What if Jesus came back today?

If Jesus came back today what would His priorities be? If He wanted to build His church would He first go out and find a nice piece of property? One that could support a large building, spacious parking, a large church campus…or would He feed people? Would He next contract out construction crews to build a beautiful new worship center, or would He Himself go out into the community and love on people? Would He order up furniture and garments, commission great works of art, purchase chalices and marble altars, or would He go seek those that need to be consoled, encouraged, and healed?

            I look sometimes at what the ‘churches’ say is their grand commission, and where they apply their resources, and I shake my head. Yet the misguided will continue in their ways and defend to the death their support of these institutions. When I get to heaven and see Jesus face to face, I am sure I will recall His words when He said in John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The words ‘build big buildings’, (or barns as in Luke 12), ‘buy more property’, ‘commission great art’, etc. will never be heard in heaven. “Well done good and faithful servant”, will not refer to huge church campuses, but to the admonition to “feed my sheep”. People settle into a comfort zone based on where they are in life, what they have been taught, and what others around them do. It is when they break out of the little box into which life and society have placed them, when  they take that risk, take that first step to living a life of meaning, that true, pure and honest joy and self-fulfillment settle over them. When was the last time we did anything differently than we did yesterday, last week, last month? Do we continue on our path solely to reach the end of the journey? And then what, then we say ‘Oh, I wish I would have done that when I was younger!” I remember reading a book about the life of Keith Green years ago. His life seemed so frenetic to me, and then he died in a plane crash at a young age. I kept thinking that all along God must have been telling him to relax a little, slow down. He had such a passion for God and people but it seemed like he was just going to wear himself out trying to accomplish so much. Years later I can look back and laugh at my naivety. Where is he today? Was he living his commission? Did he get to hear those so desired words when he got to heaven? We look at others sometimes and think that somehow they are different than us; that we could never hope to accomplish as much as they. Maybe we don’t have the same talents as others or the same resources, but we do have talents and resources of our own. We are all beautifully and wonderfully made. We are God’s kids. Everyone has the ability to make a difference; just not everyone has the desire to make a difference. I don’t think I have ever met anyone that stepped out of their comfort zone to serve others that hasn’t benefitted from the experience in some way. Whether that experience has helped the one seeking assistance, or has helped us and our perception of life and love, good things come from loving others. You may not now and you may not ever be able to change the way your particular church functions, but by maintaining your own personal status quo, if that is a life of not getting involved, (which for many, many years was my life), you sell yourself short. We all need to step out. Whether it starts as volunteering to serve meals at a homeless shelter, sponsoring a child, volunteering at a school to help mentor a young child, serving as a Big Brother/Sister; you need not start out in some big role, take the first step, ask God for some direction for your steps, and proceed, continue to pray and let Him lead you, but take the step. Not only will you be loving, but you’ll be growing - growing in care, concern and empathy for others; yet also growing your own sense of self-worth and developing an inner peace and joy you have never felt before. Let’s all keep our eyes open for opportunities to serve, and be strong and bold enough to take that first small baby step!

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I think this was last years hurricane post!

Just another storm?
Some have experienced hurricanes before, even bad ones; some have not. Some are very frightened, some are not. Some are living in their “bubble of denial!” (SV, lol).
Some of us have evacuated, some are staying through it all. Whatever your situation, let’s try and keep this storm and every storm in perspective.
The worst part of any terrible storm is not the storm surge, it’s not the loss of property, possessions, or damage to homes. The worst part is the loss of life.
Even worse than that though is the loss of a life not bound in Christ. If I die, I know where I’m going. Death doesn’t scare me. A life eternally devoid of the presence of God would absolutely terrify me.
You know how they say in emergency situations to get yourself good first? “Place the oxygen mask over your face first, and then attend to others.” In counseling, we refer to this as ‘not being able to pour from an empty cup.’
The same thing applies to salvation. We cannot lead someone to Christ if they cannot see Christ in us!
So to all those terrified of this storm, I ask you to look at a much more important question. Do you know Jesus? Do you really know Him or do you know ‘of Him?’
Many know ‘of God’ and think that’s enough!
News flash: Even Satan knows ‘of God!’
If you don’t talk to God every day, if God isn’t central in your life, in all the ways He offers Himself to us, through the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, then you are missing out on the very purpose of your existence.
So as we wait for Florence, as we get concerned about all that we hold precious here on earth, remember what God sees as precious, YOU! His desire is to see you in heaven. Yes, look after others, protect your kids, your family, your neighbor, your stuff. But first and foremost, be confident that your eternity is settled.
If anyone needs anything during this current life storm, call me. You need a place to go, call me. You need reassurance that God’s got this, call me. You need prayer, call me. You need salvation, call on Jesus.
Praying for all. Prayers for comfort and that we all put our priorities in the right order.
Storms happen. Life happens. Your eternity is your choice. Choose wisely.

