Here is a parable of life for you to ponder on:

A group of tourists sit in a bus that is
 passing through gorgeously beautiful country; lakes and mountains and green fields and
rivers. But the shades of the bus are pulled down. They do not have the slightest idea of
what lies beyond the windows of the bus. And all the time of their journey is spent in
squabbling over who will have the seat of honor in the bus, who will be applauded, who
will be well considered. And so they remain till the journey's end. ADeMello

Love is the new standard.

Place means a lot to me.

What about you?

Have you decided that following Jesus should probably affect the way you live your life?

We can learn how to love well.

The sight of any trouble strikes terror into the heart of those who do not have faith, but those who trust Him say, "Here comes my food!" Watchman Nee

Pray with reckless abandon.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Are you living the normal Christian life?

It means the living of a crucified life and a resurrected life for the body of Christ and God’s eternal purpose.

Be as bold as love is.

Walk toward the messes.

We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferes, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere. LRavenhill

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward:

Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

Spectatoritis

Get into the game!

Lust is turning a human being into an object.

There is nothing that can replace 
the absence of someone dear to us, 
and one should not even attempt to do so.
One must simply hold out and endure it.
At first that sounds very hard, 
but at the same time it is also a great comfort.
For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled 
one remains connected to the other person through it.
It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. 
God in no way fills it but much more 
leaves it precisely unfilled 
and thus helps us preserve — even in pain — 
the authentic relationship.
Further more, 
the more beautiful and full the remembrances, 
the more difficult the separation.
But gratitude transforms 
the torment of memory into silent joy. 
One bears what was lovely in the past 
not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, 
a hidden treasure 
of which one can always be certain. Bonhoeffer

The compassionate life is a community life.

Precisely because we are so inclined to think in terms of individual greatness and personal heroism, it is important for us to reflect carefully on the fact that the compassionate life is a community life. Nouwen

God's personal invitation to each & every one of us -

Is that we get to work on His agenda using the talents we've been given in ways that are eternally significant. Wow.

Prayer and intimacy with God need to be developed right In the middle of everyday life - not once a week.

Disasters always bring communities closer together as neighbours rally to protect homes, defend properties and livelihoods, and save lives.

But it’s the relationships we make during the good times which serve us well, all year round & sustain us.

Before you get serious about Jesus, consider carefully how good you're going to look on wood!

(DBerrigan)

Happiness is love.

The #1 most important finding from the Grant Study is this:

“The seventy-five years and twenty million dollars expended on the Grant Study points to a straightforward five-word conclusion: Happiness is love.  Full stop.”

The essences of Christianity is -

We love Jesus more than this life itself.

Some of my friends have unknowingly mistaken telling others what they should believe for practicing Christianity.

We can live as Jesus lived – sent into everyday life with gospel intentionality.

Mental assent to the Gospel is not enough.

Where there is no transformation, there is no Christianity. SKierkegaard

Porn always does what porn always does -

Promise pleasure but deliver pain.

Jesus actually meant us to do what he taught us.

Get into the neighbourhood trenches.

Let go of your desire for approval.

Don’t pay attention to everything people say.

Worship is what comes forth from a called people and their very lives - not just what happens at a set time and place.

I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

There is a God,

And it isn't you.

Friendliness says, ‘Hey, how are you?’

Hospitality says, ‘Please come into my life!’

Acts 28:1-2
Once everyone was accounted for and we realized we had all made it, we learned that we were on the island of Malta. The natives went out of their way to be friendly to us. The day was rainy and cold and we were already soaked to the bone, but they built a huge bonfire and gathered us around it.

Let us not be a people who focuses on our individual desires & wishes, but rather our shared mission.

Stop the bickering...

And get on with the blessing.

The meat is on the streets!

The meet is on the streets too!

Get out there tonight!!

You can change a behaviour even if your attitude doesn’t change.

Try smiling at a random older person on the street.

Maybe that change in behaviour will provoke a change in attitude.

We can learn to thrive despite receiving more criticism than praise.

We serve an audience of one.

Give up on self-sufficiency.

Want to love better?

Practice forgiveness.

Die empty: leave nothing left in your tank as you serve God.

There is only one Being Who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. OChambers

Say 'NO' to cynicism.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 MSG
So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

There is a difference between believing something is beneficial and opening up your heart, mind and life to let that beneficial thing in. GMorin

If you do not believe God loves you, you will never be able to love God.

You are not what you do - rather you do what you are.

The kingdom of God is here and now & that means it’s not somewhere else and later.

There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians scorned or oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all trials by a fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated chaos, fighting the sword with the Word, brutality with hope, and at last defeating the strongest state that history has ever know. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena and Christ had won. WDurant

Give a man a fish & he eats for a day; teach a man to fish & you lose all your leverage.

No one grows without testing.