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Archive for May, 2014

Living For Today

Posted in Church, Community, Hope on May 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

What will this week bring?  Will God use me this week to make a difference in another life?  Or will the days pass by just so that I can mark them off my calendar as if looking forward to some grand event?

So often we miss the blessings of today because we are too focused on tomorrow.  Sometimes we overlook the impact we could make in another life today because we are too busy planning how to impact a life tomorrow.  How often do we rush past someone in need on our way to church to talk about helping people in need?

One of the posts I read regularly dealt with seeing the world through God’s eyes – with God’s perspective.  We are conditioned to see the world and the people in it through our own lenses.  But today, I want to see differently.  I don’t want to rush past a divine appointment because I have already made up my mind that the appointment is tomorrow.  I want to live for today.

Will you strive to see the world through God’s eyes today?

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The Forgotten Ones

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on May 14, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, I experienced something that has reminded me of the importance of my calling – and the calling of every believer.  I had the opportunity to walk among the forgotten.

As I walked down a 3 block area of Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, I witnessed drugs passing openly.  Homeless and desperate people bartered and sold things they had found on the street trying to get enough money scraped together for their next hit.  There were little shops set up in abandoned buildings where clean needles could be acquired.

It is not that I have not looked into the eyes of poverty or addiction before.  Honestly, I am saddened to say, it was not as shocking as I had been led to believe it would be before making the trek.  I guess the experience was just a reminder for me.

As I have processed this experience, what is the most overwhelming to me is the question: “What can I do about it?”

We all face this question in large or small ways.  Each and every day we come into contact with desperate people.  The difference is that the folks I saw yesterday are the forgotten ones.  Most of the desperation we see is masked with a smile.

The answer to the question of what can be done is the same for all of us.  I think it can be simplified into three words – Show them Jesus.  And the way you do that is to 1) Live your faith and 2) Tell your story.

Jesus has made all the difference in my life.  My story can help others see what Jesus can do in their lives.

As we look into the eyes of poverty or hurt or desperation today – the answer is not welfare.  The answer is not a handout.  The answer is not even encouragement.

The answer is Jesus!

Be a blessing today!

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Just Wondering

Posted in Church, Community, Formation on May 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

As believers and followers of the Way, we say we believe that there is one God.  We hold to the truth that Jesus is God’s one and only son.  We accept the fact that Jesus came to earth, showed us how to live and to love and then died in our place on a cross.  We celebrate the fact that on the third day after the cross event, Jesus walked out of that borrowed tomb – alive and well.

We say we believe these things – these basic elements of our faith.

But I wonder what our churches – what our communities – what our world would look like if we lived like we truly believe these things.

Just wondering!

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