Who's writing your story?
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Tuesday, 19 February 08 - 10:38 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in God Stuph |
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There are many times in life that I feel like I can make it own my own. Yet there are other times where life is not adding up and there's no where to turn but to your faith. Why is it that the tough times in life drive us to Jesus? Why do we live like we don't need him when things are going well?
You better be glad I'm not Jesus. I wouldn't put up with that kind of junk. I better be glad I'm not Jesus! I'd be dead by now.
When we're writing a story you don't want to give up the pen (or keyboard) to someone else. You want total control. You want to make all the calls. You want to have the final edit.
I've been reminded several times over the past week that God wants to write "His story" through my life. When I get out of the way, when I give God the pen, when I give up, God has the editorial license to write His story through my life.
When I try to write "my story" I make a huge mess of it. I can't see the end from the beginning. God has a distinct advantage . . . he's knows the beginning and how things are going to end. He knows how the things in our life are going to affect others around us and even those we don't even know.
I'm not saying that God's story is always nice and sweet and easy. Most of the time it's anything but easy, but out of our heartbreak and disappointments God is weaving a tapestry where He get's the glory.
Hear Jesus words from John 9:
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."
When Jesus is writing His story through our lives it can get a bit messy, but we are "on display" for the glory of God. God take my life and write Your story. Use my life to bring glory and honor to Your great name!
Elevation Church . . . poised to DOMINATE Charlotte!
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Monday, 19 November 07 - 11:07 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in God Stuph |
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I am so excited! I think Amy's been more excited that I have been. She's been checking Pastor Steven's blog all week for any sign of a post on how much Elevation Church raised through their Dominate Campaign.
Well, the total is in . . . drum roll please . . . $6,400,000! Yes, that's over $6 million! If you are interested you can read the full story on Pastor Steven's blog.
All I can say is . . . God is up to something in Charlotte with Elevation!
God's Timing . . .
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Wednesday, 14 November 07 - 06:52 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in God Stuph |
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God's timing never ceases to amaze me. It usually happens with a book I'm reading or a devotional piece that was written 50 years ago. This past week it happened in two places.
The first place was in Homeschool. This year because we were getting Mariah we chose to use a hard drive curriculum. Amy still has to be connected with the kids as they do school, but the lessons are taught by a teacher on the computer. The Teacher is teaching to the camera just like she's talking to our children. It's been a great help since there is a baby crawling around on the floor now.
This week in reading they are learning about deaf children and learning some sign language. How cool is that. We have a little deaf baby in our house and school this week just so happens to be about deaf kids and sign language.
Must be a coincidence, huh?
The second place it happened was through a comment on this blog. Several months ago I wrote a post called Jessica Hamilton and the Impact of Short-Term Missions. This past week Jessica's Father commented on the post. You can read his whole comment by clicking the link above, but the following words relate to God's timing. "Regarding His timing...this week has been a very sad and blue week for me. I have fought the depression with vigor but have been loosing. Last night, I prayed to ask the Father for strength to go on. Today, three an one half months after her passing, He drew me for the first time to the computer and I have seen your words which brought me great comfort. He saved your encouraging words that her life had impact for me for when I would need them most."
Must be another coincidence, huh?
Jesus and Guacamole . . . taking God's name in vain!
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Wednesday, 19 September 07 - 10:13 AM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in God Stuph |
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I love Jesus. I love Guacamole. You may, however, be wondering what do Jesus and Guacamole have in common? Well, you might be able to think of a few things, but that's not really my point. What is the point?
I've been thinking alot lately about how my life reflects the life of Christ. I recently spoke at Mars Hill College and gave a talk entitled, "Lord, What about Your Great Name?" It was about how our lives can affect the reputation of Christ. Kind of like "taking God's name in vain."
For far too long Christians have associated "taking God's name in vain" with God's name connected with a curse word (you know what they are). I think taking God's name in vain is alot more than using his name in a sentence filled with curse words. Basically it's taking the name Christian and not acting like Christ!
Ghandi once said, "I like your Christ, but not your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." What an indictment against Christianity! I remember in High School I was in the library one day (imagine that) and the girl behind the counter revealed to the one on the other side of the counter that she had some significant late fees. The girl responded with an exclamation, "OH, MY GOD!" Immediately the girl behind the counter replied, "You better call on someone you know!" Wow! How many times do we call on God when we are in trouble, but not make a daily appointment with him to get direction for our life? Maybe that's taking God's name in vain, too?
So what does guacamole have to do with it? On Sunday night we watched a video at church and the guy on the video talked about guacamole and how it's not very appealing to look at. Yet if we get past the appearance it may become one of our favorite foods. He said many times our lives look like Guacamole to those without Christ.
How many people look at my life and say, "That doesn't look like Jesus. If that's what Jesus looks like then I don't want any Jesus!" The question I am asking myself is, "What does my life look like to those who don't know Jesus?" Too often we are concerned about what our life looks like to those who already know Jesus, but we need to be more concerned with how our life reflects the life of Christ to those who need to know Him.
At one of the lowest times of his life Joshua uttered these words (read the whole chapter to get the context) , "For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of Your Great Name." (Joshua 7:9). At a time of great dissapointment, Joshua was more concerned with God's reputation than his own.
Several years ago I heard Joe Stowell (former President of Moody Bible Institute) say, "People don't care what you have to say about Jesus, but you can be sure they are watching your life." With 100 channels of cable people are overloaded with noise, but may the noise we make about Jesus be with our actions and may they be as Isaiah said, "Our desire is for Your Name and Your Renown." (Isaiah 26:8)
Oh, by the way, we had Guacamole while we were in Guatemala last week. Amy told me last night that it was her first time tasting Guacamole. Guess what? She loved it!
"Oh taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8
Is it appropriate to laugh in worship?
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Sunday, 10 June 07 - 10:06 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in God Stuph |
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Blaming God
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Friday, 09 February 07 - 10:56 PM (GMT -05:00) By Mark Moore in God Stuph |
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There has been something on my mind for several weeks now. Well, there's been a lot on my mind, but this is just one of them. It's the blaming God thing. Maybe you haven't heard it, but you probably have. It goes like this . . . I don't want to do something (insert whatever) so I declare, "I don't think God wants me to do (you fill in the blank). I don't want to share any specific stories here to protect the guilty (of which I'm probably one too). The reasoning goes the other way too. I did because God told me to do it. I do think that God speaks to His children. For Baptists, like me, I don't think He uses an audible voice, but He speaks to us just the same.
I just think God gets more credit than He desires. I think God gets blamed for a lot of things He didn't have anything to do with! Now don't get me wrong, I don't think God needs me to take up for Him. It's just something that's been bothering me for a while. So, I had to say it! Maybe God wanted me to say it?
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