crazy love: drowning in comfort

To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid "big" sins-is this passionate, wholehearted love for God?
~Francois Fenelon, The Seeking Heart

Chuck, my brother-in-law, is always telling me about a new book he just read, or a new idea that he thinks would transport the American church from ineffective organized religion to meaningful passionate revolutionary love for Jesus. The ideas have always caught my interest. The books, however, I have pretty much always ignored...until this one. Because I am a truck driver, I listen to a lot of radio and I have really developed a nice little audio book library. Knowing this, Chuck took the time to get me a copy of this book he said I just had to check out. So earlier this year, I received a package in the mail from Chuck (who currently lives in Virginia) and it contained a couple cd's: one was a Jason Upton album and the other Crazy Love by Francis Chan on audio. I wish I could say that I downloaded Crazy Love onto my Ipod immediately, but that would be lying. In fact, it wasn't until I watched some online sermons preached by Chan and then got to hear him teach live at a conference I attended earlier this year that I finally decided to give the book a chance. So, one day a few months ago, I started my day early as always for work and as I drove to my first destination I listened to Francis read his book to me. The intro and the first few chapters were very good and encouraging. And questions were being asked like "How many of you have read the New Testament and wondered if we in the church are missing it?". But to be honest, I didn't really begin to feel the impact of what Francis was getting at until chapter 4 which is titled:Profile of the Lukewarm. He begins to talk about what most of us want to deal with but are too afraid to confront. He goes on, chapter after chapter, painting 2 images: one, what we in the church might look like now, and one of what we could...what we should aspire to look like. I am so sick and tired of seeing nothing happen. But truth be told, change is uncomfrtable and requires effort and sacrifice and I haven't been totaly willing to enter into that kind of life...until now. And I am dead serious. Before us is the opportunity to let the light of Jesus in all our lives shine, but instead we count on someone else to be the missionary, the pastor, to feed the homeless and care for the sick and broken. I don't want to sit and watch and wonder anymore from the sidelines and i am in the role of a pastor! I want in. All in. And believe that deep down, so do you.

This Sunday, we will begin looking, examining, and getting real with not only the church and the world, but ourselves. We will use the book Crazy Love to guide our sermons, small groups, and discussions about who we are individually and as the body of Christ. This will get uncomfortable. It will be challenging. But I believe with all that I am that if you will go through this with us, we can begin a journey towards a goal I think we all want, even the world...a church that loves God and loves people and does so with action. Please join me this Sunday night at 6pm and leave your comforts behind. The only regret to be had is for those who choose not to act. I'm not begging you, I'm daring you to come out.

Today is just another day. I decided to finally right a blog and that's what I'm thinking...that today is just another day. An ordinary day that leaves me with a lot to be thankful for. First on my list and in my life is Jesus. He makes me want to live and to love. He fills me with hope that I can find joy in Him. My beautiful bride who is carrrying our first born! I can't believe we're gonna have our own little rugrat! My family and friends. My church and those who inspire me. Music. The place God graciously allows me to live and call my home. For my pastor and for besideus and all those who stand firm. For grace, love, and mercy! I'm sure a lot more then that too. So often we wake up and think of all the ways we have been "screwed over" in life or all we don't have and take little time to take stock of all God has blessed us with. Even if all we had in this life was a merciful, loving, and graceful relationship with Jesus, life would be more then worth living.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transends all understanding, will gaurds your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

I got an iPhone and I plan on using it to blog whenever I get the chance!!!

practicing

i just wanted to blog before bed.  i'm really trying to make this a priority because i like blogging and reading your comments and discussions with one another.  i just need to keep blogging so this becomes more natural for me.  anyway, life is good and i'm tired so good night all!

p.s. lost was good tonight.

come back friends, come back

i miss my blog buddies.  so come on back and lets talk, shall we.  i am in the process of trying to manage walking and chewing gum or in other words: multi-tasking.  i am hoping that like repetition when learning to play guitar, if i get in the habit of daily doing these new things in my life that are so hard for me, i will eventually do them naturally.  for me this means i have to make some changes i have been struggling to accept over the past two years.  i am tired of running from the things that are hard for me when in reality, they aren't that hard, they're just new and different and require special attention.  you can relate, right?  great.  we'll be seein' ya soon.

i'm no kip

i am not good with technology.  i am not good at e-mail.  i am not good at keeping up on this blog. eh-hemm: : "I am going to embrace technology.  I look forward to checking and responding to my e-mail every day.  I can't wait to update this blog! "

this is a very hard time for a people to people person.  please pray for me.

