Hey Brother, You’re F.A.T.!
Hey you! Ya, I am talking to you brother or sister reading this article. I have to tell you something and I know you will love it. I am praying that you are F.A.T.!
I’m serious now. I really hope you’re F.A.T.
Can I Be Fat, Too?
F.A.T. is where it is at. I have to tell you that, since I came to Hope CDA, I have come across some unbelievably F.A.T. people. For example, Trent lost 50 pounds, and he has never been F.A.T.ter in his life. And Ron? Wow, that brother is F – A – T, I mean F.A.T.!
The great thing is that you can be F.A.T., too. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you look like, body type, history, education, or whatever. Brother or sister, if you have Jesus in your life, you can definitely be F.A.T.
Letting the Cat out of the Bag
Ok, for those who are a little confused now, let’s talk about what it means to be F.A.T.:
Faithful
Approachable
Teachable
Feeling a little better now? Good, because you should want to be F.A.T. As Christians, these are three qualities that you should want to gorge on. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we should want to be as F.A.T. as possible.
Faithful
The dictionary tells us that a person who is faithful is true to one’s word and promises, steady in allegiance, reliable, and trusted. The Bible makes it clear that these are all qualities that a believer should have.
Proverbs 28:20 tell us, “A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.” The faithful man, the one who is reliable and trustworthy, will abound with blessings. The faithful woman, the one who keeps her promises and is steady in her allegiance to God, will be blessed abundantly.
We have a faithful God. God is always true to His Word and one of the things that He tells us is that He is faithful to forgive our sins and cleanse us of all righteousness (1 John 1:9). Our God is faithful, and He wants us to be faithful as well.
Proverbs 3:4 tells us that a faithful person will find favor with God. Do you want to find favor with God? Do you want to see success occur in the sight of both God and man? Be faithful to Him! There are countless ways that you can be faithful, including in your relationships, finances, commitments, and work ethic.
Being faithful is not easy. I get that. It’s a struggle my friends, because we each have a terrible nature inside us (Galatians 5:18-21). That old man, as Paul describes it, is T.H.I.N. (Thinking How I Need…). That nature is always thinking about me and what I think I “need” to be happy, healthy, and successful.
You may wonder if all of us have that nature, then how can we be F.A.T.? Good question my portly companions. The reality is that it is a matter of the heart. When you want to be F.A.T., you will soon find that you are stuffed.
Approachable
A F.A.T. sister or brother is one who makes herself or himself approachable to others. Did you know that the F.A.T.test person who ever walked the earth was Jesus? There are many stories where people wanted to come to Jesus, but others tried to stop Him from seeing them. What was Jesus’ response? “Come!” His F.A.T. nature always embraced others. (Is it coincidence that a lot of these stories happened when he was eating with people? I’ll let you decide.)
In Matthew 19:13-14, we are told how parents wanted to bring their children to see Jesus, but the disciples tried to stop them. Jesus told them “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Moms and dads brought their children because they wanted their sons and daughters to be blessed by Him. A perfectly godly thing to do. Every one of us would do that as well. However, here comes those T.H.I.N. disciples, rebuking the parents. “Hey,” they were basically saying, “we need Jesus to ourselves. Go away.” Don’t you just hate T.H.I.N. people?
Jesus wasn’t just F.A.T. for people back then. Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can come boldly, with confidence before the throne of grace. Our God is approachable. No matter what our struggles, sins, challenges, problems, battles, or wicked ways, our God says, “Come and find mercy.” Man, our God is F.A.T.!
Hey sisters and brothers, keep in mind that Jesus wants us to be approachable as well. Many need your help. Every day you see people who are struggling, beaten, anxious, depressed, maybe even ready to give up. They need a F.A.T. person to come and bring them hope. Not just F.A.T., but filled with mercy, love, and grace.
Teachable
It is great to be faithful and approachable, but a F.A.T. person also needs to grow. He or she needs to put on some spiritual weight. How do you do that? By being teachable.
This is the one area where Jesus was often irritated. The religious leaders are one example, as they thought they were righteousness and full of God’s favor. They were experts in the Scriptures, but it was empty carbs my friends. They were unbelievably T.H.I.N.
