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Archive for the ‘Motivational’ Category

The Unknowable God

Posted in Formation, Hope, Motivational on October 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I am still reading in Romans 11.  Today I got to the end of the chapter and ran across this verse and I have been rejoicing in it ever since.  Do this for me – stop reading right here, just for a minute, and click the link in green and read the verse and then come back here and read the rest of the post.

Now just let that verse settle for a minute . . .

There is no way we can ever fully understand God.  We talked about this earlier this week.  I learned early in my college career, a very frustrating lesson.  I really like to have things nailed down and really understand things, but I learned early on that in a lot of areas, the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know.  Now that may not bother you, but for me, it has been a lesson that frustrated me at first.

But when I understand this truth about God, I have to stop and praise my Creator!  God is so magnificent, so big, so beyond anything we can understand, that it makes me realize there is nothing I can encounter that God cannot handle.

God is so awe inspiring that I don’t have to worry about anything – nothing!  In fact, simply thinking about how overwhelmingly unknowable God is shrinks my problems and concerns.

How big is God to you?

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It’s All or Nothing

Posted in Formation, Motivational on October 27, 2009| 1 Comment »

One of my favorite authors of all time is Thomas Merton.  He has been described as one of the most influential spiritual masters of the twentieth century.  He was a monk, a poet and a writer.

I ran across this quote yesterday and it has had me thinking ever since:  “A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all.  No man can serve two masters.  Your life is shaped by the end you live for.  You are made in the image of what you desire.”

“A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all” – Wow!  That hits home for me.  I think we all have a tendency to compartmentalize our lives – our spiritual lives are lived at church, our family lives are lived at home and our work lives or school lives are lived there.  But Merton reminds us that it is all or nothing.

Is your job spiritual?  How about your home or family life – is it spiritual?  God wants all of you not just part of you.

I challenge you today to spend some time contemplating your life.  Is it spiritual (focused on God – serving God) or is it non-spiritual (focused on yourself)?

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Lesson On a Mini-Bike

Posted in Formation, Humor, Motivational on October 26, 2009| 1 Comment »

One of my earliest memories on a motorized vehicle was when I was about 6 years old or so.  My dad had found a mini-bike.  Now for you folks not familiar with such things, a mini-bike is a small two-wheeled invention with a five horse or so motor mounted on it – no gears, just a throttle and a brake.  This one was red and it had black handle grips and a black seat – the seat was a piece of plywood with 3″ foam on top and covered in black shag carpet – yeah, real shag baby.  It was stylish.

The brake was a foot lever that when pushed would make a steel plate press against the tire – yep, that’s how you stopped (in theory anyway).  My first time on that contraption was in the alley behind our house.  Now a key point to the story comes at this point – at the west end of our alley was a street but at the east end, the alley made a T and there was a row of houses backed up to the alley, each with a back fence (you may be guessing what comes next but don’t get ahead of me).

My dad pull started the engine, I got on and away I went, straight down the alley.  Things were progressing well until I realized I was going to have to slow down at the end of the alley.  A minor point omitted to this point, and unbeknownst to me at the time, is that the throttle had a tendency to stick.  I let off the throttle but nothing happened, I maintained my break-neck speed (probably about 20 miles per hour).  I began to push the brake with my foot but it wasn’t helping.

I got to the end of the alley and went head-on into a fence.  Oddly enough, that stopped me.  I missed a telephone pole by inches so I walked away with only a deep scrape on my knee from glancing off the pole.  But the fence didn’t fare so well – I had knocked it down.  I am sure my dad spent the better part of a day repairing the fence so it was fine.  But I was left with a fear of that mini-bike and a scar that I carried on my knee for years to come.

I quickly got over my fear, but the scar remained.

I am reminded today that we all have scars – all kinds of scars – physical, emotional and maybe even spiritual.  But here is the challenge for today, don’t let the scars hold you back, use them to remind you of the lessons you learn along the journey – let those lessons make you stronger.

God wants to use all of you to make a difference – scars and all!

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Be Full

Posted in Formation, Motivational on October 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I was reading in Romans 11 this morning of how Paul was considered the Apostle to the Gentiles or the non-Jewish folk of the time.  He talked here about how his hope was that through the conversion of the non-Jewish people, that the Jews (his very people) would be jealous and thus want to turn to Jesus as well.

But here is what caught my attention today, the word that will stay with me and hopefully form me to be more like Jesus today is “fulfillment.”  Paul said in verse 12 that through their reconciliation to Jesus, they would be fulfilled.

How many people do you know that are looking for fulfillment?  Are you looking for fulfillment?  Do you turn to your job to fill that need for validation and feeling full?  Do you turn to your spouse for that feeling of fulfillment?

The Bible teaches that true fulfillment – feeling complete and valued – can only come from God.  Why is that?  I believe it is because in reality, when this life is over, all that really matters is how we followed Jesus.  What did you do with your life to make an impact for God’s kingdom.

The only thing that really brings fulfillment is a life lived for Jesus – fleshed out in how we love others – that’s the full life.

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It’s Monday

Posted in Formation, Hope, Motivational on October 19, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Never fails, when I wake up the day after Sunday, it is Monday.  It comes around every week!  So here we are this morning, it’s Monday again.  For some, Mondays are dreaded days.  But they don’t have to be.  Try this today:

  1. Read this
  2. Then pray that God will open your eyes to people and things around you that should invoke praise
  3. Determine today that you will impact at least one life positively this week
  4. On Tuesday, repeat all of the above – then continue each day in the same fashion.

Have a great week!

