DG Conference Wrap-Up. Or something…

I was going to finish up the conference using the same format as I did for the other speakers.  But the last two speakers were Francis Chan and John Piper.

I haven’t felt like sitting down and rehashing my notes on those two.  I got some great notes, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t want to understate the significance of these two men in my walk with Jesus. They’re like my conniving sweet friends from college who knew I was in a life-sucking and slightly demeaning good relationship, yet insisted I let this Tim Tousey fellow take me on one little date.

Francis Chan gave my spiritual life an early morning wake-up call a year ago. He did it with one sentence, “Do not assume you are good soil.”

What? Not good soil?  But I go to church, Francis. We tithe, Francis. We volunteer in the nursery and with the youth.  And for Pete’s sake, I worked for a pro-life ministry for peanuts, FRANCIS! Do you know who you’re talking to?  They asked me to speak at the women’s ministry thingy! ME! Not good soil? Phhhhtttt!

As if it would be possible to be living such an outwardly spiritual-looking life and not be good soil.

I mean, that’s nuts, right? Right?

“I think most American churchgoers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Thorns are anything that distract us from God. When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil. A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it… Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live? Do you see evidence of God’s kingdom in your life?Or are you choking it out slowly by spending too much time, energy, money and thought on the things of this world?” (Crazy Love, p. 67)

Oh.

And then the man launches into the characteristics of lukewarm people.  (Now would be a good time to stop reading. Just sayin’.)

“Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church …as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is easy or safe to give, they do so. After all, God loves a cheerful giver, right?” (CL, p.69)

But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.” 1 Chronicles 21:24

“Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they only want to be saved from the penalty of their sin…” (CL p.70)

There are pages more. And I may not know much, but I do know that the verse in the bible that talks about lukewarm people is probably one of the scariest verses I have ever read.

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,’ not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:15-17

I don’t want to be lukewarm, and I don’t want to be thorny soil.

So I heard Francis Chan out, and I love Jesus more today because of him.

If you have made it this long without reading Crazy Love, I insist you drop whatever it is you’re doing and read it now. I’m serious. This book goes in the category of life-changing. No book is a replacement for the Holy Spirit or for God’s Word, but some books are life-changing in that they hold up a mirror to our lives and beckon us to make some changes.

As for Francis’s talk at the conference, he spoke on “Think Hard, Stay Humble: The Life of the Mind and the Peril of Pride,” and his message came from 1 Corinthians 8:1-13.

Some highlights:

• When we wound our brothers, we sin against Christ.
• Do I have a great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for the lost? (Romans 9:1-3)
• How hard do I think about people? The lost?
• Do I learn so I can love? (1 John 4:12)
• Love builds up. How can I build up the people around me? (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

I implore you to watch Francis’s video from the conference. He is so passionate about Jesus, and the work God has called him and his family to on this earth, and you just can’t get that from my words.

Here’s the full link, so none of you misses it!
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/think-hard-stay-humble-the-life-of-the-mind-and-the-peril-of-pride

And, as if sitting in a room under the teaching of Francis Chan was not enough for my little heart, I got this later that night:

“Tim & Jenn, love Him!”

We do, Francis, and more now because of you. Thanks.

 

I’ll do the Piper post later.  And y’all don’t want none of that!

 

 

Advertisement

---