Friday, December 29, 2006

In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day

Kind of a crazy title I know, but it is a new book that I just started reading tonight by Mark Batterson. He is the Lead Pastor of National Community Church (www.theaterchurch.com), it is an incredible church in Washington D.C.

The basis of the book and title are taken from 2 Samuel 23:20-21. A kind of obscure couple of verses in scripture, but with a lot of relevance to our lives today...what are we going to do when lions cross our paths. Obviously he is not talking about real lions, he is talking about opportunities and dreams that we have...when we see them are we going to run "like scaredy-cats" or are we going to be Lions Chasers?

I know in my life, I have the inward desire to be a lion chaser, I want to do some big things for God, but when it comes down to it I get cold feet and shy away. I guess that is why something in particular jumped out at me in the second chapter of the book as I was reading...he says this on page 28 about a quote from A.W. Tozer: "A low view of God and a high view of God are the difference between a scaredy-cat and lion chasers. Scaredy-cats are filled with fear because their God is so small. Lion chasers know that their best thought about God on their best day falls infinitely short of how great God really is."

My heart dropped when I read this paragraph. Do I have a low view of God? Do I not have a very high expectency for what God can do? These kind of questions keep darting through my mind...

I guess it really boils down to this...(and he mentions this in the book) Their are numerous places throughout scripture where God takes a situation that looks hopeless and rescues people from the situation.

I guess we have to be willing to put ourself in places where the only sure way of success is if God shows up! Kind of like Judges 6 when God reduces Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300...crazy huh? But God wanted to make sure that the Israelites could claim one ounce of responsibility...it was ALL GOD!

You will probably hear more from this book in the future...it is incredible!!

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