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Changing Seasons

Posted in Formation, Hope, Motivational on October 16, 2009| 1 Comment »

Fall Backyard

Fall officially began a couple of weeks ago, and it is in full swing around here now.  The picture above was taken yesterday in my yard.  I love this time of year.  The leaves are turning and the temperatures become very pleasant – brisk mornings and warm afternoons.  Everything is changing – it’s refreshing.

As I drove home from work yesterday, I was noticing all the fall colors and I began to think about the change of seasons.  In most parts of the world, God created four seasons – four distinct climate changes to keep us on our toes.  I really believe God knew that if things stayed the same day in and day out, that we would become complacent, stagnant and bored.

With the changing of seasons, I think we are reminded of at least two things.  The first is that we should guard ourselves against becoming stagnant and bored.   God created us to be alive – to live life and enjoy it – to make a positive impact on those around us.

The other thing we are reminded of is that regardless of where we find ourselves today, tomorrow is a new day full of opportunities.  Just as the seasons change, so can our situations.  There is a lot of hope found in this fact.

Life should be full of hope!  God intended us to live and to do so with hope.

My challenge to you today is to reflect on areas of your life that may need a little change and then take concrete steps to make those changes for the better.

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It Takes More Than 140 Characters

Posted in Community, Motivational on October 8, 2009| 3 Comments »

In our tech savy world, we have become quite efficient.  We have learned to do more with less – or have we?  We have developed technology that helps us communicate with others in all kinds of new and creative ways – efficient ways.  I can email someone in another city or even country and in seconds, get an answer to my question.

I can send a text message to a friend and get a response without the wasted time of all the normal pleasantries of a personal conversation.  We have become very efficient in many ways.  But what is this doing to our relationships?  (You know it might be an issue for you if you text message your child to come to dinner and he or she is just in the other room).

We have become proficient in communicating in 140 characters or less thanks to Twitter, but what can we really communicate in 140 characters?

Don’t get me wrong, I have adapted to the way we communicate right along side the rest of you, but every once in a while, maybe, just maybe we ought to stop long enough to really have a conversation – invest in each other’s lives.

My challenge to you today is this:  Think of someone you have not talked to in a while – then pick up the phone and call them – maybe even go to lunch and really build a relationship.

God created us for community, one with another.  It is hard to grow a community in 140 characters.

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Have Some Fun

Posted in Formation, Grace, Motivational on October 7, 2009| 1 Comment »

I have been listening to the new David Crowder Band CD for about two weeks.  I don’t know if you are a Crowder fan but I have always loved their music.  I had the opportunity to visit University Baptist Church in Waco a few years ago and got to hear them there (they are the worship band for the church).  I think I have every release they have done.

At any rate, this new work is a little different (of course most of Crowder’s are).  The title cut is called “Church Music.”  The song is not what you would expect – it has a 70’s disco sound combined with a little 80’s pop – and it is just fun.

As I was listening to the song this morning, I was reminded that church – and our Christian walk – are not meant to be serious all the time.  God created us to have fun occasionally too.

So here is your challenge today – go have some fun.  Do something spontaneous – and while you are doing it, praise God for loving you!

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Living On The Beam

Posted in Formation, Motivational on October 6, 2009| 3 Comments »

Balance Beam Pic

Sunday I did something out of the ordinary.  I used a prop for my sermon on doing impossible things (I borrowed the illustration from Francis Chan).  For about a third of the sermon I stood on a make shift balance beam about 3 feet off the stage.  I used the balance beam to relate our Christian walk to walking on the beam.

When we become Christians, there is an excitement and enthusiasm that we feel – we are going to do amazing things for Jesus.  But over time, life hits us in the face and from the side and from every direction.  Before we know it we figure out that it is just easier to hold on and ride it out.  Gradually, we find ourselves not standing on the balance beam attempting amazing things but rather, holding on to it for dear life –  trading the idea of doing great things for the safety and comfort of security.  Unfortunately, the picture you see above is what most Christians look like.

At the end of life I want God to be able to say “Well done!” not “What was that?”

Dare to risk – dare to live on the beam, not holding on to it!

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Keep Walking

Posted in Formation, Hope, Motivational on September 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

A few years ago, our family was planning a trip to New Mexico for a little time away.  I was actually attending some training at a Christian camp and my family was tagging along.  The boys were very young, their ages would have been 6, 4 and 2.  I had built up the trip to the boys – there was going to be lots of fun things to do.  My big push was telling them we would go hiking.

I grew up hiking and climbing and experiencing all the adventure of exploration that comes with it.  So the day came that we were going to climb one of the mountains near the camp – we were finally going hiking.  The boys were excited to start this new adventure.

About 10 minutes into the hike, one of the boys asked, “When are we going to start hiking?”  I thought this was a funny question and quickly replied, “That is what we are doing.”  His reply back to me was very insightful: “This is just walking!”

Oh the wisdom that sometimes comes from a child!  We were just walking.  The hype of hiking and exploring had been reduced to just “walking.”  Needless to say, we did not make it to the top of that mountain that day.  Interest quickly began to fade.  The journey the boys were expecting was not at all what they were experiencing – so they just wanted to turn around and go home.

I was reading Colossians 2:6 today and it reminded me of this little hiking experience.  Paul told the church at Colosse that just as they had received Christ (the instruction and understanding of Jesus) so now they should walk in Him – “you have been taught what it means to follow Jesus – now live it.”

Sometimes the journey we find ourselves on is not at all what we expected – just walk.

Sometimes things come our we that we didn’t expect – just walk.

Sometimes we don’t feel like going on – just walk.

Jesus promises to always be with us no matter what life brings our way – we simply must trust in Him and keep walking!

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