Okay Mr. Carl Lentz,
I have to hand it to you… you are an amazing preacher, or in this case sharer,
since you were really just sharing your heart in your book “Own the
Moment”. Now I will be honest…up until
last weekend I really didn’t know much, if anything about you…and I probably
wouldn’t have even picked up your book I had I not listened to a backdated
convocation from Liberty University on YouTube that featured you
preaching. Honestly, I was a little
skeptical of you when I found out you were associated with Hillsong. Don’t get me wrong, I love their music, but
people have told me in recent years that hillsong, bethel, and churches such as
those were really just cults... wolves in sheep clothing.. and I needed to be
aware. I think I really only listened to
your YouTube convocation sermon because it came from my school and… well, I
figure it couldn’t be all bad if the school had let you in (which mind you,
isn’t the best logic considering my school recently wouldn’t allow Shane Claiborne
on campus and I have a lot of respect for that guy). Anyway, I heard your sermon and decided to do
a little research on you, only to discover you had a book… better yet, your
book was/is on audible and you were the narrator (I am an audible snob and tend
to listen to books only when the actual author is reading it). Anyway, 7.25 hours later…or in my world,
about a week… and I find not only do I have mad respect for you as a person…but
also as a pastor. God is using your life
sir…which I am sure you don’t need some small-town girl you don’t know to tell
you… and great things are gonna come from what you’ve written.
Now for those of you
reading this who haven’t read Carl Lentz’s book “own the moment”, my
recommendation is to go out and get it a.s.a.p.
Not only is it full of practical advice, but there is life giving truth
in each of it’s pages for both the Christian and non-Christian alike. In the midst of him telling stories from his
own life, you can find both a “I’m not alone” comfort and a kick in the pants
to get over yourself that so many of us so often need. I think for me personally, the biggest takeaway I took from the book was that people are worth investing it, whether that
means other people…or even yourself. God
created every person on this earth and loves each and every one. We all have value and if we take the time to
truly see that…it will change our lives.
Honestly, peopling has never been my forte. I have had moments of greatness when I’ve
somehow figured out how to walk with my guard down long enough to make friends
and influence people…but they’ve been short lived and often times have ended in
me crashing and burning on the relational front. Honestly, I’ve become so bad at friendship
these past few years that a part of me has tried to act like I don’t need it,
even though deep down I know connection to others is what my heart longs
for. Lentz’s book reminded me that my
identity is in God and when I discover and understand that identity it frees me
to open up to others and allow them to enter my heart while I enter theirs. People become a whole lot less scary when we
no longer are expecting anything from them, but rather just choose to love them
because we know we are loved and we want to spread that love around.
Another lesson I
took away from this book was learning to appreciate the life that I have. Lentz calls it having the right
perspective…viewing life not as a bunch of “have to’s” but rather seeing life
as a journey of “getting to”. For me
that means being thankful for
the time I get to spend with my parents and recognizing how lucky I am to be
able to listen to my mom tell me every detail about the tv shows she likes or
the latest news on trump. I may not be
so interested in what she is saying, but I get to have these moments with
her…to hear her voice and to sit next to her why she talks…so many other people
don’t get to have that because either their mom has passed away or doesn’t live
close by. In that sense I am blessed and
all it took was a little bit of perspective shifting to realize it and be
thankful. Of course this goes for other areas of my life as well, but this is the one that sticks out.
There are so may
other little lessons and confirmations that I got from this book as well. Things like not letting fear hold you back
and trusting god to make a way for you instead of trying to force your own way
in life. I could probably write several
more post about all that I gleaned from this book, but honestly it doesn’t
really help you that much to hear what the book spoke to me, instead it would
be so much more valuable for you to go out and read it for yourself. You might just be surprised to find all the
ways God speaks to you through it! So
that’s my final (and I guess, first as well) thought…get this book and read it
for yourself… I doubt you will regret it!
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