions by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com.
GM : 11
MAY GOD BLESS THE HELL OUT OF YOU
EDITING MY LIFE_ ✎
BY THE MERRY MONK
I liked my life before I picked up Donald Miller’s book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. I had good relationships with my wife, kids and parents. I was getting paid to do work I loved. It gave me a sense of purpose. Friends, church, health, it was all good. Then I read Miller’s book and things started changing. The things I liked about my life before I read this book are still extant, but the book took me to the edge of my world and filled me with enough hope to jump. I’ve been swimming in a sea of possibilities ever since. I had just told my dad I wanted to go on an adventure with him before it was too late, and then he got cancer. We took a life-changing trip, sailing a catamaran to the Bahamas from Florida. I also drained my IRA and took my family on the RV trip of a lifetime to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Also since reading Miller’s book, I’ve held two 40-day liquid fasts to raise funds for charity on TheMerryMonk.com. This was no small feat for someone who enjoys food and drink as much as I do. Enough money came in to keep 40 Haitian slave children in school for six months. Funds from the second fast went to Lakota youth and helped preserve Lakota culture on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. I also started writing. I’m getting articles published and I’m working on a book.
GM : 12
All these things are examples of what Miller calls practice stories. They consist of inciting incidents, negative turns and positive turns. Now it’s time for another inciting incident. By telling you my intentions, I’m setting myself up for public failure or success – probably both. I am committing myself and the resources at my disposal to channeling the creativity of a generation to conjure the experience of God’s grace. What’s more, I’ll do this while embodying radical freedom, infectious joy and surprising faithfulness with the naked abandon of an Old Testament prophet. For too long, some of my dreams, passions and talents have been dying of starvation in a cell of hopelessness. I’m not alone. I’ve met too many people who are stuck in jobs they hate in order to buy crap they don’t need. They are gifted designers, musicians, storytellers, filmmakers, leaders, speakers, programmers, actors, artists, businessmen, writers, and all have either put their dreams on hold to pay the bills, or they have given up completely by begrudgingly putting their unique gifts in the service of a company they don’t believe in. They’re not free. As John Lennon said, “We’re doped with religion and sex and TV.” We prefer the stupor to overcoming our fear, failures and the lack of faith that we really can live a better story. However, I’ve dared to live enough practice stories to begin to sober up. I’m the executive producer at Key Life Network. I oversee the creation of radio programs, videos and web-based media for an old preacher of grace named Steve Brown. His simple message is that God isn’t mad at His children. In fact, God is crazed with unconditional love for His jacked-up kids and He has come to set us free! God tricked me into working at Key Life. I didn’t apply for the job, but basically Steve hijacked my life. I thought he was sent by the devil when I first met him. However, I have come to believe that he was actually in cahoots with the Author of my story to free me from religion, from addiction, to be myself, to be more than myself, to fail, and to give me the freedom to enjoy union with God. The bottom line is that I’ve been too scared to grow into the leader I’m called to be. This fear of believing I don’t have what it takes has been my biggest hindrance. But thanks to counseling and people like Brown and Miller, I’ve caught the scent of freedom on the wind blowing through my prison. I’m busting out! I dare to step fully into my leadership role at Key Life Network and help transform this company from an organization that exists to help one man deliver a message, into a company that exists to empower anyone to use their God-given creativity to share that message. Imagine inspiring movies about radical reconciliation born from the radically freeing forgiveness of God. Imagine the news reporting on real-life lavish displays of love for our worst enemies, fueled by the infectious joy of God who loved His enemies into friends. Imagine music, street performers, viral videos, multimedia eBooks, radio shows, websites, apps and even media we haven’t invented yet.
