Additionally from Sunday's message...

In regards to the challenge to see eternity as a reality and that Christ followers live today in ways that echo into eternity, Former Anglican Bishop N. T. Wright of Durham has written:

“The whole point of what -Jesus was up to was that he was doing close up, in the present, what he was promising long-term in the future. And what he was promising for that future and doing in the present was not saving souls for a disembodied eternity but rescuing -people from the corruption and decay of the way the world presently is so they could enjoy, already in the present, that renewal of creation which is God’s ultimate purpose —  and so they could thus become colleagues and partners in that large project.”

John Piper's Passion of Jesus Christ

I just finished this short book this morning and found some powerful statements that I just wanted to share:

p49 being sanctified means that we are imperfect and in process

p59 don’t follow a defeated foe.  Follow Christ.  It is costly.  You will be an exile in this age.  But you 

will be free.

p62  Christianity is not first theology but news.

p87 Christ-inhabited, Christ-sustained, Christ-strengthened (self) - That’s what a Christian is.

p94  Christ died to create comrades on the Calvary road.

p117 Paradise will not be a hall of mirrors.  It will be a display of majesty.  And it won’t be ours.

Here is a link to the book:  https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Jesus-Christ-ByJohn-Piper/dp/B003AUD338

Learning to coach

I have recently been through an 8 week crash course in learning to be a life coach and it has really opened my eyes to a reality of our human condition.  We don't like to be told what to do!  In fact, in a recent post by one of the teachers of the crash course, he writes, "it goes against human nature to accept someone else’s ideas in place of our own."

Jesus wasn't ignorant of this.  I think of all the times that He coached people to discover truth by simply using really good questions.

I am on a new mission to give less advice and trust that by using good questions, people can discover some great solutions for life.  Wasn't it James that told us to be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry"?  Good words there!