Passion & Patriotism

My dear friend, Brett, has encouraged me today to post a final thought on the state of the Church and our beloved nation today. Here are some of my thoughts in a response to an email from her - I had pointed out in general that pointing fingers won't solve anything, but getting off my high horse & really making changes in my own life probably will solve a great deal in the long run.

"It's probably because I minored in Poli Sci that I am cynical about politics in general anyway. In reality I'm a bit of an anarchist I suppose...in a Christian way of course. haha
I did vote my conscience to an extent but mostly Mario & I have been pushing ourselves and our church to WAKE UP PEOPLE!! I have long been tired of the whining and complaining - I mean you can complain if you've been at the front lines of the battle, if you can find the time to do it. Otherwise, it's like I said "put up or shut up".
I'm tired of coddling the masses, weary of ignorant behavior. I don't agree with everyone on everything but I can have the decency to try to see where they're coming from so that I can form my battle plans more properly! lol.
And sometimes that plan is to choose not to join the fight....sometimes it becomes a plan to fight hard for what I believe but too often it's been to sit back & watch. Well, not anymore.Can I get a witness - hey, hey.....(yes, I had my hand in the air!) ; )"

I recently had a chance to preach on a Wednesday night at church about Passion, what it is & how it can be used for God's glory. THIS is where our focus should be, not on the circumstances surrounding us. Here are the notes from that sermon, I hope you enjoy.

Oh & by the way, this isn't a debate format - it's my site, my opinions & the thoughts God has given me; meditate on it, toss it out, whatever but please know that God alone is my source - the following is intended to encourage my brothers & sisters. : )

from Wednesday, 10/22/08
What is "passion"?

It is most often used in reference to "the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death". According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the 4th definition is "EMOTION: the emotions as distinguished from reason ; intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction". This indicates an almost uncontrollable driving force about something in particular. The 5th definition is "ardent affection, a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept; an object of desire or deep interest".

These last two definitions are our focus tonight.*Prayer time*

The definitions I just read apply to an emotion that is deeply stirring or ungovernable. From the Latin pati which means "to suffer". I don't know about you but there's not much in this world that I would like to suffer for. However, being a creature of 3 parts (mind, body & spirit), sometimes we don't have a choice. For example, being a patient with an illness, grieving the loss of someone we love, obsessing over certain things or with certain thought patterns. But suffering maybe doesn't have to have such a negative connotation.

What can we be passionate about?
Sports – Mario & my bro in law are really into fantasy football where they pick teams from real life athletes and see if they can beat other guys' teams every week, if we have a family function in the fall I know that we must aim the chairs toward the general direction of the football game & can only sing happy birthday during time outs or half time.
Politics – convincing our coworkers, family, neighbors that our convictions & opinions are the right ones.
Works – our job can consume us if we're people-pleasers, our ministry can consume us for the same reason and can also distract us from growth, improvement and God's peace.
Media & Music – have a favorite show we HAVE to see, I'd rather play my music all day long than do anything else
Family – parents obsessing over kids' performance in academia, in sports; focusing too much on talent & ability, focusing on "fixing" the problems of our loved ones
Spouse – again, "fixing" their problems, demanding more time & attention than is healthy to the exclusion of other healthy relationships and especially that of our true love & Lord
Addictions – passionate to the point of extreme emotion or reactionary behavior to obtain the next fix and our response when it is not achieved; not just pornography, drugs & alcohol but the other things we just listed too.
God – He can be the (should be) the 1st person to whom we go in the morning, 1st person we seek when there's a problem – this is especially difficult because as humans, we feel that we need the physical aspect of a listener or a comforter.
Read Proverbs 3: acknowledge; care about what He thinks. Focus on getting together what God says about your passion (a rhema word – the written word logos spoken and brought to you specifically by God about something) and hone in on what that means for me; you get passion about the subject when you follow out the word.

How is passion bad? Moved too much by emotion, energies placed in useless areas, lead others astray
Mark 1:40-45, 7:31-37, 14:44-47
At first I was wondering why Jesus minded that they were telling about it so much but I realized that the point is that they didn't follow instruction or wait for the "go ahead" but in their zeal, they were directionless.
Or something bad could have come of it as in the Garden example.
The result of unwise zeal is in Mark 14:50 & 51. Yikes!

Personality differences can cause you as a believer to be more or less passionate about things in general and in wildly different ways from others.
Sanguine – party people, good at public speaking, life of the party but not great with details, great sales people if they're passionate about the product
Melancholy – artists, musicians, writer-types are naturally extremely passionate; I am this person, I have to be cautious to wait on Him a little more to make sure I'm not blowing something out of proportion, making it more dramatic or even borrowing trouble, to use an old phrase; perfectionists & very critical
Choleric – the "boss", the natural leader who can be obsessed with getting the job done regardless of others' feelings, passionate about completing & multi-tasking
Phlegmatic – laid back, take a long time to make a decision but once they do, very tenacious about it & in that way become passionate

How is it good? A zeal for something in particular can cause you to be focused in an area to bring good, bring change, bless your finances, bless the church family.

