Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
You are invited....
Hi friends!!
With Christmas just around the corner we thought we would do some things a little differently this year. I want to share briefly what we will be doing.
A few of my friends and I got together and talked about what we could do to serve the poor, orphaned, widowed, lost and oppressed this year. We have been going through the David Platt Radical series http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/radical, and by Gods grace, it has changed our perspective on the way we give and spend our money year round and on the holidays.
This year, we wanted to raise money for others that have nothing. They are not interested in stuff at Christmas time…but they are interested in clean water or a day’s meal. They are interested in feeding their baby, or a loved one. This year we decided that there is nothing more precious than giving to others who would otherwise go to bed hungry, thirsty, naked and without the things that are so common to you and me.
We will be having a HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE GIFT AND BAKE SALE! Now is the time to Save The Date! 100% of all proceeds will go to Remember The Poor ministries in Uganda.
You are invited to a Holiday Open House Gift and Bake Sale
When: Saturday, December 12th
Time: 11am – 7pm
Where: The Thieles Home
Come Enjoy: Homemade baked goods and candies for sale,
Refreshments and free samples so you can taste the
goodies you would like to purchase, Handmade Gift
Items, Door prize, and raffles.
Selections are limited, so come early for all your
Favorites. We will also acept donations for
Remember the Poor.
We are excited to share this day with you as we remember and give to the poor.
James 1:27 ~ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep ones self from polluted from the world.
With Christmas just around the corner we thought we would do some things a little differently this year. I want to share briefly what we will be doing.
A few of my friends and I got together and talked about what we could do to serve the poor, orphaned, widowed, lost and oppressed this year. We have been going through the David Platt Radical series http://www.brookhills.org/media/series/radical, and by Gods grace, it has changed our perspective on the way we give and spend our money year round and on the holidays.
This year, we wanted to raise money for others that have nothing. They are not interested in stuff at Christmas time…but they are interested in clean water or a day’s meal. They are interested in feeding their baby, or a loved one. This year we decided that there is nothing more precious than giving to others who would otherwise go to bed hungry, thirsty, naked and without the things that are so common to you and me.
We will be having a HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE GIFT AND BAKE SALE! Now is the time to Save The Date! 100% of all proceeds will go to Remember The Poor ministries in Uganda.
You are invited to a Holiday Open House Gift and Bake Sale
When: Saturday, December 12th
Time: 11am – 7pm
Where: The Thieles Home
Come Enjoy: Homemade baked goods and candies for sale,
Refreshments and free samples so you can taste the
goodies you would like to purchase, Handmade Gift
Items, Door prize, and raffles.
Selections are limited, so come early for all your
Favorites. We will also acept donations for
Remember the Poor.
We are excited to share this day with you as we remember and give to the poor.
James 1:27 ~ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep ones self from polluted from the world.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Dare To Trust...
Christ’s call is to feed the hungry, not the full; to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; not to call the scoffers, but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers and artistic musical performances, but to raise living churches of souls among the destitute, to capture men from the devil’s clutches and snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus, and make them into an Almighty Army of God.
But this can only be accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion, where neither Church nor State, neither man nor traditions are worshiped or preached, but only Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, clothes, silver croziers or gold watch-chain crosses, church steeples or richly embroidered altar-cloths, but by reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches… ~C.T. Studd
C.T. Studd was a wealthy English athlete who emphasized a life of faith and who gave away his entire inheritance, a good portion of it to George Muller’s orphan-care ministry! He started his mission work in China, and a wife and two kids later he moved to India to continue reaching the unreached. Finally, nearing retirement, he settled in Africa. His church did not support his decision. They said he was risking too much, and told him to wait (for someone else/younger to go?). This is a portion of the letter he wrote the church:
Too long we have been waiting on one another to begin. The time for waiting has passed. The hour of God has struck. War is declared. In God’s holy name let us arise and build. The God of heaven will fight for us. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of Christ, and the gates and minions of Hell shall not prevail against us. Should men such as us fear?
