What's "Wrong" with God?!

I'm re-reading Mark Batterson's book, Wild Goose Chase, and I'm finding I like it even better the second time around.

I came across a quote yesterday that really spoke to me. Mark Batterson is talking about how we take all the miraculous daily events for granted: the sun rising and setting, God keeping the planets in orbit, etc.

Keeping the planets in orbit is a perpetual miracle of unparalleled proportions. So why aren't we overwhelmed with awe over our annual orbit? Why don't we ceaselessly praise God for our spinning lobe? The reason is simple: we take constants for granted. And that is the problem with God, if I may say it that way. God is the ultimate constant. He is unconditionally loving. He is omnipotently powerful. And He is eternally faithful. God is so good at what God does that we tend to take Him for granted.

How true is that?!

I've been listening to an 8 disk teaching series by Graham Cooke entitled, "A Way in the Wilderness". He talks about the lessons God teaches us as we go through "wilderness experiences". Graham teaches to love the "valleys" even more than the mountain top experiences because it's in the times of God's hiddenness that we really learn the lessons of how God thinks. If we can live by faith in the wilderness, we can do anything.

Alan Redpath once said, "There is nothing, no circumstance, no trouble, no testing that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has come past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose."

A lot of people I know and love, myself included, are going through wilderness times right now. It's hard. It's unpleasant. It's especially draining when the battles last months or years.

But I have a feeling. A teeny, tiny feeling in the bottom of my heart that a lot of these long, long wilderness times are about to be over. I think we're almost at the end of the valley and starting the climb to the mountaintop.

I hope I've learned well the lessons intended for me.

Two New Book Reviews

This week I have two books to review, but none to give away. However, I've included links below for you to buy them.



Do you have trouble believing that God loves you? Of course, you know He loves everyone else, but do you really FEEL His love for YOU?! I think everyone has trouble accepting this truth in their hearts. That's why Eyes Wide Open by Jud Wilhite is a great book. In reading this book, you start to see yourself through God's eyes, not your own. Best of all, after showing you how God sees you, Wilhite shows you how to live out God's vision and purpose for your life, how to make a difference within your sphere of influence. Eyes Wide Open is a wonderful book for every believer who is too hard on himself or herself (most of us), for everyone who has trouble forgiving their own sins and getting out from under a guilty past, and who is unsure how to proceed to serve God's purposes.

Below is the summary from the publisher:

I had it all backwards. The main thing was not my love for God, but his love for me. And from that love I respond to God as one deeply flawed, yet loved. I’m not looking to prove my worth. I’m not searching for acceptance. I’m living out of the worth God already declares I have. I’m embracing his view of me and in the process discovering the person he created me to be.

In Eyes Wide Open, Jud Wilhite invites you to discover the real you. Not the you who pretends to be perfect to satisfy everyone’s expectations. Not the you who always feels guilty before God. Not the you who secretly feels God forgives everyone else but only tolerates you. Not the you who looks in the mirror and sees a failure. The real you, loved and forgiven by God, living out of your identity in Christ.

A travel guide through real spirituality from one incomplete person to another, Eyes Wide Open is a book of stories about following God in the messes of life, about broken pasts and our lifelong need for grace. It is a book about seeing ourselves and God with new eyes–eyes wide open to a God of love.

You can purchase the book here:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601420725


The Disappearance of God by R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is a studious look at God in modern day culture. Mohler attempts to answer why our morals have loosened as a whole, why the Christian movement has become more "accepting" and "tolerant", and whether those changes are a good thing (he concludes not). To be honest, I didn't care for this book much; I found it dry and sometime esoteric. Plus, I think believers need to accept and love non-believers, practicing more tolerance and less condemnation, if they want to reach people. I do, however, agree that the church falls short on sanctification once someone is a believer, preferring to focus solely on "feel good" messages that fill the pews and coffers rathar than messages that will grow baby believers into spiritually mature warriors. I think the modern church feeds too much spiritual milk and not enough meat (said the vegan, wryly). Maybe it's not the book; maybe it's my mood right now. Read the publisher's summary below and judge for yourself.

Summary:

More faulty information about God swirls around us today than ever before. No wonder so many followers of Christ are unsure of what they really believe in the face of the new spiritual openness attempting to alter unchanging truth.

For centuries the church has taught and guarded the core Christian beliefs that make up the essential foundations of the faith. But in our postmodern age, sloppy teaching and outright lies create rampant confusion, and many Christians are free-falling for “feel-good” theology.

We need to know the truth to save ourselves from errors that will derail our faith.

As biblical scholar, author, and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Albert Mohler, writes, “The entire structure of Christian truth is now under attack.” With wit and wisdom he tackles the most important aspects of these modern issues:

Is God changing His mind about sin?
Why is hell off limits for many pastors?
What’s good or bad about the “dangerous” emergent movement?
Have Christians stopped seeing God as God?
Is the social justice movement misguided?
Could the role of beauty be critical to our theology?
Is liberal faith any less destructive than atheism?
Are churches pandering to their members to survive?

In the age-old battle to preserve the foundations of faith, it's up to a new generation to confront and disarm the contemporary shams and fight for the truth. Dr. Mohler provides the scriptural answers to show you how.

You can purchase this book here:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601420817

Empty Hands

I just wanted to share with you a quote from a book I'll be reviewing in a few weeks:

" . . . I know you are carrying this loss as if it is yours alone to bear. But you were not meant to carry such a heavy burden. Give it back to God and keep giving it back until you have no more grief in your heart to hand over to Him. Then wait and see what gift He places in your empty hands." Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes! by Robin Jones Gunn

When I lost my beloved Persian, Sonja, a few weeks ago, I had such a moment. I was lamenting the loss of my cat which carried into the loss of all kinds of species from the Earth such as the polar bear (Unfortunately, I had a sad image in my mind from a movie). I was asking God to take away my feelings of pain and loss and remove the polar bear image from my mind. I felt God say to me, "How do you think I feel? They're MY creations! I love the polar bears and I love Sonja more than you can even imagine."

God cares. So what are you carrying in your hands that prevents you from accepting His gifts?!