The way the iron rotates at the core seems similar to situations in our lives.  There are always situations around us that seem to be the HOTSPOT of our lives at the time, or even for the week.  It’s what our attention is focused on, and the situation keeps rotating, swirling, and seems to not lose any heat.  All the while…the lava is burning us.  We don’t realize it because we’re caught up in it…and don’t worry if we’re getting a sunburn.  Each “swirling iron core” in our lives is also creating a magnetic pole.  It’s a pole of morals.  No matter what, if we would just look at our compass, we could see what direction we’re going.  Do you even carry your compass with you? Do you even know how to use one?  Or is it easier to do nothing, and let the situation define you?

How many times do we talk about someone behind their back? 

Who do you put down to make yourself look good?  At school?  In your job? 

How many times are we “ok” with bad things happening to others when we justify that they’ve deserved them…or brought it on themselves?

God saved you by his grace when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  He has created us in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago

 Ephesians 2:8-10

WHEW!  I feel relieved, but confused all at the same time!  He loved us SO much that salvation is a gift…not something we have to “qualify” for.  All we have to do is accept it.  Let go.  Let God.  We dont have to worry about finding an identity in this world…he has created one for us!  He has a plan for each one of our lives!!  So awesome!  But it just leads me to my struggle with one word…GRACE.  I love it.  By God’s grace we are saved if we believe, and live for it.  He didn’t ask for things in return…just that we honor Him with every day!  I absolutely struggle with grace. 

I didn’t give grace to the guy that swerved in front of me today on the way to the office…

I didn’t give grace to the person who forgot to file for a change of address…so I get mailings meant for him….for the past 3 years! 

I’m not perfect at all.  As a matter of fact….I SUCK.  The cool thing about it is that God loves me.  My “suckyness” and all.  So in the end…I don’t think that it matters if karma is on my side…God is. 

Franz & family settled on CR 40, in a place they called Barker.  Modern day…we call it Waterloo, Indiana.  It’s crazy to think that over generations our family wasn’t taken further from where we were planted in America.  What I know about his direct discendants tells me that we haven’t drifted too far spiritually either.  It is scary to think about how far you CAN drift from your roots in just a couple of generations!  Yet when you look at some families…it’s amazing to see their devotion to their roots. 

Abraham was David’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandpa.  14 generations from “Father Abraham” to “King David”.  Although throughout thier descendants they strayed, how crazy to think that what Abraham did with his life and family would affect David in some way….14 generations later. 

If you knew 14 generations back in your family heritage…would you thank them for the direction that your family has taken over the years?  Each generation has the choice of how they will handle “taking the wheel” of direction of the family.  In 14 generations, will they thank you for bringing the family closer to God?  I firmly believe that memories of me will be forgotten, but the God-loving legacy I will leave will only take my family closer to Christ. 

There were 14 generations between Abraham and David.  There were 14 generations between David and Babylonian exile.  There were (you guessed it!) 14 generations between Babylon and JESUS.  42 generations between Abraham and Jesus.

I would love to think that 42 generations from now, people will remember me.  Most likely they will not.  So what’s the purpose of building my own kingdom of possessions and money?     

BOTTOM LINE…they WILL remember God in 42 generations.  I will do everything in my power to ensure that.  Will you?

“I don’t know how you love me like you do, it’s so good, to belong with you.
And in the places I’m a stranger to…It’s so good, to belong with you, TO BELONG WITH YOU!”

What is it for anyway?!?!  God, I was better off without you!

Ever been there?  First, your curious about God, and even see it as your hope, your stabilizing force…  Second, you know that you’re on a journey closer to Him, and you’ve made the decision to make a step change in your faith.  Somewhere on that journey, WHAM!  Out of nowhere, you realize that the situation that you’re in is heavier than you can carry on your own.  THAT’S THE POINT!

You made the decision to leave a place in your life that you thought was ‘fertile ground’, to go to a place that was even more ‘fertile’….but you feel that the distance between these two on the journey is desert filled with LaNdMiNeS!!!  It’s in this time…that we’ve found “the land between”.  The truth is, although we feel that the bookends of our journey are the most fertile….God wants us to know that this desert we’re in is fertile too!  And actually…it’s where he is doing the most cultivating in our heart!!!

IT’S NOT A LIGHTSWITCH! Your heart can change immediately, but your life is tougher.  We think that it’s a magic token, but its actually a decision to let God work in your life and cultivate awesomeness!!!!

1.  Where are you?  Are you in the land between?  Are you reluctant to start the journey?

2.  What parts of your life do you think God is doing some farmin’? 

3.  Are there times in your life that have made you question how fertile the desert is?

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash!”
Matthew 7:24-27

As I sit here at Discount Tire and wait for my truck, I ponder a few questions….

1. IS my house really built on solid rock?
2. Could it be that it’s built on sand, but I’ve mowed the grass fancy, and put pretty landscaping in?
3. What are the habits of a person who’s house is built on the rock?

It’s awesome to be in a place like Louisville. So much history.  We’ve all sought it out this week.  We have all taken trips to the Louisville Slugger Museum, or Churchill Downs, and even the Muhammad Ali Museum.  What is it about these places that makes us want to be near them?  It seems that everyone wants to be close to greatness.  Each of these places or people have been committed to excellence, to the point that their principles, habits, and influence will live on longer than the inventor, horse, or even a seemingly invinceable boxer. 

Legends do not happen overnight.  They are created over time when a person’s influence spreads like a pebble in a pond. They don’t become great by accident.  They are each committed to a priority of principles and habits that perpetuate greatness. 

