Over the next few weeks and months, we will be laying out some great opportunities both locally and far away for people to be involved with and I pray that we will answer the call and reach this world for King of Kings! Talk to you all soon!

Pastor Chris

I think you’ll enjoy the book, however, I suggest that you pray openly before the Father and ask Him to show you areas of your own life the you may be a Christian atheist. Not only to show you, but to openly help you confront those areas and strengthen who you are in Him. You never know, you might just be amazed at what God can do with you! If you’re interested in picking up a copy local somewhere, I got my copy from Lifeway. You can get them online at several places as well. For more details, you can go to  christianatheist.com.

It seems that busy lives tend to overtake us. Where does this leave us. Simply, it leaves us short handed in our schedules. Ultimately, it most likely leaves us reeling for personal time with the Savior.  When we begin to get so busy in life that we start to neglect our relationship with God, we start to have issues. Stress rises, anxiety takes over and our lives begin to tumble out of control. I want to encourage you to stop wasting your time.

We all have time in our lives that we waste. I believe that if we refocus our Saving Relationship, we can stop wasting time and start recouping our time with God. In turn, we grow and strengthen ourselves in our relationship. As that relationship grows with God, our love for Him will grow as well. Pretty soon, that relationship consumes us and we begin to once again be the believers that God called us to be. A believer that loves our neighbors and our Savior more than anything.

I hope today that you’ll accept the challenge with me to recapture our time and renew that relationship with the Savior who gave it all for us. I also want to tell you that if you have no relationship with Christ and you would like to know more to just send me a message and I’ll be more than happy to speak with you about that.

So let’s quit wasting time!

Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti and the relief workers that are on the ground serving daily.

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The first thing was that we don’t really understand what Paul had given up or “lost” as he said. Paul was a Pharisee. In the first century, the Pharisees were the top of the food chain. If there was a social gathering or advice needed, the Pharisees were the first ones that everyone would go to. Actually, the Pharisees were the most popular people in society. They were the final authority on anything that would take place in society. That’s who Paul had been. Paul had been an elitest. He was well known through the social circles and his company had been desired in all sorts of social settings.  Paul gave up some of the finest things in life. When he converted to Christianity, he gave up his social life, his freedom, his parties, his money, his home and so much more. Paul had no home, no wife, no children and no job. He even had to become a tent maker in order to survive in life and make enough money to get through each day in order to share the Gospel with others.

The next thing that hit me was that Paul was flesh and blood just like us. So many times when we look at the Bible, we just see the characters of the Bible in the same way we would Captain Kirk in Star Trek. We see them as they were some fictional characters and that they were just used as some form of motivational popoganda. NOT TRUE! Paul was as real as you and I are today. He existed and was a Christian. He was a Christ follower like many who might be reading this.

Ultimately, when we look at what Paul really gave up, we might ask ourselves why? Why was he willing to give it all up and lose everything and be willing to withstand the persecution? It’s simple… He did it to grow deeper in his relationship with Christ. He was continually drawing closer to Jesus. Paul knew what he had in Jesus and realized what Christ had done just for him.

I challenge you to look deep within yourself and ask yourself what you might be willing to give up to draw into a deeper relationship with Jesus. There is so much that can draw us away from Him on a daily basis. I pray that we will begin to focus and resolve to draw closer and deepen our relationship with Christ throughout the coming year. I can honestly say  that all the “stuff” that comes between us and God in our relationship is worth “losing” as we draw closer to the one gave it all just to offer us our Salvation. May 2010 be the year that lives are transformed in the name of Christ. I pray you will commit to reading the Bible more, praying more and obeying more in order to draw closer to Christ.