Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, " You are the light of the world. "  In John 1:5, John writes," The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. " I was thinking about being light and darkness this morning.  I wondered how many of us Christ-followers are more apt to be light among the light rather than light among the darkness ?   I mean, it's soooo much easier to be a Christ-follower among other Christ-followers.  Isn't it?  When you think about it, you don't even have to be the brightest light in the room, there's no need.  If someone's light is brighter it will drown out your dim light.  Even a bunch of dim lights will appear to give off so much light there's no need for our light to shine any brighter. Gotta admit, it's a much bigger risk to be light among the darkness of this world where the ruler of evil reigns.  Think about it, how many lost friends do you have at work…in your neighborhood…in the communi...

This Thursday (Jan 21) at 5:45 am our men's Bible study will kickoff a new study entitled Romans:  The Power to Change .  If you're a guy in the Wynne community you are invited to join us for breakfast and Bible study.  Yep, breakfast is your reward for getting up that early. I'm reading ahead and was walking through chapter 1 when verse 8 kinda struck me: "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world."  Ok, you gotta understand that Paul is in Corinth about to head to Jerusalem and he has been hearing about the faith of the brothers and sisters living in polytheistic Rome.  They were living dependent upon God! Is that some of faith or what? Man, that ain't my faith.  It's not being reported across the known world.  If I was honest, it's barely being reported outside of my home. You see, I live in a pretty safe environment.  It doesn't cost me anything to say that I am...

Ever wake up and feel like your ready for the day?  Your organized, got your "To Do" list ready, and begin marching through the day like Derrick Henry running through Auburn's defense.  I'm like that on occasion…on occasion.  Today is not one of those days.  I am so discombobulated. Woke up late and felt like I've been trying to catch up ever since.  The good thing is that I have routines.  Yes, routines.  I have them because of my A.D.D.  If I don't then I'm all over the place and nothing gets done. When I wake up I have a routine.  Even if I'm running late I do my best to stick to the routine.  When I get to the office I have a routine…it's printed and taped above my computer so I will see it when I get there. It is purposely very specific.  Since posting it I have become so familiar with the steps that I can get through it without looking at it.  But it's still there, just in case. This morning I'm working the routine...

Let's begin with a couple of questions: What are some words you would use to define family? How would you define the state of the family in today's culture? Are those two lists comparable or contrasting?  Why do you think that is? I think our expectations or perspectives of the family is way different than the reality of the state of the family in our culture.  I know that's not true in every family and in every community, but look around folks, it ain't getting better. Let me ask you a couple of more questions: How are you helping to build and strengthen a God-honoring family in your home? How would you asses your family's desire to build a God-honoring family? How did you do with those two questions?  Were they a little more difficult to answer?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I know many families who have a strong desire to honor God and make Him the center of their home, but they just don't know how or even where to begin. Guess what?! ...

Sunday evening I was watching a documentary on Steven Jobs called Steven Jobs:  The Man in the Machine . One of the ideas the film makers put forth was the Jobs personalized the computer.  They posit that he took computing from a dumb terminal connected to a large machine in another room to a one-user to one-computer experience.  They suggest that Jobs transitioned the computer to be more than just an extension of the user, to the point that the computer becomes the user. I remember making the jump from working on a machine in another room to working on a Mac Plus (remember the old Mac-in-the-Box?  Yes, I'm that old). It was a lot more personal than what I had ever experienced before. So, I got to thinking… "What if we could make discipleship more than just an extension of the Christian?  What if we could somehow mold, for lack of a better term, discipleship into the life of the Christian?" What if discipleship stop being something we do or attend? ...