Upward, Inward, Outward: Love God, Love Yourself, Love Others

by Daniel Fusco, D. R. Jacobsen (Editor)

Overview

This book is about discovering together how to understand and live the Greatest Commandment. We’re not after the “art of thinking about God a little differently.” We’re here to uncover the needs God created within us—needs for meaning, intimacy, honesty, humility, justice, compassion, and more—and how he designed us to find those needs fulfilled in him.

This is the art of living Jesus’ spirituality.

God gives us the key in the Greatest Commandment, but we’ve got to do this stuff in the right order. Imagine I invite you to my sweet cabin by the lake. To start hanging out in that cabin, you need to get the key from me, pack your car, follow the GPS, and so on. There’s a natural order to it. It’s the same with the Greatest Commandment.

We begin upward, with loving God. The God. God of the Old Testament, God of the New Testament. God the Trinity—Father, Son, Holy Spirit. We continue inward, with understanding our true identities in Jesus. And when we get those things right, God’s Spirit sends us outward, on mission into the world.

These three movements—upward, inward, and outward—mirror the Greatest Commandment and help us learn the art of living harmoniously together in a chaotic world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631463921
Publisher:	The Navigators
Publication date:	10/10/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Daniel came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in April of 1998 while he was in his last year at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. After spending a few years as a professional musician (upright and electric bass), Daniel felt called into the pastoral ministry. He was taken on staff at Calvary Chapel Marin under the direction of Pastor John Henry Corcoran in January of 2000.

After being ordained in 2002, Daniel was sent out to plant Calvary Chapel New Brunswick, located in New Jersey. In November of 2006, that church was turned over to his successor so that Daniel could move back to the San Francisco Bay Area to plant more churches.

While in the Bay Area, Daniel planted Calvary North Bay in Mill Valley, CA. In 2010, while continuing to pastor the church in Mill Valley, he also planted Calvary San Francisco. In 2012, Daniel turned over both churches to successors in order to move to Vancouver, WA to become the Lead Pastor at Crossroads Community Church where he presently serves. Crossroads has campuses in Vancouver, WA, Portland, OR and a vibrant international internet campus. Out of his passion for church planting, Daniel founded the Calvary Church Planting Network, which helps facilitate church planters.

Daniel has a unique style of teaching that takes the timeless truth of Scripture and makes it applicable and simple for men and women of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds in today's society. His teachings can be accessed at danielfusco.com, through iTunes podcasts, YouTube videos and at crossroadschurch.net. His popular #2MinuteMessage can be found on his Facebook page. The Jesus is Real radio ministry that features messages from Daniel is on 50+ stations across the country. The Real with Daniel Fusco tv program is shown nationally.

Daniel is also a gifted writer and a featured contributor to "Preaching Today." He has published articles with Leadership Journal, pastors.com, and Calvarychapel.com. His book, "Ahead of the Curve," is currently available on Amazon.com. His second book, "Honestly," was published by NavPress on April 1, 2016. Daniel's forthcoming book, "Upward, Inward, Outward - Loving God, loving ourselves, loving people" will be published by NavPress in October, 2017.

Daniel is a sought after speaker. He has taught at churches, conferences, retreats, youth rallies, leadership seminars, seminaries, and on campuses, both in the States and abroad.

Daniel's passion for the lost keeps him playing music and drinking coffee in and around Portland, OR where he is able to minister outside the four walls of the church.

Daniel is blessed to be married to Lynn. They live with their three children and a crazy dog in Southwest Washington. 

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Upward

Love God

If we want to learn the art of living, we begin where Jesus did: with the one and only God.

What we believe about God is the furthest thing from abstract. What we believe about God has very real and very practical implications for the way we live each day. It actually drives everything about us.

Here's an unfortunate current example. If you believe God wants to kill everyone who doesn't think exactly the same things you think, then you might conclude that your job is to be a holy warrior. You might even think that murdering people in the name of God is pleasing to God.

Tragically, the news is full of stories like this. It reminds me of a great quote: "You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."