-old man roth

Ummmmm...cupcakes

hello.  my name is jeremy.  some of you might remember me.  i used to blog here.  i was kidnapped by gremlins.  i am now safe at home eating cupcakes in my gremlin free zone.  i was rescued by my friends zac and brittany who were recruited by my dear wife christi.  zac ran up to the top of the tower i was held captive in and woke me up with true loves kiss...just kidding...anyway, they all together beat the gremlin king von toobusy van wastingtime.  now that i am free, i can blog again.  go ahead...you can weep with joy.  you can scream out from the roof tops.  you can write me with some good blog ideas.  you can take me out to eat or buy me a present (it is my birthday week and all).  i love you all and have missed you so much!  three cheers for zac, britt, and christi!!! hip-hop-hooray-hoo-hay-hoo.  blog you soon.  

mmm hmmm

well, it's cold.  i'm cold from snow blowing for the 348,723 time this month.  awesome.  what's your favorite part about winter.  i personally like snow blowing a lot.  i also enjoy shoveling, cleaning the snow and 4 inch thick ice off my sweet 99' ranger.  i'm fond of buying and spreading salt out on my walk ways so that the kids skipping on to school and the mail person don't wipe out, fracture their femurs and sue the crap out of us.  oh, what else...it's so hard to narrow this down to just one favorite.  ha! i got it.  driving 11 mph on the freeway and having some lady blow by me doing like 75 mph in her rad 4x4.  now that rocks my socks right off.  all kidding aside, i actually do like the winter.  i like snow ball fights, sledding, paying more to my gas supplier to heat my house...aww yes...winter.  please, let the rest of us know your favorite parts about winter.  stay warm and may God be with us all.

the sweetness

hi all,

yeah, it's been forever.  so here's what i'm wantin' to yap about.  what did you think about the bitterness message last night?  how did it effect you?  are you struggling to forgive someone?  what's been holding you back from forgiving.  if you have a great story of forgiving and letting the bitter root die, will you share it?  and lastly, who wants more chocolate!

looking forward to you responses!  love ya'll!

the longest and busiest weekend of all time and it all started with the dumbest snow storm ever

my weekend was long and tiresome yet fulfilling.   tonight, christi and i are recovering.  i am really too tired to say much other than to say that i am grateful for everything we had going on this weekend as well as grateful that God got me through trucking on friday through deathstorm '08!  you ever notice that sometimes the things we dread can be just what we needed..kinda like a shot.  no one wants to get a shot but, it is just what they need to recover or feel better.  this weekend was like a shot.  we had 73,293,002,849 things to do and most of it was to serve others and visit our family which left me no time to be selfish and that messed with my flesh.  ha ha haha ha!  everything went great and i do feel better.  i dreaded this past weekend like a shot...but after going through it all, i feel better for it.  just my simple thoughts.  God bless.

the good guys

i'm on the connection team at connection church.  basically, i call people who are newer and in the age range of 18-30.  today, i talked to a fine gentleman named Scott.  he tells me he and his wife like our church a lot.  i invite them to besideus (our young adults ministry) and he informs me that due to the fact that he is in the army, his schedule makes it difficult for him to attend church much.  i thanked him for his service (i have the highest respect for those who serve in our military).  i asked him if i could get a little personal with him and assured him that it was just a military question.  after he agreed, i asked "on returning from war, our WWII vets were thrown parades and people adored them for their bravery, commitment, and sacrifice...rightly so.  when our troops returned from Vietnam, we didn't throw any parades, we threw rocks and hurled insults...frankly disgusting.  how have you been received by the civilians since returning to the states?"  i gotta be honest.  i really and truthfully expected to hear him say that everyone has been great.  maybe some have thanked him and maybe some guys shook his hand or offered to buy him a coffee or a beer or something just to say "thank you".  i really believed that our generation would not repeat the ignorance, and i mean with complete sincerity the absolute ignorance of those in the past who treated our beloved military sons and daughters less than unwanted.  Scott begins to tell me how he was just getting home from a military funeral for a colonel who died while serving in Iraq.  he said that after the funeral, he stopped off at a meijer store to grab a few things and he said that while he was walking through the store, several people gave him dirty looks and angry glares.  need i comment further?  i mean, do i really need to say anything at all?  look, i know that a lot of americans out there would at the very least pass a man or woman in uniform and treat them the same as anyone else.  but obviously there are a handful of so called americans who feel that they are smarter than those who make the big decisions and could have done a better job themselves.  please, no matter what your stance is on this or any war at all, have the decency to treat our military servants, active or veteran, with at least the same respect you would any other human being.  for you who feel the need to display your unkind gestures to our service men and women, you can take freedom of speech and freedom of the anti war glaring stink eye and shove it.  it's called respect and some people in this country could use a lesson in what that means.  i can tell you now that i am not mr. pro war...however there is a time for war and when that time comes, we need to honor those who serve.  let's not forget who the good guys are.   

