Questions to ponder ...

This past Sunday's sermon was definitely challenging stuff. I was just thinking that I've probably listened to hundreds and probably even thousands of sermons over the years.

And it was kinda sad to realize that I've forgotten most of them. I wonder how many of them I've actually put into practice. So many seem to go in one ear and out the other.

Hopefully the messages will become something more. The challenge is putting into practice what we've heard. True conviction should lead to a response.

Pastor Harrison gave us 4 questions to ask ourselves to determine whether we are trusting in our ourselves or if we are trusting in God. Simple questions ... but yet so difficult to do.

1) Which is growing more: my accomplishments or my relationships?

2) Are the needs of others causing me to neglect the care of my soul?

3) Am I growing more and more dissatisfied with my life?

4) Am I growing more and more impatient with others?

The downside with getting older is that we tend to become less patient, more dissatisfied and unfortunately, too easily satisfied with so many things other than God.

Then again, age doesn't really matter ... it affects all of us ... young and old.

God, may you be my complete satisfaction. May your grace and your amazing love cause me to be more gracious to others as the years go by.

Hello Hurricane

You know how sometimes you read something and it just connects? Some people just have this gift with words. The power of oratory. The way they write or talk speaks volumes. So intricate and deep ... it's quite beautiful really.

I was reading this excerpt from Jon Foreman of Switchfoot fame on his band's new record titled, "Hello Hurricane". It releases next Tuesday, 11/10. Reading about the album and the songs really makes me want to get this album now. Maybe because I know the story behind the whole project ... the struggles, the longings, the hope through it all.

Check this out ...

The storms of this life shatter our plans. They tear through our world and destroy our hopes and dreams. They ruin sunny days, flatten the structures we depend on, and shock our world views. Hello Hurricane is an attempt to sing into the storm. Hello Hurricane is a declaration: you can’t silence my love. My plans will fail, the storms of this life will come, and chaos will disrupt even my best intentions, but my love will not be destroyed. Beneath the sound and the fury there is a deeper order still- deeper than life itself. An order that cannot be shaken by the storms of this life. There is a love stronger than the chaos, running underneath us- beckoning us to go below the skin-deep externals, beyond the wind, even into the eye of the storm. Hello Hurricane, you’re not enough- you can’t silence my love.

Wow. Mmm hmm ... that's so true. Love. Whoa.

I'm sure you want to read more. I read the whole thing already. There's a part two and a part three too.

You can't silence my love. I'm feeling that. Believing it.