Reflection of a Revolution

I have been having thoughts lately about how limited our time is here on earth. We can be here one minute and gone the next. One of my beloved colleagues, Lauren, passed away on April 29, 2008. She was a young woman with a loving husband and 2 loving daughters. She was physically fit but unfortunately she suffered a brain aneurysm that took her life. Again this makes me wonder a couple of things. We are so consumed with life’s short comings as well as what will happen in the future. “The past and the future only exist in our minds.” I am consumed about what will happen that I am totally missing out on what IS happening. The thing is, our lives are not guaranteed. We can be here one hour and be gone the next. We can live healthy lives, like in the case of Lauren and still be taken by illness because it was time for us to come home. So, I have been thinking…What am I doing to make an impact? My question of course reminded me of Bobby’s last Revolution Service, “Give and Take”. He mentioned, “Back in high school my superlative was; ‘I rather have them ask why there is no monument for me than why there is one.’ I am sure I butchered this quote Bobby and I apologize. But this has been going through my mind. I don’t want to be famous; I just want to help in revolutionizing our society towards a movement of Love. Let us ask ourselves, have we done anything nice for anyone lately? Not to be recognized that we did something nice, but because we wanted to? Because it was in our heart, it was a part of our culture, because that’s what God would do for us. Are we recognizing those who are trying to reach out, those who are in need? Are we providing extra grace to those who might get us upset to those who don’t deserve it? We say that we are the Revolution, but what are we doing to revolutionize our society? Let’s start with this Element, let’s start with loving one another. Let’s tell each other how much we appreciate each other, let’s be there when another falls down, when another is in need. Let’s start to become a family, a body of Christ. Then and only then will people see us for who we really are, the light of Christ, the hope of the world.

” Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.” Ephesians 5:1-2

The Truth

So at church yesterday this video was presented to everyone. It BLEW ME AWAY, and I just wanted to share this with everyone. Enjoy! Be Blessed!

I'll take a Venti cup of Faith with Some Sugar in the Raw...

So I went to a single’s ministry last night with Steve Canipe called 97 West. As much as I wanted to come with no expectations, you all probably know that my bar was high. So Steve and I went to meet up one of his friends, which by the way made the night a whole lot better...and we headed to the service. I wondered…is this going to be as strong and as sweet as the original or just watered down with some sugary substitute?

We arrived and I had an instant whiff of familiarity. I had a sense of comfort. I had 20-somethings worshipping God for who He is! After worship, we sat and listened to the Pastor speak about being "salt". He referenced Matthew 5:13 –"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” He proceeded to say that we needed to love by example. We need to show those who are not saved or even those who are believers, who God really is...by who we are. My neck started to hurt for nodding up and down so much! There were some things I didn't agree with, some things I did, some things that made me question his message and how he was tying it in with scripture. But are having questions wrong? If I have questions about faith does that make me any less of a Christian? It makes me think that I have questions because God allowed me to have them, because the scary thought is to NOT have any questions. An even scarier thought is to think that we know EVERYTHING. Maybe I’m spoiled by having an amazing pastor that knows that we DON’T have everything together and that we need to "figure this whole life thing out together". Or maybe having questions is all a part of everyone's spiritual maturity phase. It makes me wonder sometimes we tend to say we worship God, but we tend to consistently worship the bible. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love reading the Bible just as much as the next person, but what about knowing who God REALLY is and what He stands for…and then emulating THAT. Because I think that when we go up to heaven it’s not that he’ll say, “Well done my good and faithful servant. You effectively answered everyone’s question by referencing it out of scripture.” but I think the reason why he gives us questions is because he wants us to seek out the truth…because that means we are seeking out HIM.

"DING! You are now free to move about my heart"

So today has been nothing less of yet another day, well with the exception of being in such a crappy mood. In a matter of 7 hours I have managed to put myself in the middle of Blahsville, USA. Have I finally reached my destination or am I going no where fast?

I don't know why so much "stuff" affects me so. I don't know if I "care too much" or if I am "too nice". I have been pondering the thought, "what would happen if I just stopped caring?" I have been here plenty of times due to the different circumstances in my life. I have taken the mentality of "whatever, I don't really care cause as soon as start, something else gets ripped out". As you probably read in some old postings, I have some things in my head that make me either act or think irrationally. yes yes, the ever so evil insecurities. I guess the reason I revert to the "I don't really care anymore Jeff" is so I don't have to deal with the issues I have. In the same sense though, I alienate people when I get in this mindset. I tend to put up the wall of security and start getting pretty comfortable in my little "castle tower of complacency". I don't know. It feels like this smile is starting to wear out its luster. This laugh has started to become just a mere memory. I want to start being real with my feelings with others in all of its glory. Good, bad and ugly.

Are you kidding me?

I was laying in bed when I got a text from Jen letting me know how much God has been good to her because "He is always there when I need Him." Maybe I didn't get it. I was looking at Francis Chan's site and I ran into a video that really hit me. I talk about God like He's just a normal person, without regard, without the awe He deserves. Our God is AMAZING! I just realized that he is just way out of our comprehension. He made the heavens and the earth and everything in between. I tend to think of myself in my little world and fail to see that there is so much out there that we can't even see! I don't know, I guess I was just blown away at the fact that our God can make such an expansive place as our Universe, but still has the time and heart to love me in all my failures, to care about me in all of my worries and to provide for me in my need. And on top of that He would want to know me? Simply put, all I can say is...
"Wow God"

Flame

Just a little rob bell to put things into perspective for me

Art is in the Eye of the Beholder

Go ahead and try to control the uncontrollable! See where you'll get. Is it really worth your time and sanity? Cause what happens over and over again will always be the same no matter what. Doing the same thing but expecting different results.....hmmm.....isn't that the definition of.....what was it???

Those thoughts were in my head the past couple of days. I have been thinking about some stuff in my life. and just keep wondering..Why do we always make the same bad judgment calls?? Ok ok, I know that we are all human, we are all foolish, we are all mistake prone, but when do we decide enough is enough? When do we actually decide the point where we REALLY learn our lesson and move on??

I was listnening to a great podcast from the Cornerstone Church, yes yes that's the home of Francis Chan, The topic for the day was Grace and Pain. The rhetorical question was "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" The answer completely floored me! " The trials that God places in our lives are completely necessary." Are you kidding me? So you're telling me that all the crap, and pain, and heartache, and all the other stuff that really sucks is because it's neccessary for something? I started thinking...What kind of plan is he preparing me for?? Its like God has all these colors of paint...The different colors of pain...HE splatters them around and from the beginning we don't know what is going on, nor do we know what he is creating. But I guess God needs all the colors in order to make the wonderful tapestry that is our life. I guess that if we say that we trust God, lets ACTUALLY trust Him. Hey, I'm pointing the finger at my own forehead and I think its starting to get red now. I guess what I'm learning is...does it all really matter? All the things we become so concerned with in our lives, all the crap we worry our minds with, all the fears that control our wellbeing and mental peace? Is it really worth being bent out of shape considering our ultimate goal, which is to hear that we are a good and faithful servant. It kinda puts into perspective. It's funny though, I'll probably write about this same topic next month and the month after and the month after that. So, lets do this..lets be honest with ourselves and lets live in truth. Lets get rid of these rose colored glasses we have been using for so long and look at the reality which is our lives, and then...let us trust in God. He has everything planned, everything worked out for our good and His glory. As bad or as dark it can get in our lives, lets trust that the finished product is more glorious than we can ever imagine!!