Day #38 in my journey to a Revolution.

Writing this blog has been hard for me. When I had the idea back in May, I just felt like I needed something to be challenged weekly in my relationship with God. I wrestled over doing it for almost 7 months. I wasn’t sure I could write things daily about my journey and there were some commitments I knew would be hard to apply. When I saw my friend Emily start her blog on reading the Bible daily, I was convicted that God had put this in my heart and I wasn’t acting on it. God wanted me to embark on this journey to a revolution to challenge me in my faith. To push me in areas of my walk with Him that I am afraid to go.

Some of the commitments have been easier to apply to my daily life. I can read my Bible, pray, go to church and serve in a church. But when it comes to stepping out of my comfort zone and talking to others about Jesus I get scared. Yeah, I can be bold on a blog or on facebook but when I am face to face with someone I shrink away.

The other day I was watching Grey’s Anatomy. There are a lot of things I disagree with morally about that show but I still catch it from time to time. Anyways, there was a young man(let’s call him Joe) brought in by his friend (let’s call him Dave) who was severely hurt. When they are about to treat Joe who is unconscious, it is made known that Joe has certain religious beliefs where he cannot receive any blood. Dave is shocked by this revelation and is talking to one of the nurses about it. Dave says that if this was really true in Joe’s life and Joe really believed it enough to die for what he believed would Joe keep it a secret.  Wouldn’t Joe have at least told his friends?

I was pretty convicted by that statement. Am I telling my friends or am I keeping it a secret?

I have mentioned before that I have been reading Nancy Pearcey’s book Total Truth. She talks about how in society we tend to put our lives in 2 stories. We put science and facts on the lower story and then we put religion and belief in the upper story. She quotes Phillip Johnson who says “Even conservative Christians have so privatized their faith that they do not regard it as a source of knowledge but as merely theological ‘reflection’ on topics given by secular academia.”  Nancy says this “If we aspire to engage the battle where it is really being fought, we must find ways to overcome the dichotomy between sacred and secular, public and private, fact and value – demonstrating to the world that a Christian worldview alone offers a whole and integral truth. It is true not about only a limited aspect of reality but about a total reality. It is total truth.”

So what is the choice? Keep living as we are living? Keep the truth to ourselves? Jesus says in John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Pretty bold words. Do we want a revolution? Its time to speak up.

Fear. Day #27 in studying the Bible and praying

As I read John 7 today, I feel bad for Jesus. His own brothers were ridiculing Him and now in 7:12 people  were whispering that He deceives people.  Then in verse thirteen it says “But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.”

I keep thinking about that verse “no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.” What power did the Jews have?  It says in one commentary that they could excommunicate that person from the synagogue. This was quite severe since that was where they worshipped. It was also a social consequence as well. To be excommunicated would mean you no longer had a community of people to support you.

What is my application from this?  Don’t be afraid to speak up. What is holding me back? Fear. Fear that I’ll be ostracized or ridiculed for what I believe. Fear that I don’t know enough or have the knowledge to back up what I believe. What am I going to do about that? As I aspire towards a revolution, I know I need to deepen my understanding of what I believe and what others believe.

I have been working my way through a book called “Total Truth” by Nancy Pearcey.  She does an excellent job at breaking down different worldviews and how they fall short of total truth. She talks about her own journey and says “I had learned my Bible but had no clue how to relate biblical doctrine to the realm of ideas and ideologies.” Maybe some of you can relate to that. I know I can. Nancy says “We all have a responsibility to learn how to give reasons supporting the credibility of the gospel message.”  That is my challenge for today.

My prayer is that the Lord would take away all fear. That I would be armed with “total truth” so I can speak up without fear.