"comfortable and complacent is dangerous"

"Perhaps the most dangerous place for a Christian to be is in safety and comfort"

"While the ghettos may have their share of violence and crime, the suburbs are the home of the more subtle demonic forces - numbness, complacency, comfort - and it is these that can eat away at our souls."
Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution

Christianity and following Jesus is HARD.
it's hard in a way, not that i'm turned off by it, and whatnot,
but over the past few months, and now..
still i'm learning how hard it is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus
to really count the cost
and pick up your cross
and follow this revolutionary

to live counterculturally
to find life by losing your life
to deny yourself, and your flesh
deny your friends and family
deny this world and everything in it
not conforming to any of the patterns or culture (Romans 12:2)

you have to lay down your life.
give up your life for God
sacrifice everything...
your dreams, your hopes, your ambitions
your job, your friends, your family
your success, your pride
your whole life.

the cost of discipleship....
it's hard! would you consider it impossible?
i definitely think it's worth it
but is it actually humanly possible (next to Jesus)?

a phrase i've been saying to a lot of people lately is this,
"the things you almost can't give up, are the things you really should give up"
detachment.
my mission this year...and for my lifetime....
to be able to give up things, detaching myself from the things of this world...
so it's like FASTING. humbling yourself and sacrificing, to experience God more, and grow closer
be able to give things up in devotion and obedience, and experiencing what people who regularly don't have these things experience.
(for example, fasting, you feel how hungry and starving people in destitute places feel like)
sooo i encourage you to start this detachment process....
during the year, start small.... give things up for maybe a day or a couple days....
then move on to giving things up for a week or so
then hopefully go onto months, and then maybe if it's possible to cut it out of your life completely....

giving things up like MSN, TV, Facebook, make-up, brand name clothing, going out to eat, fast food, eating meat (this one, maybe not the lifetime sacrifice, but to be able to give it up for a small amount of time, can really show detachment, and discipline!), going out to movies, going out for bubble tea, shopping, downloading, listening to bad music (may not even be explicitly bad, but not GOOD music), sports may be a hindrance in your life...etc

what i'm trying to get at, is that these things and more, are potential hindrances in our lives, they are a foothold in our life that satan has on us, and as long as we can't give it up, or don't try and give it up, satan has that advantage on us, and he has that thing on us, holding us back from truly experiencing God and from true discipline and devotion. these hindrances are what we need to work towards detaching from these things that hold us in bondage. and when we fully rely on Jesus, when we cling onto nothing else but Him, and declare that nothing in this world can ever satisfy us, except the grace and love of God, then we are liberated and free from this bondage and the ties that bind us and hold us down.

i'm planning to do this detachment process during the year with my fellowship at Laurier, and a couple people from outside of Laurier, some of my friends from other campuses were interested, so i was thinking of sending out emails and stuff to notify everyone of what we're gonna give up as a group, and for how long, and for ideas and comments, and suggestions and whatnot, so if you're interested or wanna be notified or if you have any questions FELL FREE, and just let me know.

the idea behind this, is to live more simple and to live closer to the life we're called to live, based on the Holy Bible, to give up all the luxuries and unnecessary things to live free of bondage and to be liberated, living a righteous, Godly life, holy and pleasing to God.

just remember,

Christianity shouldn't be lived out only if it's considered cool. Jesus wasn't crucified because people thought he was cool, and we shouldn't live life to be cool, to impress others, to have a sweet rep'. Jesus was crucified because His life was radically different from culture and from society. He lived a life counter cultural, backwards from society, where the last are first and the first are last and where He hung out with the outcasts of society. That's the life we should be living.

If Christianity becomes stale and boring, maybe its because the gospel is made easy rather than difficult. Christianity should be daring and challenging, and should not have to be something entertaining, but should involve risks and being bold.
If we're not offending people, and if life is too easy and comfortable, are we truly living out our faith?