Imagine all these declaring the surprisingly transformative message that we are invited to be the very image of God on this planet bringing healing to a broken world! Now imagine internalizing this empowering message so that you were freed from the mundane into the adventure of using your talents to answer the prayer, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.” The biggest obstacle is inertia. My generation has gotten used to our prisons. The devil we know has been deemed better than the devil we don’t know. We have all, in one way or another, gone cheap and settled. Our actions prove that many of us have lost our faith that the Author of our collective story is writing us out of our cold cells and into His grand adventure. My job is to inspire people to embrace the message of radical freedom, infectious joy and surprising faithfulness that they may join me in sharing that message using their unique talents and gifts in order to set others free. By its very nature, this story cannot be written alone. The best ideas are still in our heads. I hereby solicit them. Send them to Erik@KeyLife.org. Read Miller’s book, and edit your life. Get in touch with me and let’s “get it” together. Buy the ticket and take the ride. It’s for freedom that He has set us free! In closing, I’d like to quote an email I recently received:
“Press on. Write your life story. Don’t allow the narrative to stagnate in the routine eddy of circular time. Don’t wait for someone to empower or invite or open your doors. Whether you grasp it, or not, each day is a precious gift. Seize each day by God’s grace and wrest every drop of meaning and possibility. Embrace the life adventure that is uniquely yours. Resist the mundane and the routine. Run from those who would deny, discourage and disdain all the possibilities. Make noise. Rattle doors. Look for the serendipitous opportunity that is a game-changer in your life. ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men, which when taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their lives is bound in shallows and miseries.’ – The Old Bard” GM : 13
THE THE
MISSING MISSING HOLE ★
C O R N E R E D BY G RAC E
by ROB BEAMES
We were finishing up on the 17th hole at a local miniature golf course during a recent family outing when I realized I had recorded scores for only 16 holes on our scorecard. Normally, I would have thought I simply forgot to score one of the holes, but since the same thing had happened just a week ago at the same course, it just didn’t make sense. A perfectionist like me rarely makes the same mistake twice. This time the whole family was playing, so I carefully recorded each stroke, so I could announce the winner of every hole in an attempt to make it a special event. Of course, I was miffed about missing the score for one entire hole! This time the scorecard had to be reconciled. After everyone had knocked their ball in the last hole, I explained the situation to my wife, who promptly mocked me saying, “Why don’t you walk around and count all the holes?” My wife and I were on the same page – another rare event – so I asked my son, a recent kindergarten graduate, if he wanted to count the holes. That way it would look like his idea. Off we went walking past each hole making sure we didn’t somehow miss playing one. In the end, we found we had played every hole. Go figure! I never did determine what happened that day but it started me thinking, mostly about how ridiculous I must have looked trying to verify the number of holes at the golf course – as if it could have gone unnoticed for years with only 17 – but also, about how desperate we all are for reconciliation. Naturally, we want to see things add up. We desire broken things to be fixed, especially relationships.
GM : 14
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The need for relational reconciliation is a condition which only the gospel of Christ completely addresses. God knows that sin created holes in our souls, and severed our intimate connection with Him beyond repair. God’s design was not to only fix our broken hearts, but to mend our relationship with Him, as well. Really, one cannot be accomplished without the other. God’s word contrasts our past condition with our current hope in Christ with such scriptures as Colossians 1:21-23, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” This verse clearly defines our previous status without Christ as despised enemies of God. Our separation from God was, and is, directly caused by our own actions. The sin of the first man cut us off from the presence of God. Having been born with sinful natures, we take ownership of our estrangement each time we sin. Yet, it is God who uses the death of Jesus to patch things up. He sprinkles the blood of Christ on broken, convicted criminals, and suddenly we are perfect, without flaw, and above reproach from anyone. All that remains is to continue believing in this amazing truth. The picture is drawn of the priceless hope of reconciliation being offered to us with outstretched arms. We hardly want to move out of the way and miss the opportunity to accept the gift by faith. Notice that all the action in this verse is happening in the present time. We aren’t waiting for this repair to happen, although there’s more to come. Our situation is clearly explained. Once we were distant from God; presently, we reside near Him. Before, we were enemies of God; now, we are perfect in His sight and we are deeply loved by Him. Although the concept is straightforward, its ramifications are far reaching. Since we are already accepted by God, we need not strive to gain His approval. He will never reject us. Although our sin is repugnant to Him, He eagerly welcomes us based on the bond we have with His Son. It’s a bit like that brother-in-law you really don’t like, but you put up with because of your sister. It’s like that third wheel hanging around you and your best friend – you keep quiet for the sake of your friend. It’s like that jerk who’s dating the girl you really want to date – you treat him decently because you know it will only make you look bad if you don’t. It’s like being chest-to-chest with the bouncer of an exclusive club until someone important comes by and says, “It’s okay. He’s with me.” Only the last comparison comes close to the way God has embraced us through Christ. God doesn’t simply put up
with us, nor is He concerned with the way He is perceived. He actually wants to be with us, and is pleased to love us, although we are greatly flawed. That’s why it’s so difficult for us to fully comprehend how thoroughly He has restored our relationship with Him, let alone accept it. We are accepted because of Jesus – end of story. We need not fear the rejection of God again. It’s logical to err in thinking God only gives us an opportunity to win His approval with acts of righteousness, but we know these acts are actually filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Fortunately, our reunion has been completed by the physical death of His Son. We’re okay because we’re with Him.
