I apologize for the long absence. Lot of stuff going on right now. Trying to cram everything in doesn’t work. You only end up with mediocrity. Be back soon!
Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
Please Help Haiti
14
Jan
Dear Renewed Mind Readers,
I originally titled this post “Please Pray For Haiti.” But after thinking and praying about it, I thought it better and more in line with who we are in Christ to ask you to please help Haiti. As most of you know, Haiti suffered a horrendous earthquake this week. The news reports coming out of the country indicate tens, maybe hundreds of thousands, are dead. We have a friend whose father led a mission team down to Haiti on Monday. We received word that the missionary survived but we have no word on the rest of the team or the people who are involved in that ministry. Many thousands have the same story – “I don’t know” or “I’m still waiting to hear.” Please keep the people of Haiti, their leaders, the rescue workers, and our government leaders in your prayers while the recovery efforts continue. If you have a local church supporting missionaries in Haiti, they need your help now more than ever. If you don’t know how to help or where to give, a good starting point seems to be the American Red Cross. While I don’t normally advocate secular organizations for giving, I think this is an exceptional time and worthy of an exception to the rule if you don’t know how else to help. We worship a God of mercy, love and compassion. It’s in these desperate situations that His life working through His Body can be a shining light in a dark time.
Rejoicing With You In His Grace,
Glen
Haiti Photoessay
Happy New Year
01
Jan
For many of us, 2009 was a really tough year. Finances were crunched, family changes happened, sickness and disease tore into some of us, loved ones passed into eternity, jobs were lost, and a long list of other things could be included. There is nothing “magical” about advancing the calendar one day to a new year except it represents something I think we all need: hope.
(Php 3:13Php 3:13
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
WP-Bible plugin) “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,”
As Christians, we need a constant reminder that our hope rests in a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything about our lives – past, present and future – is centered in Him. 2010 is a number from which all of history is measured – the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2010 is a number where we see that our lives are here and now and our choices occur today, not in the past or in the future. 2010 is a reminder that our future is our future and our past is our past. We can’t do anything to change our past but those choices we do make today will affect our time left here on earth and how our everyday interacts with eternity.
2010 reminds me that my life on this earth is short. There is no time to live in the ordinary or accept mediocrity. The horizon approaches and we, like the scouts of the old west, need to ride ahead and look over. For sure there are challenges that lie ahead. There are no promises that the road ahead is easier than the road behind us. There are rivers to cross, mountains to climb, and enemies waiting. But there’s an old song by an early contemporary Christian group that says, “Joy is not in where we’ve been, joy is Who’s waiting at the end.” We look ahead, prepare now, and leave no one behind.
Thanks so much for reading the Renewed Mind. Thanks so much for your encouragement. I pray that as we journey together in 2010, we keep our gaze ahead knowing we have a joy waiting for us and know that our joy is with us even now as we travel. God Bless and may your new year be a happy one in Him.
Glen
Why Are Millenials Dropping Out of Church?
One of the thing perplexing church leaders lately is why young people are “graduating from God” when they graduate from high school. A recent article was posted in the Dallas Morning News titled, “TEXAS FAITH: Why are millennials dropping out?”
As much as we’d like a simple answer, like “They don’t know the Bible” or “They haven’t been taught the right things,” I think it’s more complex than that. I know a lot of kids from good families in churches that have solid doctrine that left the church and bolted for the ways of the world. Ever see the Facebook or MySpace pages of some of them? So why is this happening? I have my own thoughts that I’ll be sharing in the near future. What do you think?
Posted in Commentary, Miscellaneous