Greater Things in 2012

1.  Identify Priorities

2.  Build a System that sustains them.

• Jesus told us, Luke 13:24 “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.  Jesus shows us, through his example, the tenacity, resolve, strength, endurance we can muster to hold the presence of God. To strive in a contest for a prize, straining every nerve to attain the object.
• Greek word here, Agonizomai, a) “to contend” English word, agonize.
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (NLT) Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
• b) to fight, engage in conflict
• John 18:36 (NLT) Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”

c) persevere against temptation

• 1 Timothy 6:12 (NLT)  Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.
• 2 Timothy 4:7 (NLT) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

d) To strive in a contest for a prize, straining every nerve to attain the object.

• Luke 13:24 (NLT) “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail.

e) put forth every effort, involving toil

• Colossians 1:29 (NLT) That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
• 1 Timothy 4:10 (NLT) This is why we work hard and continue to struggle,[a] for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.

f) To wrestle earnestly  Illustration:  “Olympic Wrestler”

• Colossians 4:12 (NLT) Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.

1.  5 Men’s events, including a Men’s conference Oct 11-12.  I am super excited to launch these events for our guys.  I think our men will enjoy the environments and we will see massive progress in this huge area of our Church.  First one, March 16, Wings and Rootbeers, a night of fellowship, real talk and relationship building.

2.  Breathe Conference and Breathe Friday night for the women.  One of the longest lasting most fruitful soul winning ministries at The Rock Church.  Don’t miss any of them!

3.  Equip Nights. Every Wednesday Equip is in full swing.  First Wednesdays of the month include guest speakers, worship nights and special nights of ministry.  Modules every 2nd, 3rd and 4th Wednesday and a full blown meal and testimony time on 5th Wednesdays.  Equip Nights are where disciples of Jesus are made!

4.  Student Ministry. The line up for guest speakers, camps, events and amazing times for our young people are in place on the calendar, and with special emphasis on integrating the Grid space into our foyer and worship center 2012 is bound to be some of the best of times for youth.

5.  Adopt-a-Block. Every Tuesday.  Two Cities.  Hundreds of people blessed with a hot meal.  Groceries abound.  It’s truly a great privilege and one of the best reasons our church exists!  How many more people will we reach in 2012?  The potential is huge.

6.  TeamLIFE. We’ve made the leap.  We are a team lead church!  Team LIFE is about coming together for vision, skills and new opportunity.  Awesome guest speakers talking about leadership.  Team leaders sharing the inside scoop.  Feel the momentum as we build The Rock Church together. Don’t miss one opportunity. Next one is March 3rd.  Life Conference is Sept 21-22!

7.  Lifesaver’s Children’s. Our number one priority this 2012 is celebrating our kids ministry.  We are planning so much with camps, overnights, opportunities and working toward a brand new worship center for our kids.  This is our motivation in 2012, Generations!

8.  Worship Experiences. Sunday mornings are the heart and soul of The Rock Church. Christmas 2011 raised the bar for what we can do when we pull together as a team.  Every Sunday we will be pushing the envelope to make better and better worship experiences for people with no faith through active faith.  Sunday is where disciples of Jesus are born!

9.  Marriage Conference. Yes.  You heard it right.  Melinda and I are hosting a marriage conference this year, the first of it’s kind.  It’s going to be a great weekend for marrieds and singles wanting to be married.  It will be a not to miss.

10.  Marketplace Ministry. 4 huge weekend dates in 2012.  Awesome guest speakers.  Great networking.  Weekly meeting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  One of the most powerful groups of people in the church together again.  Next Marketplace Event, Saturday March 31.

Guest speakers this year tentatively include Mark Ramsey, Kevin and Sheila Gerald, Ben Dailey, Emmanuel Ziga, Eric Van Alstine, Casey Treat, Dave Martin plus many of the nations most relevant via video message and illustration.  You are gonna love The Rock Church in 2012.

For detailed information and all dates check The Rock Church Calendar here.

I’m asking everyone in my life to join me winning souls this year!  Here’s a couple of thoughts around this important subject.

Acts 20:24 (NLT) ²⁴ But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

• Everybody can value soul winning.

