Living out Life with Passion, Purity & Purpose

Having loved this present world.... This phrase has been on my heart lately. It was spoken by Paul about a man named Demas. Most people would say Who? Paul we know... but who is this Demas fellow? I wrote this Bible study over 5 years ago but it is one that stays with my spirit. I look it up and reread it often. I will share what I wrote then... with some new thoughts added in.... When I think of endurance, keeping the faith and finishing well I always think of Paul. As he sat chained in a Roman prison, waiting the time of his execution, he wrote to Timothy: 2 Timothy 4:6-8 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. Paul was confident that he had en

Radical Holiness – a fight for Purity Last night we started a series with our students titled Radical Holiness. When David felt this phrase spoken from the Lord, we began a discussion. The thing is - Biblical Holiness IS Radical. It’s different, it’s set apart! Biblically, there is no other way to be Holy than for it to be radical looking to the world! So why Radical Holiness? Well let’s be honest here… the world and even church people in general have so watered down what the word Holiness means. We have either avoided the subject altogether and just done our own thing or we have made it about a list of rules, don’t do this and don’t do that. We've made it about dress and actions and words. When the truth of the matter is none of those things make you Holy. Keeping that list, doing all the right things does not constitute Holiness.  Holiness is a matter of the heart. Truth here – if you are Holy, you will live by the Do’s and Don’ts set forth in the Bibl

My last post was about a line in a worship song "I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open." It dealt primarily with How to do this... Today I want to focus on why! We talked about climbing and trusting. Letting go of everything else so we are capable of receiving all that God has for us. That divine exchange, beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, heaviness for Praise! But all of that is about me... And I know that Gods purposes for my mountains cannot be just about me. Lets look at a verse in Isaiah 40:9 O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift  it  up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” For a bit of background, Isaiah has spent the first 39 chapters of his book mostly prophesying Israel’s judgment. He is letting them know they will be taken captive into exile in Babylon. Now in Chapter 40

This weekend we heard one line of a worship song, here are the lyrics from the song.   “I lean not on my own understanding My life is in the hands of the Maker of heaven I give it all to You God trusting that you’ll make something beautiful out of me. There’s nothing I hold on to There’s nothing I hold on to There’s nothing I hold on to There’s nothing I hold on to I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open” - United Pursuit, Live at the Banks – Climb   I want to focus on the line “I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open.” Surrender – it’s tricky business. I am almost 40 (sigh :/) and every year it seems I learn something new about complete surrender to God. Surrender is about trust… and sometimes… let’s be honest here…. I trust my plans and ideas and dreams more than I trust Gods. And yet I know to receive fully what God has for me, I must be willing to completely let go of everythi

 Pure Water - the Standard If you live in Anderson, or are friends with anyone from Anderson on Facebook, you've probably heard a lot lately about clean water (or the lack of)! I've seen people rant about contacting officials, demanding reductions in water bills, I’ve been seen pictures of brown water and green water.... And then I've seen people "kindly" (or not so much) remind the complainers how blessed we are, and how a little inconvenience with our water purity shows how much we take for granted, and compare our conditions with those around the world. To me, the truth of the matter is, I can see both sides. As Americans, we have come to expect a level of purity in our water based on what has been provided and available to us our whole lives. We expect - and some demand - pure water, pure air, and pure food. Some people go to great lengths to ensure they, their children and their pets are feasting on purity! Unfortunately for many, the h