BUT, WE ARE BETTER THAN OKAY.
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WE ARE BEYOND ACCUSATION.
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WE NEED NOT STRIVE FOR ANYONE’S APPROVAL BECAUSE WE ARE GREATLY CHERISHED BY THE ONLY ONE WHO MATTERS. We no longer need to live making decisions based on what others might think, or based on what may cause them to alienate us. Reconciliation frees us from the compulsion to be part of that group whose membership we covet so desperately. Whether we are counting the holes on a miniature golf course, or failing to meet the expectations of significant others in our lives, we keep the dignity given to us by Christ. No one can point a finger at us. Our value doesn’t have to rise and fall according to the thumbs up or thumbs down we receive from others. This comes and goes like the newest technology. In the end, we can stand firm knowing that our God accepts us unconditionally. This is the hope offered in the gospel. It’s worth becoming a slave to that same gospel, rather than a slave to the whims of those we are trying to please. Reconciliation is real. It is complete as we continue to trust in Christ. It frees us from the grip of peoplepleasing. It allows us to offer our gifts and time to Him out of gratitude, rather than out of the fear He may reject us. Because of Christ’s death, we are absolutely accepted in His presence! (I believe He wanted me to remind you of this.)
GM : 15
PRESS ON
BY WILL DOLE
HOW TO BECOME
ADDICTED TO GOD PART 3, PROCLAIMING HIS DEATH
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GM : 16
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
ACTS 2:42 Two issues ago we began examining four things to which the members of the early church devoted themselves according to Acts 2:42. We began with the Apostles teaching then covered fellowship, and this month we’ll discuss the breaking of bread. Next month we will wrap it up with a focus on prayer. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I look at that verse, the first thing that I think is, “What the heck does breaking bread have to do with anything?” It sounds like these guys are chilling out together, praying, and listening to Peter, but they make a point not to forget the French bread? Is that important enough to cover in this verse? Well, as you probably know, that’s not all that’s happening here. I pulled out my MacArthur Study Bible, along with a few commentaries, and found out this is a reference to what we call the Lord’s Table, or Communion – instituted by Jesus Himself. (We’ll look at that reference in Matthew 26 in more detail later.) The question remains: What makes it such a big deal that these early believers are devoting themselves to it? I think the answer to this question can be found in reading Jesus’ words, attempting to understand some of the history behind them, and then transferring what we learn to our lives today.
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom’” (Matthew 26:26-29).