For some people soul winning is easy, for others not as much.  However, every Christ-follower must value soul winning because it is a priority in scripture.  Celebrate.  Recognize. Appreciate.  Get pumped! Every soul reached is a new opportunity to make another disciple of Jesus Christ!

• Everybody can contribute to soul winning.

Some plant seed, others water and still more harvest.  Your every act of worship, service and focus can contribute to soul winning.

• Everybody can believe and ask God for more souls.

God is the Lord of the harvest.  Jesus challenges, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”  This is a perfect illustration of our times.  We have a world (plentiful harvest) asking for answers.  We also have a Church preoccupied with a lot of other stuff (few laborers).  Let’s not just do things like read books to get smarter, let’s do “right things” like win souls to grow heaven.

2.  Giving the currency of life to discipleship.

Matthew 28:18-20(NLT) Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

I also know that being a great soul winner hinges on be a good disciple maker, something I’ve personally worked hard on for years.  Here’s a few thoughts on discipleship.

• A new Christ follower has got to find fellowship with other believers.  This is where Church becomes paramount in their early journey.
• A new Christ follower needs a Bible they can understand.  It’s why I like the NLT, it is easily understood by our American vernacular.
• A new Christ follower needs to read more Bible, and fewer books.  I’m all for reading books, but no one is taking their books to heaven, yet the Word will be there for eternity.
• A new Christ follower needs Equipping.  Frankly, and this is hard to do in typical American culture, but more than a 60-90 minute Sunday experience is necessary to gain strength.
• A new Christ follower needs a worship experience that leaves a lasting impact.  It’s not just about head knowledge, it’s about experiencing Jesus in a tangible way through prayer, teaching, worship and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• The person doing the Equipping must be personally invested in the new believer.
• The person doing the Equipping must be prayerfully sensitive to the growth of the new believer, “more is not always better, less is not always more.”
• The person doing the Equipping must be ready to celebrate growth at all times.
• The person doing the Equipping must be passionate about Jesus!

There’s so much more I could say about these TWO THINGS.  Nevertheless, this is a good start.  Join me and The Rock Church for an incredible 2012 winning souls and making disciples.

Here are some questions every person should wrestle with:

• Is this all there is to life?
• Why am I feeling dissatisfied in the midst of perceived success?
• There has to be more, but what is it?
• Why do I feel stuck and trapped?
• What worked for me earlier is not working now–why?

The hard part.  Often I don’t know exactly what the question is I need to answer, you ever feel that?  In those moments I revisit the original dream–its ethos and most of all, its intrinsic purpose.  For instance, talking with my beloved wife the other day I asked her to define the ethos of our role as Lead Pastor.  She responded, and in doing so, answered the question in a completely new way that opened up my mind anew.  She stated, “You and I have always wanted people to believe they could be more, with God.”  So true, so true.  It opened up a whole new dialogue of thought to begin working on new angles, new ways of thinking and ultimately will impact how I do ministry in this next season.

Most people, leaders, would rather live in denial and pain than reframe their world.  Forward-moving people have the courage to bring the haunting questions from the back of their minds to the forefront.  Embrace the questions, and move your life in the direction you desire.

Today, I am decompressing after the Fall Classic where we had a great showing on the track, after some huge adversity all weekend long.  I am super proud of my performance behind the wheel of the #70 race car and will start off by saying, “Get IT!”

These were the words my three year old daughter said to me on Thursday when we picked up tires for the weekend.  We arrived at Yakima Speedway while another car was testing.  I let Seven out of her car seat and she asked, “Dad, are you racing?”  I replied, “Yep, this weekend.”  She looked around with a distinct brightness to her eye and said, “Dad, get it.”  It was the slogan all weekend long.

We returned on Friday for track testing all day. The car was pretty good, but not great.  Right at the end of the day we found something big that would prove to be a help as the weekend progressed.  We needed to make a change, but it would require getting parts from home, 2.5 hours away.  We had a crew member stop at the shop on their way over, so they got what we needed.

Saturday morning we made the change.  It took a while, so we missed 1st practice.  In 2nd practice we were not as good as prior day, but the problem was qualifying was up next, then a shootout race for starting spot that evening.  I didn’t qualify well at all, car was just not good.  We started the shootout race 13th on the grid.  I raced to 9th.  Car was huge loose, and didn’t feel like a contender. But how many know Sunday’s are good day for someone like me?