Before the whole world, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God. We will venture our all for Him. We will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God than live trusting in man, and when we come to our position we realize the battle is already won and the end of the glorious campaign is in sight because we will have the real holiness of God. Not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts, we will have a masculine holiness. One of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.
~C.T. Studd
David Platt shared these quotes from C.T. Studd’s biography, a biography that’s suddenly at the top of our to-read list! To have your socks knocked off and watch the whole message by David Platt, click HERE. Select the 9/27/09 “Faith Risks” video
But this can only be accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion, where neither Church nor State, neither man nor traditions are worshiped or preached, but only Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, clothes, silver croziers or gold watch-chain crosses, church steeples or richly embroidered altar-cloths, but by reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches… ~C.T. Studd
C.T. Studd was a wealthy English athlete who emphasized a life of faith and who gave away his entire inheritance, a good portion of it to George Muller’s orphan-care ministry! He started his mission work in China, and a wife and two kids later he moved to India to continue reaching the unreached. Finally, nearing retirement, he settled in Africa. His church did not support his decision. They said he was risking too much, and told him to wait (for someone else/younger to go?). This is a portion of the letter he wrote the church:
Too long we have been waiting on one another to begin. The time for waiting has passed. The hour of God has struck. War is declared. In God’s holy name let us arise and build. The God of heaven will fight for us. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of Christ, and the gates and minions of Hell shall not prevail against us. Should men such as us fear?
Before the whole world, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God. We will venture our all for Him. We will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God than live trusting in man, and when we come to our position we realize the battle is already won and the end of the glorious campaign is in sight because we will have the real holiness of God. Not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts, we will have a masculine holiness. One of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.
~C.T. Studd
David Platt shared these quotes from C.T. Studd’s biography, a biography that’s suddenly at the top of our to-read list! To have your socks knocked off and watch the whole message by David Platt, click HERE. Select the 9/27/09 “Faith Risks” video
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Hallelujah Night...
We had a great night of fun our our churches Hallelujah Night. What made this night so special is that not only did our church offer an alternate night to Halloween, by inviting the neighborhood, we also were able to talk to our neighbors about Jesus. There were skits, and music. Two bands played, our band played about 5 songs to about 5 people, Ha Ha (funny but true). We sounded great, but no one would know! Then the youth band came on, Coral was in that one, she rocked. I love her voice.
The Youth kids decided to fast all day to prepare to share Jesus with those who came for the Hallelujah Night. They watched a Ray Comfort video, which teaches people how to share Jesus. Showing them that they are sinners and are in need of a Savior. The kids had tracks and candy and would approach people and ask them a few questions. They had such a good time and are ready to do it again in other settings.
All and all we had a great time with Jesus, friends and fun!!
Grammie with Colton and Branson
Rachel, Chloe and Jillian
Cyilea Kitty and Chloe Tiger
Cute little Kitty
Amy wit da fro...
PaPa wit da fro...
MaMa wit da fro...ah ha...ah ha...
Big Daddy wit da fro..
Cade and Colton
Lil Chris...Where's da fro??
Cailee with all ten of her orange fingers
Coral and her girl's
Yes..the hair is semi permanent red...I don't know what I was thinking.
Our Bands awesome electric guitarists!!
Patty Cakes on drums
Us singing to 5 people...great fun!
Grammie and Chloe
Colton...The Stone
PaPa wit da fro...
MaMa wit da fro...ah ha...ah ha...
Big Daddy wit da fro..
Cade and Colton
Lil Chris...Where's da fro??
Cailee with all ten of her orange fingers
Coral and her girl's
Yes..the hair is semi permanent red...I don't know what I was thinking.
Our Bands awesome electric guitarists!!
Patty Cakes on drums
Us singing to 5 people...great fun!
Grammie and Chloe
Colton...The StoneSunday, November 1, 2009
Remedy...
