Chase the Lion Curriculum -- Thanks NCC

I just wanted to give a quick shout and thank you Pastor Mark and Pastor Heather from National Community Church. Yesterday I got a free copy of the new Chase the Lion curriculum published by Lifeway in the mail. I took a skim through it hoping that it would be as good as I thought. I think it's even better! I hope that one of our discipleship groups picks up on it in the Spring. Plus I'll be buying a couple of copies and using it as a discipleship study to go through with my 13 year old boys. They need to learn to chase lions! Thanks again guys for all you do for the Kingdom!!

Mark Batterson -- August 9th -- Chase the Lion

Earlier this year I read Mark's book, In a Pit With A Lion On a Snowy Day. You can see my review HERE. When I heard that he would be speaking at GCC I was excited. Last Thursday night was the night and I was able to attend. What follows are my notes from his message...

Isa. 55 - Your best thought on your best day falls short of the mind of God.

2 Samuel 23:20ff
- we have a hindsight bias to the Bible
- we know the outcomes of the stories and have lost our awe of them
- might heaven be like Sports Center where we can see the replays of what happened in Scripture?
- Benaiah had a decision to make when he encountered the lion...
1. RUN AWAY -- live another day for sure
2. ATTACK -- seize an opportunity and hang a trophy on his wall
- the church is too focused on sins of commission and rarely deals with sins of omission.
- you can do "nothing wrong" and still do "nothing right" -- the enemy loves this one !!!!
- Jesus called the servant whop buried the talent wicked
- are you playing OFFENSE ???
- Tactics of the enemy that have not changed:
1. GUILT
2. FEAR
Luke 22:60 -- Peter's Denial -- Pavlov and conditioned reflexes
- Did Peter have remorse every time he heard a rooster from that day forward?
- John 21 -- Jesus reconditions Peter's reflexes...
- if you fear God you need to fear nothing else
- don't accumulate possessions -- accumulate experiences
- Hebrews --- Jesus is the author of our faith
- Are you living life in a way that is worth telling stories about?

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!