100%

Last night after a meeting I was watching Motocross X -treme. If you don't know what that is, you are missing out. Men on motorcycles do outrageous tricks while riding 250 lb dirt bikes. The only way they are to do these tricks is by committing 100% to the trick. If they give less than 100% they are eating dirt.

It made me think of Sunday mornings talk, am I giving 100%? In my life all too often I want to commit 1/2 way, it results in not completing what God's best is for me. I wonder how outrageous our lives would be if we were willing to live and commit 100% of our time, energy and talents to God's kingdom work. Are you willing to give 100%?

CHOOSE JOY

This week we started are series entitled "CHOOSE JOY." Why title it this way. During a rough point in my life I lost my joy. I couldn't see anything but struggles, problems and difficulties. People around me criticized and leadership was lacking. I went to applebee's with a friend, Laurie Watkins, and she set me straight. She helped to see that life will be full of times like this but it doesn't have to rob us of joy. As I sat and listened I realized that no one could rob me of my joy except myself. She said over and over, you must CHOOSE JOY. As I walked away I remember thinking to myself, I want joy and I am not going to let any person or thing rob me of my joy. My joy will come from who I am in Christ and His pleasure of my life. As you go through you week, do not rob your joy but CHOOSE JOY.

Dinner Conversation

Tonight as we were eating dinner, the subject of what are our goals in life came up. As we talked we got answers ranging from being a vet, missionary, pilot or professional athlete. We shared what had to be done to accomplish these goals.
Then the question was asked, if others looked at your actions what would they say are your goals? What a challenging questions. Often times we can say the right things , but if we were judged by our actions and motives it would look much different. As you go through the week, ask yourself, How do my actions show who I am?

Holiness?

What is holiness? This question is one that haunts me. God tells us to be holy for he holy. I am not sure we grasp the reality of His holiness. When scripture tells us of individuals who have seen God in His holiness, one thing is always the same. These individuals walk away radically changed. Isaiah is willing to spread God's plan despite opposition. Paul is blinded and radically changes his lifestyle and serves Christ with His life.

This Sunday we are going to take a look at Isaiah 6. This is Isaiah's vision of heaven. Hopefully we will walk away changed never to be the same again. Hope to see you Sunday.

Love the Snow?

This morning as I was shoveling the snow, I had time to think. First I was upset because many of my neighbors had snow blowers and I was stuck with my shovel. Then as I was continuing to dwell on my situation a verse came to mind, "REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS". My response was that Christ never encountered ice and snow in the Midwest, so He would understand.

A little while later as I was driving to the office I noticed a brother and sister playing in the snow. My mind went back to the times as a I kid I would sled at my grandparents farm. Joy came to me. As I thought about that I realized that the snow and ice were not the robbers of my joy, but it was me. The snow is great, unless I have to endure and work to remove it.

How often is my joy robbed because I have to endure and work at life. Remember rejoice in the Lord always, even if you have to shovel the snow.

Where Would Christ Be?

Have you ever thought about where Christ spent the majority of His time? Scripture gives us snapshots of His life. It let's us know the priorities and mission He came to fulfill. I believe it is also important to understand the places that he went and the significance that it held in the culture.

We see Christ at the well. A place where individuals went in the course of their daily lives. We see Christ at the fields, the place where many worked and socialized. We see him overlooking the city, a place where people went to reflect. While he was at many places, it seems a lot of his time was spent in a place where the people he was trying to reach lived life. It appears Christ went with the purpose of connecting with them in order to fulfill His mission.

Ask yourself, if Christ were to come to our culture today, where would we find Him spending most of His time? Are we spending time investing in those places for His mission?

Playing Games

This passed week I watched the movie Rudy on DVD. A great story of an average athlete with a huge heart for the game of football. His grades did not allow him to go to Notre Dame for the first two years of his college life. Instead he was able to be a part of the grounds crew. During work he reinacted the game from the previous day, just like it was happening to him.

I wonder how many of us in our lives pretend our spiritual lives. We relish in the accomplishments of those we know or our church but are just pretending like we are part of the action. This Sunday we will be looking at the church of Sardis who just pretended to be church.

Are you a part of the action or are you just living in a fantasy world? Don't just go through the action but live the life God intended. Remember it is not what we do for Christ but who we are in Christ. We serve because we know Him not the other way around.

PS - Somebody got on me this morning since I haven't blogged since January. I will try to do this more often. Thanks for reading