Dream: Have You Caught God's Vision?
Yo, yo, and hello from the Great Chicken Fried Nation (that is the opening line of one of my favorite local radio sports talk show hosts). I hope and pray all of had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The following is the first of (hopefully) many book reviews of what I have read this year. I have been reading the above (in the Title line) mentioned book since the middle of 2007 or so and just finished reading it today. This book is authored by Kenny Luck. He is one of the ministers at Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forrest, CA. The theme of the book is that God has a dream for what we can become and living through Him to fulfill that dream. The book has fifteen (15) chapters. In each chapter Luck lists a few of the dreams God has for us to fulfill through Him. In chapter one (When God gives glasses) the we are told that we are programed to dream big dreams of what life could be and should be. God programed us to dream big. Some times we think we think we have to go to some remote place to be a missionary or something to achieve God's dream for us, but that may not be necessarily true. We can be certain that God's dream will mean we have to endure through trials and tribulations in this life. He is a lot more concerned that we grow to be like His Son Jesus and preparing us to live with Him in heaven then with earthly comforts. To close out the first chapter Luck leaves us with this acronym for DREAM: Decide to let God decide for you, Reside in the glory of your reality, Exchange your vision for God's, Accept God's process, and Move your borders in continual growth.
Chapter two is Leaking Jesus. One of the dream facts here is that "what's inside will eventually come out". Whatever we feed ourselves spiritually will show through someday. "Our human weaknesses provide occasions for the triumph of divine power" is the second dream fact here. What Paul says in 2nd Corinthians is certainly true that "when we are weak than through Christ we are strong" (my paraphrase).Christ has given us a new purpose in life. We aren't supposed to to try to please ourselves or other people. Our new focus is to make God proud of us.
Chapter three is "No Neon". "To be humble and dedicated day in and day out is the stuff of God's men". God wants us to be true to our commitments in life. When Kenny is writing about this he talks about some people he met on a church mission trip to Mexico. They worked with a group that was going through some tough times in persecution. But these church workers there were sticking it out and making a huge impact for God there. Jesus certainly didn't need to have neon. In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul talks about the attitude that Jesus had during His time on earth and that we need to have the same. In the Gospel accounts Jesus had no problems being calm and cool at all times. Even when He was arguing with the Pharisees, He controlled Himself and His anger. We must always be on our faces in order to see His face. We must always have a humble mindset and talk with our Big Brother Jesus and our Father God.
The forth chapter is "Not So With You" talking more about being humble before God and taking His road to achieving greatness. "True authority serves" is the first dream fact here. True leaders in the church don't have any "authority". They are supposed to be servants who are helping the poor, the weak, and those who can't help them selves.
Chapter 5 is "Taking A Hit". It's about sacrificing insignificant things to do something for God. One of the dream facts here is "donation without sacrifice is not significant". There is a saying that goes something to the effect of "nothing sacrificed and nothing gained". You have to give something in order to gain something. Next dream fact: "If we are willing to sacrifice now for God, we will experience the joy of our reward later". The next dream fact is: "the ultimate example lives in you". Of course that means Jesus. He alone can give us what we need to achieve His dreams for us.
The sixth chapter is "Fully Qualified". This talks about sacrificing will make us qualified to being more like Christ. One dream fact here is "suffering shows our true character". Luck shares the story of Senator John McCain and how he suffered during his tenure in war and how that qualified him to be who he is and where he his today. He suffered greatly and showed his character worth more than gold.
Indeed "comfort and Christlikeness don't blend".
The next chapter (seven) talks about "My Father's Will". This talks about using our time wisely and to our Father's will. The one who does the Father's will is Jesus' brother.
Chapter eight (8) is "Locking Eyes" meaning to know our Father so well that we can know what He's thinking wright when we look at each other. No one knows us better than our Father does. Indeed Father knows what's best for us. Our Father takes joy in a one-on-one audience with His son.
