The Ultimate Challenge

The article below was written by one of our Outloud Youth, Nelson Berry. Nelson shared his testimony in our morning service last Sunday. He wrote what he describes as 'The Ultimate Challenge' originally on his Facebook. What impressed me about Nelson was his willingness to take responsibility for his own faith and relationship with God. I see Nelson being a catalyst, someone who wants to make a difference. Even those who have been part of the church for a long time can benefit from his enthusiasm.

The article is a bit raw, written from a teen perspective but some good food for thought.

THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
(Written by Nelson Berry)

So, i was rather frustrated today, about a lot of things. Number one reason came to be, the church, and its laziness and faithless drive. It seemed to be that most just stand and sing and sit and leave after the sermon and go home to their perfect lives where they never do anything for god. Then it got me even more frustrated to realize, i was the exact stereotype I'd just stated previously. So in a fit of frustration and rage, i came to an end with it :D. god showed me something deep in my heart. I need to let go and just drive with faith.

THE CHALLENGE:

1) Take a good long, critical look into your life. I know this been said a thousand times, but grade yourself as though you are a stranger looking at yourself and see if you could immediately ****(that means right away, within seconds) tell that your life was devoted to god.

2) Now look at your life again, only this time look at all the crap you do. An example being: Hey i working at subway, take part at school, practice guitar, play computer, try to read the bible, want to do the musical...

3) Now take away anything and everything that is taking you away from god entirely. Example: Computer, Musical, other small things.

4) Re-organize your life, and instead of finding new things to fit into your extra time, fill it all with god stuff.

5) LIVE YOUR FAITH. If you have friends who make fun of you for loving Jesus, then stand up for him, shake it up and get made fun of more. Shake up your faith with god and let it grow, into unconditional love. This life time, this life time is short compared to eternity. Why should we care and hide our faith from people, if we're gonna be spending all eternity with god? Start loving god out loud, and in public, and totally be faith driven.


ADDED CHALLENGE: Fast from your computer. If you spend way to much time on it doing stupid facebook crap, fast from it. If you take too much time to watch TV fast from it. OR better yet even if you don't have these problems fast from them, I'm sure you'll find that you get closer to god.

Its time we started living out faith and being the church, the building we all go to on Sunday is just a building when there's no people in it. what makes it a church is US, the church community and body of Christ.

Good Luck with what ever god throws at ya :D

Financial Nightmare? Living With Certainty

These last few weeks have been a nightmare in the financial markets around the world. Economists and world leaders are scrambling to stabilize and find solutions to the current melt down and erosion of certainty in the markets. The last time I checked my RRSP, if yours is like mine you have probably have seen a significant decline in your portfolio. For many there is growing concern over how as Christians we should respond to this crisis. Since I am not a financial adviser, I cannot comment on what you should do or not do as it relates to the markets. Here's what I can say from a common sense perspective: (For both good & bad times....)

1. Choose to live within your means. Much of the meltdown in the economy is the result of too many people living on credit they cannot afford.

2. Review your personal or family budget. Has anything changed that warrants an adjustment in your spending patterns? We have a tendency to spend at the same pace when income was strong, but when income declines; to not cut back until it’s too late. Make a list and ask yourself; is there anything we can live without? Do I really need this or do I want this? Can I afford this? Can we wait? Over the years Barb and I at various times have agreed to what we call 'a spending freeze', keeping us from making many impulsive or needless purchases.

The last thing I want to say in these uncertain economic times is: Choose to live by the principles of God’s economy as taught in His Word.

Jesus said in: Matthew 6:19 – 33, “Store up treasures in heaven, not treasures on earth.” He also said not to live in fear and to worry about…. “'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

One way we put God first is in the giving of our tithes and offerings. The Bible says that the tithe, the first fruits or tenth of our income is holy and belongs to the Lord. (Leviticus 27:30) It is my responsibility in both good times and bad to bring to the Lord what belongs to him. It is in these times of uncertainty that I want to be sure I am fully anchored in God’s plan of economy. Someone said to my wife the other day: “it was hard the last time they wrote out their tithe cheque” but choose to do it anyway as an act of faith.

The Bible says in (Malachi 3:10) “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

I have often said, I want to live by faith and not by fear. When I tithe, I am declaring my faith. I am acknowledging that God is my provider and I am fully trusting in Him.

Together as a CPC family, let us continue to live with the certainty of God's presence in these uncertain times.

Living With Certainty

Pastor Dave