Remedy - [rem-i-dee] noun :
Something that cures or relieves a disease or a bodily disorder; a healing medicine, application or treatment.
verb:
- to cure relieve or heal, to restore to the natural or proper condition, put right.
Remedy...something that today, many of us desire, some more than others. David Crowder has a song out called Remedy this is what it says:
Here we are
The broken and used
Mistreated , abused
Here we are
Here You are
The beautiful one, who came like a son
Here You are
So we lift up our voices and open our hands, to cling to the Love that we can't comprehend
O lift up your voices and lift up you hands, to sing of the Love that Has freed us from sin
Here we are
Bandaged and bruised
Awaiting a cure
Here we are
Here You are
Our beautiful King
Bringing relief
Here You are
You are the one who has saved us, You are the one who embraced us.
You are the one who has come and is coming again
You are the remedy
He is the remedy
You are the remedy
Let us be the remedy.
It is interesting to me that as believers we hold the cure, the Remedy to all of our sickness and disease right in our hands. Most of us are grateful for that Remedy..we say all the time to other believers, "I don't know how we could do death, or cancer, or ALS, or..... with out the Remedy (Jesus)." Truth is, we can't do it. We would be lost, hopeless, desperate. The Remedy gives us hope, and strength.
We are so happy that we have the Remedy to cling to in time of trouble. We encourage our friends at church to cling to the Remedy when they are facing a giant, something bigger than themselves, foreclose on a home, loss of a job, death of a loved one. We know, and can access the Remedy at any time, he lives in us.
My mom died of ALS...a slow life taker. She died a new death every day until she had nothing left of her body and all she could do was blink. Her mind worked perfectly but she was imprisoned by it. I would have given all I had everything I owned if the Doctor said....I have the cure for ALS. I would have given it to her first...THEN we would have both ran around to everyone we knew...people with and without ALS and told them of that cure. The cure that would make you walk again, talk again, LIVE again!! We would have shouted from the roof tops "We have the cure...We have the Remedy!!!"
Nothing would have stopped us...it is too important...we would have gone until the whole world had heard....or would we?
We, Americans especially, we have THE REMEDY!! WE have JESUS CHRIST, THE REMEDY! We know he heals all of our diseases, cures all of our illnesses, comforts the poor, places the lonely in families. He is the Father to the fatherless, causes the blind to see and the lame to walk. He alone is The Remedy. Why don't we just keep Him to ourselves?
To suggest such a thing sounds like blasphemy right? Then why do we do it? Why is the American church sitting in pews...and not out shouting from the roof tops, "We have the cure...We have the Remedy?" Are we scared? Do we not want to count the cost? Are we afraid of becoming sick if we mingle with the diseased and dying world? Are we afraid, that The Remedy will cause us to sell all of our possessions in order to give to the poor, orphaned and widowed? Do we think that what we are doing now is working? If it doesn't affect us directly, do we care?
The song above said that "He is The Remedy." Then it said "Let us be the remedy!" We are to be the remedy...just as Peter and Paul, healed the lame, cast out demons, fed the hungry. We are the cure!! We have the resources!! We are the Remedy with Christ in us!!
What then do we do?? We start caring, and stop hoarding The Remedy. We take courage. We remember that we know the cure, WE HAVE THE REMEDY.
We remember we have The Remedy for world hunger (30,000 children will die today of hunger or preventable disease like diarrhea), we have The Remedy for the lost and dying. We have The Remedy for the lonely and fatherless. THEN... We stop spending our resources on our selves...more clothes, more food, more stuff...and we start spending it on the lost dying world, that is crying out for The Remedy! "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted, you encourage them, and listen to their cry." Psalm 10:17. When we love the lost and poor, touch them, and feed them, we show them The Remedy is Christ. We can encourage them in death, disease, the loss of their home, and loss of a job. We can be The Remedy..The hands and feet of Christ!
We all have something in common with the world. We all would do anything to have the cure. We all want The Remedy to death and disease. We all would give everything, all we had to save our loved one.
Let us be The Remedy through Christ, The Remedy is us. Galations 2:19 - For it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives through me.
