V

GENUINE MOTIV TION

Oct. 2 0 1 0 YOUNG CHRISTIAN MAN

JESUS VS. VLAD THE IMPALER:

WHICH WOULD YOU WANT FOR KING?

Are You MIA

in the Family of God?

10
STUPID THINGS CHRISTIANS DO
TO MESS UP THIER LIVES

OJ: Better than Red Bull for

Long Drives?
YOUNG
CHRISTIAN
MAN
04 Feature Article: A King Like No Other
ROB BEAMES

06 On The Couch: The Pathway To Forgiveness

RANDY KOSLOSKI

08 Can You Relate: An Empty Place

THOM MOLLOHAN

10 Cornered By Grace: Conditional Power

ROB BEAMES

12 Press On: Focal Point

WILL DOLE

14 The Recap: 10 Stupid Things Christians Do...

ERIC GUZMAN

16 The Toolbox: Better Than An Energy Drink

DONNA LEE SCHILLINGER
A PUBLICATION OF ON MY OWN NOW MINISTRIES WWW.ONMYOWNNOW.COM
VISIT OUR ARCHIVES TO VIEW PAST ISSUES OF GENUINE MOTIVATION

OCTOBER 2010
EDITOR IN CHIEF / ROB BEAMES
ART + CREATIVE DIRECTOR / MICHAEL MURO
 t
A
KING
LIKE NO OTHER
by ROB BEAMES
M ankind has hungered for power and control since the
beginning of time. Many societies have suffered at the
hands of greedy monarchs throughout man’s history. Most of us
know something about the evil regimes of such dictators like Adolf
Hitler, Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein, whose hideously cruel
tortures and thoughtless killings kept their kingdoms under control.
We might know of other famous kings like King Henry VIII, who
frightened his subjects into submission with impetuous and insane
antics. There are throngs of lesser known rulers throughout history
whose lasting legacy consists of unbelievable brutality utilized to
regulate their kingdoms.
For example, Vlad Tepes, Prince of Wallachia (1431 – 1476),
was overthrown on three separate occasions, and given the
inhuman treatment of his people, it’s no wonder. His bloody
methods of torture and murder may have been the inspiration
behind Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. Vlad the Impaler, as
he was known, was legendary for atrocities which included almost
every imaginable evil one could impart on another human being,
including his preferred method of execution which earned him
his nickname. Impaling exacted torture for hours, or even days
before the victim’s death, and was intended to strike fear into the
populace, much like crucifixion did in the Roman Empire during
the time of Christ. Reportedly, Tepes imposed these barbarous
methods of death on anyone who broke his laws, especially for the
crimes of lying, stealing and adultery. It is said that both men and
women, regardless of age, religion or social class were subject to
these gruesome punishments with absolutely no exceptions.
GM : 04
As Christians, we often talk about God as our King, and rightfully
so. He reigns over the inhabitants of His kingdom by residing within
their hearts. He governs very differently than any other ruler. “There
is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to
do with punishment...” (1 John 4:18). Our King is the personification
of perfect love. One day, our God will rule, not only spiritually in
our hearts, but physically over us in space and time. When that
happens, His enemies will be totally and completely destroyed,
which is an accomplishment no previous king can claim. Not one
individual will remain in His realm with the hope of usurping His
power, and no person in the expanse of His Kingdom will ever
want anything other than for Him to occupy His rightful place on
the throne. It’s the grand, old story which has been repeatedly,
though incompletely, told in books and movies, and it’s the hope of
all His faithful from every generation.
Ever wonder what it will be like when Christ physically returns? If
we were to imagine, we might envision a vast plain as far as the
eye can see in every direction, filled with a countless multitude
attentively standing in eager anticipation. This nation, unlike any
other seen before, is a massive gathering of all the righteous men
and women who have ever lived from every race and position—
all are equal here. They stand as perfect, physical specimens of
health, strength and maturity. They do not appear to need the
protection, provision or the direction of a king. They lack nothing,
and yet stand in unison with an expectant gaze fixed toward a
magnificent chair lifted high across a vast crystal sea awaiting the
official enthronement of their King
for all time. From the throne lightening streaks across the sky.
Thunder continuously rumbles from this grand chair. Before the
throne seven brilliant lamps are blazing.
Then, the long-anticipated One approaches the throne and is
seated. With no further cue—the masses drop to a knee at precisely
the same time. The singular sound of every knee simultaneously
hitting the ground is deafening: like a sudden clap of thunder. The
earth shakes from the force. Immediately, a unified chant erupts
and continues with the volume of crashing waves against a rocky
shore, “Praise Yahweh! Glory, honor and power belong to our Lord
and God! We are His, and He is ours!”
