Well this is ironic.
And funny as well.
I received A Million Miles In A Thousand Years for my birthday/Christmas (yes, they’re on the same day).
As well as Crazy Love for my birthmas.
Haha, really?
Good to know my favorite authors ascribe to each other.
Well, at least one as far as i know.
Thanks Don!
(is “Don” too casual, i feel like it might be…ah well, i digress)
I read “Forgotten God” and enjoyed it. Convicted me of a lot of things in my own life.
This is video is awesome and paints a picture of myself so much. With reading A Million Miles and a Thousand Years and seeing this video helps me to live a better story. Yesterday my sister in law went back to Haiti, she was there when the earthquake happened. So we had a get together before she went back and I just spent time listening to my wife’s Grandpa. I never used to do that but this is a small beginning for living a better story.
This message is essential if we’re going to make an impact and reach the world with the the good news of God’s redemptive love. Let’s stop hugging the beam, and get out there!
I love Francis Chan. I am actually teaching a Sunday school class on Crazy Love; it is going extremely well!
I heard the man speak during Founders’ Week at Moody Bible Institute, 3 times. After the third time, I had him sign his book for me. His view point on life is awesome!
I remember the first time I saw this video. It really impacted me. I immediately shared it on my blog. Little did I know, that God used that blog entry to connect me and the woman I am going to marry one day soon. Crazy how God works, right?
Well, I believe my entry for the video contest you are having will be about that story, that meeting through the blog, thanks to God.
Didn’t want to take much from the video’s powerful message, but felt I had to share.
Shoot Don that’s some good stuff. Thx for sharing.
FEAR is a nasty son of a … My vote is we dance like we can, we write like it’s the only thing we wake up for and we love the ugliest and cruelest of it all.
Living on purpose has probably been my greatest feat!
Wow, very well put. So true. I recently read a book tackling this same topic, The 50th Law by Robert Greene and Curtis Jackson. It helped remind me who I am and so does this video clip. The balance beam is a genius reference.
“Brian February 2, 2010 at 12:57 pm
A shot at homeschoolers? Really? Are we homeschoolers bad for wanting a good education for our kids?”
Just in response to Brian. I DO know lots of fantastic homeschool families, whose desire is to educate their kids, train them in righteousness and are actively teaching their kids how to engage the world at the same time. They enter the world well prepared rather then growing up confused within. It definitely can fail both ways, kids have to make their own choices. That’s why we need to pray without ceasing for them.
Unfortunately, I know even more homeschool families who do it purely to protect their kids, and whose kids never learn to stand on their own, whose kids never learn to step out and be bold for their faith because they are so scared of what others will think of them because they’ve never had to deal with that before. Their parents are more scared of their kids hearing swear words instead of teaching them how to filter.
If your reason is truly to educate them properly whilst teaching them essential culture survival skills (who they truly are in Christ and how “He who is IN me is greater then he who is in the world”, then I commend it. I’ve seen it done very well and whose kids are integrated into the community and learn to stand and be bold for their faith.
Unfortunately, this is not the norm, and in many cases is the exactly the gated community living Chan is talking about. It is vastly improving from what it once was, and even I would be hesitant to put my kids in public school in it’s current form. It’s really all about your motives.
I think Chan’s challenge is very valid, and beyond your little homeschool group, think about what he just told the masses of “Christians” who live and die for safety and whose fears get the best of them. That was “a shot” at any of us who have ever desired to not rock the boat, to live safe, fun, happy clappy lives.
Don’t confuse conviction with semantics. Take to heart the message and decide if it’s true or not in your own life, and then see how it applies to homeschooling. I have a lot of great friends who are homeschoolers and I would have made the same comment, because most of them would admit – it’s true in many cases, it IS a reason. Not always the reason, but a reason. What parent doesn’t want to keep their kids safe and perfect and innocent? Safety is an idol in our culture. Yes, protect your kids, but as Paul Washer would say “If my kid dies planting flags for Jesus, I’m going to cheer him on!”. ALL for the sake of the Gospel, because we need to remember the end goal is not a safe happy life, but an eternity, resurrected, with Christ.
There are a host of books on this topic. Chan sticks out for his brutal honesty.
It still comes back to this: What are you going to do about it?