Something that cures or relieves a disease or a bodily disorder; a healing medicine, application or treatment.
verb:
- to cure relieve or heal, to restore to the natural or proper condition, put right.
Remedy...something that today, many of us desire, some more than others. David Crowder has a song out called Remedy this is what it says:
Here we are
The broken and used
Mistreated , abused
Here we are
Here You are
The beautiful one, who came like a son
Here You are
So we lift up our voices and open our hands, to cling to the Love that we can't comprehend
O lift up your voices and lift up you hands, to sing of the Love that Has freed us from sin
Here we are
Bandaged and bruised
Awaiting a cure
Here we are
Here You are
Our beautiful King
Bringing relief
Here You are
You are the one who has saved us, You are the one who embraced us.
You are the one who has come and is coming again
You are the remedy
He is the remedy
You are the remedy
Let us be the remedy.
It is interesting to me that as believers we hold the cure, the Remedy to all of our sickness and disease right in our hands. Most of us are grateful for that Remedy..we say all the time to other believers, "I don't know how we could do death, or cancer, or ALS, or..... with out the Remedy (Jesus)." Truth is, we can't do it. We would be lost, hopeless, desperate. The Remedy gives us hope, and strength.
We are so happy that we have the Remedy to cling to in time of trouble. We encourage our friends at church to cling to the Remedy when they are facing a giant, something bigger than themselves, foreclose on a home, loss of a job, death of a loved one. We know, and can access the Remedy at any time, he lives in us.
My mom died of ALS...a slow life taker. She died a new death every day until she had nothing left of her body and all she could do was blink. Her mind worked perfectly but she was imprisoned by it. I would have given all I had everything I owned if the Doctor said....I have the cure for ALS. I would have given it to her first...THEN we would have both ran around to everyone we knew...people with and without ALS and told them of that cure. The cure that would make you walk again, talk again, LIVE again!! We would have shouted from the roof tops "We have the cure...We have the Remedy!!!"
Nothing would have stopped us...it is too important...we would have gone until the whole world had heard....or would we?
We, Americans especially, we have THE REMEDY!! WE have JESUS CHRIST, THE REMEDY! We know he heals all of our diseases, cures all of our illnesses, comforts the poor, places the lonely in families. He is the Father to the fatherless, causes the blind to see and the lame to walk. He alone is The Remedy. Why don't we just keep Him to ourselves?
To suggest such a thing sounds like blasphemy right? Then why do we do it? Why is the American church sitting in pews...and not out shouting from the roof tops, "We have the cure...We have the Remedy?" Are we scared? Do we not want to count the cost? Are we afraid of becoming sick if we mingle with the diseased and dying world? Are we afraid, that The Remedy will cause us to sell all of our possessions in order to give to the poor, orphaned and widowed? Do we think that what we are doing now is working? If it doesn't affect us directly, do we care?
The song above said that "He is The Remedy." Then it said "Let us be the remedy!" We are to be the remedy...just as Peter and Paul, healed the lame, cast out demons, fed the hungry. We are the cure!! We have the resources!! We are the Remedy with Christ in us!!
What then do we do?? We start caring, and stop hoarding The Remedy. We take courage. We remember that we know the cure, WE HAVE THE REMEDY.
We remember we have The Remedy for world hunger (30,000 children will die today of hunger or preventable disease like diarrhea), we have The Remedy for the lost and dying. We have The Remedy for the lonely and fatherless. THEN... We stop spending our resources on our selves...more clothes, more food, more stuff...and we start spending it on the lost dying world, that is crying out for The Remedy! "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted, you encourage them, and listen to their cry." Psalm 10:17. When we love the lost and poor, touch them, and feed them, we show them The Remedy is Christ. We can encourage them in death, disease, the loss of their home, and loss of a job. We can be The Remedy..The hands and feet of Christ!
We all have something in common with the world. We all would do anything to have the cure. We all want The Remedy to death and disease. We all would give everything, all we had to save our loved one.
