Conformed or Transformed?

I just finished this book by Bill Wiese. Bill is a realtor that experienced 23 minutes in hell one night. He and his wife Annette share their story. Whether you believe he actually went to hell or not, I pray that it will open your eyes to Scripture. May we each avoid hell and be inspired to share the gospel with others so that they, too will avoid hell. Bill shares his story in the video here.

It has been a really busy week and I have read Chapter 3, but haven't had a chance to post about it. When I got an email yesterday asking "Where is chapter 3?" I figured I had better get on that! I really appreciate those of you who faithfully read and comment. It encourages me to keep on sharing. Sometimes you wonder if what you have to say ever makes a hill of beans difference in anyone else's life. I pray that the words here on this blog will encourage and inspire your relationship with God in a new way. I know it hold me accountable to keep my relationship with God going strong. I pray that for all of us that we will "no longer be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds". So, on that note....chapter THREE!!! First, I realized that I haven't really shared with you what "chasing lions" is all about. Beneniah killed a lion in 2 Samuel 23:20-23 . I am sure it was one of the scariest moments of his life, yet the m...

We continue on today with highlights from chapter 2: 1. "God loves impossible odds.......Too often our prayers revolve around asking God to reduce the odds in our lives. We want everything in our favor. But maybe God wants to stack the odds against us so we can experience a mirile of divine proportions. Maybe faith is trusting God no matter how impossible the odds are. Maybe our impossible situations are opportunities to experience a new dimension of God's glory." (Think of the example of Gideon in Judges 7 and the army too large. God widdled it down to 300 men and then has them fight the opposing army with trumpets and jars. They knew in the end that it HAD to be God and not them that made them win.) 2. "How you think about God will determine who you become.....and that internal picture of God determines how you see everything else......The more we grow, the bigger God should get. And the bigger God gets, the smaller our lions will become." 3. "...

I bought this book a while back that I really wanted to read and I am just now getting to it. It has a crazy title, but upon reading chapter 1, you totally get it. It's based on 2 Samuel 23:20-23 where Benaiah killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. The book is about facing your fears to take the risks of the opportunities that God has given us. Over the next few days as I read this book, I want to share some of the highlights, as already in chapter one I have been challenged. Here are a few challenges from chapter 1: 1. "God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. But the right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time." 2. "I recognize this simple truth: The greatest opportunities were the scariest lions. Part of me has wanted to play it safe, but I've learned that taking no risks is the greatest risk of all." 3. "I think the church has fixated on sins of ...

"If you want to learn anything worthwhile, seek rather to be unknown and to be thought of as nothing." - Thomas A Kempis This is the true concept of humbleness. I want to serve and do things for God, but I need to do it for the Lord…serving Him only and if nobody else ever knows or acknowledges it, the fact that God knows is enough and satisfying to me. But, to do nothing, because I can’t be known while doing it is sin. It’s hard not to want recognition for our work, yet our soul motivation should be out of a love for God …nothing more….nothing less.

I am reading the book Ministering Cross-Culturally by Lingenfelter and Mayers. It is really a good book about seeing how our Western culture differs from most other cultures. They contrast 12 different areas that can cause tension on the mission field. The one that really hit home for me was the contrast of goals. Are you task-oriented or people-oriented? I found, much to my surprise, that I am a task-oriented person, even though I am very much a people lover. Most of Western culture is task-oriented. So, here's what got to me.....There was a man who wanted to have some of his friends come over and help him do a task. Only a few showed up and so they sat on the porch and talked until more men showed up. Not enough men showed up to work, so they just sat talking and called it a day later that afternoon and decided that they would try it again next week. Now, I would have been frustrated by this. Frustrated that the few that were there didn't at least start on the task. Frustrat...