Chapter 2 - Did you finish? Thank God if you did!

Let's start with some scripture

James 4: 13-17
Proverbs 16: 1-5
Ephesians 1: 4-22
Colossians 1: 16-17
Ephesians 2: 9-10
Genesis 1: 1

Well, did you see your name in there? No?!? I guess it really isn't about me after all!

According to James, what is your life?

I really like Francis Chan's description of being a walk on in a movie (with 1 scene where the back of your head shows) and then renting a theatre on opening night to invite all your friends to see your new movie.

Boy, did that ever hit home. I've been giving this a lot of thought this last couple of weeks. We all (if we are honest - really) are trying to leave our mark on the world. We somehow need to know we have marked our passage. We need to know that our passage has had purpose and meaning. Right? What's that... it's really just me?!? Did you ever stop to thing that God, our loving Father, marked our passage before He spoke the first word of creation! He created us with a purpose, called us back to Himself, equipped us to accomplish the purpose for which He created us, then welcomes us home to spend eternity with Him. WOW! I just get occasional glimpses of what that even means. All Praise and Honor and Glory be to our Father who created us for a purpose!!!

Francis Chan says there is no replacement for personal time with God. Boy, if we could only live in that truth! As in all areas of life, I get that sometimes and miss by lightyears at others. It is hard work, but time could not be spent in any better way. Lord, give us a true heart for you, for that true intimacy with you.

Well, enough of all that. Here are some questions we will be discussing at tomorrow night's meeting. Come ready!

Do you spend quality time with God?

Do you ask Him to show you His purpose for you for today?

Do you see what He made you for?

Am I preparing for eternity today?

Does my life here show that I recognize I am just a vapor?

Does my life here show that I recognize I just have a bit part?

What are the 2 most important days to a believer?

Do we live as if we believe tomorrow is not guaranteed?

Do you ever thing this might be the day you literelly see Him face to face?

Do we have too high a regard for this human body, or life here on earth?

Think about someone you know who has died abruptly.
What do you see as their achievements?
What do you think they might regret?

What about your own life? If you died today,
What would you regret?
What can you do to change that today?

Praise be to God. See you tomorrow.

Get ready for some questions! - Chapter 1

Here are some question I gleaned from the DVD on Chapter 1. We will watch tonight and see where God will lead us. Thought I would give you a heads up and a chance to give these some thought.

Is your day:
Unsurprising?
Simplicity?
Routine?
'til I leave the house or answer the phone!
Is your experience with God routine?
Do you want a duplicate experience or a created new experience?
Do you pray - routine - create new - expand?
Do you pray the same prayer?
Do you have a "magical prayer"?
Types of prayers:
Pray teaching
Pray lecturing
Pray gossip
Do you hide your prayers?
Is the routine just meaningless repetition?
Do you have role models in prayer?
Do you picture yourself speaking to a person in prayer?
Does scripture change your perspective of God?
If you actually saw Him - What would you say?
What would be the first words our of your mouth?
Was your relationship with God different this past week or two?
How would you like to see it change?

Hope you can stay all night!

Well, It wasn't all night. Great Chili (Frito Pie for you true Texans)! Thanks Dennis & Patty ( and Jane for the great bread).

We had some interesting discussion about our prayer life. I think we really want to have a bigger picture of God. We discussed His attributes and how He initiates and energizes our relationship with Him. We came to the conclusion that our prayer should be a continual dialogue with our Father.

Much more to come!

We're on our way - assignment: Chapter 1

Well, I sure had a good time at our meeting. Great discussion. Isn't it interesting that we have such a varied view of who God really is? The view presented in the Intro video pushes the boundaries and asks us to get this "higher, huge" view of God. Do you think He will reveal Himself more as we seek Him?

We began the discussion of what love might be. Isn't it amazing that God initiated the whole thing, for us!?!

God first loved us, so He could adopt us into His family, so He could change our very nature back into what He created us to be, and then empowers us the live out this change, and then he changes our eternal destination. WOW! I have to stop and ponder that a while.

I can hardly wait to get into Chapter 1 with all of you. See you there.

David

First Meeting

We are going to explore a bit about God. Sound like a daunting task? You bet! Unless He wants to be known by us!

If you were asked to describe God, what would you say?

Let's watch the introduction video from http://www.crazylovebook.com/.

Did you ever stop to think about that? The creator of the universe - the Holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful, fair and just God --- is Crazy about YOU!

We are also going to explore what love means. God's love for us... Our love for Him... Our love for each other.

Let's read 1 John 4: 7-11

Does God Love us?

What does that mean to you ?

Is it who He is or what He does?

Let's read Matthew 22: 36-40

What does that say about love?

What do you think?

Over the next few weeks, we will delve more into what this means:

Who is this God that loves us?

How should we respond?

What will the world look like if we believe this?

Many other questions.

We will be watching the Chapter Videos from the DVD and discussing what we are learning.

There are study guides available for those who want to dig deeper.

See you along the journey!

David

Let's get started

There has been a lot of talk about Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love". I believe there is a good reason! It is a real eye opener.

When someone asks you how your walk with God is going, how would you like your answer to be:

"I'm madly in love with God, I think about Him all day long!"

Here is a book that can take you a step or two closer to that reality.

Let's take a look at this book and see where God will take us.