Three themes

Hi guys! Over the last four weeks I've been blessed with a lot of time to read and have gotten through 22 different books. Many of these were Christian advice books that gave me a lot to think about as well as practical ways for growing closer to the Lord. As I read, I began to find similar themes that each Christian book would at least touch on, so three themes were drilled into my head quite a bit. I don't have anything original or super inspirational for you, but I do want to share these ideas with you.

1. Who rules your heart? What do you desire? Ultimately, we do what we do because we want what we want. If Christ rules your heart than your ultimate desire is to glorify Him and even if you aren't perfect at that (which no one is) you will get better at it each day. The war of words is won in your heart, the battle against sin is a battle against desires, your life is transformed when you know who’s you are. Your identity and where your heart belongs was a big part of each Christian book. 

2. Grace is strong enough to help you win any battle, and it's free! Sin is already defeated, and if you're in God than you are dead to sin. The real battle has already been won and Christ has given you grace to help you continue to love Him and grow in faith. You’re not expected to be perfect because He was perfect for you. You can conquer any sin because of His grace working in you, you can speak love because he loves, you can live a life that reflects Christ only because He gives you the grace to do so. The battle has been won and your fight is transformed into something courageous, beautiful, and honoring.

3. Community is key. All the books at least mentioned accountability with faithful Christians and they all talked about fellowship in the church. Church has never been that for me, but I am trying harder now to find a community with them than I used to be. One book described church as broken, hurting sinners coming to admit their imperfections and help others grow spiritually. For me, its always been trying to avoid awkwardness and looking as perfect as I can. I don’t have the relationship with my church that I should, and all of these books admonished me for that. As I read, I began to see my relationship with this community of Christians as lacking and learned a few things to help me fix it.

Those are my three, very brief takeaways. Obviously, that's not all I learned from what I read but they were a common factor in each book. The Christian books I read are:

Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul

Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick

The Cost Of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

5 Things Every Christian Needs To Grow by R.C. Sproul

It's Not Supposed To Be This Way by Lysa Terkeurst

Love Does by Bob Goff

Shame Interrupted by Edward Welch

War Of Words by Paul David Tripp

Diehard Sins by Rush Witt

Made For More by Hannah Anderson

Kursk

In August of 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk was wracked by two onboard explosions and tragically sank to the bottom of the Barrants Sea. There is controversy regarding what actually happened, but the most likely option is that one of their torpedoes was faulty and exploded on board resulting in a fire in the torpedo room that caused the second explosion. All but 23 of the original 118 crew members died in the explosions. It was five hours before the Russian navy even tried to contact the sub resting on the bottom of the sea. The crew, freezing cold and desperate for oxygen and food, weighted anxiously for rescue. Four failed attempts were made to rescue the crew. They stayed alive for at least three days, banging on the walls of the sub every hour to let the world know they were still alive. They listened to the rescue ship land and take off four times. At least two of the crew wrote letters, saying they were trapped and couldn’t get out. 

Unfortunately, they never would. 

Nine days after the explosion, divers were able to access the compartment where the 23 men had held on for as long as they could. There were no survivors.

It’s a tragic story of political failure and a myriad of mistakes. I hurt at the thought of what those men went through on the ship, waiting for rescue only to run out of time. How many of us feel like that in our lives? Desperate for help yet feeling unheard. Banging on the walls of our cage to try to escape. Hoping against hope that we can make it. Make it out. Make it out alive. Running out of air, feeling the cold seep through us, anxious and starving. The people in our life that we trusted to keep us from drowning can’t find the solutions fast enough so we are trapped.

Right now, it's easy to feel like a soldier on the Kursk. The explosions that keep hitting us leave us, our economy, our plans, and our nation sinking fast. Maybe we feel like we've hit rock bottom, hundreds of pounds of pressure keeping us stuck in our sunken world. We cry out and listen for a response but know that the world can't rescue us. The hours pass by and more plans disintegrate in the current that swept us off our feet. In this world that looks hopeless it's easy to feel ourselves beginning to sink away into the darkness of despair. But we are not a tragic story of failure and a myriad of mistakes. We are not simply the soldiers of the Kursk: we are survivors.

Christians have been given an instruction manual for every situation, one that speaks to the desperation of their circumstances yet still gives hope. For us, it is no longer a matter of waiting on others for rescue, but rather accepting the solution that has already been given. We have already been rescued. Death is behind us, not in front of us because we already died with Christ and have a new life in Him.

The One who is an anchor for our soul is with us even at this depth. Even when our tears threaten to drown us I know that He counts every one. Our world is very clearly a ship that is sinking fast, but we have everything we need for life and godliness already. Cling to it, and you will be more than a conqueror in Him Who loves you.