The way we see — or don't see — God has enormous consequences in our everyday lives. It literally influences everything we think and do.

That's why we're beginning our journey with God the Father. We've got to get things right with him before we can do anything else.

And God's created us to do exactly that.

Remember, the needs deep within us are there for a reason: to make us needy! Our needs for meaning, connection, intimacy, and reflection are what point us — drive us, even — upward, to the only one who can truly satisfy them.

Are you ready to look up?

1.1

meaning / worship

Problem

Who are we? Why are we here? How do we find our place in this creative, painful, beautiful thing called life? What's the main thing we should be keeping our eyes on? How can we not lose sight of that — and what's the best way to accomplish it?

I know. That's a ton of questions. Then again, we've got a ton of problems!

We all want to figure out life. We want to understand. We want to know what it all means. And that's where I want to begin: with the simple premise that every person longs for meaning.

Meaning is both the way we define what matters most in life and how we pursue that. Meaning is how we decide what's more or less important — and if we're lucky, it's how we know what's the most important thing of all.

I like how this psychologist puts it:

As human beings, we need to make meaning of our existence. Meaning gives definition to our life and our life path. This search for meaning is often challenging. How do we make sense of who we are within a world that seems out of balance with poverty, war, and famine on the one hand and tremendous privilege on the other?

I mentioned in the prelude that we're going to be exploring what it means to live in three directions: upward, inward, and outward. And here in the first movement, we're looking at what it means to live upward, which might seem a strange choice.

If we're talking about the art of living, it seems as if inward (us) and outward (others) would be the most important. The reason we're beginning upward, though, is that the way we understand God changes everything. I believe that with all my heart.

See, what we believe (or disbelieve) about God shapes the way we think and the way we act. That's why figuring out how to live inward and outward depends on living upward. (If you don't believe me, stick with me at least through this chapter and the next three chapters!)

Usually, though, we look for meaning in the next big life event, rather than in our relationship with God. When I get to college. When I graduate. When I get my dream job. When I get married When I have kids. When I own a house. When I get promoted.

Those aren't bad things. The problem comes when we expect them to provide a level of meaning that they can't.

At some point we find ourselves asking why we cared so much. We might be sitting in our offices doing our "perfect" jobs, wondering why we ever expected this to make such a difference in our lives. There always comes a moment when the thing that was supposed to provide meaning doesn't, and all we can say is, "Really? That's it?"

What happens next is we figure we were chasing the wrong thing ... so we chase the next thing instead.

The next job, the next relationship, the next amount of money. The "meaning treadmill" can last a lifetime — but it doesn't have to. Meaning isn't floating around somewhere, waiting to be captured. Meaning is made — it's what happens at the intersection of upward/inward/outward. It's what happens when what we think and believe is expressed in (or collides with) how we act. Part of the art of living is learning how to make the right meaning out of our lives.

And that depends on how we relate to God.

A lot of the time we're like fish, swimming around our little aquariums. Now I don't know much about the consciousness levels of fish, but I don't imagine a fish thinking, Wow, my water is so interesting today! I really notice it! It seems like it's about, maybe, 0.3 degrees warmer, and it just feels so good sliding across my scales while I swim!

Fish are like us when it comes to meaning! The most important thing in life — God, in whom we live, move, and have our being 3 — so often escapes our attention.

Which is why I'm glad you're reading this, because I can ask you straight out: What is more important than your relationship with God?

I know that's a "pastor" kind of question, but that doesn't make it wrong! I mean, if there is a God who created and sustains everything (which I believe), then our relationship with God is ultimate.

Now here's where I'm going to take us: We all need meaning, and because ultimate meaning can only be found in our relationship with God, worship is what satisfies our need for meaning.

You might be like, "Okay, Fusco, not sure I buy that. That's a big jump you're making."

Yep, it is.

Promise

I want you to read the lyrics of a song I love. Kind of a golden oldie, except way older than Elvis. But it'll always be a classic ... and it happens to be about our need for meaning.

