Weekly Thought – January 6, 2015
Fred valued friendship. As he aged many of them preceded him in death. Upon hearing of a passing, he often recounted decades of stories, smiling and laughing. “Cultivate younger friends because your contemporaries will be gone if you live long enough.” One of Fred’s long-time younger ones was Steve Brown of Key Life Network. They met while speaking in Kentucky and made a decision immediately clicked. When Being Good Isn’t Good Enough is Steve’s newest book. According to the author it is “how to stop striving to please a God who is already pleased.” www.KeyLife.org
Step by Step?
(Editor’s note: Fred was asked about his thinking on the specific will of God. He wrote much in a personal letter to a dear friend. This excerpt reflects his position and his straightforward approach).
Some young people questioned our son as to how they could know God’s plan. Rather than answer, he asked them why they wanted to know. Their answers were revealing. One wanted to follow the plan because he didn’t want to have God mad at him. Another assumed the plan must be wonderful, and he didn’t want to miss what God had for him. Another felt God needed his work, and therefore, if he didn’t do it, it wouldn’t be done leaving God’s plan incomplete.
It was easy to see these young people were really talking about works and not grace. They had a clear self-interest in God’s plan. When they spoke of wanting a plan, it meant happiness, prosperity lack of trouble, love, and acceptance.
Egotism seems to creep into their perceptions. They assume God has something big in mind. They cannot imagine ordinary lives of ordinary people. (more…)