Driscoll's Rant

So a friend of ours who was actually at this service in Seattle, keyed me into the Tolerance Rant...some good stuff. Worth watching until the end...keep it up Mark!

Thoughts for my 100th post

Death has a way of transcending us out of the blinders of today and giving us a glimpse of the blink that is one's lifetime. Eternity is just a breath away--a thin supernatural veil--truer and closer than we realize. It causes us to re-evaluate our life's pursuits, our passions, our priorities. How am I using my time? It awakens a renewal of relationships...the realization of what we hold most dear. I want more time knowing and glorifying Jesus...more time to show my wife and children love, respect, and kindnesses....more time to drink deeply from the friendship well...more time to spend myself in sacrificial service to the poor, broken, and hurting.

What would others say about me if my memorial service was tomorrow? What is my legacy? Did I love and live well? Was I true to my beliefs and ideals? Was I true to Jesus? Was He glorified?
I was faced with areas that I want to re-prioritize. Action steps are being made to reorient myself to the things that matter most. One small step at a time. Mostly it was a heart change...a willingness to let go of things that are ultimately unimportant and an embracing of the things that really are and that I can so easily move away from with the blinding distractions of life.

We will all "fly away" soon. Very soon. Do we need to pause, reflect, regroup, and return to the simplicity of knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, and loving others? Do we need a retreat to the house of mourning in order to find real life and real living? Simple living takes on a whole new meaning in the face of death.

Psalm 90:12

"So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom."

Don't Waste Your Life

Interesting post from a friend at Mars Hill

http://www.whatarewemissing.blogspot.com/

“If Christ is an all-satisfying treasure and promises to provide all our needs, even through famine and nakedness, then to live as though we had all the same values as the world would betray him. I have in mind mainly how we use our money and how we feel about our possessions. I hear the haunting words of Jesus, ‘Don’t be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the Gentiles seek after all these things’ (Matthew 6:31-32). In other words, if we look like our lives are devoted to getting and maintaining things, we will look like the world, and that will not make Christ look great. He will look like a religious side-interest that may be useful for escaping hell in the end, but doesn’t make much difference in what we live and love here. He will not look like an all-satisfying treasure. And that will not make others glad in God.” [John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2003), 107-108.]

This statement is so challenging, and yet it is so true. So how do I live in light of this? So much of the Christian life is counter-cultural. And I find that ironic in a culture many consider to be “Christian.” Most Christians don’t look much different from the rest of the world. At best, we look like a more moral version of our next door neighbor, and even that statement is debatable. Christians seek after wealth, comfort, a bigger house, a nicer car, vacations and status just as much as anybody. So how is the world supposed to see Christ in people who live no differently? If my neighbors don’t notice anything different in the way I live how can this be glorifying to God?

The Christian life is intended to be lived in such a way that people all around us are confronted by the reality of the existence of Christ. The first Christians were called Christians because they lived differently than everyone else; they lived like Christ, and that is how they got their name. Christians in that day had a reputation. The only reputation we have today is as hypocrites and judges. The world needs to see real Christianity lived out in front of them.

Carrots!

Carrots!
Originally uploaded by JJ S.

It's funny how varied our tastes become as we get older. Here's a 4 month old baby who is overjoyed at the taste of water based carrots mixed in with cereal....

Think about it...

Strive for this much...

I've been dealing with things in my life over the last few weeks, but was reminded of this verse again as I was reading a book I picked up and remembered it was one of my wife's memory verses just a week or so ago...maybe I'm supposed to strive for this...

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

gPhone? Looks like it MIGHT be...

After a lot of hype surrounding a possible Google Phone, it looks like it might be real after all?

Gizmodo has a link to the story here:

gPhone Possibilities?

Some REAL cool stuff!