One of the biggest traps people of faith fall into is the idea that God is all about saving us from ourselves, but then that’s it.
We like this God who comforts and heals, but we don’t necessarily want to do anything about it. We like a God who will relieve our guilt over the mistakes we’ve made by offering us the forgiveness of the Cross, but not necessarily a God who asks us to turn those mistakes into action.
That’s why I’m thrilled about the recent release of Bil Cornelius’ new book I Dare You to Change: Discover the Difference Between Dreaming of a Better Life and Living It. I’ve written about this new book before here in this blog, but I’d like to touch on the aspect of God being a daring God.
So many of the faith messages we hear today fall into the trap of helping you run into the arms of Jesus, but don’t explain that those arms also are there to stand you up, brush you off, offer a word of encouragement, and get you back out there to living life. Cornelius asks that you not buy into a passive theology like that, and instead take the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus’ forgiveness for the times you fall short, and dare yourself to keep moving, growing, and finding your way to new blessings.
A couple of weeks ago just as the book was being released, Cornelius joined with Corpus Christi mayor Joe Adame to offer a challenge to their city. A recent Men’s Health magazine article determined that Corpus Christi is the most obese city in America. Well that sounded like a challenge to Cornelius and Adame to dare their city to change! You can see a little more of Cornelius being interviewed about the challenge in this FOX interview.
I’ve also been personally challenged by I Dare You to Change! I’ve been working to incorporate the idea that change will happen in my life if I follow godly principles and take risks. And it’s been a great time to have read this book because here at Guideposts our company has challenged each of its employees to play an active role. Rather than passively wait for our top leaders to make decisions, we’re striving to take responsibility and push change not just down but also up. And it’s been thrilling to see that process—what we’ve been calling “leading with courage”—begin to take root.
I hope you’ll take a look at Cornelius’ article in Guideposts. If you like what you see there, then make what could be a huge investment in your life. Take Bil’s Dare to Change Challenge, buy a copy of the book, and get to work knowing that your God is a God of daring and courage.
Plus, check out our video interviews with Bil!
