June 18, 2007 Most recent posts by Anthony-

How would you raise the risk index if you found yourself in a very traditional ministry setting that looked down on risk taking?

DISCUSSIONS - 10:44pm Jun 19, 2007 EST - I would start by focusing people on the nature of God's sovereignty and the risks He asks of His people, which are no risk at all from His perspective.By removing eternal risk, Christ calls his people to continual temporal risk. Walking by faith and not by sight, living in the light of the unseen is the nature of becoming the righteousness of God. Faith is where the discussion must begin, even if it is seen as naivete by some.

I refute the notion of the authors that as we get older the less elasticity we have. This may be a general truism, but it is not a necessity. Risk is all about trust, and as we learn to trust God in all our circumstances, risk becomes the constant muzak of our lives.We run the risk of, as Piper has written "wasting our lives" if we do not intentionally cast ourselves headlong onto Grace on a moment by moment basis.There are ALWAYS opportunities to do this in any circumstance if we look for them.

We must nurture a holy discontent with the status quo, finding our sufficiency in Christ alone. So many Christians I know hold on for dear life to the little kingdoms they have built and live beneath their privilege as a result.God wants to make us into agents of change as surely as agents of redemption. If I found myself in a "very traditional" ministry, I would first affirm that God definitely has a sense of humor, and then I would have to remain true and find avenues to articulate vision and and excitement for seeing things that are not.

The place I would have to start would be in studying, praying and fasting in order to know my own heart, God's will, and my people God had sent me to.You can only share vision elbow to elbow with people; sacrificial service can be a lens to the heart. I know I am preaching to the choir here."To live is Christ and to die is gain" is not some sort of refrigerator-magnet cliche- it is radical battlefield reality.