05.17.10
Last week we looked at living in light of eternity, but what does that mean? Should you quit your job and stand on the corner preaching? Should you shave your head and go live alone in the forest spending 24 hours a day in prayer? What does it mean to “Fix our minds on things above”?
Throughout the New Testament is a principle of living our ordinary everyday lives in the context of God’s Kingdom. So, what does that mean? Well, do you see the people in your lineup as Kooks and Rippers or do you see all people as creations of God, loved by God, hopelessly lost without God and deeply hungry to know God? Do you give 50% at your job because the boss is a jerk and no one really cares or do you give 110% because you believe that ultimately you don’t work for a person or a paycheck but for God and that your efforts show how much you value HIM? Do you, like Jason Bourne, see yourself as a secret agent placed in everyday circumstances for a greater purpose? Are you eagerly awaiting “assignments” from God Almighty for how to do life in a way that will matter forever? Do you rejoice in the hard times because you know that your loving heavenly Dad is in control?
When Jesus gave us the “Great Commission” it wasn’t really “Great”. It was for everyday people in everyday living. As Dann Spader says, maybe we should re-label it the “Everyday Commission”. In fact, the passage in Matt 28 begins (in a better translation) “Going, make disciples…” The idea was that in our everyday lives we are the connection between the temporal and the eternal.
I challenge you today to see the details of your day in the light of eternity. God is working an eternal plan in and through you today right there sitting on your surfboard
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Emily Haager
05.10.10
Emily Haager went home to be with the LORD on May 1st. May 8th we celebrated her life. She once told a friend that a lot of people live at 80% for the Lord and she wanted to strive for 100%. That’s how she invested her life. She allowed Jesus to shine thru her so much that everyone that met her loved her (see Transworld Surf’s tribute) I doubt that she has any regrets about that now. She reminded me what’s important, that life is short, each day a gift and I must be intentional how I INVEST it. At times like these we remember what is real.
2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
So, where are you investing your life today? Don’t feel guilty, don’t grumble, don’t start comparing how you’re doing better than so and so. Just fix your eyes – change your focus and then allow Jesus to change your life.
Emily was meditating on these verses this year.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Our June newsletter will be highlighting Em as a model of a CS leader.
Emily Haager
Emily Haager went home to be with the LORD on May 1st. May 8th we celebrated her life. She once told a friend that a lot of people live at 80% for the Lord and she wanted to strive for 100%. That’s how she invested her life. She allowed Jesus to shine thru her so much that everyone that met her loved her (see Transworld Surf’s tribute) I doubt that she has any regrets about that now. She reminded me what’s important, that life is short, each day a gift and I must be intentional how I INVEST it. At times like these we remember what is real.
2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
So, where are you investing your life today? Don’t feel guilty, don’t grumble, don’t start comparing how you’re doing better than so and so. Just fix your eyes – change your focus and then allow Jesus to change your life.
Emily was meditating on these verses this year.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Our June newsletter will be highlighting Em as a model of a CS leader.
Emily Haager
Noah's Ark
05.03.10
Well, did you see the news this week? Noah’s Ark is back in the headlines. Let me say right off the bat – I have no idea if this is the Noah’s Ark. So, why does this matter? In a total oversimplification the logic goes like this; if it is Noah’s Ark than the Bible is true and everyone will turn to Jesus and the world will become utopia. Or, it isn’t the Ark hence proving that the story is ridiculous and proving that the Bible isn’t true and ridding the world of Christianity.
But that doesn’t match what Jesus taught us. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells a story of a rich man that dies and goes to torment. Dialogue takes place and ends with the man asking that someone would go and tell his brothers so that they would not come to this place of torment. Then verse 31 happens: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
The reality is that people do not believe in Jesus or reject him based on facts. Don’t get me wrong, truth is very important. But, there are plenty of “facts” to support the Bible, Jesus and His resurrection. The fact is that God asks us to trust HIM. That is a decision. People choose to believe or not believe for reasons unrelated to the facts. Reasons like pain in life, disappointment, anger, pride and the list goes on. It’s the same with questions: People ask questions for two reasons, 1. They want answers 2. They want excuses to do as they please.
So, here’s a question to ask your friends, “If you get answers to your questions are you prepared to lay your life down at the feet of Jesus and follow Him?” The problem may not be intellect and a lack of information, it may have more to do with the will.
Well, did you see the news this week? Noah’s Ark is back in the headlines. Let me say right off the bat – I have no idea if this is the Noah’s Ark. So, why does this matter? In a total oversimplification the logic goes like this; if it is Noah’s Ark than the Bible is true and everyone will turn to Jesus and the world will become utopia. Or, it isn’t the Ark hence proving that the story is ridiculous and proving that the Bible isn’t true and ridding the world of Christianity.
But that doesn’t match what Jesus taught us. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus tells a story of a rich man that dies and goes to torment. Dialogue takes place and ends with the man asking that someone would go and tell his brothers so that they would not come to this place of torment. Then verse 31 happens: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
The reality is that people do not believe in Jesus or reject him based on facts. Don’t get me wrong, truth is very important. But, there are plenty of “facts” to support the Bible, Jesus and His resurrection. The fact is that God asks us to trust HIM. That is a decision. People choose to believe or not believe for reasons unrelated to the facts. Reasons like pain in life, disappointment, anger, pride and the list goes on. It’s the same with questions: People ask questions for two reasons, 1. They want answers 2. They want excuses to do as they please.
So, here’s a question to ask your friends, “If you get answers to your questions are you prepared to lay your life down at the feet of Jesus and follow Him?” The problem may not be intellect and a lack of information, it may have more to do with the will.
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