Independence Day
Independence Day. A day that we can celebrate our Independence as a nation. As tough as it may seem at times, and as corrupt as our politicians may be, we still live in the greatest country in the world. That would not be possible without the sacrifice of many soldiers throughout our short history as a country. So if you served in the military and are reading this, I want to say thank you.
As great as this country is, I do want to stress that our citizenship is first found somewhere else. Philippians 3:20 says that our citizenship is in heaven. We do live in a great country, but just remember that we are first Christ-followers, then Americans.
1 comment 4 July, 2009
Sharing Our Faith
This morning, Matt and I went to Panera Bread while awaiting the North American Christian Convention to kick off for the day. As I sat there with my mug of coffee and started to read through Philippians, I was amazed at Paul’s disposition while in prison.
Philippians 1:14 shows Paul explaining how “most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Paul not only went to prison, he not only praised God during the whole experience, but he also brought people who shared in his imprisonment to a saving relationship with Jesus. How awesome is that!?
I wish that I would have done the same thing while working at Blockbuster or Starbucks. God could have done great things at those place if only I had let Him.
How then, do we share our faith?
I think, for starters, it could be done in a similar fashion to how we share our hobbies and family with people. If we are truly committed to the Gospel, if we are continually building significant community with other Christ-followers, then it should be both natural and easy to talk to others about our faith. (Notice I said our faith, not the faith)
We need to get excited about our faith so that we can then share that excitement with other people. If we are not excited about ourselves, how can we ever hope to win people to Christ?
4 comments 1 July, 2009
The Legacy of Michael Jackson
As many of you have probably heard, Michael Jackson died today in Los Angeles. Though I am not completely sure on the details, I do know that this is not tabloid material; it’s real.
Michael Jackson was a person who lived an interesting life. Since the age of 9 he has pretty much been in the spotlight. I wonder, however, what will be remembered from Michael Jackson in twenty-five years? What will his legacy be?
Will we remember his days in Jackson 5? Will we remember his dance moves? What about his music videos? Or will he be remembered as the weird looking man that liked children? Unfortunately this may be the case, but only time will tell.
When we die, that is it. We no longer have any influence on how the world looks at us. Michael Jackson can no longer change his fate, nor can Ferrah Fawcett who also died today of cancer.
What about your legacy? My hope is that you will be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (1 Timothy 4:7) Keeping the faith is essential. No matter how many things we accomplish here in this life, it can mean close to nothing when looking at eternity.
Do you think God really cares if you were the most popular person in the 80’s? Do you think God really cares that you have an LCD television? Do you think God really cares that you retired at the age 50?
What kind of legacy are you leaving? Is it one that God cares about?
1 comment 25 June, 2009
Are We Still Excited?
Are you still excited about your faith? I want to challenge you with this question.
Several evenings past at the communty group I attend, this question came up. This is a serious matter here. Think about it. If you are excited about something, you generally devote time and effort to that particular thing.
Take a football game for example. People get excited about this to the point that an entire day is devoted to the event. This isn’t just a one time occurance either. Every week the same energy is there. And the off season is spent dwelling on the upcoming year (in the case of the Cubs you also hear phrases like “this will be the year”).
Why is that same excitement not the case at our Sunday gatherings? Honestly, the fact that God died for us is worth getting excited over time after time.
How can we get more excited about our faith? What’s it going to take?
2 comments 20 June, 2009
Inspiration to Write
More than two weeks have passed since my last entry. I do not have some reason to account for the lack of posting, other than I have not been inspired enough to blog as of recent.
Most of the blogging I do comes from thoughts running through my brain that have generally been provoked by reading a book. Many times it is good stuff, but I do not feel that it would make good blog material. In other words, it doesn’t give me inspiration to write.
With this thought, I think I’d like to ask a very simple question to you. The only way this will work effectively is if you actually take a few minutes and comment to make an answer. My hope is to get a pretty good list going here. And the question:
What inspires you to write? live? go about from day to day?
I look forward to seeing your reply.
1 comment 18 June, 2009