keep a yo head up

you remember that song that i think came out in like the 80's, the one that went: "keep a yo head up-ooh child, things are gonna get easier-ooh child things 'll get brighter"...i can't say that things are gonna get easier but let me plead with ya'll...keep your heads up.  all day long all i heard on the radio was about how horrible things are in michigan, the country, the economy, the world, and on and on.  i'm not blind to the fact that this is the hardest time our generation has ever seen and that many of you are hurting and struggling  and worrying and i can understand but please, please keep you heads up!  God is aware of all you are going through.  He isn't caught off guard by the things that are happening.  I believe with all my heart that now is the time, if you aren't already, to give it all to God.  all you got.  leave nothing behind.  i know that this is the typical thing many of you would expect me to say but know that i too need to follow my own pleading for laying all we have before the throne and trusting God completely with all that is our lives.  happy friday.  rain down your joy on us daddy...let it rain!!!

oh, the winter

i like living in michigan.  i haven't always liked it but, as i have gotten older i have learned to appreciate the beauty of the 4 seasons.  many places have 2 long seasons with like a couple a weeks of fall and a week of spring.  but in the mitten we get 4 squares a year.  with the change of seasons come the bodies reaction to the change.  i just had my annual holiday with my pal mr. sinus/head cold this week.  that was a real treat.  i can't help when looking at how seasons changing effect the inhabitants of the area in transformation.  when winter arrives, we are all effected greatly.  it's unavoidable unless you uproot and move to a warmer climate.  this is how i think it is spiritually for us in the midst of the changing of seasons.  when the time for summer seasons in our spirituality give way to a terrifically brutal winter, we typically look for a way out, a way back to the comfort of the warmth.  most of us will whine and complain about how things were in the "summer" while a small group of people run into the blistering winds with an eagerness to be tested...to be taught what only winters can teach.  while most hibernate begging for the return of the good old days when life was comfortable and easy, scheduled and predictable, a few of us relish the late sunrise and the early dusk.  we want to grow.  we want to have stories to tell others about how we fought the cold with wise snow caps and jackets of righteousness.  our winter boots leading us and the peace that was only given to those who trust the leading of those boots of wool and rubber.  a few, only a few want to hand these ways down to their children and their childrens children.  those fanatical lunatics cry out "bring forth the warfare!"  if you're one of those crazy fearless fanatics then you know just how to enter a winter just by simply asking for it...just ask God who gives generously "Daddy, i want to love people more, i want to be more patient, give me wisdom, whatever it takes, i want it and i want to give it back in return."  while most ask for summer, the believers know that there comes a time when you get down on your knees and softly ask our Heavenly Father to send a cold breeze their way.

wow...missed bloggin'

so, my amazing mac went on the fritz, the hard drive crashed and so i had to give up my laptop for a few days.  i've spent most of my free time the last couple days trying to restore my mac back to the way it was when i turned it in (i could preach metaphorically on that for about a solid 20 minutes).  

anywho, i was thinking about Justin's message in besideus last night and it was really good to hear what he had to say about the cost of following Jesus.  not because it was a flowery, easy to hear message with promises of eternal bliss, but because it was the truth.  the cost of following Jesus completely is great but so is the reward.

write me back.  i want to know what runs through your mind when you hear someone explain the cost of following Jesus completely and being willing to give up EVERYTHING to follow Him to the end.  be real.  be honest with yourself.  i won't lie...i know beyond any doubt that His way of living would bring anyone who follows Him to the fullest life imaginable, but it is hard to get out of that every day, me-me-me, materialistic and worldy mind set.  

to sum Justin's message up, i think what Jesus said when He told us we had to take up our cross DAILY and follow Him is what this is all about.  okay, i'll wait to hear back from ya'll.

without words

when i was in my early twenties i cleaned carpet.  i got to go into a lot of people's houses and see how different people decorate their homes.  some people had shelves lined with pictures of their families.  others had things that were bought at stores that i think only the wealthy know how to find.  there was one house in particular that i remember.  it was a very normal house like yours or mine.  there were a few books on the book shelves and photos of their loved ones.  there were nick knacks and decorative pillows.  but there was one wall that was special.  this wall was unlike any wall i had seen in any house.  there were no autographed jerseys or pictures with movie stars.  no doctoral certificates or gold medals.  just one picture.  i had never seen this picture before and as i stood there looking at it i began to weep uncontrollably.  i saw a picture of Jesus holding up a man.  in this mans hands were a hammer and a nail.  i immediately understood what the artist was saying.  you've all probably seen this picture by now.  it's titled "Forgiven".

i've sat through many sermons and heard many lectures about what it means to be a christian, what Jesus did for us on the cross,  how much God loves us.  and they were all fine.  i don't know how long it took the artist to paint this message, but to this day it's one of the most memorable and impacting sermons i have ever witnessed.  i hope my life is like that picture for others.  i hope that when people see the way that i live it would leave a memorable and impacting message of hope for their lives  and that no words would be necessary.  

life is so good!

ooh...someone else wants to talk

Hi Everyone!!!  It's me, Christi

So, I have a question for you guys....