Praise the Lord.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
That's Psalm 149:1-5, and its theme is praise and worship — which just so happens to be the theme of the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

The Word tells the story of God and the story of people encountering God. Sometimes we honor God, and sometimes we dishonor God. It's not God who is changing across those thousands of years — it's us! Throughout every change, God continually and lovingly calls his children back to worship him.

Why? Because God deserves it, and because it is through worship we discover ourselves.

In the Ten Commandments, the first thing God tells us is that we should not worship anything other than God. Because he created us, God knows how prone we are to do exactly that.

We're not just tempted to worship bad stuff either. Like, it's obviously wrong to exploit the poor because we worship profit. But we even worship good stuff! We have a tendency to take good things and make them the most important things ... which makes them bad things. Not bad because they're inherently bad, but because they take the place of God.

And worshiping anything that takes the place of God ruins our quest for meaning.

It's as though we're lost in the woods at night and only one person has a flashlight. If we don't make following that bobbing light our highest priority, we're not going to make it back to the parking lot. Even a good thing, like a quick water break, becomes a bad thing if it takes the place of following the leader.

Here's the thumbnail sketch of what biblical worship is. The word worship comes from worth, and the suffix -ship, which basically means having the "condition" or "quality" of something. So if something has worth to us, we worship it, at least to a certain extent. It's possible for the same person to worship God, for example, and to worship football. Worship isn't zero-sum. But it is true that only one thing can be on the throne of your heart.

So if we define our whole existence by how much money we make, guess what? Money will become our life. Same with our jobs, kids, sports, and so on.

We want it to be possible to serve two masters. We'd each love it if we could make God our number-one priority and make our job our number-one priority. Can't we have it all?

Nope. Never.

That's not how life works. We are one-master creatures. The minute we elevate something to the place of honor in our hearts, we dethrone everything else.

It's not a matter of if we're worshiping. The real question is this: Is what we're worshiping worthy of defining our lives?

Because we'll only find true meaning if the object of our worship is truly worthy.

We Worship the Creator King Together

So in general worship matters — just like the specifics of who and how we worship matter. Let's go back to the first line of our song.

Praise the Lord.

Now those three words are actually a single Hebrew word. Hallelujah. Hallel means "praise," and ujah is talking about Yahweh, the Lord.

The object of our praise shouldn't be random. In fact, worshiping God is the only choice that makes sense. Why? Check out this line: Let Israel rejoice in their Maker.

We're going to worship something, right? And there are tons of good things in our lives ... but none of those things created us.

Only our Creator King understands the intention for which everything has been created. God doesn't just know "how to provide meaning" in some abstract sense ... God knows how to provide you with the exact kind of meaning you are wired for. And God invites you to discover that through worship.

At this point, though, you might be thinking, Well, if God's the King, then there's an awful lot of rebellion going on. Why should I worship my Maker when he cant seem to control his Kingdom?

Fair question! And guess what? You're right — there's a ton of rebellion going on! Thing is, we are the rebels. All of us. (Unless you're perfect, in which case you probably don't need to be reading this!) And God could fix everything right now. Sure, it would destroy our free will, but he could.

But check out why he doesn't: The King's will is that no one should perish and that all should come to him. Our Creator King hasn't stamped down humanity's rebellion against his royal authority because he wants us to be saved! If Jesus had come back twenty years ago, I would never have known him. And that happens every day, all around the world.

That's the kind of king I love serving. The kind of king I will give my life for if needed. And the one I want to worship.

The best part is that when I worship, I get to stand beside my brothers and sisters in a worshiping community. Theologians call this corporate worship, which is just a fancy way of saying that all the parts of Christ's body — all of us — come together for one purpose.

Worshiping together isn't one way to worship. It's the way to worship.

Now I'm not saying it's impossible to worship alone. We worship in our cars and in cubicles and in solitary confinement. But those instances of worship connect us with our Creator King, and with Jesus, and are meant to propel us back together to give thanks and learn and sing. In our sinful world, it isn't always possible to worship together in community. But corporate worship is part of God's design. Read Psalm 149:1 again: "Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people" (emphasis added).

