Everything is Meaningless

The last 24 hours have really re-emphasized for me and for many around Vincent just how short life can be.  Thankfully Tab, Sarah, and Kara are all going to be fine and were mostly just banged up real bad...but we so often get caught up in trivial matters:

*What clothes we're going to wear

*The test coming up in class

*What we're going to eat for dinner

*What we're going to do this weekend

My mind was turned to this Scripture in Ecclesiastes:

Meaningless!  Meaningless! says the Teacher.  Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.

--[Ecclesiastes 1.2]

During times like these, we're are presented with what really matters in our lives:

1. God
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Life
5. Happiness
6. Health
7. A Beautiful Day (this one brought up compliments of Tab)

Thank you Lord for keeping the girls safe.  Let our hearts return to you and let us enjoy all that is good in the world.  Amen.

Real Transformation

So, I'm wrapping things up in the office.  Tonight's service went pretty well.  It was great to see some old faces and some new ones worshipping God.  I've been preaching a series for over a month now called "Jesus Greatest Hits."  The grand scheme of the whole series is to re-think what it means to be Christian.  For us in the Bible Belt, it is very easy to have a view of Christianity that is covered up with a bunch of extra rules, regulations, etc.  But didn't Christ come to set us free from heavy burdens?

One of the things that is a passion of mine is to see (and help people make) real transformation.  I believe salvation is more than a prayer and a train ticket to heaven.  I also believe faith is far more than praying to Jesus and studying the Scriptures.  Christ came to give us a life like the one before the Garden fallout.  He came so that we can have a vibrant walk with Him.  

That's one reason I'm not a real big fan of altar calls--at least not the kind where people are invited down to the front to "receive Christ."  God has really opened my eyes of the past year and a half to salvation as a process.  I've seen people boo-hooing and snotting in an altar call, and yet they get up and are unchanged.  And I've seen people who have never come to an official "altar call" and "get saved," and yet one day I notice them worshipping, or praying with someone or serving someone.  And then I hear them talk about their faith with someone.  It truly is amazing just how far we've gotten off track from what God originally intended for us.

Well this post is turning into a small novel, so I'll cut it off for now.

More to come later (?)