Election 2010: Active Opportunity

I haven’t blogged about Human Trafficking in a while. Raising awareness of this terrible crime is major reason for this blog so I think I fell off the horse for a  little while. Note to self – must stay on horse!

We have a federal election coming up. What a great opportunity to raise our voice and make sure our politicians know where we stand on this issue.

Human Trafficking is a major problem. In fact, human trafficking is said to be the third largest criminal industry in the world (after arms and drugs). Alarmingly, it is the fastest growing of them all. An estimated 27 million people are enslaved right now.

Day 40: Living with Purpose

Hi everyone!

Today is the final day of The Purpose Driven Life journey! I’ve learned a lot – I hope you’ve discovered some valuable nuggets too.

Let’s get on with it then!

Living on purpose is the only way to really live. Everything else is just existing.

Most people struggle with three basic issues in life. The first is identity: “Who am I?” The second is importance: “Do I matter?” The third is impact: “What is my place in life?” The answers to all three questions are found in God’s five purposes for you.

Day 39: Balancing Your Life

Life is about balance. We’ve all heard that before. Now that we’ve learnt about our five main purposes, we need to remember to try and keep them in balance.

These two statements sum up what this book is all about – God’s five purposes for your life:

1. “Love God with all your heart”: You were planned for God’s pleasure, so your purpose is to love God through worship.
2. “Love your neighbour as yourself”: You were shaped for serving, so your purpose is to show love for others through ministry.
3. “Go and make disciples”: You were made for a mission, so your purpose is to share God’s message through evangelism.
4. “baptise them into…”: You were formed for God’s family, so your purpose is to identify with His church through fellowship.
5. “teach them to do all things…”: You were created to become like Christ, so your purpose is to grow to maturity through discipleship.

Day 38: Becoming a World-Class Christian

Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well.

This chapter of The Purpose Driven Life explores an interesting concept. Author Rick Warren believes there are two types of Christians: world-class and worldly. He describes world-class Christians as those who “know they were saved to serve and made for a mission. They are eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God.” Worldly Christians, he says, are “saved, but self-centred. They love to attend concerts and enrichment seminars, but you would never find them at a missions conference because they aren’t interested. Their prayers focus on their own needs.”

Day 37: Sharing Your Life Message

I will forever be grateful to God for the message He has given me. The story which – because of Him – is my life, is nothing short of miraculous. I hope I never forget that and always turn back to Him with a grateful heart. I also hope to always have the strength to share it when it needs to be heard. It’s a story that is hard to tell but I’m hoping to share it with you soon. In fact, I’ve already started working on a post.

Chapter 37 of our journey through The Purpose Driven Life deals with, I’m sure you already figured, sharing our message!

You may feel you don’t have anything to share, but that’s the Devil trying to keep you silent. The bible says, “Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them.” Your Life Message has four parts to it:

Day 36: Made for a Mission

It’s hard telling someone about Jesus. At least, it is for me. I invite people to church but to actually say, “You know what? Jesus loves you so much,” is a whole ‘nother story. I’m reading Reinhard Bonnke’s autobiography Living a Life of Fire and am amazed by how easily he talks to people about God – not just from a pulpit, but one on one as well. This is something I’ve always struggled (and wanted) to do. My approach seems more gentle – less confrontational, whether I want it to be or not.

Chapter 36 of The Purpose Driven Life talks about the fact that we have a mission and a ministry. We are called to serve other believers through our ministry, and serve unbelievers through our mission. While a ministry call is unique to each person, we all have the same mission; “Christ changed us from enemies into His friends and gave us the task of making others His friends also,” 2 Corinthians 5:18. Enter; the Great Commission.

I felt a real temptation to get all down on myself and put myself under a big dose of condemnation until I reminded myself that condemnation is never from God. Even though we all have the same mission, we all live that out differently.

Day 35: God’s Power in Your Weakness

Your weakness are not an accident. God deliberately allowed them in your life for the purpose of demonstrating His power through you. What a statement! It’s liberating to know that my weaknesses aren’t something to be ashamed of but that they were always destined to be part of who I am.

Day 34: Thinking Like a Servant

Hi everyone! I kind of dropped out of blogging for a couple of weeks. I was trying to keep going through the school holidays but it wasn’t working… I love school holidays but they’re definitely a lot of work!

So I’m back again and Day 34 is a really interesting chapter (and hits close to home for me right now!)

Failing Miserably (but only for a season)

Lately I’ve been failing. Failing miserably. And there are plenty of people around to remind me (okay, maybe just one).

I was waiting at the school gate for my daughter yesterday and one of the mums piped up, “Isabella looked lost at the sports carnival yesterday.” She’s referring to the sports carnival I didn’t go to.

“Oh”, I said. “She seemed fine when she came home. What do you mean – lost?”

“Well she just looked lost. She didn’t know what to do.” Translation: YOU’RE SUCH A SLACK MUM. YOU DIDN’T EVEN GO TO THE SCHOOL CARNIVAL!! BUT I WAS THERE. I’M A GOOD MUM. That’s how I read it anyway.

10 Things Your Heart Needs To Hear… about small beginnings

Bobbie Houston spoke at Sisterhood this morning. You know when someone is talking and it feels like the words are going straight to your spirit, before your mind can even process them? This was one of those moments.

Bobbie shared some wonderful wisdom about small beginnings and I really wanted to share it!

10 Things Your Heart Needs to Hear… about small beginnings

1. Don’t despise small beginnings. You would only despise a small beginning if you didn’t know what was in it.