The actual event is more accurately described the last book of
the Bible, and will undoubtedly be much more fantastic than the
musings above, but there will be a notable difference between
Christ’s coronation and that of Vlad the Impaler. There will be no
presence of fear; only awe and respect. Every enemy who might
have cringed at this ultimate show of power will have been exiled
far away, never to be seen again. Every knee that drops—and all
of them will—bowed willingly, anxiously and out of a love which will
never be duplicated. Every tongue which confesses allegiance to
this King will do so with great desire and an eagerness to express
what it feels in the heart.
“HE REIGNS OVER THE INHABITANTS
OF HIS KINGDOM BY RESIDING
WITHIN THEIR HEARTS.”
The New American Standard Bible expresses God’s invitation to
His people in this way, “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of
the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by
Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue
will swear allegiance” (Isaiah 45:22-23).
Those aren’t the words of a tyrant seeking to dominate the masses,
but rather the words of the only One with the power to save, inviting
anyone who wants to share in His kindness. His people will pledge
their allegiance out of love, gratitude and a sincere affection for
their King. Although some kings obtained involuntary, short-lived
submission with the threat of cruel death—not so with this King.
When the “ends of the earth” bow to Him, it will be for an eternity,
and out of a deeply devoted loyalty to Him. His subjects will truly
love and adore Him, as opposed to the subjects of other kings who
only verbalized that sediment out of fear.
This genuine relationship God has with His own may help answer a
question we may have all asked ourselves at one time or another,
“If God does exist, why doesn’t He simply come down and prove
it to everyone?” Well, His ways are not our ways. We have come
to expect this type of intimidation from sinful rulers—a sort of “If
you’ve got it, flaunt it” mentality. God certainly “has it,” but He has
no need to “flaunt it.” If He were to do this, every soul would indeed
submit to Him, but for many, their homage would be
forced out of pure fear. It would not flow sincerely from the hearts
of the vast majority, and sadly, there would be no chance left for
them to do so.
“JESUS ATONED FOR OUR CRIMES
AGAINST GOD, SO WE COULD HAVE
A LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.”
But does He really deal with us in kindness today? Sometimes it’s
difficult to feel His love, and it doesn’t always seem like we escape
His punishment either. The answer in one word is: propitiation.
This is a word theologians define as God’s just wrath which was
intended for us—once His enemies—but was satisfied by Christ’s
death on the cross. Basically, it means God doesn’t need to punish
us, because He punished Jesus in our place. Jesus atoned for our
crimes against God, so we could have a loving relationship with
Him. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and
sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
This completed atonement, or propitiation, allows our King to deal
with us in kindness, rather than with threats of punishment.
This was God’s plan from the very beginning. Although in the Old
Testament, God can sometimes appear to be no different than
any other power-wielding sovereign, He was then continuously
pointing His people forward to the coming Messiah who would seal
His covenant of grace. Through the prophet Isaiah, God speaks
about this aspect of propitiation which Christ accomplished for us,
“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for
our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon
Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
When Israel begged Samuel for a king, they asked for the most
impressive physical representative among them, and crowned
Saul as their first king. After Saul’s unfaithfulness, God lead
Samuel to crown the unimpressive looking David, saying, “Man
looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”
(1 Samuel 16:7). Throughout the Bible, we discover that this is His
primary concern: the attitude of our hearts.
Anyone in power can take the easy pathway to submission by
a show of brute force, but the response won’t be genuine, and
it won’t be lasting. No, He desires heartfelt devotion, which can
only be earned. He purchased our adoration at a great price. As
the only true God, He already deserved this kind of devotion from
us, but He paid a king’s ransom to get it anyway. Wow! Who else
loves us like that?
This means that we can trust that God doesn’t use the fear of
punishment to motivate us now. This gives us the peace to accept
the decisions we have made in the past, and in some cases this
means forgiving ourselves. It can also give us the courage to step
out of our comfort zones in the future. We can hold fast to the fact
that our King deals with us in love like no one else can. That’s a
