Humility Prepares LifePointers for July Servant Emphasis

by Sarah Austin

Have you ever heard the saying, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog?" True enough, sometimes smaller is better, but I was still reluctant to pick up C.J. Mahaney's book Humility: True Greatness, June's book of the month. Maybe I have an aversion to the pint-sized Michael W. Smith books I read when I was a teenager. Maybe I have a superiority complex about the size of the books I read. Who knows.

In his book, Mahaney discusses what it means to be truly great. In our world, greatness is often defined by business savvy and athletic skills, but when God looks for greatness, he looks for humble hearts. In the first two sections, Mahaney defines pride and explains God's opposition to it, and he redefines humility using Christ's example. Much of what he said was old hat to me, but one thing resonated: Pride is our greatest enemy. Humility is our greatest friend.

Mahaney uses the third section to encourage us to practice humility in our lives by identifying evidences of grace, encouraging others, inviting and pursuing correction, and responding humbly to trials. He also stocks one chapter full of ways he strives to practice humility every day. This one caught me by surprise: Before going to sleep, receive the gift of sleep from God and acknowledge his purpose for sleep. Sleep is a reminder to us that we need to be refreshed every day, that we are not the independent, autonomous creatures we like to think we are, and that for our lives to be sustained we must rely on God.

Chris Bryant's sermon this Sunday and LifePoint's July servant emphasis bookend Humility perfectly. CB spoke of getting to know God, and many of the love languages we can use to know God can also be used to practice humility. Acts of service is one of those love languages, and that's our focus as a church next month. If you haven't picked up a copy of Humility yet, it's not too late. Good things come in small packages indeed.

Book Review: In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day

by Micah Osborne

I do not want to live a life with regrets, instead I want to make the most of the situations that are in front of me—those that I still have a chance to effect. Even though this is the case, there are moments in my life that come to mind every once in a while that give me pause. The ones that stand out most vividly are those that are born out of my inactivity, the missed opportunities which will never come again. I have been thinking about this lately after reading a book by Mark Batterson entitled In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. Mark believes that “the church has been fixated on sins of commission for far too long. We have long lists of don’ts.” He calls this “holiness by subtraction.” Mark also says “I think God is more concerned about sins of omission, those things that we could have and should have done.“ I agree with Mark, I tend to fixate on the things I should not do for God instead of looking for the opportunities God has carefully orchestrated in my life, the things I should do for God. These opportunities come, and if we are not diligently watching, they go.

Mark shares many examples from his own life, one where he planted one church that did not even make it to its first Sunday. He then picked up his family and moved across the country to plant a church near Capitol Hill in Washington DC. His new church, by God’s grace, is thriving today out of many challenges and struggles. Mark also uses many examples from the Bible including one obscure story out of 2 Samuel from which his book gets its title. In this story a man named Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it. This event is one of many events in Benaiah’s life that leads him to being selected as one of King David’s body guards and then promoted to commander and chief of Israel’s army. God is continually creating “opportunities” for his children to glorify him in spectacular ways; in the case of Mark and Benaiah those “opportunities” came in the form of a failed church and a 500 lb. lion. I don’t know about you, but most of the time, I purposely avoid these types of “opportunities.” But then I would miss out on what God has planned for my life and the opportunity to truly glorify him. And so my prayer is to be watchful and ready for the next lion that might come my way.

This reminds me of what Jesus said to Peter when he gave him his name. “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.” Gates are not used for offense; they are used for defense. Jesus is speaking of his church, which is the aggressor not the defender against the gates of Hell, and he promises they will not stop his church.

90 Minutes in Heaven

by Sarah Austin

I must admit that when my mother recommended Don Piper's 90 Minutes in Heaven, I was skeptical. A guy dies, goes to heaven, and comes back to life to tell about it? Right.

In fact, I really had no intention of reading the book until 1) I found a copy to borrow (or rather, it found me) and 2) I found myself without anything to read. I had no excuse to not read it. Funny how that works sometimes.

The title sums up the book's plot, but there's a bit more to it than a dead guy spending 90 minutes in heaven. The author—Piper—dies in a car accident. The paramedics announce him dead at the scene and simply have to wait for a judge to come and make it official. While the accident clean up continues, a pastor who is stuck in the traffic behind the accident, walks to the scene and starts a conversation with a cop. He feels the Holy Spirit prompting him to pray for the dead guy (at the time, the pastor didn't know the dead guy was also a pastor and that they had both been traveling home from the same pastors conference). The pastor crawls into the back hatch of the dead guy's car, puts his hand on his shoulder, and starts praying for him.

Meanwhile, the dead guy is in heaven. He's welcomed by all the Christians in his life that had gone before him. He sees the pearly gates, he sees the streets paved with gold, and he sees the city of heaven. In heaven, there is music we've never heard and colors we've never seen on earth. Just as he is getting used to the idea of heaven, Piper finds himself back in his car. He had been dead 90 minutes.

The pastor who had prayed Piper back to life had prayed specifically that Piper would have no head or internal injuries, and he didn't. In spite of that miracle, the injuries to Piper's leg and arms were horrific. Piper spends the rest of the book detailing his recovery with the Ilizarov device and how that device and his experience in heaven have allowed him to minister to others in similar situations.

I was a skeptic when I picked up this book, but somehow I know Piper's experience in heaven is true. His description of that place is just how I would've imagined it, and beyond my own imagination, his description makes sense to me. While some have been changed from hearing how Piper recovered, his heavenly experience has changed how I come to worship. Heaven is a real place to me now—almost something tangible. And as I imagine singing with other saints before the Lord's throne, I am excited for that day.

Everyone Gets Somewhere In Life…

by Micah Osborne

No one starts a road trip without deciding on a destination. Most of us however live life without ever deciding on a destination. I just finished reading “Visioneering” by Andy Stanley where he states that “Everyone ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose.” One of the steps to getting somewhere on purpose is finding where there is. While reading Visioneering I realized I do not have a clear picture of where “there” is in, my relationship with Christ, my marriage, my family, my career and so on. In the book, Andy explains that a “Vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.” Without that clear picture or destination in mind I am adrift to the whims of today, unable to move directly toward what could and should be in my life.

In “Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision,” Andy Stanley uses the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem to illustrate how a God-given vision is born and then executed to completion.

This book has had a profound impact on my life as I have been thinking and praying through what could and should be in my life.