When was the last time you reversed your thinking?
Hat tip to Kathy Allman for the link.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Friday, November 18, 2011
|| GOD ||
In his new book,Gospel Wakefulness, Jared Wilson talks about how all of life is relevant for mission. From drinking coffee to changing diapers, from cutting the grass to washing dishes — all of life can be lived to the glory of God by those who have been awakened to the gospel of our exhaustively sovereign Savior.
He writes,
One of the attendant aims of missional evangelicalism is to challenge the compartmentalizing of the Christian faith that we see within the Western church. We are fantastic at itemizing our schedules, and even if we don't assign God a very large bracket, we are constantly remorseful that we "haven't made much time for him." While such compartmentalizing — as if "time with God" can or should be hermetically sealed off from everything else — is a natural symptom of our culture and environment, it also reflects a bad theology.The truth is, the day does not belong to us. It is not our day to do with as we please. We serve a sovereign God. He created the end from the beginning, knows our future exhaustively, and is firmly in control. He made our days and they belong to him. As such, isn't it a bit arrogant to begin with the idea that each day is ours and then worry about fitting God in? Instead, we should work at the humble awe of knowing all of our moments, every millisecond, waking or sleeping, are perfectly accounted for within the economy of heaven.Let us stake the flag of Christ's kingdom into the soil of our first waking moment. Drink your coffee when you get up, of course, but drink it to the glory of God. Then carry on in this way all day, no matter the task, be it menial or notable, so that each day may be a living prayer that God's will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is what it means to live a gospel-saturated life: it means being so conscious of the greatness of the gospel that changing diapers or cutting the grass is as much an act of worship as singing a praise chorus in a church service….Jesus Christ is Lord over my heart, and he is Lord over my hands, and he is Lord over what I do with these hands, and he is Lord over what I say in my heart while I'm doing it. In submitting to the lordship of Christ, then, I do not treat washing dishes as wasting time I could be spending doing something "meaningful," but rather as a service to those who eat in my home, as a service to those who would have to wash the dishes if I did not, and as an offering of thanksgiving to God that I have food to eat, dishes to eat it on, and running water inside my home to clean with.To paraphrase C. S. Lewis, there is not a square inch of our lives that is not claimed by God and counterclaimed by ourselves. If we believe God is sovereign, however, we will see all of life as mission and be led to submit the square inches we otherwise hold so tightly to the Maker of inches and hands.
Gospel Wakefulness, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 90–92, paragraphing added.
Originally posted on http://www.desiringgod.org
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Thought of the Day!
The most amazing thing about this picture is not just the lives touched that this picture represents but the unity of the team. God melded this team together on this trip like non other. I have never been apart of a missions trip team that was so focused on one goal and one mission. The story behind this picture is one of that teamwork. Several of us were talking about how cool it would be to get a picture like this. So armed with that thought we did it. But it was a team effort. My camera, Mrs Query taking the picture, I made a few initial edits to the picture, Aaress posted the quote, Melanie saw the quote and picture and combined the two. And now was have a memorial just like the people of Israel when God would command them to set up memorials. Why? So that when their children saw it they would ask, "What did GOD do here?" We are the BODY!
First of 10 post about the trip: http://richardshoemakeriii.blogspot.com/2011/01/el-salvador-2010.html
First of 10 post about the trip: http://richardshoemakeriii.blogspot.com/2011/01/el-salvador-2010.html
Monday, October 3, 2011
Moment of reflection!
Focus? What is it? Where is yours?
"Life is far too short not to realize that it's long enough to make a difference in someone else's life."
So get out and tell them about GOD'S LOVE!
Friday, August 5, 2011
|| Personal || Tornado ||
Living in Oklahoma you come to accept tornadoes as a way of life. The term "Tornado Alley" and constant warnings and watches come to be a way of life April through June. I remember the times of practicing where we would go if there was a tornado and preparing. Praise God that we never had to actually take cover.
In the past two years though tornado's have begun to strike closer to home. 2 years ago a small f-1 passed 2 blocks from our house in the middle of the night. This year hundreds of twisters tore through a small valley in Alabama wiping out an entire valley including the family of an ALERT graduate. Less than two months later Joplin was leveled by another deadly tornado.
As I think of the power that each storm brings I think back to Elijah in I Kings 19. He heard the wind, the rain, felt the earthquake, smelt the fire, and was surrounded by so many displays of God's power. While he could see the effects of God's power God was not "in" those events. His voice was in the still small quiet. What a reminder to look at my own life. Am I listening to His voice in the quiet? What about in the busy activity?
My friend Andrew is a phenomenal videographer who can tell stories in an amazing way. You can check out his work HERE. Also please take a moment to visit the following link and vote for his video of the Alabama tornado's. Contest Link He deployed down there while working with ALERT. During that time he shot the following film. Contest Link and Video of Alabama destruction His video was selected as a finalist for a competition for a company that designs some of the equipment he uses.
After the Joplin tornado our ALERT Cadet unit along with a contingent from a Texas unit deployed to Joplin to clear houses and yards of debris. We also had the opportunity to serve the church we were working for. You can view pictures of that deployment HERE.
In the past two years though tornado's have begun to strike closer to home. 2 years ago a small f-1 passed 2 blocks from our house in the middle of the night. This year hundreds of twisters tore through a small valley in Alabama wiping out an entire valley including the family of an ALERT graduate. Less than two months later Joplin was leveled by another deadly tornado.
As I think of the power that each storm brings I think back to Elijah in I Kings 19. He heard the wind, the rain, felt the earthquake, smelt the fire, and was surrounded by so many displays of God's power. While he could see the effects of God's power God was not "in" those events. His voice was in the still small quiet. What a reminder to look at my own life. Am I listening to His voice in the quiet? What about in the busy activity?
My friend Andrew is a phenomenal videographer who can tell stories in an amazing way. You can check out his work HERE. Also please take a moment to visit the following link and vote for his video of the Alabama tornado's. Contest Link He deployed down there while working with ALERT. During that time he shot the following film. Contest Link and Video of Alabama destruction His video was selected as a finalist for a competition for a company that designs some of the equipment he uses.
After the Joplin tornado our ALERT Cadet unit along with a contingent from a Texas unit deployed to Joplin to clear houses and yards of debris. We also had the opportunity to serve the church we were working for. You can view pictures of that deployment HERE.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
No greater L.O.V.E......
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:134 years ago today, yet the memories of a brother who gave his all are still fresh on my mind. Because of you, Jaron, we enjoy freedom!
http://richardshoemakeriii.blogspot.com/2007/08/day-in-remembrance-and-celebration.html
http://www.iraqwarheroes.org/holliday.htm
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