story which is not found in the annals of our earthly kingdoms.
That’s the story of a King like no other.
GM : 05
on
the
couch
THE PATHWAY TO FORGIVENESS
by Randy Kosloski
Kevin’s father was a paranoid schizophrenic. He was
violent and unpredictable. Once after being charged
for contempt of court, it took six police officers to
subdue him. When I met Kevin, his father had just been
arrested.
I don’t know a lot about paranoid schizophrenia.
However, I do know that people with this unfortunate
illness are typically dramatic, self-absorbed and often
emotionally harmful to those close to them. To the
casual observer they may appear humorous. Apparently,
Kevin’s dad would frequent his neighbors’ garages in
the middle of the night and work on their cars without
invitation. To make matters worse, his father had
absolutely no knowledge of cars! Can you imagine
waking up to find your neighbor “fixing” your car
without your approval, without any expertise, when your
car doesn’t even have a problem? That was one of few
humorous highlights to Kevin’s otherwise difficult story.
When I first spoke with Kevin, he wanted a way to
officially separate from his emotionally toxic father.
However, I believed that the biggest obstacle Kevin had
to overcome was his inability to forgive his father. Many
times I would lie awake at night with thoughts of the
possibly hostile interactions between this father and his
only son. It’s difficult enough for a young man to forgive
something his father has done to him, but how does one
forgive his father for the person he simply is? Kevin’s
father was mentally disturbed, aloof and absolutely
incapable of giving his son a sense of worth or the
confidence necessary to become a man of integrity.
The 18th Century English poet, Alexander Pope, wrote,
“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” Forgiveness would
not be divine if it was easy. A relative of mine once
explained that the hardest thing she ever had to do
was to forgive her two-year-old daughter for suddenly
deciding that she did not need her mother anymore.
This mother would have rather given herself kidney
surgery! Eventually she understood that this typical two-
year-old behavior and she was able to get past the pain.
God created the human race and then had to forgive His
creation as they turned their backs on Him. What He
did was much worse than performing one’s own kidney
surgery. He sacrificed His only Son to torment, torture
and death at the hands of those He chose to forgive.
Fortunately for us, God continues to forgive us even
though we often spurn His son.
I did not abandon him in his decision to completely
detach from his father, but as I walked along side of
him, I tried to highlight the strong feelings he had for
his father by first addressing his feelings of anger, and
then discussing the warmer ones. I wanted him to
understand that the only way to forgive someone is by
loving them. I can’t say I fully
understand this concept, but I know it’s true. For there
is no other way that God could have sacrificed so much
to forgive those He created, unless He loved the them
beyond all measure.
Kevin would not be convinced that he needed to forgive
his father in order to find the freedom he sought in his
life. I really believed that he could never move toward
further development until he accepted exactly who
his father was, and what he was incapable of doing.
Only then could he look elsewhere for the two things
he needed most, which are only found in our heavenly
Father: confidence and sense of value.
Kevin did seem to connect with some of the warmer
feelings that he had toward his father. He also began
to understand that the mixture of hate and love is
what made his relationship with his father so difficult.
He loved his father, and because of that love, he had
expectations for him which could not be met. He hoped
that his father would reciprocate his love, but this didn’t
seem possible. This was a continual insult from which
Kevin just wanted relief.
However, to move on without first forgiving is to flee,
and fleeing is cowardice.
“GOD CREATED THE HUMAN RACE
AND THEN HAD TO FORGIVE HIS
CREATION AS THEY TURNED
THEIR BACKS ON HIM.”
In the Confessions of St. Augustine, he prays, “Truly the
sinners flee so they do not have to see You seeing them.
They run because they are blind and they are afraid
they might stumble against You in the dark.” Courage
is almost as important as love in forgiveness. It takes
courage to admit that we can be hurt by others, and yet
continue to love them anyway.
We pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who trespass against us.” Our forgiveness doesn’t
depend on the magnitude of the infraction, nor the
origination of it. If we truly forgive from the heart, we
can be free of injurious past events or people.
Kevin finally cut all ties with his father. From his
description of their last conversation, it was a fairly
calm scene. Although he walked away from his father,
I suspect that he will not be free from the grip of his
