Stretching my faith

While typing out my notes for class on Saturday I was listening to music. Some songs from my senior year in high school came on and I was super excited. As I listened to the words I realized how God used the songs from that CD and it was one of the first times my faith was challenged. Now I know people who taught me in bible classes and sermons I listened to up to that point were challenges, but this was the first time I realized that I needed to get out of my comfortable space and grow some more.

The CD was Jesus Freak by DC Talk. The songs challenged me to have a more passionate pursuit of Jesus Christ and to seek the life we were called to live. Here are some of the phases that stuck out to me then and still do today

“The disease of self runs through my blood, its a cancer that’s fatal to my soul.”

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

Now I don’t want to just talk about DC Talk and how great they were. What I want to mention is my thankfulness to God for using something as simple as a popular CD of the time to give me a little wake up call. I want to thank Him for placing a friend in my life who would introduce me to those ideas through the music. And most importantly I want to pray that I will never be content with where my faith is. Happy? Yes, as I grow older I want to be happy with the growth that I have seen, because I plan on growing, but I don’t ever want to be content. No matter where I am in my faith I hope that God will place people, music, books, and whatever else God wants to use in my life to stretch me more into the man of God that he wants me to be.

I pray that you will do the same. Look for something--Pray for something, that God will use to stretch your faith and help you grow. Whether it is a song, a copy of Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship, or a passage of the Bible that you have seen your whole life; find something to encourage growth. And while you are at it, keep encouraging me to grow as well.