Through His Eyes

Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.Rom.12:2 (MSG) Then you can see things through His eyes.

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Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, United States

I have the best job in the world. I am the Pastor and Church planter of Life Connection Church. I am married to Lisa for 27 years and have two adult children, Brooke 23, Nick 21 that have been and still are an incredible blessing to my life. Brooke is a graduate of UTA and is in the corporate world and Nick is a business major at Texas Christian University.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Credit Card Craze

Article from www.christianitytoday.com

Credit Card Craze
A look at what we're really trying to buy—and how to be more intentional about spending.
by Donna F. Savage

"Things have to change," my friend Sheila declared. "No more fancy restaurants! No more expensive birthday celebrations!" Her determination intensified the longer we talked.

Sheila had spent more at Christmas than usual. Then she charged $250 for their daughter's birthday gift and dinner for eight in mid-January. Two weeks later, Sheila's son-in-law picked the restaurant to mark his birthday and safe return from Iraq. Another $275. Now she and her husband, Mike, faced three more birthday dinners within six weeks. Their bank account couldn't take the hit.

Birthdays aren't the real problem," Sheila admitted to me. She recalled the days when her young daughters squealed with delight over a brightly wrapped box or a frosted cake with candles. As the girls grew older, Sheila felt pressured to make each birthday special. Gifts gradually cost more. Home-cooked meals gave way to expensive restaurants. The reality of her family's expanding expectations now was plastered across January's credit-card statement. Sheila didn't want to disappoint her kids, but she knew birthday dinners had to move back home.

I admire Sheila's decision to tackle the silent advance of spending. Most of us similarly struggle with materialism. According to a CNBC survey, 43 percent of American families spend more than they earn; the average household carries more than $8,000 in consumer debt. Rising incomes and easy credit offer unprecedented affluence, evidenced by our overflowing closets and garages. Yet unrestrained spending, with its bloated credit-card balances, leads many families into financial bondage.

HOW DID WE END UP HERE?......REST OF ARTICLE HERE

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

I did not come to bring peace but a sword —Matthew 10:34

from Oswald Chambers

Never be sympathetic with a person whose situation causes you to conclude that God is dealing harshly with him. God can be more tender than we can conceive, and every once in a while He gives us the opportunity to deal firmly with someone so that He may be viewed as the tender One. If a person cannot go to God, it is because he has something secret which he does not intend to give up— he may admit his sin, but would no more give up that thing than he could fly under his own power. It is impossible to deal sympathetically with people like that. We must reach down deep in their lives to the root of the problem, which will cause hostility and resentment toward the message. People want the blessing of God, but they can’t stand something that pierces right through to the heart of the matter.

If you are sensitive to God’s way, your message as His servant will be merciless and insistent, cutting to the very root. Otherwise, there will be no healing. We must drive the message home so forcefully that a person cannot possibly hide, but must apply its truth. Deal with people where they are, until they begin to realize their true need. Then hold high the standard of Jesus for their lives. Their response may be, "We can never be that." Then drive it home with, "Jesus Christ says you must." "But how can we be?" "You can’t, unless you have a new Spirit" (see Luke 11:13 ).

There must be a sense of need created before your message is of any use. Thousands of people in this world profess to be happy without God. But if we could be truly happy and moral without Jesus, then why did He come? He came because that kind of happiness and peace is only superficial. Jesus Christ came to "bring . . . a sword" through every kind of peace that is not based on a personal relationship with Himself.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Maxwell Moment: 8 Ways to Make People Feel Like a Million Bucks

by John Maxwell - Leadership Wired

Ranking among the greatest Christmas movie classics, It’s a Wonderful Life tells a beautiful story about the priceless value of relationships.

The story follows the life of George Bailey, a man who sacrifices his dreams to travel the world, instead choosing to stay in his hometown and run the family-owned business after the sudden death of his father.

Throughout the movie, George’s humanity draws us into his life. As we watch him grow from a child to a young man, and then to a husband, father, and business owner, we see how George continually places the well-being of others ahead of his own interests. Yet, we can sense his frustration at being pent up in a small town, working long hours, earning a modest salary, and living in an old, renovated house.

When life’s circumstances push George’s business to the brink of bankruptcy, his frustrations boil over, and he contemplates taking his own life. At this crucial moment, a guardian angel is sent from heaven to prevent George from committing suicide. Through a series of supernatural events, the angel convinces George of the beauty of his life—even with his present troubles. With a renewed sense of gratefulness, George goes back to his home.

Upon his return, George’s family and friends rally around him in an overwhelming outpouring of support and generosity. In a show of goodwill, they take up a collection and donate it to George. With his business secure and his financial situation saved, George uncovers a note left by his guardian angel:

Remember George: no man is a failure who has friends.

for rest of the article click here