father’s toxicity—not until he forgives him for it.
GM : 07
Can You Relate
By, Thom Mollohan
Whether we’re a “no show” at the sports bar, or we can’t make it
home for a holiday gathering, or worst of all, we stand up a girl
for a date, people will let us know when we’re missed. It’s easy
to underestimate the importance of our presence, but when we
are absent, we’re often missed more than we know.
Jesus went missing once. In Luke 2:41-49 we find the account
of Mary and Joseph returning home from their annual visit to
Jerusalem for the Passover. They thought that Jesus was with
their traveling companions. They went a whole day before
realizing that He was not with them. Three days more went by
before they found him at the temple, where he had been the
whole time. Can you imagine the panic His family must have felt
during those three days? I bet those were sleepless nights too.
Obviously, Jesus was missed.
Families are like that. They are endowed with a sense of
interconnectedness and responsibility for one another which
leaves the rest of the family feeling incomplete when any
of the members are missing. As we grow into adults, the
connectedness and need for one another does not cease.
It becomes more abstract as miles or circumstances separate
GM : 08
us and prevent physical closeness. Of course, selfish attitudes,
bitterness, and an unforgiving heart can destroy the fragile
fabric that binds us to one another; nonetheless, we are wired
in such a way that we feel pain when a loved one is missing.
This is true of the family of God as well. If we have been brought
into a relationship with God by His grace through faith in Jesus
Christ, then we are like the sheep of which Jesus spoke in Luke
15:3-7. We are brought not only into a fold, but also into a family
in which we each hold a unique place. We are priceless to Him.
He has saved us and placed us in His family for a specific
purpose. When we are not in daily fellowship with Jesus, there
is an empty place, so to speak, in Jesus’ heart, and we become
like the sheep that strayed from the fold—the one Jesus left
the 99 others to pursue. The absence of our fellowship wounds
Him. Not only that, but there is a vacuum created in the family
of God as well.
The Father has created us to be dependent upon each other.
Correspondingly, He has gifted us so that we complement one
another as we walk, individually and corporately, through life. If
we give up attending a Bible-teaching, Spirit-lead church, then
PHOTO COURTESY OF: EYEFETCH.COM
we forfeit the blessings of support that God gives to His children
through His church. In fact, the best revelations of God at work
in our lives happen in the context of His family. This interaction
from God is meant to be a blessing to all His children and
not just for individual believers. Demonstrations of God at
work in the world are vital to those who are lost around us.
Our obedience to Christ through fellowship with each other
gives testimony to the fact that we do indeed belong to Him.
Our love for one another is the best means we have to validate
the truth of what we share in the gospel of Christ.
“As I have loved you,” said Jesus, “so you must love one
another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples,
if you love one another” (John 14:34b-35). The fruitful sharing
of the gospel is intimately tied to our relating to each other as
family. When we share the heart of Christ, we desire to proclaim
the gospel to the world around us, so that the hope we have in
the Son of God can be the experience of those who do not yet
know Him. If we truly long to see any more lost sheep come
into the fold, then we will desire the fellowship and unity of His
people.
Paul described well this aspect of our dependence in a letter
to the Corinthians: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of
many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one
body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit
into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we
were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made
up of one part but of many… God has arranged the parts in the
body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be… God
has combined the members of the body… so that there should
be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal
concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers
with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now
you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it”
(1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 18, 24b, 25-27).
If we have been missing the fellowship of our church family, we
should know that our gifts given to build up the His family have
also been missed. Why not consider returning soon to enjoy the
blessing of His family, and so He may love others through you?
He is eager to help us heal any pain created by our absence
from His body of believers.
GM : 09
C O N D I TIONAL
POWER
CORNERED BY GRACE by ROB BEAMES