Sunday morning the guys worked over the entire car, checking and double checking.  Well, we found something else!  And it was the secret ingredient to what would become a huge WIN for me, but not by how we finished on the track.  The car was awesome good!  BUT, the win was what happened in the area of mental toughness for this race car driver!  I had this tenacity on the track I’ve been trying to develop for a few years, and this weekend was as testament to how my confidence as a racer is improving.

We started the 24h Annual Fall Classic in the 17th position.  We moved forward at will for the first 1/4 of the race.  On a restart a car positioned 2 spots in front of me missed a shift.  Just like the accordion effect in traffic, we all stacked up, and like the pressure in your tea kettle at boil something has to give.  Well that something on this restart was me.  I flew sideways, hit the wall and slid to a stop thinking our race was over.  Once I got the car going again I pulled onto the track and took my spot at the back of the field.  We then started working our way to the front of the 32 car field.  The car was still good!

There was a spin ahead of me, I was collected.  This time the steering was hurt a bit, the throttle hung up and the car didn’t brake very well.  But we were still on the lead lap, and I would make a charge again.  The car was hurt, but fast!  Really fast!!!

I believe I made it back up to 5th or 6th place with a hurt race car.  It was time for the half way break, for fuel, tires and repairs.

There was a ton of damage to my car.  The team worked on every side of it, except the only corner not hit, the left front.  With about 2 minutes to go in the break time for repairs one of the crew noticed the upper control arm on the left front was broken.  The upper control arm is a major component of the front suspension, so not having it was not an option.  They tried to weld it, but with the time-frame given, and not wanting to miss getting on the track to start 6th for the second half of the race, we had to go.

A couple laps after the restart of the race the upper control arm broke, completely.  I brought the car in, and sat there for 20 laps while the team fixed it. We went back out with an awesome race car, still as fast as the leaders.  I drove the wheels off it, just to show my team how proud I was of their effort this season, and this weekend in particular.  We passed a lot of racers on Sunday night.  Some of them 2 and 3 times.

It was a great Fall Classic.  My rival and friend at Evergreen Speedway Naima Lang won the race.  It left me thinking, “oh, what might have been?”  We were good this night, just didn’t have the on track favor to keep my nose clean.  In fact, it was Naima on that restart I was trying not to slam into when the car ahead of him missed the shift.  If I’d hit him like the car behind hit me…well, who knows?

My theme for the weekend, “May the team, car and driver bring glory and excellence to Jesus.”  Here’s to doing our best every time I buckle in.

The final race of the 2011 season at Evergreen Speedway was a blast.  Our car was simply awesome, and the crowd was full of people from The Rock because we were having the LIFE Conference.  My friend, coach and mentor Dr. Sam Chand was in the crowd taking in his first race.

The car had been amazing the last few races of the season.  We unloaded and struggled a bit in practice. After a few deliberations, John and Steve cracked the code of why some minor changes we made to the setup did not work.  They adjusted the car.

The race was 100 laps, but with threatening rain, we knew it could be shortened.  I started outside row 2 in the 4th position.  On the initial start I moved to 3rd, and we were riding nose to tail with the top 5 for quite a few laps.  A caution led to a restart and I was able to move to 2nd.

For the rest of the race my car was really good.  I had the chance to try Daniel Moore, who was leading, on the high and low side of the track quite a few times.  A battle was ensuing, and it was fun.  Finally, on lap 91 I was able to get it done, move to first and drive away by a few car lengths to take the victory.

My highpoint: Winning was so important for my team. We had a very challenging year, and if I didn’t win this night it would have been a long off season.  However, there was this moment I have to talk about.

I’ve played sports my whole life.  On several occasions I experienced a “hot streak’ or as some call it “the zone.”  For me, it’s this euphoric mental state where your focus and senses are absolutely sharp as a ginseng knife!  It was after a restart, Daniel left the door open, and for a few laps I was so focused I knew there was no way I’d lose the race.  I’d never experienced that in a race car before.  Funny thing was, the focus didn’t last.  Because at the end of the race after passing Dan all I could think of was blowing the lead! To put my mind at ease I thought of the last scene of the movie Secretariat, where Big Red is running from the field and leaving them in his dust.  I thought about that movie to calm my nerves and drive perfect laps!

note: Roxy, the girl in the picture, I led her and her husband to Christ at The Rock Church a couple months ago.  I am so proud of who they are, and what God is doing in their lives.