Let us be The Remedy through Christ, The Remedy is us. Galations 2:19 - For it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives through me.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
It Is Here...
THE LONG AWAITED COURT DATE HAS ARRIVED...NOVEMBER 23!!!!! I can't believe it. It has been a year this month since we had the vision to pursue another adoption. Tonight, I sit in awe at what the Lord has done. Not that He "could" do it that He "did" do it. A year ago, the Lord pointed a way to a path that was rocky, not smooth and asked us to have enough faith to step out (as crazy as it seemed) and trust Him. Never and I mean never, did I imagine we would even get this far. I trusted that God was capable of pulling it all together, but I couldn't envision the final steps and didn't trust that He would pull it all together. I wanted and longed for it, but it was hard to imagine that we would be just a few months from our children.
We had such opposition. Opposition can come in two different forms, opposition from within (friendly fire) and opposition from the enemy. Even as believers we can sometimes oppose God's plan for someone else. Fear, unbelief, pride, selfishness, all of these things can oppose God. Like David, we had opposition from believers and opposition from the enemy. David was opposed by friendly fire, by telling him he was just a kid and couldn't possibly defeat the Giant. Saul tried to give him his way of doing things (Saul's armor). The enemy opposed David, by taunting him with fear. We can easily put God in a box, and try and relate God to our every day living and our rational. What Bryan and I came to understand is that we sometimes don't understand the mind of Christ. His ways are not our ways, so while it does not make sense to us humanly, to adopt more children on our income in this economy, it made sense to God and He made the way!
For those of you who are asking what next, here is the answer. We need prayer to pass court on November 23rd. I am not doubting that the Lord has that covered, but I also know that there is someone who wants to bring opposition to this situation our enemy. Will you join me in prayer covering this court date? After court passes, a week later we are assigned an Embassy date, usually 4 - 6 weeks out. That is when we travel. For those of you who are doing the math, I will save you the time ( I have done it several times), the soonest we will travel is the week after Christmas. Now God can do and will do what He wants, this is just using the info that we have.
I also want to share more praise with you. We have ALL of our funds. The Lord has provided all that we need through various ways. I really must stress to those of you who are reading and have thought that you would love to adopt but can't afford it, Jesus can!! It is not up to us to find the way..it is up to us to obey. This is the second time the Lord has done all of the fundraising. He accomplished His goal in totally different ways, but it is, His way. Today we are completely funded! Thank you to all of our friends, family, strangers, ShowHope and Abba Fund! Praise God and to Him be all of the Glory.
More praise. As we have traveled to a couple of different countries we really have found that we don't like to be locked away "safe" in hotel accommodations. Bryan and I don't like to be sheltered away from real people with real needs. It makes such a difference (in my opinion) to be in a 4 or 5 star hotel, or to just be out with the people. In Azerbaijan, we were blessed to stay in a little country hotel, and not be sheltered from the rest of the world and how they lived. I am singing God praises, because He has met that desire as well. We have met a couple who have an amazing ministry in Ethiopia. They minister to rural tribes in Africa and the "Mingi" or cursed children of those tribes. They have a wonderful heart for orphans and the lost. Over conversation through a couple of emails their family invited us to stay with them while we are in Addis Ababa! We are more than thrilled, and never imagined this a possibility, but God is good! I have been praying about this very thing for awhile. We would love to do ministry while we are there, and this couple is making that possible by opening their home to us. What a blessing when the body of Christ is kingdom minded, not empire minded! Thank you friends, we look forward to meeting you and seeing what the Lord has in store!!
Lastly our prayer requests. Please pray for the older siblings of our children, as this is going to set in as a reality to them. They are sacrificially giving up their loved ones for the possibility of a better life for them. My heart breaks for the two older brothers and older sister. Pray that seeds of hope are planted in their life by us and other believers. Pray for Africa and all the orphans. Pray for our ministry opportunities and that the Lord would orchestrate every step. Pray for court to pass the first time! Pray for a 15 passenger van for us here at home.
