99 Days in the Word Ryan Southern

this podcast: download | iTunes When I was a kid I remember when I was a kid, one of the things I absolutely despised doing was brushing my teeth. Yes, like most 7-year-olds, the idea of spending 3 entire minutes with a brush the size of my head and some pasty-goo was simply not so appealing. But my parents, being the good folks that they are, decided that having teeth would be an important part of my life and made sure that I brushed them every night before bed. But in my cleverness to thwart their plan of ensuring shiny chompers for their son (and to relish in 3 solid minutes of wild freedom in the bathroom, which I mostly used to stare at myself in the mirror), I devised a plan: my parents would always check the toothbrush to make sure it had been used, so instead of actually brushing my teeth, I just wet the toothbrush, stayed in the bathroom for 3 minutes and put the toothbrush back. Voila! Freedom! I fooled them!! And by "freedom," I am of course referring to the multitude of cavities and fillings and painful trips to the dentist that ensued throughout my childhood years, as well the drill-sergeant-ish experience that was my parents hovering above me during teethbrushing time for the rest of my days. They did finally stop a couple months ago. Why do we act like this as children? Better question: why do we act like this as adults-- taking mindless shortcuts of disobedience, believing that it will actually benefit us, when the result is always the opposite. 2 Familiar stories In my reading this week, I thought about 2 very familiar characters and stories in the bible, whose obedience is so incredible, we gloss-over it most of the time. But first, a little fun. Genesis 6:13,14,17 God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep. Build yourself a ship from teakwood. I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction." (The Message) Noah, after changing his shorts of course, responds in a way that we accept so freely (because he's Noah, right?), but it is completely profound. After God tells Noah that he is going to have to build this giant, ridiculous ship and take his wife and children and 2 of every animal on the planet, Noah doesn't freak-out or question or ask for a different plan-- he simply obeys. Genesis 6:22 Noah did everything God commanded him to do. (The Message) Genesis 7:5 Noah did everything God commanded him. (The Message) It's difficult to imagine the fullness of Noah's obedience-- God has never asked me to build a giant ship and fill it with animals because He's going to destroy the earth. Maybe God hasn't spoken this exactly to me or you, but I bet He has asked you to build something-- something huge. Something incredible. Something so tremendous and ridiculous with your life that it terrifies you if you think about it too long. The philosopher Dallas Willard talks about the concept of familiarity breeding unfamiliarity and I think this is one of those stories-- we know it so well, that the complexity, detail, and power of this story is actually quite unfamiliar to us. One thing that is very clear however, is the result of Noah's obedience to God: Genesis 9:1,3,7 God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! All living creatures are yours for food; just as I gave you the plants, now I give you everything else. You're here to bear fruit, reproduce, lavish life on the Earth, live bountifully!" (The Message) More extreme obedience Another example of extreme obedience comes through Abraham and his son, Isaac. Again, we are very familiar with this story, but put yourself in this situation, especially if you have children, and see where it takes you in your mind. God says to Abraham, Genesis 22:2 "Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I'll point out to you."

save this podcast to your computer That's right, change-- a 6-letter, sometimes dirty word that most people don't want to hear. But stay with me. I'm getting ready to talk to you about something that will, if you let it, literally change your life FOREVER in the most amazing, expansive, fulfilling way you could EVER imagine. But first, a little history. 99 Days is something my church started last summer when we decided to take the 99 days from Memorial Day through Labor Day and turn them into something cool. The idea was to do something--anything--that you had always wanted to do, always dreamed about, and dedicate yourself to doing a little something towards that every day for 99 days. We had lots of people join in and do some really great things-- work on starting businesses, learning how to play musical instruments, become better fathers & husbands-- it was all great stuff. As soon as I heard about this campaign and started thinking about what my 99 days was going to be about, God planted in my spirit a desire to read through the entire bible in 99 days. "Whoa-- are you KIDDING ME??? That thing is like, thick and stuff. You want me to read ALL of it??" I quickly proceeded to start coming up with basically anything else I could do with my 99 days, believing there was no real way I could actually read through my entire bible in such a relatively short period of time. But, God was relentless with me and filled my thoughts and heart with nothing but diving into His Word and seeing what could happen. So I did it. I jumped in, made a plan, and made it happen. I read my bible in 99 days, cover-to-cover, and it has completely changed my life and the way that I view EVERYTHING: God, people, family, friends, relationships, the church-- I really do mean everything. Anyone that has spent any time with me over the last year can testify to this change in me. It is significant and real. So, as I have been getting ready to jump into 99 Days again this summer, I really want to do this again. But this time, I want you to come with me. That's right, I know you can read-- that's really the only qualification necessary. This is an invitation to join me this summer in seeking God through daily, consistent time in the Word and in prayer. If you were anything like me last summer, you are, right this second, probably thinking of a million excuses not to do it or why you think you can't do it, but let me just stop you right there-- I've got lots more to say. A MAJOR revelation that has permanently burned itself into my spirit is the idea of order-- of getting things in the proper place and order in your life and letting your life flow out of this order. For Christians, Christ-followers, believers, or whatever you want to call us, I have come to the amazingly simplistic realization that the first order of business of your entire life starts with your own, personal relationship with God. Let's sit with that for just a second. Step back with me and let's evaluate, together, on where this is for you. Answer these basic questions for yourself right now and be honest: Do you feel close to God right now? Why? Why not? Would you say that you spend a significant amount of time with God on a consistent basis? If your answer is unsure or "no" to the last question, then what would you say is your primary source of direction for your life right now? Please don't misunderstand-- this is not about feeling guilty about the status of your relationship with God. This is about stopping, taking a moment to reevaluate where you are and what your doing and then refocusing your direction. This is about recognizing that everything, everything, everything, EVERYTHING (is this clear, yet?) flows out of your personal relationship with God. Everything! See, one thing I'm really tired of is the Church, believers, so-called Christians blabbing about changing the world and then, when you get into the heart of the matter, aren't even getting the FIRST and most important step co