This is one of the reasons I believe faithful, orthodox Christianity is such a challenge in the twenty-first-century West.

Think about it. Our culture is all about the individual. About me. My relationship with God, my experience at church, my family, my money, my hobbies. The list goes on and on. This is at the DNA level for most of us. But the interesting thing is that all through the Bible, it's about community. About us and we and everyone. From Genesis 1:26 ("Let us make [humans] in our image ...) to Deuteronomy 6:4 ("Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God") to Jesus ("Our Father ...") to the Epistles (1 Corinthians 12 and 13) to our ultimate home (Revelation).

God saves us from our sins and places us into a worshiping community. (More on that later in chapter 3.3.)

That's where we make the kind of meaning that will last a lifetime — and beyond.

We Worship in the Spirit and in Truth

Our need for meaning takes us to John 4, which tells the story of Jesus talking to someone scholars refer to as "the woman at the well." She was a Samaritan, which according to Jesus' culture meant he should have hated her. And she was a multidivorcée living with her latest boyfriend, while he was an upstanding single man. Meaning he should have steered clear.

Before we continue, let that sink in for a sec: Jesus wasn't just polite to people who crossed his path ... he sought out people he was supposed to avoid!

Here's what Jesus says to her in verse 24: "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."

Our need for meaning is satisfied when we worship both in the Spirit and in truth. It's like two sides of one coin. Better yet, it's like looking at something with both eyes open. Using both eyes is what gives us 3-D vision and allows us to, for example, catch a baseball before it smacks us in the head. With only one eye open, what we see is flattened and limited.

Unfortunately, when it comes to worship, we're really good at focusing on either the Spirit or the truth.

Let's start with the Spirit. No matter what our backgrounds or denominations — or even personal preferences — we need to worship God expressively, in the Spirit. Psalm 149:3 shows us why. I love this: "Make music to him with timbrel and harp." Whoever wrote this psalm didn't know about the electric bass, obviously, but if they did? Make music to him with drums and bass!

You might be saying to yourself, "Bro, I just like to keep it low-key and not pretend to be all emotional about everything."

If you're saying that, don't freak out. We're not talking about your eternal salvation or anything.

At the same time, however, I hope to show you a better way! Because when it comes to worship, some of us are too cool for school, and that completely misses God's design for us.

Here's an example. I love being a parent. And I love my son, Obadiah. Right now he's at that age where he's too cool to show affection for me in public. After a recent soccer game, 1 was going to wrap him up in a big hug. But he knew that, so he tried to go ninja on me and duck under the hug. Except I knew that he knew, and I snagged him anyway and said, "So now you're too cool for me to put my arms around you?"

"No."

"Then give Daddy a kiss. Come on, buddy ... what's going to happen if your friends see me kiss you?"

Pray for my son. I'm probably messing him up something good! Thing is, he loves me a ton. When we're in the van or at home, he's all about the hugs and chitchat and fist bumps and camaraderie. It's just that when we're in public, he has a different standard. Which is, basically, act like you don't know me.

If that's the way you worship, you're doing it wrong. I'm just gonna tell you straight out, okay, and pray that you keep reading!

Sometimes we're like (read this in your least expressive voice), "Yep, uh-huh, praise God. Mmm-hmm. Praise, praise, praise ... are we done praising yet?"

But God isn't just worthy of worship — God is worthy of passionate worship.

One of my favorite examples of this comes from 2 Samuel 6. You'll have to read it yourself, but the main idea is that King David, who's the most powerful person in the whole land, gets so excited by worshiping God that he dances "with all his might" (verse 14). With a band, at a public parade. And did I mention he was in his underwear?

We probably shouldn't show up to church next week in our tighty-whities, but we should allow the Spirit of God to move us and inspire us, even if it's uncomfortable at first.

