As an agent of ObeyGC² I should concern myself not only with what I am doing, but in what I am becoming.  An agent of ObeyGC² is a lover of God and of people.

I doubt anyone is much more eager for heaven than I am. Usually multiple times a day I use the word Maranatha (Hebrew for “Come Lord!”) with a full awareness of its meaning and intent. Around our home my wife and I say, “Now would be a really good time (for Jesus to return)” almost daily.  The Lord is leaving us here for several reasons. One is that He has specific things in mind for me to do. Probably just as importantly, He has a clear picture in mind for what He wants me to become…like Jesus. That might take a while…

Rom 8:28-29
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Phil 1:6
6 [I am] confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Eph 2:10
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The message of ObeyGC² comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.

Kay Warren, the wife of Rick Warren (pastor of Saddleback Church and author of “The Purpose Driven Life”) calls herself a “seriously disturbed woman.” You see, she has been brutally seized by a deep passion for ending the suffering inflicted on people by HIV-AIDS. Are you seriously disturbed or are you fairly comfortable and happy with the status quo when it comes to the welfare of others? The message of ObeyGC² will disturb you if you are comfortable. It provides hope for those who are already disturbed.

Heb 13:3
3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Isa 1:17
17 learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow.

Prov 31:8-9

8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.
9 Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Acts of ObeyGC² without love are emptiness. True ObeyGC² is love in action.

Motive matters. We can love others and love God because God first loved us. There is no earning of celestial “brownie points” by doing good deeds. Our good deeds are an expression of our love for God and others or they are worthless.

Isa 64:6a
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.

1 Sam 16:7b
“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

ObeyGC² is not about criticizing the church as it is, but about becoming the church we were meant to be.

There is a quote which I have kept on my desk for well over a decade through many moves to various countries. It is attributed to Theodore Roosevelt and is hard to beat for expressing my sentiments on this topic.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Matt 7:1-5
7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

ObeyGC² is not about explaining the parts of the Bible you don’t understand but about living out the parts you do understand.

What is the use about arguing about the meaning of Scripture if you don’t obey the parts we are all crystal clear about? Until we obey what we have heard and understood, we will have serious problems with our life in the eternal perspective. What could possibly be more important than obeying what Jesus told us to do? He evidently thought it was pretty important…

Matt 7:24-27

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

ObeyGC² is not merely about believing the right things, but about following the right One. It is about living, not theorizing.

Ivory tower theoreticians need not apply. Philosophizing doesn’t help. Acting does. There seems to be so much concern over orthodoxy these days but not nearly enough attention paid to orthopraxy. Right belief matters a great deal but that isn’t the major problem with people. The major problem is with right behavior.

James 2:14-19

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder.

ObeyGC² is spread through the stories of the transformative power of God working in and through people.

Stories are a powerful communication tool in any society and any age. They grip us. I love the story of the healing of the man born blind in John 9. The frustration of the Pharisees, who were trying desperately to discredit Jesus, was obvious. There was simply no way to refute the power and love of Jesus when the man who was healed was simply telling how Jesus had changed his life. Life-changing good news travels fast.

John 9:24-33

24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”

28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

ObeyGC² aims to build small communities of ordinary radicals who do small things with great love.

It is a joint effort. It doesn’t take people with unusual intelligence, ability, or wealth. It does require people who are serious, intentional and focused…the sort of people who could be called radicals. Their focus is on living day-to-day and moment-to-moment in such a way as to serve others and glorify God; to live a life of love.

ObeyGC² is about becoming prophets who do not merely predict the future, but seek to change it.

I forgot who first said it, but I love this quote: “Some people look at the way the world is and ask ‘why?’ I look at what could be and ask ‘why not?'” As admirable as that is, it is close to meaningless unless one does something about it. The environmentalists got a lot right with their slogan, “Think globally, act locally.” Nike put it even more concisely with their byline, “Just Do It.”

James 2:14-17

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.