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I was reading a few months back that God spurs creativity in the faders. A lot of times, in those states where we are fading in and out of sleep, our creativity can actually be at a higher level. For me today has been one of those days. I have been awake since 4 a.m. (off and on). In the fading times since 4 a.m. I have had some big ideas and some crazy thoughts. I love these times. I strive to push myself to believe like a child that ANYTHING is possible. Think about it, as a kid you felt like anything could happen. With an old pillow case you could fly. Animals could talk. The shape of clouds had purpose. Your life had meaning and all your dreams where in vibrant color. Then you start to grow up. As you grow up you are told that certain things just can’t happen. BULL! I want to live a real life where imagination is the currency and hope is the mantra. Why can we not achieve all we dream about in the faders? For those of you who want to enhance your creativity, try this little exercise. Put a note pad, a journal, your blackberry, whatever…next to your bed or where you sleep. Pray God starts to speak to you in the faders, then when he does, document what He is saying…you will have some amazing creative ideas! Let it flow.
Everyone who knows me knows that I am NOT the handy man type. I am more the shopper. I am really a girls best friend. I love chick flicks, the mall, clothes, shoes, music…I am a GREAT girlfriend! I guess some would say my wife is lucky! 🙂 Well today I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone. As a staff we went to the “Witness Home” to do some rehab. Not the Amy or Lindsay type, we went there to make this house better. The Witness Home is a privately owned and operated transition home for women who want to get their life straight. It is a place for ladies to go and get their lives back on track, a job, an apartment, and even furniture when they are moving out! The ladies that run it are really saints. There are not a lot of saints in our world, but they qualify. So we went in and worked it out. 18 pallets of sod. ladies cleaning, working, painting, tossing junk, just doing all we could to help make their home more…homey. 1 day of our lives. 8 hours of our time. let me put into perspective for you what the little we did means to these ladies: A clean place to stay and house new girls. New stuff (cleaning supplies, fans, light fixtures, etc…). And because we did this, Patricia, the lady who runs Witness, told Jackie that her daughter will now be able to have a birthday and christmas. That may not do anything to you, but that brings a tear to my eye. Our little day of work allowed that 15 year old girl (tomorrow) will get to have a birthday and Christmas! HOW AWESOME IS THAT! I would go do that again just for that, not to mention all the other ladies that will now have a better life. As I was working today, I was just thanking God for the chance to help impact someone’s life! Now we just have to figure out how to shift this from a “once every 10 year” thing to a common trait that we live. Live a life to help someone else….you never know, you might just be able to provide them with the memories of Christmas and birthdays!
Life is so short. What we achieve on this earth is measured in depth of relationship WAY more than anything else. Think about how Jesus lived life. He ate meals with people ALL THE TIME! He hung out at the wells. Do you know what the present day well is? Starbucks. Jesus lived life in relationships. When I was in high school we had this little like 13 inch black and white tv that i would put in my room and watch basketball on in march. i had to be in bed, but i did not want to miss anything that happened during march madness. I LOVED those moments. But how much better would those games have been if they where in color? Plasma color? Don’t sell yourself out and settle for a 13 inch b+w life. Live in full color. Vibrant color. Allow yourself to be hurt sometimes in relationships. Be selfless. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Be willing to go out of your way to do something for someone else. LIVE LIFE FULL! A full life does not cost a lot of money. It does not take a nice car or a house. A full life starts with the people in your world that you interact with every day. EMBRACE THEM. Life is short kids…enjoy people. Go hang at the well with someone today.
PS: tomorrow we are going to rehab a house as a staff. This is an awesome exercise and will be great for us as a team. It is part of our calvary cares campaign. The only sad thing is, as christians we should live this type of campaign. I am not sure how everyone else feels about this, but I am excited about it. I suck at stuff like this but I am going to go out there and work my butt off and leave a mark on that house. More on this tomorrow.
As I was reading the other day I saw my thoughts in someone else’s book, my thoughts about how life should be. Life is not about sin management. Being a christian is not about living a set of rules or a life that is so far more pure than the next guy. Some of the purest people you know may be the biggest sinners. Life is not about managing sin and all that goes with that, life is about becoming the person God created you to be.
If I am totally transparent, there is a war that wages in my life, and I would venture to say some of yours. The battle to be the person I was created to be vs. the battle to be the person that I could be if I did not care about living a full life of destiny. See, it can get easy to just coast through life. Never confront any of your issues, never strive to be a better person, never worry about the weight and density of your choices. But for me, I just can not do it. I have tired. LOTS! At times I even think I can make it work, just live life, no pressure, only a little stress, live a good life, but take off the yoke to be all that I was created to be. God created you with a purpose and a destiny. Start making choices that will allow you to live in that purpose. They might be hard, the might force to to be uncomfortable, the WILL make you deal with the crap in your life, but at the end of your life you will live it with no regret.
don’t become bogged down with “sin management”. When you are living the life God created you to life, it will force you out of that mode, and into a full life where you realize your choices matter and carry far greater significance than just managing the sin…more later.
