I just wanted to share a really cool point I heard in Francis Chan’s service today.  He was talking about when he went to Vegas when he was younger and he thought he would try gambling some money in order to get some money to pay for this speeding ticket that he had received while on his way to speak at a camp in Utah.  He started with 2 dollars and just kept letting it ride.  He kept betting it all and watching it double.  Eventually, he had a 100 bucks sitting on the table, and had to make that decision to fully pay for the ticket by doubling or to back down.  He ended up losing all of the money on the table.

He goes on to show how this relates to our faith.  For instance, if we were to talk to someone in India that was considered an “untouchable” or slums in Africa, or anywhere really– and say, “Drop everything and follow Jesus”… How easy would that be?  They would reply “Okay” in a heart beat.

But if you were to come to my neighborhood in Orange County, and ask, “Drop everything, Follow Jesus– he has a better life for you” They would just look at you like your nuts– “Why? Can you see how much I have?!?!”

Same thing with our early faith.  We are fearless when we are first Christians, talking to everyone and preaching like mad.  But eventually we get more involved with faith, more educated, more knowledgeable.  Then people start respecting the knowledge we have and we become conscious of our messages, and eventually conscientious of our ministry.  We have more to lose when we think we have everything…

But whom would you rather follow when you know that Jesus has something amazing planned for you versus what you can do on your own?

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