(lol, sorry that was long, we’ve just spent many many hours discussing this very topic as our ministry is 90% homeschoolers – it’s very popular here)
I read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield several times during the books early treatment, and certainly imitated the way he structured his book, but in the rewrite (the final is hardly recognizable from that first draft) I went solo. The voice felt pretty strong in my head and I was afraid another book would mess it up. But reading and imitating is GREAT practice and I recommend it to anybody, even pros.
Don: I recently took a risk and sent your Million Miles book to my 48 year-old sister who found herself in a psych ward after a failed suicide attempt. She’s been stuck in a really bad story for many, many years, plagued with alcoholism and guilt for all the poor choices she’s made in her life. I didn’t know if she would be open to many of the concepts in your book, but I hoped and prayed it might bring light into her darkness. I really hoped she might discover a way to see her suicide attempt as an inciting incident that would set her on course for a new and meaningful story. To my joy she devoured your book and felt it was the perfect message for her at the critical moment. Before leaving the psych ward for a rehab center, she inscribed a message in the front cover of the book to future patients at the facility, wishing each future reader a similar shift in perspective that the book had given her. She asked that each reader write their name and the date they read the book with the hope that it could be passed down from patient to patient. I wanted to share this story with you and thank you for the light and fresh perspective your book has brought into the life of my sister at a critical moment in her story. Through her sobs she read her favorite passage over the phone out loud to me, which was the part when you are in the kayaks and feel that the shore is just too far to reach and that no progress is being made, then suddenly it seems that the other shore is pulling you in. Million Miles is my favorite book from 2009. I can’t thank you enough.
Fondly,
Adrianne
I love this video. I took a run at it myself last summer. It didn’t come out quite as good as Francis Chan’s, but it got the point across. I copied the link in case anyone’s interested…
(Sigh) I have to admit there are times I’m afraid to live beyond my boundaries. It’s so safe and comfortable to stay where I am. But I guess He knows it already because He did help me to step out of my safety-zone a couple of times. But there is still work to do. Thanks for sharing this. I’m glad I found your site.
That is wonderful news about your sister. I do hope she finds some joy and peace even in her hard situation. I know, even in the midst of the hardest trial, there is so much to be thankful for. What an honor to be on that journey with her! Would you thank her for me? She has encouraged me, too. And how cool to leave the book behind! That’s a great idea. I hope many people sign it and create better stories because of it. Much love to you and yours,
Then there are those of us who risk, take a fall, and then secretly agonize over the meaning of the fall — does it mean that I’m bad, or unworthy, or it’s perhaps its because I didn’t homeschool my kids, or do some other spiritual feat that seems to have other people still “performing” beautifully. Of the course, the truth is that there is no balance beam, or tightrope for that matter, in God’s book. I have to trust that the unique path that God gave me is a good one, because he’s walking it with me! Even if it includes some bone-jarring falls. In fact, God widens the path beneath me as I walk!
By the way Don, in reference to one of your other posts, I was reading your book (Searching for God Knows What) while I was writing mine (Secure in Heart–Overcoming Insecurity in a Woman’s Life). Especially impacting to me was “Adam, Eve and the Alien.” And now four years later, I’ve heard from women all over the world thanking me for helping them rethink their falls. Thanks for your part in this! (And I’d love to send you a copy if you’re interested (-:) robin
To build on this topic of taking risks, I would HIGHLY recommend watching this short film entitled “Lemonade”. I assume many have already seen it, but it is a short, extremely well executed documentary on what some remarkable people have done with their lives after they were laid off from their jobs. Similar to one of the messages in “Up in the Air”, getting laid off from work isn’t just a pink slip…it’s a blank slate to write a story that you are truly passionate about.
1. I’m currently reading Crazy Love. I was just introduced to the work of Francis Chan. Good stuff.
2. My pastor used this illustration a few years ago, and I had to out him on it!
Thanks for posting!
On technical merit, I give him a 1.0. On artistic merit, maybe a 2.3. But on that incredible costume, I give him a 10.0. That’s my style!
Great illustration of the safe Christian life . . . yawn.
I lived in a gated community for a short time. Never again but never say never.
I like how this speaks to me.
[...] Click here for a goody. [...]
Well this is ironic.
And funny as well.
I received A Million Miles In A Thousand Years for my birthday/Christmas (yes, they’re on the same day).
As well as Crazy Love for my birthmas.