We are so excited to be on this journey. We are praising God for all that He has done!
He is your praise; He is your God who preformed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Deuteronomy 10:21
We had such opposition. Opposition can come in two different forms, opposition from within (friendly fire) and opposition from the enemy. Even as believers we can sometimes oppose God's plan for someone else. Fear, unbelief, pride, selfishness, all of these things can oppose God. Like David, we had opposition from believers and opposition from the enemy. David was opposed by friendly fire, by telling him he was just a kid and couldn't possibly defeat the Giant. Saul tried to give him his way of doing things (Saul's armor). The enemy opposed David, by taunting him with fear. We can easily put God in a box, and try and relate God to our every day living and our rational. What Bryan and I came to understand is that we sometimes don't understand the mind of Christ. His ways are not our ways, so while it does not make sense to us humanly, to adopt more children on our income in this economy, it made sense to God and He made the way!
For those of you who are asking what next, here is the answer. We need prayer to pass court on November 23rd. I am not doubting that the Lord has that covered, but I also know that there is someone who wants to bring opposition to this situation our enemy. Will you join me in prayer covering this court date? After court passes, a week later we are assigned an Embassy date, usually 4 - 6 weeks out. That is when we travel. For those of you who are doing the math, I will save you the time ( I have done it several times), the soonest we will travel is the week after Christmas. Now God can do and will do what He wants, this is just using the info that we have.
I also want to share more praise with you. We have ALL of our funds. The Lord has provided all that we need through various ways. I really must stress to those of you who are reading and have thought that you would love to adopt but can't afford it, Jesus can!! It is not up to us to find the way..it is up to us to obey. This is the second time the Lord has done all of the fundraising. He accomplished His goal in totally different ways, but it is, His way. Today we are completely funded! Thank you to all of our friends, family, strangers, ShowHope and Abba Fund! Praise God and to Him be all of the Glory.
More praise. As we have traveled to a couple of different countries we really have found that we don't like to be locked away "safe" in hotel accommodations. Bryan and I don't like to be sheltered away from real people with real needs. It makes such a difference (in my opinion) to be in a 4 or 5 star hotel, or to just be out with the people. In Azerbaijan, we were blessed to stay in a little country hotel, and not be sheltered from the rest of the world and how they lived. I am singing God praises, because He has met that desire as well. We have met a couple who have an amazing ministry in Ethiopia. They minister to rural tribes in Africa and the "Mingi" or cursed children of those tribes. They have a wonderful heart for orphans and the lost. Over conversation through a couple of emails their family invited us to stay with them while we are in Addis Ababa! We are more than thrilled, and never imagined this a possibility, but God is good! I have been praying about this very thing for awhile. We would love to do ministry while we are there, and this couple is making that possible by opening their home to us. What a blessing when the body of Christ is kingdom minded, not empire minded! Thank you friends, we look forward to meeting you and seeing what the Lord has in store!!
Lastly our prayer requests. Please pray for the older siblings of our children, as this is going to set in as a reality to them. They are sacrificially giving up their loved ones for the possibility of a better life for them. My heart breaks for the two older brothers and older sister. Pray that seeds of hope are planted in their life by us and other believers. Pray for Africa and all the orphans. Pray for our ministry opportunities and that the Lord would orchestrate every step. Pray for court to pass the first time! Pray for a 15 passenger van for us here at home.
We are so excited to be on this journey. We are praising God for all that He has done!
He is your praise; He is your God who preformed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Deuteronomy 10:21
Monday, October 19, 2009
Expired Milk...
Expired Milk...gross huh? The question, have you ever gone to pour yourself a nice big glass of cold milk only to find, it pours out in chunks? Or worse you take a big drink and can taste the sour, nasty, stick to your tongue, chunky milk taste? You don't want to drink milk, along with other things, past the expiration date on the box. Almost every thing on this earth will one day be gone, and expired. Things like, my car, jewelry, house, my cell phone, and computers, nice furniture and other things I hold as valuable. Food and milk are not the only things with expiration dates!
