ENTHRALLMENT IS ALL IT'S PROMISED TO BE

I encourage you to awaken to the wonder all about you (just in case you've been tugged by distraction). It's so easy to lose track of successes for you are surely pelted by difficulty and distress. No one is exempt. While we do not pretend that our walk has no problems, we can factually and actually count the many acts of wonder that are happening to and for us. So much so that we hardly notice how automatically we are being surrounded by blessings...immensely galore.

Take inventory of a few of the simpler things, routine things, of life. For instance, note the price of gasoline increasing. Bemoan the rise if you want...or celebrate the reality that you have a car when parts of the world do not. These ride the bus...or walk.

Consider the commonality that you are reading this thread. Many have no eyes to see. You get the picture by now.

I once lived on the under side of life. Poor Terry. I was a whining, complaining, accusing waster of my time. I was the only one who could call my own hand. When I did, transitioning was immediate as if turning on a dime. It wasn't a matter of others changing their ways in order for me to enter happiness. All it took was a re-framing of my thinking trends.

How would I choose to use this tool known as perception? I seemed to be the only one in my voting booth. So why not elect to have a very good day? Ah, finally I learned how to cast my vote. I checked the box for ENTHRALLMENT.

Be enthralled with life. Certainly you are attacked with frustration and even injury. But don't let these become thieves. Instead, train them to become your cheerleaders toward an even more productive life. You can do it. And, would you know why? It's because you get to be the one who decides what items will dominate you mind.

Go have a really good day...for it...awaits you...now!

THE GREATEST DAILY CHALLENGE

I John 4:8 issues a profound statement, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." While such a comment is world-changing in truth, it has become possibly a yawner in church. We likely tend to like those we like and don't like those we don't. Follow me? Let us sense the apostle's weighty call for reason of giving us true ability to impact our communities.

Is not the fundamental and most fierce challenge among us all that of loving others? Aren't we caught guilty of preferentialicity; you please me and I'll like you? You offend me and I'll keep score you scoundrel?

A Christian's trademark is not that he belongs to a church and attends regularly. No, it is always that nature which exudes from the cross; not getting our way that others be given greater care. This beauty will always need to be seen throughout our walk as we seek to increase in our ability to love others; even those who test us to our limits.

We, as believers in God, can only be verified as truly following Him by our love for others...even when others are a tad bit difficult to treasure from our own strength. No, such an assignment cannot be completed unless....unless the Holy Spirit is given our permission to bear His fruit within us for we cannot possibly muster love for our enemies (and aggravaters) on our own.

The only reason that we cannot bring ourselves to love all others is one. The Bible spells it out. We do not allow the love of God to flow through because, quite honestly and accurately...we don't know God. This challenges me every day. How about you?

BREAKING THE BONDS OF INDIFFERENCE

All of us are in the toughest war; that enormous battle for our souls and spirits. It's heaviest hitter is INDIFFERENCE. Who cares? Offer a shrug? Find your ammunition to blast away at the other side; believers or un. Indifference is wily because it is poised as most innocent. What could be wrong with neutrality?

Neutral: neither pro nor con. It's clarion call is, "Who cares?" Yet, the bulk of the living populace would be in strong favor of life after death. Would resurrecting from the grave in order to enter a new life to never die again be an important factor? I would think that few would shrug their shoulders in an "I can take it or leave it" attitude.

Therefore, I encourage us to break the many bonds of indifference that come our way. They are there for a reason; to neutralize us into unbelief. Oh, I'm aware that the mockings are quite abundant. And the pointing out the failure of those who take a stab at believing? Everywhere one turns. This should tell us something about how drastic the believing factor is to the hearts of men and women. One should wonder why belief in God and all that goes with it is so adamantly opposed if He and His system are fake; illegitimate.

I know. I know. You've got a reason, a legitimate one, as to why you will have nothing to do with faith in God. Yet, consider that one day you will die. So far its only happened to others; but your day is getting closer. And what say you about your next future? Shouldn't we be wowed and enthralled at the concept that just as a seedling planted in the ground arises from the dead and into a beautiful flower, that the same style will be of ourselves?

Jesus lived and died...and lives. He broke the indifference code. We aren't called to believe in the church. It's full of us...who are there because we can't save ourselves one moment. We are called to believe in the one person who broke death's indifference code. He ruined the hopes that cemeteries held. He will devastate them...because....they. will. not. keep. us.

Break the bonds of indifference for such is our personal prison without bars. And would you take a guess at why this indifference is so prevalent? It's the easier way out. However, I think we are worth more than a habit of "Who cares?" Each...should care...a lot. Eternal life is real. Hear Him call.

WHY CHURCH IS EXCITING

Truthfully, I never saw it coming. I've been to church since a little kid. Parts I liked. Parts I didn't. The Kool-Aid and cookies were my big draw! The rest was simply a matter of putting in my time.

It's the latter that I find sensed by so many...in church. And, I'm not critical for I once lived there. Yet, the good news that I wish to convey day after day is that life in the church is to be profoundly electric with hope, wonder, and accomplishment.

Ritual kills.  Jesus said so. Life (for us) was and is always his target. Church is not the stiff formation that can be perceived by many who attend. It is the opposite...the breakthrough to abundant (Jesus' word) life!

I encourage you to read your Bible; not so you can say you read it. Rather read to believe. Dare to believe that what isn't yet in your life (your world) can be. When impossible becomes reality, you are striking gold in the kingdom of the interaction with Father.

You can't buy it. Neither can you talk yourself into it. Your role is to believe God. He will supply the "how tos" and the "wherefores".

Church is exciting because it is God-activated and our trump card is that we believe Him over doubters who wish to be negative toward the true spiritual walk.

DON'T JUST BE A BERRY PICKER

Life is enormous. It breathes, it moves, it unfolds. If such is centered upon the rigors of the here and now, fatigue will ultimately set in. However, if one peers into the present with eyes for the spiritual, then satisfaction and reward come about.

When things are going right, they are going right. When inclined toward the spirit part of our walk, even when things are going wrong, right things are simultaneously in the works. I love this about our life in Jesus.

I like a comment offered by Elizabeth Browning. "Earth is crammed with heaven, and every bush is aflame with the glory of God. But only those who see take off their shoes.; the rest just pick the berries.

Don't just be a Berry Picker. Take the time to stop, look, listen, and feel (take off your shoes). See, hear, sense the marvel all around you. It's. Called. Living.

WHY IS IT SUCH A CHALLENGE TO FOLLOW THE SON OF GOD?

Church is taking a big hit in today's societal "push 'n shove" for attention.  For a large part, this intended godly entity has been moved to the back of the bus due to both neglect and indifference.  I have no idea how I have contributed to this misalignment of spiritual significance. 

Religion is a slight-of-hand of Satan.  He doesn't care that we go through the motions.  He just doesn't want Jesus to become our conviction of Life.  He doesn't mind that we have Bibles or even believe in them.  He just doesn't want us reading them.

In my own fragment of the Christian world, we have strong emphasis on three, what we might call, vital signs; (1) Command, (2) Example, and (3) Necessary inference.  Go to the Bible and find where these three things are clearly taught, spelled out in its simplicity.  The latter of the three, necessary inference, is inserted by Restorationists to make the Word say what we couldn't get it to say otherwise. 

This three-fold, man-made, guide shoots ourselves in the foot.  The latter one permits a student to make desires of the mind or preferences of our practice to reach any conclusion for which we might inwardly yearn. 
     1.  Believe in the Bible; but seldom open it? 
     2.  Believe in prayer; but seldom practice it? 
     3.  Believe in evangelism; but seldom personally engage in it? 
     4.  Believe in giving; but seldom surrender to it?
     5.  Believe in loving one another; but seldom beyond those we already love?

Why do I think from this slant?  Granted, it is very likely that there are a hefty number of church members who would not fit the above inclinations.  Yet, I think this way....because as the preacher...I was this way.  I was a Bible-promoting, Bible-pounding, smart-mouth who was guilty of each of the above five charges.  That's....how I know. 

I had the rules down...best I could anyway...with intent of mastering them all.  My problem was that I didn't know Jesus and I didn't believe that I, personally, could make an eternal difference for people.  Welp, there went the Great Commission right out the window!  So, my alternate route was to be egotistical in what little I knew and critical of other religious people because they apparently weren't as sharp as me.

Why is it such a challenge to follow the Son of God?  Mankind (men and women) (just like you and me) have an inordinate amount of bias within our religious veins.  This leaning or preference has formed a barrier to the heart; the heart of self and the hearts of others.  It, then, keeps us from learning....learning of the perpetual, continual, vast wonders of our mighty Creator. 

May we prune away some of our own dead limbs before we approach the forest of glorious community.  Hope is for them.  They learn of it via those of us who find it ourselves.

CHURCH: IT'S MARVEL AND IT'S REJECTION

The Bible is simplistically clear: the foundation of authentic life is not found in the true church but in the head of it...the Savior of it.  The church that Jesus is building is a glorious entity, but itself is not our saving grace.  Jesus is.  We have long strayed from the very Truth we proclaim by substituting preferential regulation of religious habit for explorational heart connection to the  Adventurous Leader.  Jesus broke the mold and breaks the back of a system that became nothing more than same ol' same ol' deadening practices. 

The above would be a significant part of why the world rejects those among us who do what one can to display a lively faith.  Sadder, this is why communities are loaded with former church attenders.  It offered a routine that seldom pressed for individual growth.  Rather, we developed a format that kept the "church people" content without ruffling our highly touchy feathers.  This is an unwritten doctrine in many of our well-established congregations. 

Such a trail disrupts every generation when focused on tradition rather than exploration of increased faith.  To be clear from personal experience, vast amounts of Christians will assemble today to see that the order of worship doesn't include anything "out of the ordinary"; in others words, our controlling tradition of "the way we like things".  Our comfort has never been His goal.  The Cross may be key here.

The truth of the matter--or the Truth of the Matter--is that we are deeply engaged in an ongoing battle to break from personal hesitancy and hiding at the cost of risk.  Safety, once again, has been the religious mantra ever since that escapade of denial in the Garden.

The church is to be a marvel of God.  It is to be outrageous in its faith, its reach, and its remarkable distance....going into all of the world.  For we believers, there will always be the call, God's call, to abort the self-security of hiding within the framework of seeing that church is done right for sixty minutes. 

As remarkable as the true trek of Jesus is, the Word of God calls for us to duplicate it.  We are to believe deeply, serve mightily, and bravely approach unexplainable possibility.  This develops a joy and a needed excitement within the hearts of every generation for, regardless of age, we are to be new day by day.

Today there will be millions gather for "church" possibly under the guise of "doing church right".  This strain is embedded within all denominations as well as the many who broke from the tight reigns of denominationalism...only to eventually develop as very similar independent habit-forming, self-satisfying deadening doctrine.  This is the trait of routine religion of which killed the Master as he insisted that it be broken up.

The marvel of the church is that we are forever learners who hold tightly to Jesus while he takes us places we could have never imagined; in worship, in service, in vision, and in outreach.  The rejection of the true church, while so many parade such a stance with pride, is that our church habit can be found to strongly replace spiritual flexibility.

The Good News is...and there is always such a facet...that every individual can transition from rejection to marvel as quick as a heartbeat.  When we choose to enter the vast and glorious unknown of Kingdom potential by cutting the habitual ties anchored to safety, we will have entered the terrain of the working God. 

Go.  For.  It.  Best.  You.  Can.

HOW DOES ONE AGE NEW?

The world of God is beyond strange.  It is always on the grow.  How ironic that the biggest battle over new concepts comes from congregational settings.   Church after church, member after member...all battle an endless and fatiguing war of the new.  Some make the adjustment quickly while others become devoted to ending any such drive.  But these latter combatants choose not to label it as growing in the Lord.  Their/our/my cry is directed at warding off words like "new" and "change".

The Kingdom is most baffling to God's followers because these two words bring mixed reviews.  They stir enthusiasm and ambition in some; yet trouble and heartburn for others.  However, it is a clear biblical principle that each disciple is to perpetually advance (grow/increase) into the realm of the next level of followship and fellowship.  We are not to be baptized...and then fossilized.

I was reading an article today about the Chicago Cubs manager, Joe Maddon.  Maddon is the oldest manager in the Majors.  He is quite successful at his role and his team gives my Cardinals a firm challenge year after year.

At age 64, Maddon has a most intriguing insight.  "I feel like I've always remained contemporary, not by plan, but I've always been curious."  He continued, "We are all raised in different generations.  And whatever generation you come from, you're always going to have an old-school method to it.  You know, from when you grew up.  But in referencing the past, you have to stay current with what's going on now--or even what's occurring down the road."

The magic word of that interview to me is "curious".  From that comment one can determine that this manager is most exhilarated by the success of now; yet is attentive to what else can develop.  Curious.  This word inspires because, for me, it wonders what else can be.  What could become?  What would take place if?  How might we reach more, teach more, believe more, improve more?

This trait, or the lack of it, seems to consistently separate the dreamers from the regulators; the flexible from the rigid.  I've seen both, thought like both, and been both.  One lives in consistent aggravation while the other pursues yet an alternate perspective to draw more into the Kingdom Life.

How does one age new?  How is it that we can reflect the biblical truth that we really are newer day by day?  One of the ways is to grow new, think new, believe new, and...be in awe of God that such is His idea.  It is up to us to see that the concept of faith...even as some visit us on Sunday mornings...is a lively movement forward rather than a scene of taking us back in time.  With God, even churches are to age new.

LEARN--LEAD--LEAP

When I begin a post, I try to write the final sentence first.  (It is already on the screen as I now type this comment.)  It is the goal, the message in a nutshell, of what I want you to take away.  Afterward, I write with a form of leadership to hopefully help you arrive at a practical and useful destination.

Our walk seems to be a rather simple procedure of learning, then leading, and then leaping.  Learn what's needed, lead out beyond habit-forming restrictions, and then leap into the unknown and unfathomable future is surely anything but a boring and mundane trip through the corridors of life.  I'm sympathetic to every hesitant person as this old world has a way of talking us down from taking the jump into what possibly could be the greatest move of our so-far lives.

Our God, among His many traits, is Creative.  And, He calls us to imitate His Word(s).  A threat to our Christian virtues is that we will operate on our own understanding rather than the daring trust of His unexplainable, unpredictable style.  God doesn't fit the fear-mold that tends to dominate the brain-trust of humanity.  We must be careful to refrain from believing we have a better common-sense grip on life than....than God.

Common Sense is too often the hooded villain who wishes to hold faith at gunless point.  It marches into every business meeting and stands with bold guard over nearly every decision.  Common Sense is often found to be fearful of three things: learning, leading, and leaping.  Why is that?  Trusting in ourselves?  Possibly?

Too much of the Christian field is being sabotaged; not by exterior interference but by interior hedging in three areas.  Yep, they've been named.  I go through this perpetually in my daily walk.  I'm either looking over my shoulder hoping I escaped my critics or else I'm inwardly insecure due to my own self-criticism. 

Therefore, should you be somewhat like me, I cheer you on.  We can be wonderfully grateful for the faith(ful) of our past.  Do hear the calling.  No believer is along for the ride.  It is not our goal (first) to go to Heaven.  It is our call to step up to the incredible dynamics of faith.  May we dare walk out into uncharted waters of opportunity...just as Jesus once walked out onto the threatening waves only to use them as the new highway of world impact.

(And here it comes...my final sentence...written at the beginning.)
Learn from your past!  Lead from that learning into the now!  Leap by the learning and then leading...into the future!

GOING INTO ALL OF THE WORLD...IS SOMETHING TO BE LEARNED

The longer I experience ministry the more I note how similar we all are.  Talents vary.  Missions are surely versatile.  Personalities are indeed different.  Yet, one thing is a plague to each.  It's a Devil tactic.  Fear.  I was a student in the Fear 101 course for far too long.  I learned how to negotiate threatening circumstances and avoid all potential interactions among those other than the closest of friends. 

My goal was to protect myself from looking badly.  I had two self-satisfying mottos.  "Try Not To Mess It Up."  My second motto was similar, "If It Needs To Be Done, Someone Else Can Do It Better".  I lived, as a minister, under the umbrella of these two doctrines.

Outgoing?  Oh, I really was....toward those within my relaxed friendship borders.  But beyond was not even a question in my mind.  I.  Wasn't.  Going.  There.

Going into all of the world doesn't necessarily mean we go on a mission trip to Alabama or to Nigeria.  It means we are on call to see others, reach to others, engage with others day by day.  To be frank....I just couldn't do it.  I carried a Bible in my hand and the denial in my heart.

Of course, now I am able.  But it took years of overcoming hesitancy.  Where I now marvel is how convincing I was to myself and to others regarding my excusivity.  I could explain my cowardice away in a heartbeat because I couldn't do one main thing...engage with strangers. 

Truthfully, however, I had no legitimate excuse.  I didn't know that such a trip could be learned.  I didn't want to know it. 

So I cheer you on to have the confidence to see strangers; even colleagues of whom you fear interaction.  Relax.  Know this.  Everyone is alike.  We all have our fears, our torments, our insecurities.  I know of not one--not one--exception.  We can learn--that's the good news--to reach out, reach toward, without one exception.

The call to go into all of the world, I felt, was always for others.  I liked the idea.  My intention was to be a contributor toward it.  But I didn't believe that God could do for me what I saw Him doing for others.  Yet, He will, He can, and He does....for every one of us.  I don't blame you for holding back or holding out.  But I encourage you to want to learn how to develop His personality within yours that such a tandem might go all over the place...into all of the world.

Afraid?  Oh yeah, I lived there for decades as the preacher.  Guilty?  Oh, certainly.  Resentful of hearing such messages?  You know it.  Able to learn to do it?  I'm still the student.  Progress is in motion.  How about you?

KEEP THE PUSHBACK GOING

Faith is a major entity of the human course.  Temptation to move along by our own wisdom or our insecurities is strong; very, very strong.  Faith sees where eyes can't.  Faith takes us where hesitation won't.  To walk by faith is to possess an inner determination which defies all odds, all uncertainties, and all opponents.

We must possess the strength to push back against our own fleshly nature; our nature toward safety as well as our tendency to see that we are in control.  The fearful often seem to have the loudest voices of "legitimate concern".  Oddly, these cowardly present themselves as the saving grace of the group.  However, the minority of the courageous, the bold, and the brave lean upon Jesus much more than one's understanding.

Faith isn't necessarily a walk in the church park.  It is the most defiant inner directive of mankind.  It believes when there is currently no reason to do so.  As blank as the future appeared to be, when Jesus was placed in the tomb, the potential grandeur is so staggering that God tries to train us to believe when hope seems to have fizzled.

Keep the pushback going.  Overwhelmed?  Buried in stress?  Oh...most certainly...and quite often I might add.  Yet, our muscle and our insight aren't the keys to escape these torturers of our walk.  The reality of the risen Saviour is.  We keep the pushback going with daring strides because we are more tightly linked to positive, lively Jesus than to any negative, draining circumstance.

WHAT TO GET MARY FOR OUR 50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Today, April 20, Mary and I celebrate 50 years of God's amazing wonder as we learned to try to walk in His Garden.  Being the creative person that I like to think that I am, it was in my heart to do something special for this benchmark occasion.  "What could I get Mary to honor her?" was my mission.

I've hit upon the perfect, practical, creative and extraordinarily unusual gift that should put me in good standing for at least the next week.  She will be so surprised.  So Mary...get ready.  This may just blow your mind.  On the other hand, it may just be more of the amazing same!

If you'll look out your kitchen window in about an hour you will note quite a sight upon our driveway.  Try to imagine...no really...what might I have done to bring you tremendous joy.  It's something you've wanted for a long time.

So...in the voice of the guy who announces for the Price Is Right as the showcase is revealed, MARY RUSH...LOOK OUT YOUR KITCHEN WINDOW....IT'S YOUR BRAND NEW DRIVEWAY!  (And you didn't think I could out-do my creativity!  Well, what're ya thinkin' now?)

HAPPY 50TH MARY LYNN McENTEE RUSH....I LOVE YOU!

THINKING ABOUT BEING THRILLED WITH LIFE?

I cheer you on!  No, really.  You have so much wonder behind you, currently with you, and far ahead of you.  Oh, don't think that I deny your heartache nor break.  No.  No.  Such takes its toll...or at least takes a stab at it.  Each of us could trump the next person's heartbreak rehearsings.  I've got a few packed away myself.

The profoundly good news is that no one has to live...nor re-live... those moments for each of us has a gift handed to us by the Creator.  He has given us minds which are capable of making decisions.  How life is going for us cannot always be chosen.  How we react to it is always up for grabs...our reach.

I'm not trying to be PaulAnna here.  My walk is not one of pretense when it comes to the subject of rejection, discouragement, nor disappointment.  But stronger and truer (and much more funner to experience) is the glory of God; the wonder of possibility which accompanies each and every terribly bad moment.  Hope...biblical, spiritual hope...is not a slight "give it a shrug and wish for the best" nod from Heaven's Board Room.

So guess what.  There isn't a reader among us who doesn't have voice of desperation and frustration when it comes to a few things having gone/are going wrong.  No exception exists.  Yet, some choose to win while others choose to shrink back.  It isn't what has gone wrong that determines our day.  It's what we decide about the entire scope of our walk.

Our thinking sets the stage, dresses the players, and enacts the roles.  Therefore, think...really ponder...about the potential of being thrilled with life.  Such.  Possibility.  Is.  Only.  A.  Thought.  Away.

trush@memorialdrive.org

INCREASING LEADERSHIP BY DECREASING CONTROL

So much of the Kingdom life is upside down and backwards.  To live, one must die.  To gain, one must lose.  To keep, one must give.  This surely remains a most baffling thread to the hoarding mind of always being in control.  It remains true that effective leadership will always (and only) be found in release; not in tight grip of inner security.

God is the Master Builder of Leadership.  His Son is the epitome of world-wide Impactor.  His trump card was to die for the enemies so that they should/could/would encounter triumphant experiences.  His leadership increases to this day simply because he dared risk losing it.  Brilliant.  Only by faith will one submit to its mystery.

For each of us in church leadership, we are most challenged to loosen our grip.  Our insecurities, even our selfishness, must not drive any of us to build impenetrable borders of impasse.  Openness to the Spirit will always find good leaders positioned high upon the ledge with the call to jump.  Decreasing control is the only effective way to slip into the Jesus-mode of driving a nation of believers into the wonder of it all. 

The church is remarkable.  It's potential is perpetually promising.  Leadership--true leadership--will leap into the waters of hope and joy without one whit of understanding as to how or when or where or why or who will be added or extracted to get His job done. 

One of the great needs in the church is to break the bonds of tradition.  Such has always been the case.  And why is that?  This format tends to rule because leadership (I was a part of it) becomes protective of what little it knows.  Jesus' call, however, is quite strange to the spirit of man for He lives a resurrected sort of life and He expects us to follow.  One of those traditions that balks the loudest is my/our insistent security in leading the best way that would subtly keep me/us in control.

One of my greatest challenges that pressed me day by day as a lead minister in a wonderful place was the biblical need to let go and let God.  I didn't like trying without proof that such would make a difference.  Hesitation, even debate, would arise from within because I lived in a mode of holy defense rather than of Spirit surrender. 

To decrease control by trusting that God awaits to take all of us into a new horizon of wonder and awe will, in effect, increase our leadership skills.  When a few in America dared cross the mighty Mississippi and head for the West they had no concept of Rocky Mountains, Arizona Desert, nor the eventual downtown Los Angeles.  So it is in the church.  Each day we stand at the Mississippi of spiritual potential with a call from the Spirit to cross it.

Increasing leadership by decreasing control is one mighty step for all of us. 
"Let go."  Discover.  This.  Has.  Always.  Been.  God's.  Theme.

SALVATION DOESN'T IGNORE OUR SIN

The sheer glory of God is often distorted by man's obsession to get himself straightened out.  This ploy is the grand scream of unbelievers toward the church.  Plus, it is the strong call of the legalistic do-gooder who never sees his/her own disastrous flaws.  God is the true glory; our behavior (as hard as one may try) is not...ever.

Being a follower of God's call is not intended to be a statement that one has arrived.  It's quite the opposite.  It is a public declaration that we found ourselves too far gone to get ourselves right with God...although we did give such repeated efforts to do so.  In the end, we kept coming up short.

Critics, however, spend minute time on self-evaluation.  No, when we criticize another (and I'm guilty of this very practice), we speak from a base of blatant blindness to the self.  This practice is a desperate move to make self-justification by living in comparison to others.  And, of course, such evaluation mistakenly leads the evaluator to be sure to come out better than the evalued one(s). 

Admission of our own personal lack, violation, and habit-formed sin is the gateway to the Savior.  Otherwise, we find no need for a Savior; we merely wanted a weekend Advisor.

Salvation doesn't ignore our sin.  It sees it, addresses it, admits it, and allows Jesus to destroy it.  The Cross remains the most powerful hope for every individual.  Every one we know has been shut up in disobedience.  Why do we clamor as if such doesn't really mean "me"?

For God has shut up all into disobedience that He might show mercy to all.  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!  Romans 11:32-33

A SPIRITUAL GIFT NEVER MAKES US SUPERIOR TO ANYONE

Each believer is gifted by God.  Each has strengths that serve the flock well.  It may be organizational tactics or your gift might be found in serving others.  There are many variationalistic traits of leadership skills among us.  Our call is to exercise our gifts with great joy as well as gratitude to God for His reach to us via the Holy Spirit economy of talent.

We must be cautioned to maintain awareness to the truth that, while each of us is gifted in one area, we are lacking in many areas.  The foot cannot say to the hand, "Why don't you approach Kingdom life the way I do...the right way?"  The eye is not like the ear.  Yet all four are significant components of the body-life.

The eye is not to live in quiet, self-satisfied arrogance that it is pleased to no end that it was chosen by God to be the seer rather than the hearer.  It is the ear that often warns to the eye to look toward safety.  It is the hand that opens the door in order for the foot to walk one into the house.

One's bent toward personal giftedness must never be inwardly framed as superiority over another person.  We are not better than others.  No one ever is.

Be thankful for your blessings from God.  Pool such treasures with others who have different gifts than yours.  Without the Spirit operating from within, each of us is a glob of self-serving nothing.  With Him, however, we find ourselves able to participate in this wonderful arena called successful society of God-followers.

May we shed the temptation to thank God that we are not like others.
Luke 18:9-14

PUMPED FIRST THING THIS MORNING

It wasn't yet 7:00 this morning as I was getting my coffee at Quik-Trip when the customer ahead of me handed the clerk $2 for gasoline.  Two.  Dollars.

This one, maybe in his mid-50s, was dressed for labor it appeared.  Two dollars would not even purchase a whole gallon.

I paid for my coffee and headed directly out to pump #9.  I carefully approached the man as it was just hinting that daylight was in the mix.  I handed him a five dollar bill and encouraged him to get just a bit more fuel.  He was humbly gracious.

I am so much more blessed than so many.  I'm pumped the first thing this morning, of all places, at gas pump #9 at Quik-Trip!  The whole world needs our encouragement.

What I like about so many of you is that you do similar things repeatedly day after day.  May we be a nation of God that lives this glorious day....pumped!

May.  We.  See.  The.  People.

CARRY HOPE IN YOUR HEART

Let there be incredible wonder take place within your very personal reach.  Change the world from pessimism to optimism.  Challenge the status quo.  Arise to the resurrection power of Jesus by carrying the surging dynamic of hope everywhere your foot treads.

People don't want to know how much we know.  They really can't take in how much we care until a certain communication exudes from our very being; hope.  In the political realm, bemoan all you want.  Or...hope.  In the religious realm, quarrel and fret til the cows come home.  Or...hope.

How is it that hope can be so transformative?  It dares to balk at believing that the negative issues in our lives are permanent.  Hope lifts the face-look from scowl to smile.  Too, it even reverses sad eyes to sparkle.  His grave is empty and hope endures.

Hope in your heart is a legitimate and quite obtainable factor.  In the very center of where the majority sit in frustration and aggravation at this very moment, there are a random few who have the guts to dare hope.  It will be the latter who encounter victory.

Carry hope in your heart.  Of course there are discouraging factors...everywhere we turn...for all of us.  It isn't that some have stress while others don't.  The good news is that these intended distractions are very capable of producing...of producing the wonder-power of God's inclusive hand when we...carry hope in our hearts.

SELDOM AM I SO SPEECHLESS

I was caught way off guard yesterday and it sent my mind reeling.  Having been asked by
Grady King to speak at a Leadership Conference at Oklahoma Christian University was a big deal to me.  To say the least, I was pumped simply at the invitation.  I was hyper (surprise) to be a part of their two-day event.

There were approximately 60 Christian servants gathered (I'm telling, however, that there were somewhere under 500) to hear from a few ministry leaders regarding the wonderful opportunities which await.  The challenges were welcomed as was, indeed, the inspiration which accompanied.

But a thing happened as I was invited to the stage to speak that still blows me away.  The President of OC, John deSteiguer, presented with me with the Christian Service Award.  I so didn't see this coming that I didn't know what to say.  Well, more accurately, I was so stunned I didn't say anything.  My mind couldn't take it in.  I'm not in the habit of being honored with such an award and it rattled me. 

Seldom am I so speechless.  But what a very nice speechlessness to encounter.  Thank you, Grady King, John deSteiguer, and OC for the awesome presentation and the huge plaque.  My head is still trying to get a grasp on what I think happened yesterday.

TRADE YOUR RELIGIOUS SQUEEGEE FOR A SPIRITUAL TOWEL

The table is set and one of the guests knocks over a glass of tea.  A puddle remains atop of the dining table.  You need a tool to clean up the mess.  Shall you reach for a squeegee or a towel?  If you grab the former, you will clear the table of the mess only to have shifted such to the seat of a chair below.  And then, with same said instrument you clean the chair, the liquid simply drips off onto the floor. 

What you have is endless frustration.

But what if you first reached for a towel?  What if, rather than a hard instrument that only shifted the tea from one place to another, you were able to succeed by using an item that would absorb the mess rather than transfer it?  Ah!  Marvelous idea!

So what shall we do with the spilled tea (sin) of others in our midst?  Shall we use our squeegees of blame, irritation, and disgust?  Or, shall we use our own hearts...to absorb the sins of another?  Weird you claim?  Dismissive you jeer?  Yet, isn't the Cross the absorbent from God?  Isn't that what Jesus did on That Day?  And didn't he offer a preview of the of this glorious scene when he bent with a towel to wipe the dirt...the ugly grime...from the disciples feet?

Have we gotten the picture that we are followers of the Savior as we carry huge towels to wipe up the messes that our enemies present?  Or, have we succumbed to religious practice of "talking about" the process; yet, denying its deep and matchless power?

Before you head out the door today, perhaps you might rethink exactly what tool you have packed in your heart?  A religious squeegee which only has the capacity to spread another person's sin?  Or, a spiritual towel which absorbs offences and failures of others.

One is needed to save the world around us.