My previous post on racing was about “pounding the wall.”  The crash resulted in what would become the most memorable experience in my racing life to date.  I am writing this 6 week post the events that happened, but felt I needed to make a memory of the generosity of so many people.  I love this picture above, because as you can see I am in a different car, a great car.  Only because of the generosity of so many people.

Unloading my race car at the shop the night I crashed I figured my season was over.  I was out of resources to rebuild, and planned on working the rest of the season and off season to get something ready for 2012. But that ‘s when God had something different in mind.

People in the racing world started offering support, some even giving me some money.  Then one of the guys on my team, JZ, who also goes to The Rock shared his testimony of how his life was changed by being introduced to Christ because of meeting me at the track.  Well, his story called many people to action.  In less than 24 hours I received $2,400 to rebuild.

On Monday night I received a call from some business men in our church.  They told me, and I’ll quote the best I can, “Jeff, we realized on Sunday the only reason we are serving the Lord.  The passion we feel about Jesus, our lives, marriages and children has a lot more to do with you driving a race car than we ever considered until this past weekend.”  They went on to say, “Whatever you need to fix the car, we will give you the rest!”  I was blown away. 72 hours after I crashed I bought a roller (a car without engine and tranny) for less money than it would have taken to fix the one I crashed!

I was so motivated to make these people who had helped me proud the team worked round the clock to make the race the next Saturday.  It was a double header on the 3/8′s.

We unloaded; the car was a bullet.  In the first race we led almost the whole thing, but coming to the white flag the #00 dumped me, I ended up 2nd.  In the second race the car was even better, but a part failure relegated us to 5th place.

We went to yakima the next weekend, and I qualified the fastest at YS in my 5 or 6 times racing there.  We led for the first part of the race, but after an oil spill on the track the car was never the same, we finished 10th.

We came back to Monroe, and almost broke the track record in qualifying with a 16.390, only .027 off the record.  We went on to finish 2nd that night because the race trim was just a tick off, and although I was faster than the winner, I didn’t want to dump him to win.

And then, the next race we won, as highlighted above.

I look back on the last 6 weeks of the racing season, and I can’t believe I even got to race, let alone run so good.  It’s been an incredible jounrey.  One I have a thousand people to thank.

Mostly, I want to say thank you to Steve, John, James, Stevie, Tony, Eddie, Scott, Geoff, Stefanie, Dan, Lani and others on the team.  Also, without Steve, Sound Advice; Jenny and Ryan, Snohomish Pie Company; Matt, Westcoast Autoworks; Jason and Beth, Diet-doc.com; John and Stef, JZ Motorsports; Fred and Jaylene, Streamline Automotive; Tracy, Deyoung.inc; and Dan and Tiffany, Domino’s Pizza in Monroe, as well as others I couldn’t get it done in 2011.  Thanks to all my partners.  I am a blessed man!

Please do me a favor.  Support those people who support my endeavor to have my team, car and driver bring glory and excellence to Jesus!

Finally, Thank you to Melinda Knight, the absolute woman of my dreams.  We celebrated 20 years married this year, and she is the most supportive, caring and competitive fan I have!  Love you baby.

Saturday night was my hardest hit in a race car in 4 years of driving.  I love racing.  I love the speed of the 5/8′s mile race track.  However, with that speed comes consequences.  Maybe I dodged the bullet for all these years, but Saturday I hit the wall like a freight train, destroying my race car.

It was after the half-way break in the Galloway Memorial 125.  We had a restart, where I started 4th after leading a bit in the 1st half.  It was a real cat and mouse 1st half because we were all riding trying to save our stuff for a late race duel with the #00.  The cat and mouse would stop as soon as the end of the first half drew near.  Naima moved to the front, I was second until the guys battling to stay on the lead lap started wrecking, I had to check.  I’d end up 3rd at the break with Lewis in 2nd.