"The only thing that does not expire on this earth is us. We don't have expiration dates, we don't have a shelf life, we have eternal life in Christ or eternal life seperated from Christ! We don't expire, ever. Life does not end here! How we spend our lives on this earth can make a difference for eternity. God has a plan for our life here and now. So instead of living like we have an expiration date, don't you think it's time to make an impact and work for things that will last forever?"
"What is going to last? God and people. That's it. Everything else turns into expired milk, rotten and sour."
This weekend I learned from a child. A now fourteen year old boy named Austin Gutwein who is the founder of Hoops of Hope, an organization that Austin, at the age of nine, created to help orphans in Africa! This kid is amazing. But what is funny about it is, as adults we think that kids should not be expected to be amazing. We don't think they can get it. They are only expected to go to school and make good grades and mind their manners. As Austin put it, "That is just staying out of trouble."
Most of what you read above is either paraphrased or a direct quote from Austin's book take your Best Shot. You can find the book on his website by clicking any of the links here on this page. It is a must read. It is for younger audience, but it is a must read for adults!
We seem to complicate things here on this earth as adult believers. We forget what we are living for. Are we really living for retirement? Are we really living to pay that mortgage? Are we really living to pay off that credit card from Christmas past? As strange as this may seem, when my mom passed away, I noticed something....she didn't take anything with her. She lie there so peacefully but Jesus only took her soul, everything else remained. Her clothes, her body, her house, car, jewelry, and credit card bills. She left everything. Only she was eternal...not all of her stuff.
To me it is easy. We should all ask this one question: Am I living for something that will last for eternity?
"Only you know the answer to that question. Everybody lives for something. And everybody is going to die someday. I think it's a tragedy that many people die without ever asking or answering for themselves if what they are living for will last. We only play the game once...the only things that matter when we head into eternity are the things we invested in that do not expire. God wants us to make a difference in our world- a difference that is going to last!"
I leave you with a great quote:
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Leo Tolstoy
"The only thing that does not expire on this earth is us. We don't have expiration dates, we don't have a shelf life, we have eternal life in Christ or eternal life seperated from Christ! We don't expire, ever. Life does not end here! How we spend our lives on this earth can make a difference for eternity. God has a plan for our life here and now. So instead of living like we have an expiration date, don't you think it's time to make an impact and work for things that will last forever?"
"What is going to last? God and people. That's it. Everything else turns into expired milk, rotten and sour."
This weekend I learned from a child. A now fourteen year old boy named Austin Gutwein who is the founder of Hoops of Hope, an organization that Austin, at the age of nine, created to help orphans in Africa! This kid is amazing. But what is funny about it is, as adults we think that kids should not be expected to be amazing. We don't think they can get it. They are only expected to go to school and make good grades and mind their manners. As Austin put it, "That is just staying out of trouble."
Most of what you read above is either paraphrased or a direct quote from Austin's book take your Best Shot. You can find the book on his website by clicking any of the links here on this page. It is a must read. It is for younger audience, but it is a must read for adults!
We seem to complicate things here on this earth as adult believers. We forget what we are living for. Are we really living for retirement? Are we really living to pay that mortgage? Are we really living to pay off that credit card from Christmas past? As strange as this may seem, when my mom passed away, I noticed something....she didn't take anything with her. She lie there so peacefully but Jesus only took her soul, everything else remained. Her clothes, her body, her house, car, jewelry, and credit card bills. She left everything. Only she was eternal...not all of her stuff.
To me it is easy. We should all ask this one question: Am I living for something that will last for eternity?
"Only you know the answer to that question. Everybody lives for something. And everybody is going to die someday. I think it's a tragedy that many people die without ever asking or answering for themselves if what they are living for will last. We only play the game once...the only things that matter when we head into eternity are the things we invested in that do not expire. God wants us to make a difference in our world- a difference that is going to last!"
I leave you with a great quote:
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Leo Tolstoy
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