Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 04-07-2008
Category : Daniel, God, faith, taking action
Tags: Christian, Christianity, Daniel, faith, God, obedience, podcasts, Ravi Zacharias, religion, RZIM
I have to admit, I didn’t expect to come back to the topic of obedience so quickly after prayer thursday. But sometimes God has a way of emphasizing a point.
Right after I finished writing that post I went to the gym and turned on my ipod to catch up on some Ravi Zacharias podcasts. Much to my surprise the topic on deck was Daniel’s life – specifically how he was able to stay obedient to God while virtually everyone around him was giving up God in favor of Babylonian ideals.
Ravi laid out three keys to Daniel’s success.
1. Resistence – Daniel knew where to draw the line. He recognized that there are some things we simply can’t do. Once we cross that line, it’s hard to get back.
2. Dependence – Daniel acknowledged that it was God who allowed him to act. He knew where knowledge, intellect, reason ended, and where faith and trust in God come into play. Because of this he was able to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and save not only his life, but other’s as well.
3. Confidence – Daniel believed that God is who he says, and does what he promises. And that God alone would be his judge.
When I think about obedience in my own life I realize how often I fail at all three of these steps. But what strikes me is how often I fail at the first one. I often push the limits. I want to see just how close I can get to something without sinning. Isn’t that setting myself up for failure? Isn’t that asking to be disobedient?
Maybe I need to take a lesson from Daniel, and make an effort to not cross that line in the first place. Then, maybe it won’t be so hard to obey.
Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 21-09-2007
Category : feeding my brain, podcasts
Tags: feeding my brain, podcasts
I spend a lot of time reading. Most of it is about God. I don’t do this out of obligation, or think of it as a requirement, but because I am so excited about knowing God that I look forward to learning as much as I can. Of course sometimes I don’t have time to read books. That’s why I love my iPod. Now, when I’m at the gym or on the road I can listen to my favorite podcasts. And of course many of these podcasts deal with God.
I believe it’s important to read and hear opinions from a wide variety of Christian thought. It’s very easy to get sucked into one line of thinking, and start to mold God into something you’re comfortable with. The danger is, this may or may not be the real God.
Certainly there are points of view that I find more agreeable. But to protect myself from becoming intellectually passive about God, I intentionally seek out the dissenting views. The better I understand how people see God, the better I understand how to relate my views of God to them. And hopefully the better I understand God myself.
Greg Boyd fits nicely into this purpose. While I don’t agree with everything he talks about, I certainly agree with his love for God and his passion for following Jesus. Interestingly Boyd doesn’t do “topic” based sermons, he picks a book of the Bible and week-after-week goes through it.
That makes his sermons feel a bit like a college course. But don’t jump to the wrong conclusion! They are entirely engaging and completely relevant to your life. I always “leave” one of his messages with a deeper understanding of Christianity, and hopefully a better understanding of who God is.
Greg has shaped my thinking on a wide number of topics, ranging from spiritual warfare to Israeli customs. He presents powerful, Biblically-based, arguments around a lot of pressing issues. He’s also the first Christian I have personally met that I considered a true “intellectual.” That alone has helped me realize that God wants us to engage both our minds, and our hearts as we seek him out.
