explode, ideas, explode

Although in most circles I may make the half-jokingly claim to have knowledge of all…. I will confess that I do not know it all. I may not even know half of it all. :-/

So money is the one thing that God knows for sure that we may put before Him. It is a given. It offers security, status, and ease (even if these particulars are false). This is probably why God chooses to test us through money to keep us close.

Yesterday, this guy brought us a killer message at Awestruck about how God calls us to give. Yes, financially. No, not just your time or energy. Give from what you have been given. Money. Dinero.

When we go into debt we step away from using what God has provided into the land of what “man will ‘promise’ to provide” (emphasis future tense)…. Has a nice ring to it right? It will probably make a few people mad for me to say this, but it is not God’s will for us to be in debt, or play pretend with money. I like that…. ‘play pretend’… we all do that to a degree, I suppose. Well, that is what debt is… and debt keeps us from doing what God calls us to do…(see next paragraph) “The borrower is slave to the lender.”

Josh brought up the point that God is calling us to give. It is not an option. It is a command. “When you give….” So what does this mean. We are to give first, to something other than ourselves. (This isn’t a ploy for you to write me a check. Giving could be tithes, but noticeably absent from Josh’s message was a request for tithes at Awestruck. That is NOT what this is about). So Give. Then we are to Save. And after both of these, only then are we to LIVE off of the remainder.

This is such a countercultural idea. We have it fixated in our brains that if we need something, we go get it. Tell me how many times you have waited til the end of the month, with good intentions, of course, to give a gift of monetary significance to a cause and realized that it had already been spent. I did it last month! It is tough. That is why we are to give first.

Giving releases us from ourselves. It puts an emphasis on selflessness. Don’t give piously or just to be seen. Give with no regard to your own namesake or your own fame!

Give. Save. Live. In that order. It will change your life.

(kudos pastor josh, I needed to hear truth!)

Being green to be green is a waste of your time.

I think too many people are environmentalists because it is the cool thing to do. Too many people make the environment their end. The environment, while important, is not a Savior. People make it their end and then some go ballistic when someone doesn’t recycle. Give me a break. Pick your stinkin’ battles. God is more important than recycling.

The BIG but…..

That having been said, God didn’t put us here to screw everything up.

What is crystal clear is that God called us to take care of what he has given us. When Christians say “Jesus is coming back, who cares about the environment….” I want to let them smell my breath when I yell “are you seriously that stupid?” It’s like saying “I smoke crack because one day I will die.” Sweet, so I can spend every moment of my life more and more braindead…. until I die. that is just a dumb idea.

Stewardship. Responsibility. Respect.

God wants us to care for His creation. When we have respect for what He created, we make Him more famous…. we respect Him more… we are more in Awe.

Selah.

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“Pony-tail!”

I secretly used to watch this show in the 5th grade. (I wanted to be Dylan or Brandon) Seriously?

Bring your canned goods this Sunday to Awestruck to help James and Jenequa get off the bus!

Starbucks-Get off the Bus! from Awestruck on Vimeo.

by a long shot……

Hey guys and gals! Wanted to let you know about an exciting opportunity….

An organization called Soles4Souls raises money to buy shoes for people who have none. This is a physical way to impact people in an huge way!

The goal?
They are starting a campaign to raise enough money to buy 50,000 pairs of shoes in 50 days. $5 buys 2 pairs of shoes.

Benefits?
Anyone who donates will be entered to win a trip to Mexico!
AND someone who needs shoes will have them because of you!

Where do I go to help?
Go to http://www.50000shoes.com

I hope you will help out in this very easy and practical way!

Every once in a while I like to link to people I am learning from…..so there….
•Barton Damer i want to visually inspire as he does.
•Tony Morgan …he develops “creative solutions” … like minds….
•Anne Jackson gets church leaders off their butts…prolific twitterer as well.
•Stuff Christians Like… tells me what the box looks like so I can get out of it!
•Armentwrites short blog posts that I can read…. thanks man.
•Noble blogs/preaches about how guys should “grow”?
•Furtick this guy is passionate that God can do big things!!
•Josh P always talking about his cool kids… oh, pastor of Awestruck, too…
•Todd Rhoades writes 85 blog posts a week/all of which are interesting
•MicroExplosion Media with Bill Seaver… killah…
•Piper …. looking for the deep stuff?
•Seth Godin … been reading for a month and I’m addicted!!
•Visual Worshiper …want to have a paradigm-shift?
•Pete is always asking good questions!!
•Tadd always hear people talking about them (in public /without whispering)…