A few thoughts/quotes that stood out from this chapter . . .
This from Sarah who was fearful of going to Ethiopia on a mission trip with her church:
There were a million reasons why I shouldn't go. I'm not an evangelist. I don't have any special talents. I don't have three thousand dollars lying around. I've never been west of the Mississippi River, much less out of the Western Hemisphere. I'm not a physically ambitious person. I can't survive without electricity or running water. But I only needed one reason to go: I was called (pg. 42).
The author put in his blog: "Don't accumulate possessions; accumulate experiences!"
"So here's my advice: Don't let mental lions keep you from experiencing everything God has to offer. The greatest breakthroughs in your life will happen when you push through the fear. The defining moments will double as the scariest decisions. But you've got to face those fears and begin the process of unlearning them." (pg. 43)
"Half of learning is learning. The other half of learning is unlearning." In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus often said, "You have heard that it was said . . ." and then "But I tell you . . ." We often have to unlearn bad teachings and unlearn our fears by learning the truth. "Half of spiritual growth is learning what we don't know. The other half is unlearning what we do know. And it is the failure to unlearn irrational fears and misconceptions that keeps us from becoming who God wants us to be." (pg. 44,45)
"Faith is unlearning the senseless worries and misguided beliefs that keep us captive. . . . Faith is rewriting the human brain. Neurologically speaking, that is what we do when we study Scripture. We are literally upgrading our minds by downloading the mind of Christ" (pg. 45).
"Think of your fears as mental lions. If we don't learn to chase those fears, they can keep us at bay for the rest of our lives. . . . Our Heavenly Father helps us unlearn the fears that would cause us to pass up so much fulfillment and fruitfulness -- because He loves us and wants the best for us. First John 4:18 describes the end goal of our relationship with God: 'There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.' The goal of love is fearlessness! As we grow in a love relationship with God, we unlearn the fears that paralyze us and neutralize us spiritually. That is the essence of faith." (pg. 48)
The author asks this question: "Are you living your life in a way that is worth telling stories about?" and then comments that "Too many of us pray as if God's primary objective is to keep us from getting scared. But the goal of life is not the elimination of fear. The goal is to muster the moral courage to chase lions. . . . The church has turned into a bunker where we seek shelter when we're actually called to storm the gates of hell." (pg. 56,57)
WOW!!
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