The nineth chapter is "Aspirin with Skin" talking about how Jesus helps all the time especially when we're hurting. "Compassion should always lead to urgency". That means that compassion should lead us to passion which leads to action. Indeed the "inability to be tender is fear". No compassion and no tenderness means we are tense instead. "Apathy is the glove into which evil slips it's hand" (qoute from Bodie Thoene in Munich Signature).
In chapter ten we learn how to "See Past" talking about seeing past the external and seeing what God sees. We must see that "God's man is simply not interested in surface image" stuff. What we see is only the tip of the ice burg and we must seek to learn what is underneath. We also need to learn that "God gives you insight when your motives are pure". There is a Bible passage in James that says something like, "You don't have because you don't ask God and you don't have because you ask with wrong motives".
The next chapter (eleven) is the "Velvet Touch". Here we see that "God's dream for us is dangerously attractive, inviting, controversial". Just like the velvet, it's smooth and inviting, but unlike it, Jesus challenges us to be different from the world and that brings opposition. Also, "if critics accused Jesus of consorting with sinners, they'll be just as offended by us". Jesus often ate and befriended those who most in that society never would have dreamed of doing so with. And that made those people question Him a lot of times. I'm not very good at being like Jesus in that area. "Jesus Christ embraced the unacceptable" often.
Chapter twelve says Jesus was "Bullish on Reality". "Christlikeness is measured by how much reality we accept". Reality is how things really are, and the sooner we accept the things like they are the more like Christ we become. Also, "God's man channels his aggressive personality". This is a big one for me. I'm a huge sports fan and cheer on my favorite teams with an intense passion. Sometimes too much. We must learn that "denial is our greatest enemy, and acceptance of truth is our greatest ally". The sooner we find and accept the truth the better off we'll be.
"Soldier of Heaven" is the thirteenth chapter. "Jesus is the embodiment of the ultimate evil fighter". We must be willing and able to fight our own spiritual battles and on behalf of others too.
The next to last chapter is "No Thanks" talking about how we are to say no to earthly passions and live for our true home in heaven. "Jesus chose to save His competitive juices for where they really counted". Jesus said no to every earthly passion in order to teach how to so we'll be ready to live with Him in heaven. And the last dream fact here is "This is the greatest wisdom- to seek to the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world".
The last chapter is "The time has come". This means that this is where the rubber meats the road and get done to business. In deed "God's man is driven by an exceptional destiny". We must learn the discipline pursue God's dream for us. We must press on to the goal, as Paul says in Philippians, to which God called us heaven word in Christ (3:14).
I give this fine book my full endorsement. Very good! Since this post was so incredibly long, I'll try to blog about each chapter one at a time. That seems to work better.
God bless each of you today and everyday.
Chapter two is Leaking Jesus. One of the dream facts here is that "what's inside will eventually come out". Whatever we feed ourselves spiritually will show through someday. "Our human weaknesses provide occasions for the triumph of divine power" is the second dream fact here. What Paul says in 2nd Corinthians is certainly true that "when we are weak than through Christ we are strong" (my paraphrase).Christ has given us a new purpose in life. We aren't supposed to to try to please ourselves or other people. Our new focus is to make God proud of us.
Chapter three is "No Neon". "To be humble and dedicated day in and day out is the stuff of God's men". God wants us to be true to our commitments in life. When Kenny is writing about this he talks about some people he met on a church mission trip to Mexico. They worked with a group that was going through some tough times in persecution. But these church workers there were sticking it out and making a huge impact for God there. Jesus certainly didn't need to have neon. In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul talks about the attitude that Jesus had during His time on earth and that we need to have the same. In the Gospel accounts Jesus had no problems being calm and cool at all times. Even when He was arguing with the Pharisees, He controlled Himself and His anger. We must always be on our faces in order to see His face. We must always have a humble mindset and talk with our Big Brother Jesus and our Father God.
The forth chapter is "Not So With You" talking more about being humble before God and taking His road to achieving greatness. "True authority serves" is the first dream fact here. True leaders in the church don't have any "authority". They are supposed to be servants who are helping the poor, the weak, and those who can't help them selves.
