A Dangerous Heart on the Move!

Jim Elliot, Wheaton college student turned missionary martyr in Ecuador, wrote in his journal:
We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century (OR 21st Century!) does not reckon with. But we are "harmless" and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in the battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brash, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are "sideliners" - coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!
My prayer for my heart today: God, give me a dangerous heart attached to feet in "sandles of peace" as I move through this day!

"Shovel Ready" Heart Work

"The hardest work you will ever do is heart work. Don't attempt it apart from the grace of God." --Scotty Smith
I put down MY shovel today and asked God to get His "shovel" ready to work on my heart! This should be a great but painful day!

What the World Needs Now!

Men despise religion; they hate it and they fear it is true. (Blaise Pascal, French Christian who was also a physicist, 1670)

As far as it goes this is an interesting and thoughtful observation by Pascal. The kink is that religion is despicible! What matters is Jesus! It's a real relationship with Him that the world needs and that my heart needs! It is the Gospel of grace that reaches my heart and the hearts of the watching world because He is the Way, the Truth and the Life!

Dicotomy NOT! Fusion YES!

We arrive at truth, not by reason only, but also by the heart.
--Blaise Pascal, French Physicist and follower of Jesus Christ, 1670

It is still the truth! God made us with heads and hearts for a significant reason! It is NOT a dicotomy but rather fusion!

The Gospel at Work!

"No pain, no gain?" Nah, "No pain? Then you're probably disconnected from relationships and your own heart. Love hurts!" --Scotty Smith

"The Gospel, in short, must be used to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
--Tim Keller

Gospel Heart-Deep Hurt - A Good Thing?!!!

God's grace is not a desensitizing anesthetic. As the Gospel penetrates our hearts, we will hurt deeply but redemptively!
-- Scotty Smith

Is this what the world calls "masochistic" thinking? Maybe but the truth is NO WAY! NO HOW! Knowing God's grace, experiencing God's grace deeply into the crevices of my heart is a good kind of heart hurt. As the Gospel changes me, it also compels me to live out the Gospel to the watching world one life at a time and sometimes that brings unimaginable hurt. The key is that hurt is redemptive both for me and for the person I love with "Gospel love"! Only eternity will reveal all of what that means so - for now - it may prove painful to the max! BUT it's worth it to have the Gospel penetrate my heart!

Jesus in Skin in the Neighborhood

"From ancient times the God of the Bible stood out from the gods of all other religions as a God on the side of the powerless." --Tim Keller
Our mission (if we receive God's amazing grace and walk in His truth) is to hang out with the powerless like Jesus did - the lame, the blind, the outcast, the deaf and many others who were broken physically and spiritually! Our mission straight from our Father's heart is to show them Jesus in skin in their neighborhood!