NEW WORKOUT DUDS
This will continue until we are . . . mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like Him. Ephesians 4:13 (CEV)
I joined the Patterson Fitness Center last August. I was motivated by new workout duds that the kids gave me last Christmas…and the fact that I needed to get healthy again. It was hard at first but with consistency, it began to pay off. In fact, it was while I was working out one day that I tore my right rotator cuff—a potential hazard for aging bodies. And with my recent surgery, with my arm in a sling. I've got a pretty good excuse not to go. But guess what? The kids gave me some new workout duds this Christmas and the arm will recover.
You don’t have to think very hard to find the spiritual implications in this. We always want to do better for the Lord, but we also worry about old habits, excuses, and denials that hold us back. We need to remember that we have received a new outfit. The Spirit has clothed us in righteousness and equipped us with spiritual gifts to do the work of the ministry with greater effectiveness.
When you lay those clothes out on your bed and you look at that equipment, you can’t help but want to put that stuff on and get out there. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to start right off with an hour on the elliptical cycle and another doing strength training; it just means you’re going to start.
Someone’s made a huge investment in you to provide you with this equipment. You don’t want to make light of that sacrifice or waste what it cost to outfit you spiritually.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Christmas 2008
The purpose of Christmas is all about a gift--a heavenly gift. Heaven gave its greatest gift to mankind when God sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins and give us new life.
This year, you can receive and enjoy the best Christmas gift you'll ever be given. It is God's Christmas present to you.
This gift has three qualities that make it unique;
First, it is the most expensive gift you'll ever receive. It's priceless--Jesus paid for it with His life.
Second, it's the only gift you'll ever receive that will last forever.
Finally, it is an extremely practical gift--one you'll use every day for the rest of your life.
This Christmas, Mary Ann and I are especially grateful for the gracious salvation we've received, the loving family we enjoy, and the incredible church we serve.
The prayers, love, and support from our church and friends across the country have meant more than you will ever know. During those dark days in July and August when Mary Ann was hospitalized and the subsequent days of recovery, we've always felt God’s loving kindness to us.
Christmas is all about God reaching His hand from Heaven with a Savior whose blood could redeem us. And it's the story we want to keep telling. It's the story we exist to tell.
Merry Christmas.
The purpose of Christmas is all about a gift--a heavenly gift. Heaven gave its greatest gift to mankind when God sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins and give us new life.
This year, you can receive and enjoy the best Christmas gift you'll ever be given. It is God's Christmas present to you.
This gift has three qualities that make it unique;
First, it is the most expensive gift you'll ever receive. It's priceless--Jesus paid for it with His life.
Second, it's the only gift you'll ever receive that will last forever.
Finally, it is an extremely practical gift--one you'll use every day for the rest of your life.
This Christmas, Mary Ann and I are especially grateful for the gracious salvation we've received, the loving family we enjoy, and the incredible church we serve.
The prayers, love, and support from our church and friends across the country have meant more than you will ever know. During those dark days in July and August when Mary Ann was hospitalized and the subsequent days of recovery, we've always felt God’s loving kindness to us.
Christmas is all about God reaching His hand from Heaven with a Savior whose blood could redeem us. And it's the story we want to keep telling. It's the story we exist to tell.
Merry Christmas.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Character Recession
This past week, we witnessed a governor and the head of a major stock exchange fall from their positions of power. Why? An absence of character. Bill Hybels wrote a book entitled “Character is What You Do When No One is Looking.” It's also been suggested that character is best revealed by what a person would do if he or she knew they would never get caught.
No matter how you slice the subject of character, it all comes back to behavior. A person's character is the sum total of what a person says and does. Every individual is in absolute control of his or her words and actions -- no exceptions. If our nation is to be rescued from the current character crisis, we must understand character is corrupted over time. There have been a myriad of politicians and chief executive officers who have been brought low by corrupt character through the centuries. However, not one of them woke up one day and thought, "Today I will perpetrate a great crime." No, they all arrived at their great downfall one step at a time. J
esus said that a person faithful in little things would also be faithful with much. The converse is also true. A person that does not give attention to little things will also be irresponsible with much. In the final analysis, it is a lot of little moral failures that produce corrupt character.
There is no quick-fix or bail-out for America's crisis of character. One by one, we must take responsibility for our words and deeds, our actions and reactions. It will take time. However, enough people practicing good character can reach a tipping point. If it does, we will once again see integrity, the fruit of character, flourish in America.
This past week, we witnessed a governor and the head of a major stock exchange fall from their positions of power. Why? An absence of character. Bill Hybels wrote a book entitled “Character is What You Do When No One is Looking.” It's also been suggested that character is best revealed by what a person would do if he or she knew they would never get caught.
No matter how you slice the subject of character, it all comes back to behavior. A person's character is the sum total of what a person says and does. Every individual is in absolute control of his or her words and actions -- no exceptions. If our nation is to be rescued from the current character crisis, we must understand character is corrupted over time. There have been a myriad of politicians and chief executive officers who have been brought low by corrupt character through the centuries. However, not one of them woke up one day and thought, "Today I will perpetrate a great crime." No, they all arrived at their great downfall one step at a time. J
esus said that a person faithful in little things would also be faithful with much. The converse is also true. A person that does not give attention to little things will also be irresponsible with much. In the final analysis, it is a lot of little moral failures that produce corrupt character.
There is no quick-fix or bail-out for America's crisis of character. One by one, we must take responsibility for our words and deeds, our actions and reactions. It will take time. However, enough people practicing good character can reach a tipping point. If it does, we will once again see integrity, the fruit of character, flourish in America.
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