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March 15th, 2010

HAVING PRIORITIES IS A PRIORITY

Priorities are a priority.

Not having them will someday prove to be a disaster.  It’s cool to hear from people say that they just go with the flow.  It’s fun to hear that they are spontaneous.  Unfortunately, when we don’t prioritize, certain things, namely relationships can get left out.

Listen to what Wayne Cordeiro, a pastor from Oahu, says in his book, “Leading On Empty.”

“One day after years of ministry with a wonderful congregation, I will say my good-byes, pack my bags and , with many tears, walk out of the church.  But when I walk out of the church, there’s only one place I can walk into.

Family.

If you miss building the home base, you will have nowhere to go when ministry days are over… Too many have sacrificed marital harmony and family on the altar of success.  It’s not worth it.”

It’s not worth it.  Those words don’t ring in our heads until it’s too late.

What’s worth it?  Your family is.

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March 13th, 2010

A “CHOICED” INSIGHT ON MARRIAGE

I was thinking about my message for the wedding I was going to do tomorrow.

Weddings are fun.  It brings all kinds of emotions – for the bride, the groom, the family, friends, relatives and even those who are walking by the beach to see all the stuff happening as the event unfolds.

While weddings are great, the real prayer is focused on the marriage.  Weddings happen in a day… marriage, a lifetime.

Much of life is about choices.  We can choose to eat breakfast (oh, that’s why my stomach’s growling) or not.  We can choose to be grumpy or cheerful.  We can choose to keep a positive attitude about life or choose to be negative all the time.  You’ve met some of them, I think.

Stepping into a marriage, you will be confronted with lots of choices.

Let me download 3 quick choices we need to make as one decides to tie the proverbial knot:

1. Choose to love.

While it is a wonderful feeling, we all know love is above and beyond just romance.  While your partner will not always be lovable, don’t be deceived.  It’s equally the same if not worse with you.  You will not always be lovable.  You won’t always look, feel and even smell lovable.

Yet when Paul told the church in Ephesus to love the way Jesus loved the church, he was talking about choosing to love without condition. (Ephesians 5:25)

Choose to love not just because, not just inspite… but choose to love.  Period.

2. Choose to forgive.

Because we live in an imperfect world made up of imperfect people, we will all commit dumb things, intentionally or inadvertently.

Forgiveness reboots the ’system’.  Forgiveness refreshes the ‘browser’.  Forgiveness restarts the relationship.

Relationships go on for years without being fixed.  Why?  People forget to forgive.  We conveniently forget.  We choose only to forgive who we want and when we want.

Col. 3:13 tells us “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Don’t forget to read the last statement.  “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

If God can forgive knuckleheads like us.  I think, we can choose to forgive those who hurt us.  Our spouse included.

3. Choose to enjoy.

I cannot tell you how huge a part humor has played in our marriage.  My wife loves to laugh.  She knows how to enjoy life.  And I thoroughly enjoy being married to her.

The wisest man at that time, King Solomon wrote in Ecc. 9:9,

“Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love…”

Great stuff.  Wonderful advice.

Someone said, “Pain is inevitable.  But misery is optional.”

You can’t stop bad stuff from happening.  But you can definitely stop misery from camping in your backyard.

I read the story of Michael from the book “LEADING ON EMPTY” by Wayne Cordeiro.  I won’t have space to include that story.  But you will have to read it.  You gotta. It will change your perspective on life.

His story is found in this link.

Life has a way of presenting different choices.  It’s up to us to make those decisions.

But we have had One who exemplified making a tough choice yet followed through.  His motivation?  He so loved that He gave.  So loved us.

Because of that, He chose.

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March 11th, 2010

PREACHING? OLD SCHOOL!

Preaching sounds old school yet it still is one of the primary ways to communicate what God wants to say to His children and the rest of the world.

It (preaching) is a privilege wrapped up with a HUGE (ALL CAPS) responsibility.

Charles H. Spurgeon puts it this way…

“I have preached the gospel now these 30 years and more, and … often, in coming down to this pulpit, have I felt my knees knock together, not that I am afraid of anyone of my hearers, but I am thinking of that account which I must render to God, whether I speak his Word faithfully or not.”

Powerful words from a powerful preacher.

The motive for preaching?  You can preach for 2 reasons.  Either because ‘you have to’ or because ‘you have to’.

Listen to what Mark Batterson has to say about this…

The first “have to” is because you are on the schedule. The second “have to” is because you have fire shut up in your bones, you have a word from the Lord, you have something conceived by the Holy Spirit that you cannot keep inside. Nothing is worse that the first “have to.” Nothing is greater than the second “have to.”


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March 10th, 2010

AS EACH ONE PITCHES IN…

I can’t get over how one “small thing” is making a difference in the lives of many.

This morning, in our Metro Manila Staff Meeting, Lynn Nawata who is the Executive Director of Real Life Foundation shared what happened last Sunday.

Joshua Suarez ran 102 kilometers during the “Death March/Life March” and in the process raised 130,000 pesos for Real Life’s Scholarship Fund.  People gave 1,000 pesos for every kilometer he ran.  But since more than 102 people wanted to give, the money raised reached 130,000.00.  Imagine how many high school and college students are helped through this.

I love what Lynn shared from the book, “The Hole in our Gospel” by Richard Stearns.

“We, as Christians, can look at our broken world, shrug our shoulders, and say, “That’s just the way things are.”  Or we can instead embrace a vision of what could be – if we’d each pitch in.  Isn’t it better to light a candle than curse the darkness?  And what could be accomplished if we lit not one candle but many?  The light of even one challenges the gloom, but the light of a million could obliterate it.”

One can make a difference – as each in unison determine to work together for a common goal.

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March 8th, 2010

DON’T HAVE TO BE A QUEEN TO MAKE A DIFF

Shared about Esther’s life yesterday in church.  She was no special person but because she made herself available for God, she was used in extra ordinary ways – to save her nation.

(Video podcast here)

One might say, “I’m not a queen.  I look like one or act like one, but I’m really not one.”  But you gotta remember that way before she became queen, she was a regular young lady ready for whatever God wanted to do for her and through her.

Concurrently, right at the same time, God was raising up other guys to rebuild the nation of Israel.  Ezra opened the Scriptures to reconnect people to God.  Nehemiah was used to fix the infrastructure of the nation and rebuild the walls.

You see, when God rebuilds a nation.  It’s never one guy.  He pulls many together to accomplish His purpose.  Sometimes, leadership can be over glorified.  It’s still HIM, at the end of the day.  He uses ordinary, regular Joes like us to accomplish his purpose.

To see this nation rise from the ashes, it can’t be one leader, candidate, ’savior’.  It will have to be all of us coming together to see this thing happen.

It’s a banker who keeps his integrity intact.  It’s the young high schooler studying hard and pushing to excel for one day he will be in a leadership position.  It’s the teacher who gives her best to not only download info but also character.  It’s the father who disciples his kids into all God has planned. And so on…

Each one, doing his part.

Yesterday, one guy did his part.  Joshua Suarez ran 102 km for the DEATH MARCH and raised Php 102,000 for underprivileged students of Real Life Foundation’s Scholarship Fund.

He’s not a Senator, not a governor, not even a CEO of a multi national company.  But in his way, he is making a contribution to make a difference in this nation, this time.

Imagine what this nation will look like in 40, 50, 70 years if everyone did his ‘little’ contribution to make a difference.

Remember, it’s the little things that make the little difference that eventually make the big difference.

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