friendly service reminder

after reading a few blogs, i've decided i don't really like long posts... i just don't have the patience or eye focus capabilities. so i'm going to try to keep mine brief and potent.

after reading luke chapter 12 in that subversive work called the bible, i picked up something worth noting. as we explore fully trusting in God, not worrying about possessions, storing up heavenly wealth, and being ready for his return, it is important to remember why. simple as it may seem, it's at times easy to forget. and the why is this: he loves us.

yeah, you've heard it before. but read through chapter 12 and look at how many times Jesus reassures his followers and affirms their importance in God's eyes...and his affection for them. why can we sell our stuff? cuz God loves us so much he will take care of our every need...so we can finally live a free life, a full life.

so as we travel this road, let us never take our eyes off Christ and his burning love and desire for us. pursuing any goal outside of devoted dependence on God's love is an utter waste...and beyond foolish.

Ok, I'm going to get a little political here. Like a friend of mine once said, "It's not that I'm pro-American or anti-American...it's that I love human life and hate all war."

I heard on NPR today that Ariel Sharron had a major stroke and is in critical condition. They talked about how his popularity level is at an all-time high, mainly due to the fact that he peacefully gave the Gaza Strip back to the Palestinians. I thought this made an interesting comparison with our country's leader. On the one hand you have Sharron, whose popularity is unprecidented in modern Israeli history due to nonviolent peacemaking, and on the other you have George Bush, who has aggressively attacked (and admitted his mistakes and blunders with the attacks) others, and has a popularity at an all-time low.

I think, amongst dozens of other things, this shows us simply that people love peace over war, and we're even seeing it in the political and secular spheres.

I also heard that six more American Marines were killed today. To be honest, I hate that. I hate that humans, no matter which nationality they belong to, are dying at the hands of other humans. But what struck my attention in this news brief and really shook the (sadly too often) numb feeling I had, was that they quickly mentioned the deaths of 30 Iraqis. Several minutes spent talking for six Americans; one sentence for 30 Iraqis. Without getting too longwinded, I think people can draw their own conclusions here. National pride is more important than human life...

"God, I pray light these idol sticks of my life and may I burn up for thee.

Consume my life, my God, for it is thine.

I seek not a long life, but a full one, like yours, Lord Jesus."

Jim Elliot

Killed by the Quechua Indians of Ecuador in 1956

It's only in letting go of the thing we treasure the most, our own lives, that we will ever begin to taste the life of abundance, the life of freedom Christ promised.