GM : 10 PHOTO COURTESY OF: MATTHEW CELIA

Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey what I
command” (John 14:15). It’s difficult to read those
words without feeling the sharp pangs of guilt. We
know we love Jesus, and yet, we know deep inside
that we don’t obey His commands all of the time.
If we are truly honest with ourselves, we would
probably have to admit that we don’t even obey
all that often. We can hear the accusations of our
“old selves” using the cold logic of a mathematical
theorem: We don’t obey like we should, therefore
we don’t truly love Him, and so that means... Well,
we can’t bear to finish that thought. It leads us to a
place we don’t want to return. Our doubts have taken
us there too many times.
But these words don’t have to cut so deeply. They
don’t have to crush our view of our new self in Christ
and destroy our trust in a completely reconciled
relationship with God. What kind of effect did Jesus
want them to have on us? Is it actually possible
to read this verse, and be encouraged, rather than
feeling like we just heard the rooster crow three
times? If we consider this verse in context and in the
Greek language, it’s highly possible that Jesus meant
these words to be more than just a warning to us.
In the Greek, John 14:15 could be classified as a
third-class condition, so that the statement “you will
obey My commands” happens only when the condition
“if you love Me” is actually met. It’s like saying, “If
you love Me—and I know that you do—don’t worry,
you’re going to eventually obey My commands.”
This removes the manipulative parental overtone.
However, we should be cautious in placing too much
weight on the nuances of the original languages
alone. So let’s look at the context too. John 14:15 is
preceded and followed by more conditional clauses:
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching”
(14:23), “If you obey my commands, you will remain
in my love” (15:10), and “You are my friends, if you
do what I command” (15:14). It’s almost as if there
is an emphasis on them. But if we only attend to the
conditional clauses in this passage, we can easily miss
the entire message Jesus wanted to convey.
After Jesus says, “If you love me,” He tells His disciples
immediately that He will give them another Comforter,
a Helper, to be with them forever. Later Jesus explains
that He is telling them these things so that His joy will
be in them, and their joy will be complete (15:11). So,
before telling His disciples that they will be His friends
if they do certain things, He reminds them of the great
love they are about to be shown when He lays down His
life for them. There was absolutely no condition
attached to this selfless act of love. He doesn’t say,
“I’m going to do this for you if you obey.” No, He
simply tells them this will be done for them because
they are His friends. It’s almost like He is saying,
“Hey, when you find yourselves obeying Me you
should really be happy, because it proves that you
are friends of Mine.”
Fortunately for us, there are even more unconditional
statements in these two chapters to balance out
the conditional ones. Perhaps the most encouraging
statement is actually in the form of a promise. John
15:16 says that the disciples “did not chose Him, but
He chose them, not only to bear fruit, but fruit that
will last.” Paul further defines this fruit to the Church
at Philippi as “the fruit of righteousness that comes
through Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:11), and encourages
them that he is “confident of this, that He who began
a good work in you will carry it on to completion until
the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). These verses
imply that God doesn’t give us a task only to watch
us fail.
“THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO
CONDITION ATTACHED TO THIS
SELFLESS ACT OF LOVE.”
It’s important to note that only 12 verses after
our initial condition at John 14:15, Jesus explains
exactly how He wants His disciples to feel by saying,
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you…do not
let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid”
(verse 27). He apparently doesn’t want them to be
troubled about what will happen to them, or even
how well they will obey His commands. He is sending
them the Holy Spirit to give them peace, so they
don’t have to worry. They can have peace knowing
that He will accomplish in them what He set out to
do. These conditional statements in John are meant
to encourage us today too, not to load us down with
guilt.
It’s important not to isolate those 10 words and get
only part of the message. Neither should we ignore
what they clearly say. Our responsibility to obey
Christ remains; the command to bear fruit is always
before us. However, we also have the opportunity
to rest in the peace He freely offers us though faith
in Him. God’s powerful Spirit has been given to us
to ensure we can obey and bear lasting fruit—as
His friends. Perhaps if we would focus more on the
intimate friendship we now have with Him—regardless
of our performance—we may be surprised at how
obedient His Spirit will eventually cause us to become.
(I believe He wanted me to remind you of this.)
GM : 11
 FOCAL POINT
PRESS ON BY WILL DOLE
In physics, the focal point of a lens is the point which
brings divergent light together. In spiritual matters, a
similar focal point can be helpful when considering two
seemingly divergent aspects of our relationship with God,
like how our works relate to our salvation by faith.