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 Realize who God made you to be. Why you are the way you are. And you will begin to understand that you were created for a purpose. All the little and not so little intangibles that make you who you are, are there for a reason. If you are where He wants you, if you can "Be still and know that He is God", you will find that indeed, you are "wonderfully and perfectly made". Yes, there is a purpose to all the 'character building' we find ourselves going through. That purpose is to glorify Him as we are of use to others. When we are in that special place, and when we finally 'get it', we find no greater self-fulfillment and deep inner peace and joy.

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God Did What?

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Friendship

I see so many posts that talk about true friends and all that and then saying what a true friend is, but then if you ever betray them that they will close the door. Other posts tell you to live for yourself, get anyone out of your life that doesn’t help you. Well, this may be all that some people think about when they think of a friend, but it is not what I feel a real friendship is. Real true friendship is not self-serving. Are we friends, or do we love others for what it does for us? Is that what Christ calls us to do? Christ’s love is unconditional. That is so hard, nearly impossible for some people to wrap their heads around. Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that unconditional love and those that work towards that end will be criticized as weak, foolish and lacking self-respect. Unconditional love is far from any of that. Unconditional love is hard. When life and people throw stuff at us that hurts, do we walk away, or do we continue to love? If we walk away, we are not showing Christ’s love, we are showing human love. Human love exhibits limits, Christ’s love has none. When I love, I try as hard as I can to make that unconditional. We need to value others the way Christ values them. We need to love them as much as or even more than we love ourselves. I forgive others more quickly than I forgive myself. The reason for this is that I can make excuses for others; I don’t know the battles they fight. I know the battles I fight. I also know who fights those battles with me. We need to learn to do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. We don’t want to love out of any value that we may get from it. We should not do it for rewards, just to love. That is what real and true friendship means.

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Woke up at 3am with the Lazarus story on my mind, not sure why. Was thinking about the reason for the delay in bringing Lazarus back from the dead. Had Jesus responded immediately, people would have been saying " Oh thank you Jesus, God is good, thank you, thank you." Perhaps one of the reasons for Christ delaying in coming to raise Lazarus was to work out the rest of the story. Would the people's faith in God's love for them and for Lazarus have been tested with the delay? Would people maybe even question if God could or would raise him? Would people begin to miss Lazarus? Perhaps he was the sole breadwinner for the family and now they were faced with a harsh reality of 'now what?'. Was Lazarus the friend someone could always rely on, and now he was gone? Was he the one that walked the dog every morning? The reality of not having him around would have some time to set in. Maybe when Jesus finally did arrive and raise him, people would not only have said " Oh thank you Jesus, God is good, thank you, thank you." Maybe they also would have realized how important Lazarus was to them. Maybe they would start to appreciate him. 
Maybe the lesson in all this for us is to trust that God does love us; He doesn't just love 'mankind' , He loves us, He loves YOU!! His timing is not our timing, because His timing is perfect! He can restore that which you believe to be permanently lost. He will show up in your time of need, He does not ever forget you. Even death is no match for Him. He wants us to love one another, to value and appreciate one another. 
Who are the people in our own lives that we take for granted? Who is there whenever we need them? Who shows up to help when others are still asking if we need anything? Who doesn't look for reward? Who doesn't stand around looking to be thanked, but that we have to go seek them out to thank them? 
Don't think of this post as "yeah, there are people like that in my life and I should treat them better." Name someone right now that you are going to go out of your way today to thank, and follow through! You'll both be glad you did!