Praise Break '09 John P Kee

I just danced my tail off! Whoooooo! lol =DG

'Glee' Teaches You How To Dougie

Your Purpose in Life

Peter Drucker, a management specialist who works with major corporations, says that you only need to answer two questions to stay on track:

Question #1: What is my business?

Question #2: How is business?

It is amazing how many business and individuals start out with focus and purpose and get sidetracked, eventually failing because they lose their direction. In the New Testament, the Christian life is likened to a race in which the runner fixes his eyes on the Lord and runs patiently, turning neither to the left of the right.

The Old Testament stresses the same thing. Solomon, who knew alot about human nature, wrote, 'Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right of the left.' (Proverbs 4:25-27)

As we approach the end of the year, its time to take inventory. Remember those resolutions you made at the beginning of the year? What kind of year has it been for you? Lots of people go through life with no personal goals whatsoever. They take the path of least resistance, making survival their primary objective.

A life of significance means you know what life is about and you go beyond the level of fame, money or achievement. That's where a spiritual purpose comes into the picture.

Purpose in life must include a relationship with the Creator. Jesus stated the purpose of His life when He said, 'The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness' (John 10:10 TLB)

Anyone can see that a lot of promises of happiness that the world makes are like thieves that take our time, our money, and our joy, but leave us empty and sad. Again Jesus said, 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost' (Luke 19:10).

What's your level of living, friend? Survival, success, or significance? Do you see a relationship between Christ's coming to Earth and your purpose in life? It's there. It's the Bethlehem connection that can give you a reason for living and make life significant no matter what your income or status.

Resource Reading: John 10:1-21

(Excerpt from: Tomorrow Starts Today by Harold Sala

The Cost for Forgiveness

The most striking Christmas card I have received in years came from this past season. The headline read: 'History is Crowded With Men Who Would Be Gods' Underneath were the images of nine powerful historical figures: Alexander the Great, Tutankhamen, Julius Ceasar, Maharishs Yogi, Adolf Hitler, Vladmir Lenin, Napoleon Bonaparte, Gautama Buddha and Mao Tse-tung. Who would deny that these individuals aspired to reign as gods with supreme power and authority?
What made the card unique was the message inside which read: 'But Only One God Who Would Be Man.' Underneath was a reproduction of a Dutch painting depecting the infant Jesus in the manger with Mary and Joseph looking on.
The record of Scripture is profound and clear. God the father loved teh world so much that He gave His only Son. Think about that for a moment. God, the Son, willingly laid aside His role as God, gve us His seat at the right hand of the Father, to be born of human flesh. God became man completely human, completely normal.
It is here that the whole issue stretches our understanding, because being completely human and completly God means something marvelous, something supernatureal. Paul expains how Jesus laid aside His excercise of deity to become man in Phillippians 2.
Was Jesus ike us in the sense that He was tempted and torn, at times, between right and wrong? The record says He was in every way tempted as we are, yet without sin. As man He was capable of sinning, but He was also able not to sin-which gives us hope as well.
Many men would be gods, but only one God chose to be man. Amazing, yet true. John adds that 'whoever believes in him shall not perish [or be lost] but have eternal life' (John 3:16) That's the bottom line.

Resource Reading: John 1:1-12

=DG