Haha, really?
Good to know my favorite authors ascribe to each other.
Well, at least one as far as i know.
Thanks Don!
(is “Don” too casual, i feel like it might be…ah well, i digress)
[...] Francis Chan on Taking Risks [...]
I read “Forgotten God” and enjoyed it. Convicted me of a lot of things in my own life.
This is video is awesome and paints a picture of myself so much. With reading A Million Miles and a Thousand Years and seeing this video helps me to live a better story. Yesterday my sister in law went back to Haiti, she was there when the earthquake happened. So we had a get together before she went back and I just spent time listening to my wife’s Grandpa. I never used to do that but this is a small beginning for living a better story.
Thanks for your work Don.
nicodemusatnite.blogspot.com
This message is essential if we’re going to make an impact and reach the world with the the good news of God’s redemptive love. Let’s stop hugging the beam, and get out there!
I love Francis Chan. I am actually teaching a Sunday school class on Crazy Love; it is going extremely well!
I heard the man speak during Founders’ Week at Moody Bible Institute, 3 times. After the third time, I had him sign his book for me. His view point on life is awesome!
A shot at homeschoolers? Really? Are we homeschoolers bad for wanting a good education for our kids?
I remember the first time I saw this video. It really impacted me. I immediately shared it on my blog. Little did I know, that God used that blog entry to connect me and the woman I am going to marry one day soon. Crazy how God works, right?
Well, I believe my entry for the video contest you are having will be about that story, that meeting through the blog, thanks to God.
Didn’t want to take much from the video’s powerful message, but felt I had to share.
Great video…story of my life at times…I can find myself pursuing security way more than God.
Thanks for the post…reading Crazy Love for work…really like it so far.
Shoot Don that’s some good stuff. Thx for sharing.
FEAR is a nasty son of a … My vote is we dance like we can, we write like it’s the only thing we wake up for and we love the ugliest and cruelest of it all.
Living on purpose has probably been my greatest feat!
Wow, very well put. So true. I recently read a book tackling this same topic, The 50th Law by Robert Greene and Curtis Jackson. It helped remind me who I am and so does this video clip. The balance beam is a genius reference.
I talked about this topic in a VLOG the other day. Please feel free to check it out. http://www.jameskirkham.com/Blog/home/Entries/2010/2/2_FEARLESSNESS__VLOG.html
THANK YOU!
Well…he just convinced me to quit my job. Seriously. Thanks Don.
“Brian February 2, 2010 at 12:57 pm
A shot at homeschoolers? Really? Are we homeschoolers bad for wanting a good education for our kids?”
Just in response to Brian. I DO know lots of fantastic homeschool families, whose desire is to educate their kids, train them in righteousness and are actively teaching their kids how to engage the world at the same time. They enter the world well prepared rather then growing up confused within. It definitely can fail both ways, kids have to make their own choices. That’s why we need to pray without ceasing for them.
Unfortunately, I know even more homeschool families who do it purely to protect their kids, and whose kids never learn to stand on their own, whose kids never learn to step out and be bold for their faith because they are so scared of what others will think of them because they’ve never had to deal with that before. Their parents are more scared of their kids hearing swear words instead of teaching them how to filter.
If your reason is truly to educate them properly whilst teaching them essential culture survival skills (who they truly are in Christ and how “He who is IN me is greater then he who is in the world”, then I commend it. I’ve seen it done very well and whose kids are integrated into the community and learn to stand and be bold for their faith.
Unfortunately, this is not the norm, and in many cases is the exactly the gated community living Chan is talking about. It is vastly improving from what it once was, and even I would be hesitant to put my kids in public school in it’s current form. It’s really all about your motives.
I think Chan’s challenge is very valid, and beyond your little homeschool group, think about what he just told the masses of “Christians” who live and die for safety and whose fears get the best of them. That was “a shot” at any of us who have ever desired to not rock the boat, to live safe, fun, happy clappy lives.
Don’t confuse conviction with semantics. Take to heart the message and decide if it’s true or not in your own life, and then see how it applies to homeschooling. I have a lot of great friends who are homeschoolers and I would have made the same comment, because most of them would admit – it’s true in many cases, it IS a reason. Not always the reason, but a reason. What parent doesn’t want to keep their kids safe and perfect and innocent? Safety is an idol in our culture. Yes, protect your kids, but as Paul Washer would say “If my kid dies planting flags for Jesus, I’m going to cheer him on!”. ALL for the sake of the Gospel, because we need to remember the end goal is not a safe happy life, but an eternity, resurrected, with Christ.