The disciples were clueless at times as well. Look at Luke 22. Jesus is explaining that He is about to die. He has one last meal with them, and He wants to fill them with some final teachings so that their faith can be massive. They should be stuffed, but they’re not. Jesus tells them that one in their very midst is going to betray Him but, after they ask which one of them would do this, an argument erupts as to who is the greatest among them. They did not consume any of the teachings that Jesus provided, but were only concerned with their own glory.
The Bible tells us that a F.A.T. person is teachable. We need to grow by learning from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13-14), the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16), elders (1 Peter 5:5), and other faithful believers (2 Timothy 2:2). There is a huge buffet of ways you can gorge yourself on God’s way.
Understand that teachable also means accepting the criticisms and corrections that people bring to you. Proverbs 12:1 tells us that a person who loves discipline loves knowledge. It further states that a person who hates reproof is stupid! They are T.H.I.N. They only want their way.
Tell Them Their F.A.T.
Brothers and sisters, as I mentioned to you earlier, there are a lot of F.A.T. people at Hope CDA. Take Phil for example. He’s so F.A.T. that his belt of truth is a bed sheet. Satan is scared every time he sees Phil, knowing he will never get through that girth.
How about Mike. He’s so F.A.T. that he uses a bed frame as his shield of faith. The Devil is not getting flaming arrows through that!
We got some F.A.T. sisters at Hope as well. Take Lavonne for example. She’s so F.A.T. that she stands firm against any category 5 spiritual hurricane coming at her, even though she only weighs 100 pounds.
It is time to tell your brothers and sisters about how F.A.T. they are. In fact, the next time you see Rob, say, “Darn Rob, this is the F.A.T.test I have ever seen you!” He will love that!
I Want to Get F.A.T.!
Do you want to be F.A.T.? Maybe you just want to be F.A.T.ter than ever. Well, now you can be.
You can preorder Dr. Robert Pannier’s book, I Wanna Be F.A.T., which will be produced by Hope CDA. The book will be available on March 31, but you can preorder at a discounted rate by clicking the button below:
This is a great opportunity for you to gorge on the Word of God. In the book, Dr. Pannier breaks down each of the elements to being F.A.T., explaining how you can expand in your discipleship in each of these areas. The book provides a smorgasbord of teachings you can use to apply to your life. It can be used as a great Bible study for yourself, your family, or in a small group.
Once you have read this book, we guarantee that you will be F.A.T.ter than ever before. In fact, a set of 5XL Armor of God comes as a special gift.
Hope Good News
Each week, we will provide you with the good news going on at Hope CDA and there is a lot of great news this past week… Both Josh Hansen and Cody Eickhoff got their driver’s licenses on Friday. Both have vehicles, so they can easily get to work and help out the other men in the program… Speaking of work, Josh not only got his license, but got a new job as well. He will be a foreman at a paint company, leading a residential crew… Chaz Peyton also got a job, returning to Hy-Vee, an employer he previously worked for… Eric Wilson went to a conference for AA in Missouri last weekend. He continues to not only be actively involved in his own recovery but is assisting others in theirs as well… New Program Navigator Luke Cloudman recommitted himself to Jesus on Tuesday. It has been an amazing journey for Luke and we will have his story in an upcoming issue of The Hope Herald.
Hope in the Community
The partnerships between Hope CDA and the greater Cedar Rapids community continues to grow. This last Thursday, Dr. Pannier went to Meth-Wick Community to speak to a large group of their residents. They want to meet the men and hear more about their remarkable stories. That will happen in March… Faith Presbyterian Church also welcomed Dr. Pannier on Sunday where he spoke about Hope CDA and its mission. The congregation has already started collecting tools and equipment to donate to Hope, which they will do on March 4.
Make a Difference at Hope CDA
You ever thought to yourself, “Rob’s job looks easy. I think I could do that!” Well, now you have the chance. Hope CDA is hiring a new Program Navigator. This is a chance to help our men grow in their faith as they also journey toward a sober, drug and alcohol-free life. You can be a big difference maker in these men’s lives.
If you would like to learn more about the position and/or apply, please contact Dr. Pannier (Rob.P@HopeCDAcr.org).
Tuesday Encouragement Night at Hope CDA
This Tuesday we are honored to welcome back Good News Baptist Church Pastor Mike Jones. Mike gave a great message from Ecclesiastes when he was here last time, and we know this message will be as inspiring. Please join us at 6:00 P.M. on Tuesday.
