New Years is approaching, resolutions are being made. The first resolution you can make is to read Primal by Mark Batterson
This book is a MUST read for all Christians...especially for those tired of the status quo of the Christian church.
This book starts off taking us from the catacombs in Rome of the Primal beginnings of Christianity and continues on the journey of Primal Christianity in a modern context.
In the quest of the lost soul of Christianity Batterson writes that we're not great at the Great Commandment, Mark 12:30 says Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'
The book walks us through the exploration and rediscovery of Primal Christianity, on a personal level to help readers rediscover their primal faith, and to pinpoint the moment they encountered God felt a sense of awe, wonder, curiosity, and compassion.
Batterson talks about the heart of Christianity & compassion, the drop in the bucket effect, the soul of Christianity and how wonder is involved in seeing with our souls. He also talks about having a holy curiosity, a God idea, and the importance of sweat equity.
I could go and list EVERYTHING that I've gotten out of the book, but there's not enough time to write it, not to mention you wouldn't go read it!
I will say this.
You MUST start off 2010 by reading this book. It's an absolute MUST. For those looking to redefine what it means to love God, and to allow God's reformation in your own life...this book is an ABSOLUTE MUST.
I am about to give my copy of this book to my mother (who steals all my books anyhow from time to time) and BUY a copy, it was THAT GOOD. A Life changing book (and i don't say that about many books...there are only two other books I've said that about...and one of them is the bible...so what does that say about it?)
GO GET THIS BOOK! You won't regret it, it'll be the best $18 you ever spent!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
America The Beautiful?
This Tiger Woods thing has really made me realize where our priorities lay, as Americans. That's all the media can cover.
Some might say "Oh, I wish the media would stop covering it."
TURN IT OFF! Let the media know what you REALLY want to see. Because according to them, this is what we want to see.
We spend so much time and money (I'm guilty of this too) helping CELEBRITIES/Entertainers get rich, what do they do for us? Beyond make us laugh...NOTHING!
our priorities are MISPLACED! Especially with CHRISTmas. Yea I said it, it's CHRISTmas...all about CHRIST...not about you getting presents. Remember the TRUE reason we celebrate Christ's birth...because Christ was born to save a dying humanity...He DIED so we can live.
health care reform is being debated on the Senate floor this week, more troops are being sent to Afghanistan...do you even care?
Kids right here in America don't have families, other kids are starving, being abused, do we even care?
Inner city kids can't even get a quality education, graduation rates are lower than their suburban counterparts...do we even care?
Some of us do. Most of us don't.
We're too busy accumulating wealth. We're chasing material things. We're staying in school to get a doctorate degree to pay off student loans, to take care of our families, send our kids to private schools, is this what America is supposed to be about? Land of the free? Home of the brave?
How brave are we, really? How free are we, trapped in the throes of consumerism of Christmas...trying to keep up with the Joneses. When Christ said He came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, I'm pretty sure that wasn't what He was talking about.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to take care of yourself, and your family. Nothing wrong with an education. What happened to loving our neighbors as ourselves? What happened to helping someone ELSE'S kid go to school? Feeding someone else's kids? We're going into debt, for what? to say we had a good life full of all the things we wanted? nice house, 2.5 kids, white picket fence, nice cars, etc. But question is, can we take any of that with us?
Life is not about what we GET. Not about the material things that we accumulate. Life is really what we GIVE. And what we leave behind.
When you are gone, what will people say about you? Will they say that you lived a nice life, full of things, but didn't leave anything behind to your kids? I'm not talking about material things...I'm talking about a LEGACY.
I want to leave behind a LEGACY. I want my life to be about MORE than me. I want to give and give and give like I will NEVER run out. Why? Because I know whose I am. I serve a God who WON'T run out. If I give, God will multiply it. That's how great He is.
Let's live a life that is LARGER than us. Let's dream a dream that is BEYOND our comprehension, a dream of a better world, leaving it a better place for the next generation to maintain and cultivate and improve upon. Let's leave something for them to build upon. Let's not live in fear, fear that we won't have enough. Truth is, the more you hold back, the more YOU lose. The more the WORLD uses. Think one person can't change the world? MLK didn't' say that. FDR didn't say that. JFK didn't say that either.
Let us TRULY live bravely by GIVING FREELY. Let's not get so caught up on celebrities that we neglect our neighbors.WHO CARES if Tiger cheated on his wife? Let them work it out! Let's remember what our nation was founded on...We hold these truths to be self evident, that ALL MEN were created EQUAL...have we forgotten those words? Are they just words on a page to you, or do they even hold any weight in our lives?
Let's make America beautiful again.
Some might say "Oh, I wish the media would stop covering it."
TURN IT OFF! Let the media know what you REALLY want to see. Because according to them, this is what we want to see.
We spend so much time and money (I'm guilty of this too) helping CELEBRITIES/Entertainers get rich, what do they do for us? Beyond make us laugh...NOTHING!
our priorities are MISPLACED! Especially with CHRISTmas. Yea I said it, it's CHRISTmas...all about CHRIST...not about you getting presents. Remember the TRUE reason we celebrate Christ's birth...because Christ was born to save a dying humanity...He DIED so we can live.
health care reform is being debated on the Senate floor this week, more troops are being sent to Afghanistan...do you even care?
Kids right here in America don't have families, other kids are starving, being abused, do we even care?
Inner city kids can't even get a quality education, graduation rates are lower than their suburban counterparts...do we even care?
Some of us do. Most of us don't.
We're too busy accumulating wealth. We're chasing material things. We're staying in school to get a doctorate degree to pay off student loans, to take care of our families, send our kids to private schools, is this what America is supposed to be about? Land of the free? Home of the brave?
How brave are we, really? How free are we, trapped in the throes of consumerism of Christmas...trying to keep up with the Joneses. When Christ said He came so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, I'm pretty sure that wasn't what He was talking about.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to take care of yourself, and your family. Nothing wrong with an education. What happened to loving our neighbors as ourselves? What happened to helping someone ELSE'S kid go to school? Feeding someone else's kids? We're going into debt, for what? to say we had a good life full of all the things we wanted? nice house, 2.5 kids, white picket fence, nice cars, etc. But question is, can we take any of that with us?
Life is not about what we GET. Not about the material things that we accumulate. Life is really what we GIVE. And what we leave behind.
When you are gone, what will people say about you? Will they say that you lived a nice life, full of things, but didn't leave anything behind to your kids? I'm not talking about material things...I'm talking about a LEGACY.
I want to leave behind a LEGACY. I want my life to be about MORE than me. I want to give and give and give like I will NEVER run out. Why? Because I know whose I am. I serve a God who WON'T run out. If I give, God will multiply it. That's how great He is.
Let's live a life that is LARGER than us. Let's dream a dream that is BEYOND our comprehension, a dream of a better world, leaving it a better place for the next generation to maintain and cultivate and improve upon. Let's leave something for them to build upon. Let's not live in fear, fear that we won't have enough. Truth is, the more you hold back, the more YOU lose. The more the WORLD uses. Think one person can't change the world? MLK didn't' say that. FDR didn't say that. JFK didn't say that either.
Let us TRULY live bravely by GIVING FREELY. Let's not get so caught up on celebrities that we neglect our neighbors.WHO CARES if Tiger cheated on his wife? Let them work it out! Let's remember what our nation was founded on...We hold these truths to be self evident, that ALL MEN were created EQUAL...have we forgotten those words? Are they just words on a page to you, or do they even hold any weight in our lives?
Let's make America beautiful again.
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