Prayer

St. Augustine, the early church father and theologian, described prayer as like a man in a hapless boat who throws a rope at a rock. The rock provides the needed security and stability and life for the helpless man. When the rock is lassoed it's not the man pulling the rock to the boat (though it may appear that way); it is the pulling of the boat to the rock. Jesus is the rock, and we throw the rope through prayer.

Prayer is the lifeline that saves the drowning soul. Prayer is the umbilical cord that provides nourishment to the starving spirit. Prayer is the channel by which God's life-giving presence flows to us.

-Rick Ezell

Live Productively

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"

The Cross

The cross meant death, and dead person does not respond. So when we go to the cross, the principle is that we do not respond (to circumstances, emotions, self-pride, etc.). But we let the risen Christ rule our hearts, and allow him to respond. So let us deny ourselves, pick up the cross, and follow him in obedience and submission to His full authority and in the power of His resurrection. So let us die and live in with the risen Lord who will rule our hearts and respond on our behalf. -Pastor Peter Kwon

Recap of the message from last Sundays sermon. I've been dealing with some issues lately that I haven't been able to freely express to anyone but God alone. Through agonizing nights of prayer, mourning and weeping my way to the cross allowed me to respond to Him and have Him respond to my circumstances. Have you ever felt like no one fully understood what you were thinking, feeling, and going through, partly because of the fear of what is expected of you too.. Have you ever felt that way before? I think that's why the floodgates of emotions just burst forth while I listened to this sermon. Sermons can sometimes be heard as just words when you hear the same thing over and over again, but when you actually live out the gospel message the whole realm of these words become life itself. That's why although I still struggle with internal conflicts and wounds from the past, it puts me into place that I am that much more in need of a Savior, Jesus Christ. I couldn't handle my current situations in my own power and will. It was just beyond me. And I knew that it wasn't about just talking it out with someone but it was something deeper within me that needed to be healed. God has been really gracious to me. Like I shared with my bible study class, there are some days where I just look into the eyes of Jesus and he says, "I know".. and from that moment, I just know everything is going to be ok.

But he said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

-Live Productively

There is a time for everything

Make this the time of your life!!!!!

A time for us to be reborn and a time to die to ourselves.
A time to uproot our unresolved past and plant something new in its place.
A time to kill certain behaviors and begin our healing process.
A time to tear down strongholds in our life and build up our walls of protection.
A time to seek occasions to laugh instead of finding reasons to weep.
A time to mourn those we have lost and dance with the memories we have shared.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-9

In everyday struggles, work to receive them as a lesson,
a blessing or a change of season.
Every season will pass—enjoy it or embrace it.

-Live Productively

A fish would never be happy living on land,

because it was made for water.

An eagle could never feel satisfied if it wasn't allowed to fly.

You will never feel completely satisfied on earth,

because you were made for more.

- Rick Warren

the thinker

thinking about what The Thinker is thinking.

a dime now or a dollar later?

A boy was playing in his front yard when his uncle stopped by for a visit. After talking for a bit, the man sprung a philosophical question on his five-year-old nephew: "If I gave you the choice, would you like a dime today or a dollar next week?"

The boy stood and thought. A dollar could buy him that rubber ball he'd seen at the corner store, but a "dime today" could mean a package of potato chips for his hungry late-afternoon stomach. So he took the dime, bought his snack and went home happy.

But about a week later, a buddy passed his house bouncing a new rubber ball. The boy then thought about his uncle's offer. The chips were a distant memory, along with the dime that had seemed so valuable at the moment.

If only he'd been willing to wait for that rubber ball later on...

There's a lot of truth to that story, you know. Sometimes we're so glamorized by the glint and gleam of the one thing we want right now that we're not willing to wait and trust God for the something better He planned for us down the line.

-Live Productively