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LIVE LIFE ON PURPOSE God’s Purpose.
Your Life. One Journey. Claude Hickman Pleasant Word, 2003, 202 pp. ISBN 1-4141-0036-1 |
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Claude Hickman is the assistant
director for The Traveling Team, a national missions mobilization
movement. His book is a strong
challenge to young people to give their lives for God’s purposes. This book is contemporary, energetic, “all
out.” Give it to every young person
you know. “The more I grew spiritually the
more I realized that God was not really interested in me Christianizing my
life as much as He was interested in me crucifying my life.” (10) “This generation is on an
aggressive search for purpose.” (18) “Life is too short to be
harmless!” (18) “God isn’t interested in joining
your journey. You were created for
His.” (19) “Don’t be afraid of the unknown
on the journey; be afraid of missing the life God has appointed you to live.”
(20) “The journey is the
process in history and in your life where God brings all the ‘pieces’
together for the good of His final purpose.” (21) “You can’t entrust your life to
maps. The only way to be sure of your
course in life is to trust...a compass.
A compass...gives you direction.”
“The great thing is that every believer gets a compass: knowledge of
the general overarching purposes of God.”
“Once I discovered what God was doing, I had a North Star to live my
life by.” (21-22) “God gives people direction more
than directions.” (25) “It is almost like we just
Christianize whatever we want to do and call it ministry.” (25) “It’s not about changing
vocations, but about changing our passions.” (26) “This generation’s worst fear is
that they will choose the wrong path and miss their destiny.” (26) “The
answer...is to know what is truly supreme in life; to have a North Star
passion.” (27) “No one has the boldness to tell
anyone they are wasting their life on temporal things.” (28) “Just because you read your
Bible, go to church, throw in a college degree, achieve some impressive
accomplishments and raise a good family and shake those all up in a long
life, it doesn’t mean that out falls a life that counted for the eternal.”
(31) “We must begin the journey of
finding our purpose with His end in mind—the fulfillment of the Great
Commission.” (31) “If you live without a vision of
the glory of God filling the whole earth, you are in danger of serving your
own dreams of greatness....” (35, quoting Floyd McClung) “I was getting some great maps
for my life, but I was locked in on a wrong destination.” “I had planned my life around the things
that God was silent about instead of what He was clear about in His word.”
(36-37) “All the Christians we know are
headed the same direction. As we look
around, the lifestyle and pursuits of the average Christian look
extraordinarily similar to the lifestyle and pursuits of the average
non-Christian.” “This has damaging effects on our evangelism and paralyzing
effects in our church.” (39) The destination I was created
for is God’s glory in all the earth. (40)
Don’t seek a map. Seek a compass. A compass is grounded in something outside of yourself. “The compass of God’s purpose allows us to
have something to gauge our maps by.” (41) “The story of God accomplishing
His mission is the plot of the entire Bible.
God’s mission is the backbone upon which the Bible is built and is
best understood. Therefore, God’s
mission is the reason there is a Bible at all.” (43, quoting Steve Hawthorne) “God has one mission—all
nations, and one method—all believers.” (45) “The story of the Bible is a
story of God’s plan to gather the worship of all the nations that He has
created.” (47) “The compass of God’s
purpose points toward this one end.” (50) “The people God uses in His
journey are not people who have incredible, unwavering faith; so much as they
are normal people that are willing to take the next step....” (51) “God’s purpose for the world is
not just to save the lost, but to fill the earth with the knowledge of His
greatness....” (52) “The gospel has the authority to
interrupt the course of your life.” (55) “You cannot walk both your
journey and God’s. There is only room
in life for one journey.” (56) “The great fear of most of this
generation [is] to give their lives to the things that don’t really matter.”
(57) “If you are a Christian, you are
in the family and responsible for the family mission—the salvation of all the
nations.” (62) “His plan for the nations is
that they would become loving worshippers of God, captured by His glory and
in awe of His holiness.” (80) “No one sins in a box. Our sin, mine included, effects [sic] not
only those around us, but it stains the very name of God.” “No wonder no one is running to the
church.” (85) “The gospel is not only for
us. He died not only for our sins but
for the sins of the whole world (I John 2:2). He chooses us to be the vehicle that spreads His fame into all
the world.” (96) “There is a selfish side of
Christianity. It is masked as love
for Jesus, but really it is just a love for His gifts.” (101) “The only way to reach all the
nations is by sending people to all the nations.” (106) “All believers are expected,
like Paul, to align their lives with God’s global purpose and be a channel of
the gospel to all the nations.” (107) “America has over 400,000
churches and over 1 million Christian workers. That is one full-time Christian minister...for every 250 people
here.” By contrast, Iran has 1
missionary for every 3 million people.
India has 1 missionary for every 2 million people. (124-25) Many of us are not looking for a
missionary call. It would take a
shove. “If every Christian is already
considered a missionary, then all can stay put where they are, and nobody
needs to get up and go anywhere to preach the gospel.” (126, quoting C.
Gordon Olson) “Most people think the world is
like a pancake. When you pour on the
syrup it spreads over the entire pancake.
But the world is like a waffle, with many pockets of people groups,
and the gospel doesn’t spread. (130-31) “One of the greatest obstacles
right now to the Great Commission is Christian parents.” (137) “The reason there is a 10/40
Window is Christians are busy doing great Christian things.” (143) “There is a subtleness to the
American Dream that has snuck up on the church. Now you can go to church, live a moral life, raise a good
family, but ultimately live for yourself....” “It is deadly to evangelism because no one wants to follow a
church full of people claiming to live for Heaven, but running after the same
carrots they chase after.” “The drug
of the American Dream kills the brain cells of eternal thinking.” (147) “The way to win in life and to
finish the journey is to live with a vision of the end. Even though you are a great distance away
you ‘see it.’” “This is what I mean
by living by the compass. It is
living life on purpose, directing the daily decisions of your life by the
true north of God’s purposes toward the world.” (164) “Are the things you are living
for, worth Christ dying for?” (166, Leonard Ravenhill’s gravestone) “If you are going to walk the
journey, you must be open to the option of going long-term. The command has been for us to ‘go.’ If the journey is going to be completed,
it will hinge on an army of relentless, passionate goers. The way to find your specific niche in the
journey and exactly where God’s purpose is for your life is to obey and see.”
(179) “Everybody wants to follow
someone that is going somewhere with a purpose.” (182) “You were created for this one
journey. Take your next step.” (202) * * * * * * |
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