Tag: Book

Posted on

Chasing Daylight Ch. 2 Thoughts (Part 1)

Photobucket

My thoughts from Chasing Daylight Chapter 2 (Part 1): Main Theme: Initiative “Doing Something”

  • We have put so much emphasis on avoiding evil that we have become virtually blind to the endless opportunities for doing good. (Blogged further thoughts HERE)
  • You cannot follow God in neutral.
  • Every moment is priceless, unique, and unrepeatable.
  • If there is one secret to seizing your divine moments, it is that you must take initiative.
  • The greatest danger that success brings, aside from arrogance, is the fear of losing what has been gained. The courage and willingness to risk that breed success are endangered after success is obtained.
  • If men and women who gave their lives for a purpose counter to the will of God could not stop God’s purpose in history, how could someone who longs to do God’s will and chooses to do something in line with God’s character?
  • What God can do through a person who’s willing to act is limitless!
  • When we fail to choose, we choose to fail.
  • You cannot put your life on hold. It moves forward with or without your approval.
  • Choosing not to choose does not put off the problem; it only exacerbates it.
Posted on

Chasing Daylight Ch. 1 Thoughts (Part 2)

Photobucket

Thoughts from Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus Chapter 1 Part 2…

  • The divine potential of a moment is unlocked by the choices we make. Each moment’s personal, historic, and eternal value is directly related to the choices we must make within it.

  • (Erwin writes about the Biblical account of the choices that God gave Adam & Eve. They chose to go the way of death) While Adam was hiding, God set out in search for Him. This is a great point of hope. Even when we are lost in the jungle, God in His great mercy pursues us and invites us once again to join His divine adventure.

  • No matter what kind of life you’ve lived, no matter how many wrong choices you’ve made, the next moment is waiting to give birth to new life. (Erwin writes about Rahab and uses her good choice to help God’s people as an example. She created a whole new future with one choice. Rahab is in the direct blood line of King David and Joseph the earthly father of Jesus.)

  • (Erwin uses Caleb and Joshua as an example. He writes that Joshua and Caleb through their faith was ready to take the land that God promised them when they spied on it, but because of the lack of faith of 10 other men, they were left to wonder in the desert for 45 years. When that generation died off, Joshua and Caleb were obedient and took the land.) There are things that God does for you and things that God waits for you to do.

Posted on

Chasing Daylight Ch. 1 Thoughts (Part 1)

Photobucket

I started Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus last night. I’ve made a commitment to take notes and highlight stuff that sticks out to me, and by blogging those thoughts it kind of forces me to keep up with the book. I tend to jump from book to book.

I don’t know what good stuff lies ahead in chapter 1, so we’ll see if there is a part 2 (check back!)…

  • Chapter 1 so far deals with choices and what we do with the moments that we are given.

  • There are things that must be done today, things that you and you alone were created to accomplish. Some of us are wasting our time burning daylight when what we need to be doing is seizing the power of every moment.
    [This is how I feel in my current ministry/career “moment”]

  • Somehow we all know that to play it safe is to lose the game. By definition an adventure is “an undertaking or enterprise of a hazardous nature.” In other words, it comes at great risk and at significant cost!

  • Moments are as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands in the sea, and any of them could prove to be your most significant divine moments. Within those moments, a handful will become the defining moments in your life. However mundane a moment may appear, the miraculous may wait to be unwrapped within it.

  • When you seize divine moments, you instigate an atomic reaction. You become a human catalyst a divine impact. The result can be earthshaking! [Oh, how I want to be a human catalyst…a divine impact!] Continue reading “Chasing Daylight Ch. 1 Thoughts (Part 1)”
Posted on

Final Thoughts on Messy Spirituality

I finished reading Messy Spirituality today. It was probably the fastest book I’ve finished besides “The Barbarian Way” by Erwin McManus. I could have finished it a couple of days ago, but I have been delayed from reading it over the past few days due to my schedule.

Here are my final thoughts from chapters 3-8. I have selected random quotes that stood out to me during my read. There were more than this, but I only have room for a select amount:

* “Christianity shows itself most powerfully in the unnoticed life, the inconspicuous servant, the unrecognized saint, the invisible disciple.”

* “The body of Christ can be mean.”

* “It’s ironic: we stumble into a party that we weren’t invited to and find the uninvited standing at the door making sure no other uninviteds get in. Then a strange phenomenon occurs: as soon as we are included in the party because of Jesus’ irresponsible love, we decide to make grace “more responsible” by becoming self-appointed Kingdom monitors…”

* “Religious people love to hide behind religion. They love the rules of religion more than they love Jesus. With practice, Condemners let rules become more important than the spiritual life.”

* “Rejection. The paralyzing experience of disapproval, repudiation, exclusion, ostracism. Religion has been good at rejection. Rejection keeps us at arm’s length and stamps us with the label “loser.” Which should be good news for you and me because, guess what? Jesus is attracted to losers. Jesus’ losers are great candidates for spirituality.

Continue reading “Final Thoughts on Messy Spirituality”

Posted on

Messy Spirituality Thoughts on Chapter 2

Here are some quotes from Chapter 2 of Messy Spirituality that stuck out to me or spoke to me:

* Sermons are not always amazing masterpieces of truth, wit, an insight. Sometimes the sermon just doesn’t work, doesn’t connect.

* Pretending is the modern grease for non-relationships…People who pretend have pretend relationships.

*Jesus understood un-finishedness very well, which is why he was comfortable leaving eleven unfinished disciples. When he died, the disciples were confused, depressed, afraid, and doubtful.

* Jesus cares more about desire than about competence.

* Christianity is not for people who think that religion is a pleasant distraction, a nice alternative, or a positive influence. Messy spirituality is a good term for where desperation meets Jesus.

* It’s amazing how few of us believe in the unqualified grace of God. Oh, yes, God loves us, as long as we’re clean and whole and fixed. But it turns out that what disqualifies you and me from “spirituality” – the mess of our lives and our crippledness – is what most qualifies us to be chosen by Jesus.