GM : 12
John says, “We know that we have come to know him if
we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’
but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth
is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is
truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are
in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus
did” (1 John 2:3-6).
In other words, if we don’t keep God’s commandments,
and yet say we know Him, we are liars. That’s a difficult
concept to grasp, because we know we aren’t perfect.
However, if you feel you do a pretty good job at keeping
His commands, consider the following illustration.
A pastor who is married with children preaches regularly
against sexual immorality. Makes sense. But while
faithfully explaining scripture to his church members, this
same guy is sleeping with his secretary. What a hypocrite,
right? But before we take the moral high road, we need
to realize that we are just as guilty. How can that be if we
aren’t a pastor or even married?
James explains this for us, “For whoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all”
(James 2:10). So, we may not have committed adultery,
but if we have sinned in any way—lied, cheated, lusted,
stolen or placed more value on any thing than God—then
we are just as guilty as the pastor in our illustration. We’re
actually in the same boat as the worst of them, such as
Adolph Hitler, Osama Bin Laden or Joseph Stalin. Paul
reminds us that all have sinned, none naturally seek God
and all deserve hell (Romans 3:23). On the other hand,
God tells us to follow His commands, and yet anytime we
violate one command, we become guilty of all of them.
Seems like a hopeless plight, does it not?
“THE MAN WHO SAYS, ‘I KNOW HIM,’ BUT DOES NOT
DO WHAT HE COMMANDS IS A LIAR, AND THE TRUTH
IS NOT IN HIM. BUT IF ANYONE OBEYS HIS WORD,
GOD’S LOVE IS TRULY MADE COMPLETE IN HIM.”
It’s true we are dead and without hope in our sinful nature,
but in Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul reminds us that our salvation
is by grace through faith. Solely through the work of
God—it is His gift to us. It is not anything we can earn by
works. God freely gives us salvation!
How does the gift of salvation mesh with the earlier
statement that those who aren’t walking in God’s
commandments don’t love Him? Don’t these passages
contradict?
The point they come together—the focal point—is our
realization that salvation is only by the grace of God. It
comes when we figure out that apart from Him, we are
nothing. When we realize this, we become truly thankful
for what He has done. Out of this gratitude, we can
discover what theologian and author D.A. Carson calls our
“grace-driven effort.” Following God’s commands does not
give us salvation, which is fortunate for us, because if it
did, we’d all be lost. Our efforts are driven out of gratitude
for the grace and mercy that our Lord has already given
us.
We cannot claim to love God and continue to walk in sin,
because true love for God will compel us to repent. It is
as James says: Our faith is dead without works, (James
2:17). Faith without works is not faith at all, because faith
in what God has done for us through Jesus will bring us to
our knees in worship. This doesn’t mean that guilt alone
should move us to act, but rather we should be driven by
love.
“WE CANNOT CLAIM TO LOVE GOD AND
CONTINUE TO WALK IN SIN, BECAUSE TRUE
LOVE FOR GOD WILL COMPEL US TO REPENT.”
Usually we miss out on what God has for us in one of
two ways. We either follow our lists of “dos” and “don’ts,”
or we behave as if “anything goes.” One person lives in
fear of sinning and consequently fails to live as God has
called him to live, perhaps being prideful and complacent
to evangelize. On the flip side, believing in a cotton
candy version of God, results in the hypocrisy of which
John warns. God hasn’t called us to follow religious rules,
nor has He called us to live carelessly. Rather, He offers
Himself as a sacrifice to bring us back into a relationship
with Him which should cause us to love with a passionate
desire to worship and serve the One who is more worthy
than we can ever express. We owe Him everything. We
deserve death and eternal separation, but that’s not what
we get. He loves us so much that He brings us back to
Him. That is amazing!
John Piper wrote, “God is most glorified in us when we
are most satisfied in Him.” What could be more satisfying
than the opportunity to serve the God of all the universe?
If we aren’t passionate about loving Him, following Him
and proclaiming His majesty to the world, then how could
we claim to know Him? Having this passion doesn’t mean
we execute our good intentions perfectly—or even very
well very much of the time—but it should completely and
utterly transform us to our core. In His perfect timing, the
Spirit of God will bring out this passionate core within us
making Him the focal point of our lives to His glory.
GM : 13
The Recap
10 STUPID THINGS CHRISTIANS DO
TO MESS UP THEIR LIVES
By Eric Guzman