Chapter 5 is "Taking A Hit". It's about sacrificing insignificant things to do something for God. One of the dream facts here is "donation without sacrifice is not significant". There is a saying that goes something to the effect of "nothing sacrificed and nothing gained". You have to give something in order to gain something. Next dream fact: "If we are willing to sacrifice now for God, we will experience the joy of our reward later". The next dream fact is: "the ultimate example lives in you". Of course that means Jesus. He alone can give us what we need to achieve His dreams for us.
The sixth chapter is "Fully Qualified". This talks about sacrificing will make us qualified to being more like Christ. One dream fact here is "suffering shows our true character". Luck shares the story of Senator John McCain and how he suffered during his tenure in war and how that qualified him to be who he is and where he his today. He suffered greatly and showed his character worth more than gold.
Indeed "comfort and Christlikeness don't blend".
The next chapter (seven) talks about "My Father's Will". This talks about using our time wisely and to our Father's will. The one who does the Father's will is Jesus' brother.
Chapter eight (8) is "Locking Eyes" meaning to know our Father so well that we can know what He's thinking wright when we look at each other. No one knows us better than our Father does. Indeed Father knows what's best for us. Our Father takes joy in a one-on-one audience with His son.
The nineth chapter is "Aspirin with Skin" talking about how Jesus helps all the time especially when we're hurting. "Compassion should always lead to urgency". That means that compassion should lead us to passion which leads to action. Indeed the "inability to be tender is fear". No compassion and no tenderness means we are tense instead. "Apathy is the glove into which evil slips it's hand" (qoute from Bodie Thoene in Munich Signature).
In chapter ten we learn how to "See Past" talking about seeing past the external and seeing what God sees. We must see that "God's man is simply not interested in surface image" stuff. What we see is only the tip of the ice burg and we must seek to learn what is underneath. We also need to learn that "God gives you insight when your motives are pure". There is a Bible passage in James that says something like, "You don't have because you don't ask God and you don't have because you ask with wrong motives".
The next chapter (eleven) is the "Velvet Touch". Here we see that "God's dream for us is dangerously attractive, inviting, controversial". Just like the velvet, it's smooth and inviting, but unlike it, Jesus challenges us to be different from the world and that brings opposition. Also, "if critics accused Jesus of consorting with sinners, they'll be just as offended by us". Jesus often ate and befriended those who most in that society never would have dreamed of doing so with. And that made those people question Him a lot of times. I'm not very good at being like Jesus in that area. "Jesus Christ embraced the unacceptable" often.
Chapter twelve says Jesus was "Bullish on Reality". "Christlikeness is measured by how much reality we accept". Reality is how things really are, and the sooner we accept the things like they are the more like Christ we become. Also, "God's man channels his aggressive personality". This is a big one for me. I'm a huge sports fan and cheer on my favorite teams with an intense passion. Sometimes too much. We must learn that "denial is our greatest enemy, and acceptance of truth is our greatest ally". The sooner we find and accept the truth the better off we'll be.
"Soldier of Heaven" is the thirteenth chapter. "Jesus is the embodiment of the ultimate evil fighter". We must be willing and able to fight our own spiritual battles and on behalf of others too.
The next to last chapter is "No Thanks" talking about how we are to say no to earthly passions and live for our true home in heaven. "Jesus chose to save His competitive juices for where they really counted". Jesus said no to every earthly passion in order to teach how to so we'll be ready to live with Him in heaven. And the last dream fact here is "This is the greatest wisdom- to seek to the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world".
The last chapter is "The time has come". This means that this is where the rubber meats the road and get done to business. In deed "God's man is driven by an exceptional destiny". We must learn the discipline pursue God's dream for us. We must press on to the goal, as Paul says in Philippians, to which God called us heaven word in Christ (3:14).
I give this fine book my full endorsement. Very good! Since this post was so incredibly long, I'll try to blog about each chapter one at a time. That seems to work better.
God bless each of you today and everyday.
posted by Zack | 12:33 PM
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