Author: Nick

“Beware of talking about abandonment if you know nothing about it, and you will never know anything about it until you have realized that John 3:16 means that God gave Himself absolutely. In our abandonment we give ourselves over to God just as God gave Himself for us, without any calculation.” I must take this warning from OC seriously. I can’t talk about abandonment from experience as he does. I have not reached that level of abandonment. I recognize the need for it, the wisdom of it, the joy in it. I just haven’t achieved it.  I guess I have been caught between the teachings about the freedom the new life in Christ brings and those who stress the holiness that life is to produce. It seems difficult for the two to coexist in one life. I believe I need to focus less on the effects and more on the relationship, less on the blessings and more on the person. “Salvation is not merely deliverance from sin, nor the experience of personal holiness; the salvation of God is deliverance out of self entirely into union with Himself.” The idea of any kind of relationship with God has been overwhelming. […]

Sometimes OC is just too much. Today he seems to be saying that we are not only to abandon everything for Jesus, but we are to do so purely out of our devotion to Him. We are called to love Jesus Christ purely for Himself not for anything we can get or have gotten from Him. “If we only give up something to God because we want more back, there is nothing of the Holy Spirit in our abandonment; it is miserable commercial self-interest. That we gain heaven, that we are delivered from sin, that we are made useful to God – these things never enter as considerations into real abandonment, which is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself.” How can I possibly do that? How can I forget what the Lord has done and continues to do for me? How can I love Him purely for who He is without a remnant of memory of past graces and an assurance of future blessings? It just doesn’t seem possible. OC seems to be saying that we need to have an Agape love for the Lord. Agape is unconditional love. Love for another without expectation of any return […]

 John Maxwell recently wrote about how Pope John Paul II led the toppling of world communism by having Vision – Connection and Direction. The Pope was following a 2000 year old plan: God’s plan.  Christ’s vision for His Church is clear: a community of believers who so love Him and each other that  others are compelled to join up. He provides His Church with the Holy Spirit to connect it to Himself, each other and the world, and to keep it moving in the right direction.  Satan knows this plan and his strategy to stop it is to prevent the life of community. When he can’t prevent it; he provides deceptively similar alternatives. The explosion of “social networking” on the internet: “communities” like facebook or twitter, appear to meet the need God has placed in each of us to connect with each other. The attraction of these networks is the illusion that we can connect without really connecting. The “church” has been doing this for years, providing television and internet “alternatives” to a living breathing community.  Like the wolf eyeing a flock of sheep, Satan loves it when an individual separates from the flock or the herd. They’re oh […]

“We are not saved to be “channels only,” but to be sons and daughters of God. We are not turned into spiritual mediums, but into spiritual messengers; the message must be part of ourselves.” When I observe Christians, in church, on television or in the mirror, I am often confused by the inconsistency between what I hear and what I see. Sadly I have not often had the experience of someone moved closer to God after observing my life. In fact, I have heard expressions of surprise when folks have learned I’m a Christian. “The Son of God was His own message, His words were spirit and life; and as His disciples our lives must be the sacrament of our message. The natural heart will do any amount of serving, but it takes the heart broken by conviction of sin, and baptized by the Holy Ghost, and crumpled into the purpose of God before the life becomes the sacrament of its message.”  My favorite preacher is not always a great speaker. Sometimes his messages are magical. Sometimes not so much. He often skips and drifts. He tells me what he’s going to tell me and then tells me what […]

In the sixth Chapter of the Gospel of John Jesus feeds five thousand and walks on water. But even then, the crowds were not ready to accept a life of complete dependence on Jesus.  26Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”  28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”  29Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”  We can’t seem to accept that’s all there is to it: believe in Him. Not an intellectual belief, but a complete trust putting belief. He has it all.  35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that […]

A young man ran up to Jesus, threw himself at Jesus’ feet and asked “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus told him to obey the commandments and the man replied, “Been there done that.” Jesus then suggested he give all he had to the poor and the man walked away sad because he had much. We want a cafeteria style Chrisianity. We seek a deal with God in which we take what we need from Him; but keep doing much of what we do as we always have. We believe we have certain aspects of life under control. We can handle them. We just want God to take up the slack. That was the young man’s problem. For eternal life, He need God; but for the here and now, he felt he had that under control. With God, it’s all or nothing. We need to grab hold of Jesus with both hands and that means letting go of what we’re holding onto now. For most of us that’s alot. Principally, it’s our pride. It must be relinquished. We must lead a Relinquished Life. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us By Daniel H. Pink  reveals […]

I am a child of the 60s; I guess. But I wasn’t a hippie,  a flower child or a surfer. But OC caught my imagination with this; “The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surf-rider the super-joy of going clean through it.”  That which strikes terror in the hearts of the masses is a joy ride for others. I spent the early morning hours preparing for the “Fearless” Sunday night series which will begin on Sunday, April 18, after Extraordinary is completed.  The same concept rolls through the writings of both OC and Max Lucado, who authored “Fearless.” The situations which confound and terrorize the unbeliever are just new places to meet with Jesus for the Christian. “Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”Romans 8:37 “Apply that to our own circumstances, these very things – tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super-joy; they are not things to fight. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them. The saint never knows the joy of the Lord in spite of tribulation, but because of it.” […]

This painting is called “Amid a Crowd of Paltry Things” by Mark Lawrence. Mark’s obviously an artist. He has done a series of paintings inspired by OC and his devotional My Utmost for His Highest. It’s great to do creative things which inspire. I, on the other hand have spent the last three hours making fine adjustments to the Amana Christian Fellowship home page and a couple of more hours are needed. I do this in the hours of early morning with only the glow of the laptop screen lighting the room. Not very glamorous…it’s drudgery.  That places me squarely “Amid a Crowd of Paltry Things.”   “It takes Almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator – the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when there is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator. It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take that step, than it does to preach the Gospel.”  I have had the privilege of preaching the gospel on occasion and OC is […]