What is your favorite Christmas song?

Why do I ask???  Because I flippin' LOVE Christmas music.  I tune in the day after Halloween to WNIC and rock out to Christmas music until after Christmas.  I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the holiday season and everything about it.  Christmas time is my favorite.  Smiling is my favorite too.  If you've seen the Christmas movie "Elf", then you know what I'm talking about...you cotton headed ninny muggins!

My all time favorite Christmas song as of a few years ago is Drummer Boy by Mercy Me.  It is so powerful.  If you haven't heard it, I highly recommend you check it out immediately.  I never even paid attention to the words of that song until I heard Mercy Me's rendition of it.  Amazzzzzzing, I tell ya.  

That's all I got.  Please stay tuned, as I may pop in every so often to ask my questions and run my mouth.  

Love to you alllllll,

Christi

our annual thanksgiving pot luck

so yesterday was our annual thanksgiving potluck.  good food, good times, great memories.  with thanksgiving done, it's time for us to look ahead to the Christmas season.  it's so exciting to be part of a group of believers who love to serve others.  this Christmas we are going to help with the giving tree, pass out food at open door, and adopt an elderly woman.  Christi and i love Christmas and the more we grow in Christ the more we love it.  you see, the reason is because we used to think Christmas was all about us.  but now we find joy in making Christmas about modeling God's example of love by giving to others that way he gave Jesus to the world.  

i hope you'll join us in the true meaning of the season.  one thing we do that is way powerful is bake a cake and sing happy birthday to Jesus on Christmas.  feel free to adopt this tradition.  it's pretty much awesome.

now go eat a candy cane....

by the way

not long ago, i asked ya'll to lift up our friends eric and his wife jen in prayer and i think i can give you some update now.  jen was admitted into the hospital just a few days after delivering by c-section her and eric's son elijah.  she had been diagnosed with an infection in her blood stream and was given only a 40% chance of survival at the onset!  well, she has since returned home after a long stay in the hospital and some rough and painful moments.  she is safely home with her family now but has to go in for dialysis 3 times a week for at least the next 10 weeks and possibly for the rest of her life!  thank you so much for your prayers and please if you would, i ask you to pray that her kidneys would return to functioning at full capacity allowing her to get off of dialysis. 

also, i would like to ask you to please pray for sue mills.  she is our dear friend beths mother who has stage 4 lung cancer and is not doing well at all.  i hope she wouldn't have to suffer and that her family would feel the loving arms of our prayers holding them tightly and bringing them comfort in such a difficult time.  

thank you all so much.  love those in your life lots and love them constantly.  

of macs and men

sooo, my computer (the nothing ever goes wrong with a mac) has gone crazy on me and thinks that its memory is full.  i could park my tractor and trailer in the amount of space this silly machine made by mere man has available in it.  i am going today to get the marvel by man fixed...or so i hope anyway.  i wonder if one of the ways God relates to us is by having a creation that had all the potential to be amazing and flawless go stupid on Him?  i don't mean to compare Gods flawless ability to create with absolute perfection with a silly manmade computer...however, His creation was somewhat similar to my mac.  it was made with great care and precision.  it is built to be the latest and greatest.  when it came out of production, it was ready for anything.  there are certain things for both of their protection that they need to be conscious of.  for example, don't throw yourself from the top of a tree cause you might break yourself to the point of unrepair...same with my mac.  do not sleep under water, you'll croak...so will my mac.  beware of anything or anyone who would miss inform you as to how to properly operate according to your creators instructions: anti-virus protection!  i guess one of the differences between God and the creators of the mac book is that at least God can repair all of us whereas some mac books have no hope of repair.  go God! 

what is your profession

so as a guy, i really like those cleverly manly moments in stories or movies that make you wanna be on "that guys" team or even be "that guy".  i have posted a video from the movie 300 which shows one of those moments for me.  as a christian, i want whoever i lead to respond back when i turn to them and ask "besideus, what is your profession?!?" to hear in one roaring militant reply "Jesus!" i also want to be in the crowd of warriors roaring as the one i follow asks me that question.  enjoy. (by the way, i'm still learning this blog/video thing so just know the video i intended to show singly is the third one down from the top.)  now...enjoy...