Sunday, March 31, 2013 | By: Jake

I Am Still in Charge

After a day of eating, procrastination, and volleyball, I took off with six other friends for my grandma's house. We went out for pizza at the famous Giordano's, had some awesome conversations and went around the table complimenting each other. One of the most surprising compliments I received was that I was an "all-or-nothing" kind of guy...it really got me thinking...realizing that God wants all of me, it's a really big step for me to be able to say "Here, have all of me. I trust You more than myself." We throw around that "gave my life to Christ" phrase just as much as we do "I love you", "Thank you", or "How are you?"

Anyway, we finished dinner, and went over to my grandma's house where we would be spending the night. I played the ukulele, and we sang some really quiet and peaceful worship songs, slowly lulling ourselves to sleep just as the apostles did.

In the morning, a few of my friends started putting together breakfast, but soon enough, that simple breakfast turned into an Easter feast. Planning to just have some french toast on paper plates, we soon found ourselves cooking more and more food, getting out my grandma's china, the fancy table cloth....

Our colorful Easter Feast
We prayed together, talked together, and just enjoyed each other's company, enjoyed His company. A group of friends, just all trying to make something out of nothing...just like He made us out of nothing. We used the talents we had been given and made something special, something worth remembering...and clean-up went by in a flash. It's amazing how efficient and productive the Body of Christ can be...

Three more friends came and we just continued celebrating...some us played games, others talked, some dyed and colored eggs...it was really something special.

Two friends joined me in a walk through the woods, which of course, I had to do barefoot.


Walking across the frozen dirt, the dead trees, the swampy mud...if only foot-washing had been today. This is probably how dirty the apostles' feet were...this is how dirty my soul...but He made it clean.

We walked back to the house, made yet another Easter feast for dinner, and then headed off to Willow Creek for their Saturday Easter service. Joining along with roughly 10,000 other Christians, we sang praises to the King of Kings, boldly proclaiming and celebrating His Resurrection. Again and again, we announced it: He is Risen! Alleluia! 


We sat down and watched three testimonies...three lives changed...a former Muslim that found Christ, a former "goody two shoes" that realized she didn't deserve Him, and then a 40-year old man...

But the 40-year old man's story was different...he talked about how he had "listened to the whisper" and given His life to Christ when he was 17. Yet even with that, he continued to lead his life the way that he wanted to...he continued to be the "CEO" of his life until just recently, when he finally decided that Christ was a better CEO than he was.

Afterwards, Bill Hybels came to the stage and talked about the idea of surrendering your life to Christ...

We were handed white flags when we came in, and he told us that we could write three different things on them:
  1. "Regime Change: Easter 2013" - A surrendering of being the CEO of our lives...this option was for non-believers or dormant Christians who had never made the step to give their life to Christ. 
  2. "Re-Surrendering: Easter 2013" - A re-surrendering of our lives to Christ...this option was for the believers who needed a revival, a wake-up call to their faith...kind of like the renewal of the baptismal vows in the Catholic Church
  3. "I Am Still in Charge: Easter 2013" - An option for the non-believers, for the people that weren't ready for Christ to take control of their lives, who weren't ready to stop being the CEO
He wanted us to write down an option...but I didn't have a pen. But I knew exactly what I would write...
"I Am Still in Charge: Easter 2013"
I didn't think I was ready...I still don't think I'm ready. It's a big step, and it means giving up a lot of "you", in fact, all of you. And along with being an "all-or-nothing" kind of guy, I can't just say that I'm fully surrendering, that I'm doing a "regime change" if I don't plan to give over all of it. 

The Cross is a scary thing, and we act like when we start following Christ, our lives become easier...we expect better jobs, better possessions, better relationships...but that's all wrong. 

I'm not in a period of doubt...I know God is Real...and deep down, I know that He knows best, that he would be a better CEO, that He has a better plan...

But that involves a lot. And I want to make sure I'm writing it down honestly, that I'm fully for it...so I did as I was told. It was hard, it was painful, but it was convicting...and I wrote down what was true:

I Am Still in Charge.

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