On the restart my car was pretty terrible.  The handle was real strange, and Moore got around me.  I fell behind for a few laps while the top 3 moved out. After just 3 laps my car got some heat back in the tires and the handle came back.  I was able to close the gap back to third and with Lewis and Lang swapping positions we had a 5 car battle going, that was anyones race at that point.  The caution came out.

I restarted outside row 2.  Dan Moore inside.  Dan was strong, but so were we.  I was just not quite as good in the upper groove as I like.  I held Dan thru the center of three and got an awesome drive off of turn four.  Out of nowhere the turn 4 wall smacked me.  I hit the right front pretty good and thought I most likely knocked the toe out of the car, but left the throttle matted.  Somewhere between the exit of turn 4 and the start/finish line I realized I had a cut right front tire.  I checked up and started braking.

It wouldn’t stop.  It wouldn’t turn.  It barely slowed down.  In one display of sparks and awe I pounded the wall in turn one.  Hardest hit I’ve ever taken. Crazy part was I never closed my eyes.  I never looked away, so I can play it over and over in my head.

While sliding along the wall the noises are strange.  For a second I thought the throttle was stuck, so I shut the car off.  When the noise didn’t stop I reached up and shut the master switch off cutting power to the whole car.  Then I realized the noise was the wall and race track grinding on the race car.  It came to a stop.  It was eerily quiet.  The guys on the radio said, “Are you ok?”  I was, I replied, “I’m good.”  Truth is, I didn’t get hurt at all.  Some people think I’m bluffing because it is true that my whole life I’ve done dangerous things, and to mask the danger I sometimes would stuff the pain of injury in front of mom, dad and Melinda.  But this time for real, I’m NOT at all hurt.  Except my feelings for my car.

If this car hits the track again it will be affectionately named “Lazarus.”  It will be coming back from the dead.

I don’t know what the rest of the season looks like.  I have sponsorship lined up for the Fall Classic in October, so I want to race again, but not certain if I can pull off the repair of Lazarus or the acquisition of another decent chassis.  The funds are a little tight at the end of the season, and if I can race again in 2011 it will be because of the amazing people around me.  Many people came up and gave to me Sunday at church, which is amazing.  I love it that people want to be a part, and these kind people are my motivation right now.

Huge thank you to my sponsors:  Sound Advice, Snohomish Pie Company, Domino’s Pizza of Monroe, J’s Interiors on Main Street, JZ Motorsports, Streamline Automotive and Deyounginc.

Huge thank you to everyone who makes the #70 go fast!  I really can’t race and represent Jesus the way I want to without your support!

Photo By Jeff Harris

Two weeks ago we were back on the 3/8′s mile oval for the first time since 4/30!  We were scheduled for twin-50 lap features, and it would shape up to be a fast day.

About a month ago Highroad Promotions, manager’s of Evergreen Speedway, brought in a track grinding company and cut down the surface of the 3/8′s about 1/4 of an inch.  I thought to myself when hearing the news that it wouldn’t make that much difference.  The old track is rough, there’s no grip and grinding it will most likely hurt it.  Boy was I wrong!

In practice I was on old tires and the car was flying.  In fact, the fastest I’d ever been around the 3.8′s is a 17.2 second lap.  That’s pretty fast with a crate engine, so I was astonished when I was practicing at 16.9 second laps!

We qualified 2nd with a  16.509, good enough for the track record for about 5 minutes!  Naima cracked off a 16.363! Folks, that’s fast.

In the 1st main I finished 3rd and came in with a right rear flat, and in the 2nd main I finished 4th and had a right front flat.  Not really sure if it was the surface of the track wearing my tires down or just racing luck to get two flats in the same night.  Sometimes racing is just weird.

My only comment after was, “Thank God I did 60 miles on my road bike the week before the event.  16.8 second race lap speeds at the end of the night were about all this 41-year old physique could muster on that night.  The speeds yielded intensity not normally found on the 3/8′s, but I’m pretty excited about more racing this year on that track.

But first, there’s the Galloway Memorial 125 this weekend with the fair opening.  Pumped up!

Beginning October 5th we will have Equip Night at The Rock Church, Monroe Campus.  The purpose of this night…

1.  First, we want to give people a mid-week connection they may be longing for.  You will experience worship, giving, teaching and fellowship just as any other worship experience at The Rock Church only it will be a bit different than our Sunday experience.

