Living in light of eternity

"The most important thing is that the most important thing REMAINS the most important thing."- old German proverb. "And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?" (Mk 12:28) This scribe asked a very important question, "which is most important"? It's interesting how the Lord answered this question. He didn't rebuke him and say, "Why are you asking this? They are all important!" or any other dodge. He accepted the question and answered him straight up... "Jesus answered, 'The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ " (Mark 12:29) Jesus is clearly acknowledging that some things are more important than others and that one t...

"The single most important piece of information a leader possesses is self-awareness...Leaders lacking self-awareness are often besieged from within.  They often are their own worst enemy. and they don't even know it!"  from  "Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders"  by Reggie McNeal This is the one area that most often holds a young leader back. Every stress and strain a leader faces is interpreted through the grid of their own view of self. Did I cause this problem?  If so, how?  Was I misunderstood?  How should I do this next time?  Only through accurate self-awareness are these questions answered honestly.  You would think that time and experience would solve this problem, but its not necessarily so.  We've all known older people who are set in their ways with a well-fortified view of themselves far from reality. So what can you do to gain self-awareness? I know of three thing...

Scripture describes many situations where the Holy Spirit is working through God's people to produce what could best be described as a "spiritual movement". The movement is propelled with a spirit of faith. It's rooted in each person's very personal and even private relationship with God. It manifests itself in bold exploits for God and heroic actions that bring honor and glory to God. Hebrews chapter eleven gives us the taste of the glory and guts that come with those who truly live by faith: Hebrews 11:32-38 “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortur...