Friday, January 30, 2009

On the Run

This week in the contemporary service we are beginning a Sunday morning series taken from the book of Jonah. The series is entitled "On the Run", and prayerfully will be help us as we respond to the Lord.
How do you respond when God speaks to you? What is your initial state of mind, when you know that God has spoken? We all respond to the Lord. Whether it is all internal or literally a physical action, we all respond to God.
Our response to the Lord says a lot about the state of our Spiritual lives. We may say we want to be in the middle of God's will, but do we really? We may say that we will give our all, till our all is truly called for. So over the next four weeks we are going to peel back the curtain on the life of Jonah. We just might see ourselves at some point on the stage.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Fine Art $29

i saw a sign today for fine art... i like art and i like good art... i can't afford fine art, but i do appreciate it. i went to Louvre about 6 years ago and i had the best time meandering around the halls looking over the centuries old artwork... when i think that about art i think about how the piece of art expresses something beautiful and enables another person to bask int its beauty. i wonder if my life is somehow accomplishing something beautiful... do you ever think about that?

when i think about fine art... i tend to think about the price that some people are willing to pay... i have a friend back home that loves art and he pays thousands of dollars for the work... he says that it is an investment, and has given his wife several pieces during their marriage... when the children were born, he bought a painting for his wife rather than a piece of jewelry... he says and knows it is expensive, but you must appreciate the work and then you are willing to pay the price... i know that God wants to do a work of art in my life, but sometimes i don't appreciate the work... i am not willing to pay the price

FINE ART $29... the sign just did not look fitting... i thought to myself, somehow we have cheapened the great art of our day. it seems that we have done this also in a Spiritual sense in our day... we have cheapened the work that Christ has done to paint something beautiful with our lives... but we cheapened it and put a sign on it saying FINE ART... but the truth is that it scarcely resembles anything close to the masterpiece that God wants to do... this does not mean they are perfect, any art has "flaws" in it... so our lives are a work in progress... our lives are not fine art because we hang a sign on that says "Christian", but because we accept the hard work that Christ did for us and we allow him to accomplish that same work in us... now that is fine art... that is the work of Christ in our life!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Here We Go Again in '09

2009- wow... can you believe that a new year has come? It is hard to believe that 2008 has gone and 2009 is already nearly 3 days old. I enjoy the start of the new year. It is a way to start over and have a new outlook on the coming months. I get excited as I consider all the possibilities and opportunities that await us. What do you want to see happen in this new year? How will you live differently? What changes will you make to your life? We have only so many days, so lets make the most of them. The year will be gone before we know it!!