2.  Second, what will make this night of worship different than Sunday morning is the musicians, speakers, leaders and schedule.  This will be a night where young/up incoming worship leaders will lead worship, young/up incoming preachers will preach and young/up incoming leaders will lead.

3. Third, we will have specialized classes for those who are new to knowing Christ and desire instruction.

4.  Fourth, we will also have training and hand-on experiences for those being equipped to live for Christ.

5.  Fifth, this night will be where we raise up leaders to be commissioned to do ministry.  Mentorship from our senior leaders will be evident through mentorship, hands-on training and building any area of ministry.  As our vision for multiple campuses enlarges the need for leaders is more evident than ever.  We think a lot of people have what it takes to be commissioned into the ministry.

More to come on all of this.  So get pumped up, stay tuned for more details. Get ready for October 5th, Equip Nights, The Rock Church, Monroe, WA.

Illustration: Solomon
Summary:  Solomon soaked up every pleasure and perk life could possibly offer, but at the end of his life all he could do was look at it longingly and declare the whole pursuit empty and worthless.

LIFE= A change of my outward circumstances.  Mark 8:31-33
Summary:  We all play the “if only” game.  Here’s how it works:  If only I could get ________, I would be happy.  If only I could achieve ________, life would be good.  The only problem:      there’s always another “if only” right around the corner.  Our hearts are never satisfied with new, different or better circumstances.

LIFE=the Pursuit of the Good Life Mark 8:34-9:1
Summary:  Every culture, including ours, says if you acquire or achieve _________, your life will be good/valuable.  Jesus says that’ll never work.  Nothing will ever make up for the life you were created to live.  Jesus says the only way to life is to lose those little dreams and base yourself and your identity on me and the gospel (Mark 8:35).

LIFE=Nostalgia Mark 9:2-8
What is nostalgia?  a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one’s life, to one’s home or homeland, or to one’s family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time…Nostalgia won’t work…

Missional Analysis:

People with no faith:
·    know something’s wrong with life as it is.
·    believe they would be living the good life if their life circumstances were different – a different job, a different spouse, a larger home, a larger income, or if they could grab a bigger slice of the pleasure pie, or if they could get to some idyllic nostalgic place with no suffering or setbacks.

People with damaged faith:
·    the good life is achieved through self-denial, rule-keeping, discipline, or a return to conservative values.
·    They believe God, or some higher being, will bless them with a life of no suffering or setbacks if they follow the rules.
·    When life doesn’t work out this way, they grow angry and bitter toward God because he didn’t keep up his end of the agreement, or they pick themselves up by their bootstraps and try harder believing God will reward them with the good life if they can just try harder.
·    At the end of the day, though, here’s the deal:  trying to walk the way of the cross will crush you if you don’t embrace the pardon of the cross

People with active faith:
·    be encouraged with a compelling picture of “life after death in everyday life.”
·    a life of self-denial is not an empty life.
·    It may well be a sacrificial life, but it’s a full life lived to God’s glory and for the sake of his kingdom.
·    It’s a big life of love – love for God and love for others – fueled by the love of Jesus, who relinquished his own life that Christians might be forgiven and welcomed into life with and for God.

Which road are you traveling today? The life to death road or the death to life road.

Are you walking the deceptive path littered with signs that say,
“LIFE AHEAD – a change of circumstances right around the corner”,
“LIFE AHEAD – a bigger slice of the pleasure pie around the corner”,
“LIFE AHEAD – get back to a happier time in your life”

OR  Are you following Jesus on the path less traveled – the way of the cross, the way of death that leads to an abundant life of love?

What are you willing to lose your life for?
A new set of circumstances – maybe that corner office, that new spouse, that bigger house, that bigger income?
The full-on pursuit of pleasure?
If you’re honest, deep inside you know there’s got to be something more.  You know there’s a better path.

Today, Jesus is calling you to follow him on that path – the path that leads to the cross.  He’s saying to you, “If you want to save your life, if you want real, abundant LIFE, the kind of life you were created to live, follow me to the cross.  Come and die to your little dreams.  Let me crush your lonely kingdom, and give you new life, a place in my kingdom, and a real CAUSE worth giving your whole life for!  Let me give you new longings and new dreams!”