How can we stay passionate about God and His work? Sometimes we're not always passionate or emotional about God, kind of back-burner feel
It's commanded in Scripture to be zealous about God & His things:
Ecc. 9:10Romans 12:111 Cor. 14:122 Tim. 1:6
These are essentially directions on how to live a passion-filled walk with Christ. We need to surround ourselves with others who are equally passionate about our Lord. Get good teaching ..handling emotions and channeling into good; take what could be negative about your personality type & earnestly pray about it, seeking the Holy Spirit to help you turn it into a positive, driving force in your ministry.

For we all have a ministry. Pray for it, seek Him out

The Holy Spirit creates passion in us, again, focus on getting together what God says about your passion and zero in on what that means for you. Author Susan Peabody said it well about the Holy Spirit's role in this instance, "He is our comforter which means the caretaker of our emotions". I have read (brandonweb.com) that in the Church the "precious has become too familiar". It is true that "our enemy can't steal our salvation; he'll just make us forget what is was like to be lost" or even that "we'll grow accustomed to prayer and thereby not pray".
I don't want my "worship to become commonplace and Bible study optional". But too often it has. When I was on the road with the Celebrant Singers, it was easy to read a devotional, to dream a dream, to feel the tug of the Spirit on my heart, to pray for someone and see them healed right there. Because I was surrounded by others like me, with equal or greater passion for the Lord, others who loved to sing His praise & bring His gospel to the lost, it was no problem to be bold, to hear new things and to feel passionate about God.

Give example of being hugged in NW territories (**readers, please ask about this experience for more very cool testimony of God) & the vision He gave me of falling off a cliff & being sucked into the ocean at great speed; panicked but suddenly realizing I wasn't falling but the moment I hit the water an opposing force scooped me upwards toward the light & life; suddenly lying on the beach, breathless & stunned but alive with no side effects. This was a moment where my life refocused on becoming passionate about God, about loving Him with zeal. It reminds me today when I read it in my journal from that time that this is an ongoing process & if it stops or feels stalled, it's because of me and the choices I've made, the distractions I've allowed.

Take a minute and think of your passions, what things you're zealous about. Don't be super-spiritual & invent what you'd like it to look like if I could read your mind or heart right now. But be real about it. No guilt here, just a reassessment of where we stand. Now, I want you to imagine for yourself what the Holy Spirit looks like for you to use a picture you can hold on to, something to help draw you closer to the reality of His work. You might picture him as a blanket, as a "papa", as a counselor behind a desk…pick something that helps you see Him as a real, tangible thing.

Now, gentlemen this could be a difficult thing for you. I mean being masculine & "in love", well, to show it off like this could be hard. I realize that Christianese frequently feminizes the experience but we each can choose to make it our own; if you're passionate about your wife, your studies, your sports – that's the passion you want to apply to your Savior, your God – not some girly, made up version of it.

To me Passion = unembarrassed presentation, bold encouragement to invite others to have their own zealous relationship with God. Passion gives us the courage to not care what others think, helps us forget about our "what if's". In Col 3:23, the synonym for passion is ZEAL. If there was ever a time for us to be zealous about our mighty, our incredible, our wonderful, our magnificent, our matchless, amazing God, it's now.
Num. 25:11, Couldn't we become so zealous as to turn this nation around & turn away punishment for our collective sin? Oh Lord, let it be so in me tonight.

Many preachers have taught that Jesus was passionate about the Father's will. Let's see if that's the case….John 4:34, Luke 2:49, Matthew 16:21
Yes, well Jesus is a mighty fine example of zeal for His Father's business. Oh Lord, let it be so in me tonight.

How about a passionless scripture?: Rev. 3:14-16; this lethargy, complacency about our King and His work opens the door for compromise, for sin to sneak in – sure, we've not intended it but gradually the water boils around the completely contented frog until he's boiled alive. I read recently that "We will accomplish what drives us" (brandonweb.com). Lately I've felt driven about this ministry, about the music, about my jobs, my home, my money, my family but I feel that I've lost sight of my first love, the One who holds it all together for me, who makes me sane through it all! Oh Lord, renew that Love, that passion in me tonight.

Dr. Dann Spader of Sonlife Ministries wrote an article called "Lessons from a Passionate Life" about Jesus & mentioned 3 disciplines of Jesus.
Prayer
Loving, Caring Relationships
The Word
These disciplines caused Acts 2:42-47. Dr. Spader challenged me to "wonder what it would take to amaze Jesus"? In the Bible Jesus was only amazed twice and it was because of faith exhibited (Luke 7, Mark 6). A "growing faith comes out of focused, passionate lifestyle". Passion directed and channeled into God's use & not our own "serve-me". C.S. Lewis once wrote, "I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy". This is the result of passion unguided, uncontrolled. Passion controlled by the Holy Spirit brings joy and again, unembarrassed presentation, bold encouragement to invite others, causes courage to not care what others think, forgets about the "what if's". I want to amaze Jesus again. Oh Lord, let it be so in me tonight.

Mother Theresa: "If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it." Let's seek Him first, surround ourselves with passionate people, glean from good teaching and let's amaze Jesus with our faith driven by our passion for Him. Oh Lord, let it be so in me tonight.

With great love for my family & friends, Angel