There are a host of books on this topic. Chan sticks out for his brutal honesty.
It still comes back to this: What are you going to do about it?
(lol, sorry that was long, we’ve just spent many many hours discussing this very topic as our ministry is 90% homeschoolers – it’s very popular here)
That’s it. I’m removing my son’s helmet right now.
But really, I’ve yet to read Crazy Love, but am told it’s wonderful.
Larry,
I read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield several times during the books early treatment, and certainly imitated the way he structured his book, but in the rewrite (the final is hardly recognizable from that first draft) I went solo. The voice felt pretty strong in my head and I was afraid another book would mess it up. But reading and imitating is GREAT practice and I recommend it to anybody, even pros.
Don
Don: I recently took a risk and sent your Million Miles book to my 48 year-old sister who found herself in a psych ward after a failed suicide attempt. She’s been stuck in a really bad story for many, many years, plagued with alcoholism and guilt for all the poor choices she’s made in her life. I didn’t know if she would be open to many of the concepts in your book, but I hoped and prayed it might bring light into her darkness. I really hoped she might discover a way to see her suicide attempt as an inciting incident that would set her on course for a new and meaningful story. To my joy she devoured your book and felt it was the perfect message for her at the critical moment. Before leaving the psych ward for a rehab center, she inscribed a message in the front cover of the book to future patients at the facility, wishing each future reader a similar shift in perspective that the book had given her. She asked that each reader write their name and the date they read the book with the hope that it could be passed down from patient to patient. I wanted to share this story with you and thank you for the light and fresh perspective your book has brought into the life of my sister at a critical moment in her story. Through her sobs she read her favorite passage over the phone out loud to me, which was the part when you are in the kayaks and feel that the shore is just too far to reach and that no progress is being made, then suddenly it seems that the other shore is pulling you in. Million Miles is my favorite book from 2009. I can’t thank you enough.
Fondly,
Adrianne
I love this video. I took a run at it myself last summer. It didn’t come out quite as good as Francis Chan’s, but it got the point across. I copied the link in case anyone’s interested…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO7CXlayTFM
(Sigh) I have to admit there are times I’m afraid to live beyond my boundaries. It’s so safe and comfortable to stay where I am. But I guess He knows it already because He did help me to step out of my safety-zone a couple of times. But there is still work to do. Thanks for sharing this. I’m glad I found your site.
Adrianne,
That is wonderful news about your sister. I do hope she finds some joy and peace even in her hard situation. I know, even in the midst of the hardest trial, there is so much to be thankful for. What an honor to be on that journey with her! Would you thank her for me? She has encouraged me, too. And how cool to leave the book behind! That’s a great idea. I hope many people sign it and create better stories because of it. Much love to you and yours,
Don
Then there are those of us who risk, take a fall, and then secretly agonize over the meaning of the fall — does it mean that I’m bad, or unworthy, or it’s perhaps its because I didn’t homeschool my kids, or do some other spiritual feat that seems to have other people still “performing” beautifully. Of the course, the truth is that there is no balance beam, or tightrope for that matter, in God’s book. I have to trust that the unique path that God gave me is a good one, because he’s walking it with me! Even if it includes some bone-jarring falls. In fact, God widens the path beneath me as I walk!
By the way Don, in reference to one of your other posts, I was reading your book (Searching for God Knows What) while I was writing mine (Secure in Heart–Overcoming Insecurity in a Woman’s Life). Especially impacting to me was “Adam, Eve and the Alien.” And now four years later, I’ve heard from women all over the world thanking me for helping them rethink their falls. Thanks for your part in this! (And I’d love to send you a copy if you’re interested (-:) robin
To build on this topic of taking risks, I would HIGHLY recommend watching this short film entitled “Lemonade”. I assume many have already seen it, but it is a short, extremely well executed documentary on what some remarkable people have done with their lives after they were laid off from their jobs. Similar to one of the messages in “Up in the Air”, getting laid off from work isn’t just a pink slip…it’s a blank slate to write a story that you are truly passionate about.
View the video here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/120840/lemonade