I’ve done some stupid things in my short life on this
planet. At the risk of incriminating myself, I’ll give you
some examples.
Back in high school, on more than one occasion, I would
grab a friend, get a couple bottles of Boone’s Farm
and go driving around drinking. That’s bad enough,
but just for the thrill of it, we would drive down winding
roads on the edge of a river in the middle of the night…
with our lights off. Another time, I took acid with some
friends and went jet skiing. I’ll spare you the psycho-
delic details, but it’s enough to say, we could have all
died. Then, there was the car surfing, and the time I
hooked up with my crazy coked-out roommate. Anyway,
there are plenty more examples, but you get the idea.
The point is that I’ve done some stupid stuff – I hope my
parents don’t read this.
Now, the things I just mentioned all happened over 17
years ago before I became a Christian. That means
thatthe statute of limitations has run out and these events
are now part of my “testimony.” Now, I can safely share
them knowing that God gets the glory for saving a dirt
bag like me.
Even so, there are plenty of stupid things I’ve done as a
Christian too. Trust me, if God rewarded us for our good
behavior and punished us for the bad stuff, I would not
have a successful ministry, a house, a wife and three kids.
I’d be dead. I’m a firm believer in God’s grace, simply out
of practical experience.
My mentor, Steve Brown, has a list of 10 stupid things
Christians do to mess up their lives. He also has a
CD album by that name and he wrote a book titled,
A Scandalous Freedom, which is based on those same
10 stupid things.

HERE’S THE LIST:

• We think of God as either a child abuser, away on • We demonize our enemies instead of acknowledging
vacation, or Santa Claus instead of looking to Jesus their humanity.
to find out what God is really like. • We live in fear.
• We are obsessed with getting better instead of with • We avoid the reality of pain.
God’s forgiveness. • We define ourselves by our failures instead of
• We forget the gospel and sacrifice the joy that sets God’s love.
us free. • We surrender the freedom for which Jesus has set
• We wear masks instead of being authentic. us free.
• We put our leaders on pedestals and thereby demean
ourselves.

