Jesus Loves the Outcast. Do I?
This morning’s service really challenged me, even though it’s one of my passions. How did it challenge me? We’ll get there. But first some background information.
Our church recently started small groups for our growing number of adults, and we have been talking about the vision of our particular church, which is Loving, Reaching, Growing. The first two weeks were on loving. Loving God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and translating that into real-life. It was an awesome two weeks.
Today is the third week and the start of the second area, Reaching. I came from a very evangelistic church, so “reaching” is sort of in my blood. But recently, that task has slowly become secondary, and not a primary function of who I am as a follower of Christ.
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Primal
I have been reading Mark Batterson’s latest book, Primal, and it has been a thoroughly enjoyable, challenging read. I follow him on Twitter, and read his blog regularly. I love his insight and honesty in his personal journey, and it challenges me in my own.
In the opening chapter, he boldly writes, “I have become a paid professional Christian.” For me (like many), the tendency is to get so good at doing God’s work that we forget about the God of the work. The work becomes the god. Primal is all about getting back to the roots of Christianity, back to it’s raw form, when it was all about loving God with everything that we are and have.
Anyways, it’s a phenomenal book and I encourage every Christian to read it!
Get Primal today!
Pimp My Ride
A few years ago, there was a show called “Pimp My Ride.” The show was about these guys that would take your average automobile, and turn it into an original masterpiece of beauty and artistry. Your car would truly become one of a kind.
In dating relationships, most people settle for the average person that sort of measures up to their standards, if they even have any other than physical criteria. If you compare a dating relationship to a car, God doesn’t want us to settle for the average, cheap car. He wants us to have a Ferrari. He wants us to have the best spouse available! Who you choose to marry is the 2nd most important decision we will ever make, the first being our choice to serve Christ or not.don’t settle for a Ford when God wants you to have a Ferrari.
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Christmas can (still) change the world
Here we are again. The day before Thanksgiving and two days before the biggest shopping day of the year. Here are some of my thoughts.
It’s estimated that Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year.* And for what? For a gift that he/she MAY like? How long are they actually going to use that? How long until it’s being sold at a garage sale, given to a church or homeless shelter, or worse, thrown away? My wife and I have decided that this year, we are going to go minimal on the consumer type gifts this year, and instead try to do something a little more helpful to those in need.
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Lie To Me*
Lie To Me* is Fox’s brand new hit drama, now in it’s second season. The show is centered around Dr. Cal Lightman, a world-reknown face-reading expert. His expertise is reading “microexpressions,” the near instantaneous, involuntary expressions or gestures shown by a human when they are trying to conceal an emotion. They are the slight changes in the face that reflect in a split instant, what people are truly feeling inside. Microexpressions are the same whether you are in America, Africa, Germany, or Iraq. It is a universal truth test. The entire premise of the show is built around the idea that absolute truth is most accurately revealed from the inside out.
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