Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Practical Atheist - week 2

"The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." -Isaiah 29:13

Practical Atheist: Someone who believes in God, but lives as if He doesn't exist. This was our second week at Ignitechurch.tv. The sermons are very challenging and thought provoking. The first week we were there, the pastor talked about fearing God and when you truly fear God, you'll serve Him wholeheartedly. Your life forever changes. This week's title was "I believe in God, but I don't want to go overboard." Hmmm.... how true is that?! I love God and I try to live my life in a way that honors Him, but I do like to blend in....not blending in by compromising my standards and values with the rest of the world, more like blending in like a fly on the wall. I hate being the center of attention. It makes me feel really awkward, even if it's just a conversation with a few people. I wish it wasn't that way, but I continue to struggle with it. I think that's exactly where Satan likes to hold me. Yes, I can impact others by the way I live my life, but there's so more to it than that. That doesn't mean I need to go into public speaking, but I do need to make more of an effort to build relationships with those around me. It's been an adjustment living in Miami. I am completely away from everyone I'm close to except for Chad. In other words, out of my comfort zone. That combined with the fact that I know we're not going to live in Miami permanently, has been my excuse. I haven't tried very hard to build relationships with people here. That needs to change. I need to stop holding back and let God work though me to impact those around me. Sunday's sermon was about being a lukewarm Christian. That's not where I want to be. I want my life to make a difference, but lets be honest...how big of a difference am I really making? I don't want to just sit back. I feel like I've been slacking spiritually and I need to step it up if I'm going to be effective. I'm praying God will help me be more focused on the eternal. I'm also praying that He will open my eyes to the everyday ways I can serve others and build relationships with them so that He can have impact their lives through me.

2 comments:

mgoff said...

Is this the series from life church? Funny we were apart of this at life and then our crossings sunday school class did the series also! Makes you think a lot!

Amanda Isaacs said...

Same topic, but the message is a little different. You and Chris should come with us sometime when you're in Joplin visiting family. It's a new church that started in October. We really like it!