At first glance, this is some weird stuff. Jesus tells them that the bread He is giving them is His body and the wine is His blood. Is Jesus supporting cannibalism, or does Jesus use imagery to point to something else? Many are familiar with the story of how God freed His people from Egypt, but it’s important to understand the connection this event has with the Jewish feast of Passover, since it is during this feast that this breaking of bread takes place. We read in chapter 12 of Exodus that the Israelites were living in slavery in Egypt, when God had compassion on them and chose to free them. He sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh with the orders to let His people go. After Pharaoh refused, God sent a series of ten plagues to display His power and authority over Egypt, which also served to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Before the tenth plague, the death of every firstborn male, God goes to Moses and gives him instructions to take a perfect, spotless lamb, without blemish, and then kill it. They were then to take the blood, brush it on their door posts and lintel, and eat the meat of the lamb. When the Lord came through the land to kill the firstborn, He was to see the blood and pass over that home. The lamb symbolized their deliverance from death. Jesus, called the Lamb of God in John 1:29, is the greater Passover lamb, who was slain for us (Revelation 5:6). So when He says that we are partaking of His flesh and blood, He is drawing for us a connection between the Passover lamb in Exodus, and Himself. The old sacrifice of a lamb was to protect His people from physical death. God’s new sacrifice of Jesus was to save His people from spiritual death. God’s wrath passes over us and rests upon Jesus, who bore the wrath of God and paid for our sins on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). This sacrifice is the very essence of the Gospel. If there is no cross, then there is no payment for sin. If there is no payment for sin, we have no fellowship with God. We should remember the sacrifice of Jesus and celebrate it, because by it we have salvation! We should devote ourselves to, not only the teaching of the cross, but the proclamation of the cross in Communion, (1 Corinthians 11:26). God’s love is so great for us that He paid the price of our rebellion against Him. He has shown us mercy, and this is our motivation for living a life devoted to Him (Romans 12:1,2). Although there are other legitimate aspects of Communion that some Christian denominations include in this sacrament, the main reason we partake of the Lord’s Supper is to celebrate the sacrificial death of Jesus. His death paid for our sins, hallelujah!
GM : 17
THE TOOL BOX
DON’T LET BOOKS EAT YOU ALIVE!
As any college student knows, the price of textbooks is absurd. One semester, my entire scholarship just barely covered the cost of my books! It’s not uncommon for one book to cost over $100. Sometimes they cover multiple classes – such as Physics I and II – but that doesn’t help much if the professor changes editions on you between semesters. Even when you are able to sell books back, what you get back is a pittance, compared to what you spent. There are some books that you might not want to sell back, like those you want to keep for reference. Here are some resources and ideas on how to save money on money-hungry college textbooks. • Price check: The quickest way to save money is to look around to make sure you’re getting the best deal. Check multiple places like, the campus bookstore, used bookstores in the communities, off-campus textbook stores – for instance, at my university there’s one right across the street from the campus. Don’t wait. You should start looking early, because used textbooks disappear fast. • Check online: Don’t forget you can also get used textbooks online. If you find out what textbooks are required for your classes, you can use their ISBN number to search and make sure you have the right textbook. The ISBN number is a unique number used to identify books, which is usually printed on the back or inside the front cover. I usually check half.com or amazon.com. E-books might also be an option. One of my classes had us buy the e-book, which was $100 cheaper that the print edition. It had the added advantage of being searchable!
BY JEFFREY BRIDGMAN
• Rentals: Renting textbooks is an increasing popular option. The campus bookstore may have a rental program; if not there are some online options. I tried using chegg.com this last semester. Here’s how the process works with online rental books. First, you order your textbook online, and then when you receive it, make sure you keep the box. After you are through with the book, you go back online and print off a shipping label, tape it onto the box, and drop off the box at UPS. It’s a simple and cheap option for textbooks. • Buy old versions: Depending on the class, the professor may be happy to let you use an older edition. If necessary you can compare with the newer version to see if there are any differences. Or, if you really want to keep the textbook as a reference, consider selling back the new edition and buying a used copy of an older edition online as a reference. Once a new edition comes out, the older edition is almost worthless, so you can definitely find a cheap copy to hold onto and save yourself some bucks. • Book-pooling: Another option is to “book-pool”. If you can share the same car, why not the same textbook? If you are taking a class with a friend, you may be able to buy one book and share the cost. Of course, this may require some additional planning and communication to make sure you both get your assignments done on time, but it can be well worth it.
j GM : 18