This morning I was sitting here reflecting. I have a big day ahead of me, TONS to get done. So I started to think about how change really takes place. What is the road map for change? How can change be a positive? How can we as a culture make a difference in the world? Each generation gets a moment to leave their mark. As I have stated, I am working on a blog about Christianity. I feel the “next big thing” in Christian culture is actually what we should have been doing all along, being the hands and feet of Jesus and bringing the kingdom to earth. Finding a way to save people from eternal hell, but also the hell they live in right here on earth, right now. You see, at the core, people all desire the same thing…LOVE. Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone is searching for it, needs it, wishes they could experience it. Love is the emotion that drives people to do things that are out of their character. Love manifests in anger sometimes, frustration even carries shreds of love, but love is the core. Love is what motivates people. So what do you love? what are you doing with your love? is your love used to make you better or to better those around you? Love is the currency for change. love is going to be the method of conversion. Love is what Jesus was about. Love is motivation…is your love being used as a currency for change or is your love being held hostage? Let love live. Much love.
Tonight I will finish Velvet Elvis. I have 20 pages left and an hour flight home. SLAM DUNK! Speaking of slam dunk, I have 2 spots open in our fantasy league if anyone would like to play and fantasy hoops and is going to take it serious. So back to the importance…God created YOU!
As I was reading today I discovered some awesome things about God and how he created you and me. Here they are in no particular order:
God chooses the people that others do not think could succeed at the job.
God created us to bring heaven to earth and to help break people out of the hell they live in every day of their lives.
God needs me to be me, not some watered down version of someone else.
“Jesus took some boys who did not make the cut, and used them to help him change the course of the world.” – I want to be one of those boys.
The goal of life is not sin management. It is living in the fullness of who God created me to be.
OKAY, i have SO much more to write, but the pilot is calling. Headed home, which is a good place to be.
Today I had the opportunity to send a message urging my representative to support the Jubilee Act, which will relieve some of the debt that keeps many developing nations trapped in a cycle of poverty.
You can help this important bill move forward by taking action here:http://www.one.org/40days/
Take a few minutes out of your life today, help the poor, touch a life of a person that you will NEVER meet. Currently One.Org is 80% of the way to meeting their goal and needs your help. This requires zero money, just your time. Is your time not worth the life of a child in Africa?
I have had a great weekend hanging out with my good friend Andy Zipf. If you have not taken the time, please run over to THIS SITE and check out his music. When you visit, you will be able to download 6 amazing songs off of his site, FOR FREE! You see Andy is an artist. Andy keeps it real. Sure, he has an outstanding voice, and could write a song that would move your soul in his sleep, but it is the depth of spirit that is so enchanting. Andy won’t sell out. He is an ARTIST. He has an integrity to his music. Andy feels called to take his experience and relationship with God to people who are searching, people who are not willing to submit to a religious game. Andy loves God. Every time he sings, it is worship. From bars, to clubs, to pizza joints, to sitting in a circle with 2 other songwriters and like 4 “fans”, it does not change how Andy Zipf sings. Andy found his love in music. He could care less about record deals, radio play, and the motivations that move most wannabe artists. Andy makes music because it is who he is…at his core. Andy decided one day while working at a coffee house, I am done slinging java, it is time to do what I love.
You see, Andy decided it was time to do what he loves, it was time to start living the things God created and made his purpose. How often in life do we allow expectations, comfort, maybe even responsibility to keep us from stepping into the rhythm that God has created for us. Andy lives his life in the unforced rhythms of grace. He moves freely in a world that rarely allows for free living. God gave him a vision, and he choose to follow that vision. What is the vision for your life? Are you ready to be like Andy?
Here is “Body Broken” live. Enjoy
This morning I was doing my devotions and reading some Velvet Elvis, I came up with these 3 thoughts. I do not know if they will mean anything to you, but the rocked my world.
- Make sure you do not let anything kill or waste either you today OR your tomorrow. I tend to be an emotional person. I can let some of my emotions wreck me on the inside. No longer.
- I am loved just because I exist. God created me. Enough said.
- A few weeks ago I dug up some stuff about myself. It made me vulnerable, weak, broken, and scared. At the same time I was the most alive! I have to figure out how to stay in that broken place. HIS presence lives in the broken place. The broken place is a place where HIS grace and mercy flows.
I am not so sure this blog will be the biggest view ever, however, it is what i am right now.
Im thinking today about all the things we should strive not to be or do but end up being and doing:
- Selfish – this is the biggest. It underlies each of the other members of this list. how often are our motives consumed with our desire as opposed to the betterment of others?
- Manipulative – we try to control situations for the betterment of our secret ambition.
- Arrogant – Untouchable, moving through life with thought I am better than others.
- Pride – who i am is about my titles, belongings, desires, and not at all about my true identity in Christ.
- Hurtful – a lack of compassion or sensitivity to the needs, feelings, hurts, and desires of others.
Okay, that is all i got right now, more to come later.
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