Bold As Love Review

It may be heartbreaking at times, but it’s our world, and as Christians we have a calling to be the light and the love to everyone in it. This should not be an innovative concept, especially for Christ followers, but we are part of a broken society that has struggled with loving beyond borders all throughout history.
Bob Roberts addresses the fear, hesitancy, and opportunity that we encounter as we build relationships with those who are seemingly different than we are in his book, Bold as Love. The most profound life lessons are not learned through books, conferences, or lectures, but through our experiences. Numerous stories in this book illustrate the fruits of transformation both in mentalities and relationships through Bob's journey. These concepts do not highlight an option, or a viewpoint, but they acknowledge  the calling that God has given us to love and serve one another, regardless of beliefs or backgrounds. It's not an obligation, but a joy and a blessing. I challenge you to read this book, but more importantly I urge you to act on this divine opportunity that you have to love boldly.

24 Lessons

1. It’s better to start out excruciatingly awkward and grow into who God has made you to be from the inside out, than to have it all when you are 16.
2. Truly appreciate and be grateful for suffering of any kind. God is faithful to lead you to an oasis after you have gone through the valley.
3. Sometimes it is better to say nothing than something.
4. Relationships that begin with servant-hearted intentions are blessed by God.
5. Mistakes and failures can grow and sharpen you, or defeat and destroy you.
6. Our society has an addiction to stress and busyness. What a testament it is to live out the fruits of gentleness, and peace. It seems that people have been disillusioned into thinking that they must be busy to be productive and effective.
7. A supportive and loving family is a treasure and a gift from God.
8. Understand your identity in Christ; it is truly the best version of yourself. This will be revealed to you as you serve him, because that’s what he created you to do.
9. Be quick to forgive because you make mistakes too, and grudges are not becoming.
10. Set goals and accomplish them.
11. Imperfection is beauty.
12. A life free of hardship makes it more difficult to relate and minister to others, another reason to be thankful for the trial.
13. Adults are just as insecure, if not more so than teenagers. This was a surprise to me.
14.  Sometimes those with the fewest opportunities have the biggest dreams, and those with the most opportunities do not know how to dream.
15. Relationships of all kinds determine the trajectory of our life stories. Relationships with family, relationships with mentors, hurtful relationships, relationships with things, relationships with food; they all lead us in directions to influence who we become.
16. Wisdom is- filtering tweets and facebook posts.
17.  There is a difference between being convicted by the spirit and being controlled by guilt.
18. Until we truly believe the things that we know, we cannot experience freedom to the fullest extent that God intended for us.
19. God teaches us through allowing us to wait and become patient. We are ultimately waiting for Christ to return, so in turn we wait for Christ in our marriage, our job, and everything else that is not yet complete.
20. To be successful you must have fun.
21. A kind and encouraging word can go a far way. Too often we miss opportunities to tell people the nice things that we think about them.
22. It is not possible, nor should you aspire to keep everyone happy. Follow Christ and love others, you will upset some.
23. Prepare for the battle, but don’t forget to acknowledge the victory, because he has already fought for you and won.
24. God is sovereign, and eventually, everything is gonna BE OK! 

Significance In Serving

I have always had an ambitious and possibly unachievable approach toward community development, and I am beginning to understand why. My outlook has shifted from numbers and quantity to significance. An individual may not be able to execute a movement on their own, but I think there is great value in individual relationships contributing to transformation. I have learned so many lessons around this concept in the past year, primarily through gaining an inside look into our service at Garden Gate and Ladera Palms.

Verronica is my dear friend who lives at Garden Gate. We have prayed together, served together, laughed together. She had been considering the opportunity to start a small group at Garden Gate around the same time that my cell was ready to multiply. Together we prayed about a seemingly open door to start a cell and felt that God confirmed this opportunity that he had placed before us. Verronica visited our cell and connected with several people in the group. I was so happy to hear that they all spent time together while I was in Vietnam! Our new cell begins in Veronica's home at Garden Gate next Monday. I have a deep sense that God is going to use our group, to grow our group, to multiply our group and invite transformation into the community. This is not a program, it's not an event, it is an opportunity to develop genuine relationships. I'm bothered by the reality that words like "outreach" and "service" carry a somewhat draining connotation in our culture. These words mean something completely different when relationships are formed and we genuinely see each other as brothers and sisters. In the Kingdom of God, there is no mentality of "us" and "them". When we attempt to serve through our resources alone, we reject an opportunity to share the true love of Christ that connects people to each other. It is so important to me to serve alongside the people that we have been called to serve. Next month at Garden Gate, residents will be doing their spring cleaning, and they will bring donated items to the clubroom to "swap" with each other. Then they will bring additional donations to a charitable organization. What a great opportunity they have to bless and serve each other!

I've observed a similar dynamic through our to service to refugee populations at Ladera Palms Apartments in Fort Worth. We have had many opportunities to interact with children and families in this community through engagements of all kinds. The most poignant stories are those that come from individual and significant relationships that are formed between volunteers and refugee families. The spirit comes in when a volunteer's identity changes to a friend, a brother, or a sister. It is no longer a mere commitment or service opportunity. I am anticipating more cells and families to catch on to the great reward that comes from "adopting" these refugee families that are new to America. Our cell has done it, and we have had a blast! Whether we attend birthday parties, bring them to church, or just have tea in their home, they are always so welcoming and loving toward us.

The opportunity to serve is truly God's gift to us. We were designed for relationships, and to be in community with one another. When we run after this opportunity he blesses us through relationships in ways greater than we could have imagined.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Have you told Bob happy birthday yet? I am beyond blessed that this man is my father, my teacher, my mentor, my friend. Thank you dad for what you mean to me and so many others. You are dearly loved!!