Stretched, Left Alone, Going Back As Things Were

Three questions tonight:
Would you prefer to be STRETCHED in your life?
Would you prefer to be LEFT ALONE/AS IS in your life?
or
Would you prefer to GOING BACK AS THINGS WERE in your life?

The illustration that comes to my mind is watching a friend prepare dough for fry bread. It takes gathering and preparing the ingredients together, punching down the dough, allowing it to rise, punching it down, sectioning it off, more rising, then the frying. After that's done, sprinkling on sugar OR slathering butter and jam OR building a taco.

Now what would happen if I left (perhaps leaving things as they were) the ingredients alone or even the dough alone. The ingredients would get stale, old and thrown out. The dough would sit, stop rising, start to smell after sometime and get thrown out.

My friend had to stretch the dough, pound the dough, rest the dough, separate the dough before it was ready to be fried into something special. Life is not worth living if you stay in one place or be left alone. A life worth living is being stretched, at times pounded, much deserved R&Rs, sometimes separating from the things that don't benefit us and finally resulting in something special, memorable, rewarding, contented.

What kind of life do you choose today? Let me know.

ICE CREAM TIME!! UMMMMM!

One of my fondest memories growing up is a simple vanilla ice cream cone (usually from DQ). You could add the nuts and the fudge shell but the vanilla ice cream would be the treat for me. I enjoy its simplicity and original flavor still today. I may enjoy it with double chocolate cake just hot from the oven or over warmed peach cobbler or even with a side of french fries. I even tried it with taquitos one day just to gross out the youth group and it was fantastic (they thought so too :) Vanilla ice cream will always be a winner with me.

I had to think for a moment to wonder why. Perhaps I like things simple and original. BTW (by the way), I just had some last week. UMMMM!!!!  So . . .

What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

Why is it your favorite?
When was the last time you had it?

Just thought of having a little fun today -- Liane

Excitment! Passion! Hunger!

I thought about my walk through a casino, sitting down and having coffee and just observing the folks around me. To varying degree, each of us responds to the various stimuli around us. It could be the lights, the sound,  the cell phone, the anticipation of winning something.

I am excited when someone testifies of the faithfulness of God.
I am passionate about the Word of God.
I am hungry for more of the presence of God.

What triggers excitement in you?
What are you passionate about?
What feeds your hunger?

Let's talk

Your purpose, your goals, your defense

I was given accommodations at a hotel and casino while in town for a week. On my way up to the room, the security guard stopped me at the elevator and asked me to show my key card to verify that I was registered. I showed him my key card. He said thank you, smiled and asked how much I won at the tables. I told him I don't gamble. He frowned and looked at me and said what are you doing here then? I told him I was with the Salvation Army and just here for a week to do ministry. After a short pause, I smiled and told him God could take better care of me than any casino ever could. It was his time to smile and he said that's a good answer.

So I ask you:
--why are you here/your purpose?
--what are you doing/your goals?
--who is watching out for you/your defense?

Let's talk

Faith

What does faith look like to you? What is the focus of your faith? What is the source of your faith?

 Let's talk

Does God Exist?

Imagine if one day you woke up and found yourself  on a  stairwell. You don’t remember how you got there and you don’t remember if you were walking up or walking down the stairs. You look up and down the center of the stairwell and you can’t see the beginning or the end.

The stairwell is real; you can feel the hardness of the rail. Your feet are planted on steps that will take you up or down. You wonder how the stairs came to be and who made it.  

Many ancient and modern scholars and thinkers through the ages believe that the universe is endless life the stairwell, infinite and without boundaries. Some say if you were to walk in a straight line through the universe, you would not be able to return to your starting point. It’s just that HUGE!

With that in mind, great thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, al-farabi, Avicenna, Moses Maimonides, Augustine, Anselm, Decartes, Leibnix and many more have come to the conclusion that our vast, endless universe was caused by something greater than itself. It is based on the law of causality which tells us that the universe needed a cause at the beginning and it needs a cause to continue  to exist.

Many conclude that this cause is God. God has no beginning and no end. Some refer to him as the uncaused cause and the reason that everything  exists.

A man credited with great wisdom and wealth wrote, “God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of man; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

There was a great thinker, scholar and man of faith called Paul who wrote, “...for God has made it evident to them. For since the Creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.” (Romans 1:19-20)

Does God exist? Yes!

You can see Him in how the waves wash on the shore and only go so far or how a flower blossoms or feel Him with every breath that you take or all the details your eyes and ears capture each second.

Each one of us will have to come to a decision about our beginning and our end. In the world around us, we can see a design that was crafted by love and infinite care.

That same love and infinite care crafted you for a purpose in this vast universe. You are unique and not here by accident. God loves you and has a plan for your life.

We are all on a journey and are taking steps in this life and to eternity. I would ask that you consider placing God in the center of your universe and allow him to direct your steps  each day. 

Where are you on your journey? Which direction are you taking? Do you need help getting there?

If you're not sure and need some help, let's talk. God Bless You!

More about eternity ...

What is reincarnation? What is resurrection? What is the main difference between the two?
Reincarnation is the belief that after death the soul of the person passes on to another body, then another body, then another body. Some Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism believe in this.

Resurrection is the belief that after death the body is made incorruptible and is made alive forever. The soul-body is unified. The soul does not go through a series of bodies. This is the belief of Christians.

The man difference:
Reincarnation is a process toward perfection through a succession of lives.
Resurrection is a perfected state.

Wherever you may stand in the belief of life after death, I ask you to consider what God has done for everyone, not just a few.

Rom 10:11-13 (NIV)
11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."   12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
 
John 5:24 (NIV)
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

John 6:40 (NIV)
40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

If you have further questions, let's talk. God Bless ....

Three Questions

This begins my blogspot. You are more than welcome to comment. 

I was stopped three times -- mind you three times-- by the border patrol while driving from Arizona to California. At the first stop I was asked "Where did you come from?" At the second stop I was asked "Are you a US citizen?" At the third stop I was asked "Where are you headed?" before they all politely waved me through.

Made me think and I ask you to ponder these three questions about your eternity:
1) Where did you come from?
2) Where is your eternal citizenship?
3) Where are you heading?

If you're not sure, let's talk. I'll have three more questions next time.