Brad and Danielle, as you start your life as a married couple….What does greatness look like for you?  Furthermore, what will you use your marriage for?  Who will you influence?  I challenge you guys to think about the pillars you will stand on for greatness in your marriage.  I encourage you to make the foundation God, because if it’s not….more than likely, the pillars will crack and fall at some point.  Pillars that you shape your life around will crack no matter what, but if you don’t have the foundation to build from….it’s like building a castle made of sand….no matter what it’s going to be washed away.  Build your house upon the Rock that is Christ….that way no wave or storm can wash it away! 

“You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.  You did not learn this from any human being.  Now I say to you that you are Peter (meaning ‘rock’) and UPON THIS ROCK I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

Matthew 16: 17-18

Taking a closer look, there were HUNDREDS of ants swarming the syrup trail slurping up the awesomeness that is–maple syrup. Each ant had to limit its time in the syrup, because standing in it too long would cause them to become “stuck”. The ant would pry itself for about 5 minutes to get out of the syrup (narrowly escaping ant death)…just to go back to the syrup! 

  

  

  

“Don’t you realize that you become a slave to whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living” 

Romans 6: 16-17 

It seems so often that when we are attracted to a sinful action….we do it so much that we feel like it’s part of us, and there’s no giving it up. We feel like as long as we “limit” our sin….that it’s ok…because we can get out whenever we want. Each time we do it, we repent, repent, ask for forgiveness, pray, and submit to God…and then it’s right back to the “Syrup Trail”!!!! We all struggle with our own sin, and struggle with ways to combat satan’s temptation. Each time we escape the grasps of the Syrup…..we are drawn back in by the sweet smell, forget how painful the sin was…and how bad it was being “stuck”. Why is it so hard to turn away from the syrup trail????? The syrup will only make you more hungry for syrup. Vicious cycle, huh?

If you know me well….you know I’m a big sports fan. When someone’s wearing one of those “replica” jerseys from the 70’s or 80’s, sometimes I’ll compliment people. I have to admit….sometimes it aggravates me when they respond with….

“I don’t really even like the team or sport…..the jersey just looks cool.”

SERIOUSLY??????? Some-times I want to say…”Do you not care what you represent?”

A rare jersey….you should have an appreciation for it, but you’ve never even played the sport! Do you ever feel that Christianity is treated the same way? Many like to wear the “Christian” jersey because it seems cool, or even feels comfortable around certain people.

The real question is….have you even played the game?

If we randomly gathered all the people wearing football jerseys around a high school, put them out on the football field, and rolled a ball out….we’d find out pretty quick who actually had a clue about what their jersey meant, and if they had even played football before.

We would like to think we’re Christian because we wear the right clothes, listen to the right music or go to church, or have the right bumper sticker….but what are you doing after church until the next Sunday? Are you in the game….or sitting in the bleachers? Don’t wear a jersey of a sport when you don’t play the game.

The CRAZY thing is…..the jersey is free to you, but it wasn’t cheap. It was paid for with blood. Will you take the jersey and get in the game?

Kyleigh and I have been engaged in warfare with our dog for several months now.  Our 1 year old schnoodle, Bristol, loves to chew on a giant bone that she got for Christmas or her birthday or something…..anyway, the bone is about as big as she is.  It’s the best financial decision we’ve made as far as a chew toy goes!  A $3 bone has lasted about 6 months now!  The flip side to this is….it’s her go-to toy.  Anytime she’s laying around…she’s chewing on that thing.  When bedtime comes…as we walk into the bedroom and call Bristol…here she comes tearing around the corner dragging that bone!  She hops up on the bed with it, and proceeds to chew and slobber all over.  Let me summarize the interaction each night…Bristol hops up on bed with bone and chews…Justin takes bone and tosses it on floor…Bristol stares at Justin for 4 seconds, hops off the bed, and returns with the bone…repeat this interaction 2 more times before I finally take the bone and put it in my nightstand drawer.  At this, Bristol stands on my chest, stares at me as if to say, “If you’re gonna take that from me, then I’m gonna stand on your chest and annoy you until you give it back!”  Each night, no matter what….this interraction happens.  And each night, Bristol is just as frustrated as the previous night that her bone is taken. 

Warfare implies cause.  My cause is a bed that’s free of slobber, and that it’s quiet enough to sleep without her chomping on a bone.  Her cause is debatable.  Not the fact that she has a cause…but which one it is.  I believe her cause is a combination of many…the largest of which being her attachment to the bone, and that in the absence of anything else…at least she has a bone to chew on.

Cause implies passion.  Because I feel strongly about our slobber-free bed, that passion fuels my persistence of denying Bristol.  This is the reason she doesn’t give in.  What amazes me each night….is that Bristol NEVER STOPS!  She never just has enough and just lays down.  Only when I take her bone completely out of sight does she finally settle down. 

Passion implies an attachment or emotional investment.  Bristol has an attachment to her bone.  This is where our commitments to this Rawhide Warfare face a split.  I do not have an emotional attachment to the bed, or slobber, for that matter.  She never gives up because of her attachment to that bone. 

I’m not willing to go to war over a rawhide bone on the bed.  My dog is.  Bristol wins this war due to lack of passion on my part. 

“Warfare implies cause.  Cause implies passion.  Passion implies attachment or emotional investment.  What are you willing to go to war over?  I am engaged each day in warfare with the world’s views and expectations.  I am willing to go to war for God’s army…and not to always conform to the world.  What about you?”