GM : 14
For many Christians, that’s probably not the mental list
we would have made for ourselves. We might have come
up with a list more like this one:
• Watching porn – if you’re a girl, insert watching “The • Being a Democrat – if you’re Glenn Beck.
Bachelor.”
• Skipping church too many times.
• Not tithing.
• Not reading your Bible regularly.
• Not selling everything and giving it to the poor.
Am I right or am I right? The reason we thought up items
on the second list is probably because of the second item
on the first list – and perhaps a few others.
Here’s the point of Steve’s teaching on the CD album and
in his book: Jesus has come to set us free and we mess
up our lives by preferring our prisons.
We should probably define “freedom” at this point.
Basically, free means free. We’re free to live according
to God’s standards and we’re free to sin. It means that
if we don’t do what God says, He will still love us; and if
we do what God says, He won’t love us any more. That’s
because our acceptability is based on faith in Jesus’
finished work, not on our goodness or lack thereof. If we
dispute this, we drive a stake in the heart of the gospel.
Paul explains, “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians
2:8-9). He also adds, “For freedom Christ has set us free;
stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke
of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). There are some who say that
the freedom mentioned in that verse is freedom from sin.
It certainly means that, but if it doesn’t also include the
freedom to sin, then it’s not real freedom at all.
We may allow that we’re saved by grace, but think we
keep our salvation by busting our butts. But that’s not
what scripture such as the letter to the Galatians, tells us.
It’s difficult to read specific passages like Galatians 3:1-3
and not get this.
• Being a Republican – if you’re Jim Wallace.
• Cussing, drinking, smoking, dancing, going to
movies, etc.
• Not praying enough.
• Watching porn – if you’re a girl, insert shopping.
Does all of that bother us? It should. God’s ways are not
our ways. Does it make us want to go out and sin? If
we’re Christians, it should not. Why? It’s because of the
key to the message of freedom, which both Brown and I
teach: The only people who get any better are those who
know that if they don’t get any better, God will still love
them anyway. Don’t like that answer? How’s trying really
hard working out for you? If obsessing on getting better
worked, we’d all be Mother Theresa.
It’s the goodness of God that leads to repentance
(Romans 2:4). We love Him because He first loved us (1
John 4:19). It’s God’s amazing unconditional love and the
resulting freedom that compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14).
If we don’t start with freedom, we will screw up our lives!
We will never achieve the obedience we so badly desire
if we obsess on our goodness. Instead, we are called
to obsess on His goodness toward us in order to be
transformed into the image of the Beloved.
So now that I’m a Christian, I’m free to do all kinds of
stupid things and God won’t love me any less. I might
mess up my life or even kill myself, but I’m free. Does that
make me want to drop acid and take a spin on a jet ski?
Nope. My heart’s desire is to follow the One who loved
me enough to set me free to go wherever I want. I don’t
expect a reward or anything, just the joy of faithfulness
and walking with God.
He set you free too! Now what? I say embrace the
freedom and stop messing up your life.
GM : 15
THE BETTER THAN AN
TOOL
ENERGY DRINK
BOX
When my little brother was 14, he got in a fight with the
parents and ran away from home …in the family Ford
Explorer …without a license …on the Interstate. In
some way I cannot fathom, he fell asleep at the wheel
while driving. The Explorer flipped and he ended up with
a broken collarbone, but otherwise unscathed. There
must be some truth to the adage about God protecting
the young and foolish, but what amazes me most about
that story is how my brother could fall asleep. If the
adrenaline rush of stealing a car, running away from
home, driving – for the very first time – without a license,
on the Interstate, no less, won’t keep you awake at the
wheel, will anything?
It’s hard enough to stay awake during a long, boring
drive during the day, but driving at night is exponentially
more difficult. If they could only bottle that sensation
and sell it to insomniacs! In a national poll conducted
by Harvard Medical School in 2009, 54% of people
admitted to driving while drowsy and 28% said they
have actually fallen asleep. Another study estimated
that up to 60% of accidents could have a sleepy driver
at fault. We don’t want to contribute to these stats, but
short of not driving at night, what can we do?
Let’s review a few things which can help keep us awake,
but should not counted on during a long drive:
THE RADIO – Even blasting your very least favorite kind
of music.
COLD AIR – Even windows down in the dead of winter.
CAFFEINE – Yes, even Red Bull. Your body can build a
tolerance to caffeine.
CHEWING GUM – And you could wake up with it in your
hair!
BRINGING A PET – Seeing your animal sleeping will make
you jealous!
TOOTHPICKS – It is possible to fall to sleep even with
your eyes open.
a
by Donna Lee Schillinger
There are some things which do work, at least, more
frequently. Honestly, these next suggestions may not be
foolproof either, but they are the most effective advice I
can offer as an experienced nodder:
DEEP CONVERSATION – a trip never goes so quickly and
effortlessly as when you’re engaged in a meaningful
conversation. Take a friend along who will commit to
staying awake with you.
EAT AND DRINK – this obviously has some drawbacks,
namely necessitating pit stops and lengthening the trip,
and it cannot be done constantly on a long trip, but
you can use it to spot jolt you back into alertness. Be
sure not to over-sugar yourself because that can cause
drowsiness when the blood sugar drops again quickly
about 20 minutes after eating.
Along these lines, country music radio personalities Big
D and Bubba recently polled listeners on this topic and
one tip offered multiple times from truck drivers was:
drink orange juice. They reported that OJ refreshed
them mentally without the crash effect.
LISTEN TO AN AUDIOBOOK – this strategy has never failed
me. The story engages my mind and the time and miles
speed by unnoticed. Be sure the subject is of a high
interest to you; a boring book could lull you to sleep.
PULL OVER AND REFRESH – this strategy will make the trip
take longer, but better to lose some time and save your
life than the other way around. Think it’s dangerous to
pull over on the side of the road and try to nap for 15
or 20 minutes? It may not be the best way, but I doubt
it can compete with 1,500 deaths and 40,000 injuries
annually that driving while drowsy causes.
That’s it. It’s a short list and nothing very inventive,
which is why your very best bet is to take proactive
measures by avoiding driving alone at night. Proverbs
3:21 says we should preserve sound judgment and
discernment and they will be life for us. Plan your trips
prudently: rest well before a trip, keep driving time in any
one day to a reasonable amount, travel during daylight
hours, and enlist a faithful friend to share the ride.
GM : 16