Okay, now that I've got us dancing in our underwear and praising God ... let's take a little Gatorade break and read the Word again. It's time to look at how to worship in truth.

The truth — about God, about us, about our world — causes us to be humble. And humility causes us to seek out the truth, because we know we need it. If you were about to die of kidney failure and a stranger appeared out of nowhere to give you their kidney, you wouldn't be like, "Um, thanks."

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Upward, Inward, Outward"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Daniel Fusco.
Excerpted by permission of NavPress.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Prelude xi

Movement 1 Upward (Love God) 1

1.1 Meaning / worship 5

1.2 Connection / prayer 21

1.3 Intimacy / solitude 39

1.4 Learning / deepening 59

Movement 2 Inward (Love Yourself) 77

2.1 Honesty / reflection 81

2.2 Self-control / fasting 101

2.3 Intentionality / biblical simplicity 121

2.4 Humility / direction 139

Movement 3 Outward (Love Others) 161

3.1 Justice / service 165

3.2 Self-expression / creativity 185

3.3 Relationship / community 203

3.4 Compassion / generosity 223

Postlude 243

Acknowledgments 245

About the Authors 247

What People are Saying About This

Levi Lusko

Our identity drives our activity, and when we know who God is and who he says we are, it changes everything. In this book Pastor Daniel Fusco does a phenomenal job helping us learn the art of loving God, loving ourselves, and loving people through different lenses such as worship, fasting, and community.

Jessie Minassian

With the same finesse, expertise, and splash of funk he famously exhibits on the bass guitar, Pastor Daniel Fusco has composed a virtual discipleship jam session in Upward, Inward, Outward. It’s simple, rich, and foundational—not unlike the gospel it explains.

Robert Gelinas

A life committed to loving God, loving self, and loving others—upward, inward, outward—is an art. Daniel Fusco is a winsome and pastoral guide on this journey, which will leave you “insanely hopeful.”

Jeremy Camp

I always appreciate the unique way in which Daniel nuances the basic truth about life. He tackles difficult issues with grace and simplicity and helps us all look more intently at Jesus.

Larry Osborne

In his newest book, Upward, Inward, Outward, Daniel Fusco takes us beyond the theory of loving God and others and into the practical reality of what it means to do so daily. I encourage you to let him guide you through three of the most important things we’re called to do: love God, love ourselves, and love others. You’ll be glad you did.

John Mark Comer

One of the brutally hard lessons I had to learn as a young pastor was this: For Americans aged forty and under, the spiritual disciplines are pretty much gone. And in the digital age—when multinational corporations such as Apple, Google, and Facebook are spending billions of dollars to make distraction and addiction the new normal—we desperately need to reawaken these ancient practices. After all, the way of Jesus is just that—a way of life. I’m thrilled to see Daniel, my fellow Pacific Northwest pastor, writing about these very practices. I deeply believe they are key to the future of the church.

Aubrey Sampson

Author, pastor, and musician Daniel Fusco writes like the jazz musician he is—and you can’t help but be drawn into the dynamic rhythm and sway of his words about life with the King of kings. Fusco takes you on an energetic and fun journey through the greatest commandment, inviting you to connect intimately with God and with others and encouraging all of us to lead lives of passion and legacy—all to the glory of our creative and wonderful Jesus.

Derwin L. Gray

This book is important. It’s beautifully written because Daniel writes about what’s important to Jesus—love. As you read this book, you will become more loving toward God, yourself, and others.

Dr. Philip Nation

This is a grace-filled, gospel-focused, joy-inducing book that will deepen your walk with Jesus. I’m grateful for Daniel’s work and inspiring passion.

Luis Palau

Ever since I first met Daniel, I have been blessed by his commitment to Scripture, his passion for the lost, and his dedication to the church. He is a gifted teacher, an engaging communicator, and a humble follower of Jesus who wants nothing more than to see others thrive in their own walks with God. I’m excited to see how God uses this book to inspire, challenge, and motivate others to live into their fullest potential in Christ.