[Guest post by Rick Warren] The Bible gives us five actions we can take to stop procrastinating: 1. Stop making excuses. “The lazy person claims, 'There's a lion out there! If I go outside, I might be killed!'" (Prov. 22:13, NLT). What have you been saying you’re going to do “one of these days”? What do you make excuses about? The number one excuse I hear is, “When things settle down, then I’m going to ...” Things will never settle down. You must make a choice to prioritize what is important. 2. Start today. Not next month, next week, or... Read more →

This year our focus is DEVOTE 3. We want to DEVOTE ourselves to PRAY more passionately, SHARE more intentionally and SERVE more wholeheartedly. When it comes to your call to SERVE ... 1. You were made for it. God knew you before you were born (Jer.1:4), God planned you (Ps.139:16), God formed you (Ps.139:13-14), God thinks about you all the time (Psalm 139:17-18), God calls you (Jer.1:5), God saves you (Eph.2:8), God made you new (2Cor.5:17), God gifted you (1Pet.4:10. 1Cor. 12:7), God made adventures for you (Eph.2:10), and God loves you (Jn.3:16). Yes, each one of us have a... Read more →

"He brought me into a spacious place ..." Psalm 18:19a NIV "I am beginning to understand that life is not so much a search for answers, as it is a search for clearings. Clearings are the required stopping places in our lives when our lives get to be too much. A clearing is a place of shelter, peace, rest, safety, quiet and healing. It is a place where you can get your bearing, regroup, inspect the damage, fill out the estimate and make repairs. It is a place where mid-course corrections are made - where you can change course, even... Read more →

As a response to God's relentless love for us, and the adventure that he has called us to embark on, we want to commit ourselves afresh to be devoted to God this year - to PRAY more passionately, to SHARE our faith more intentionally, and to SERVE with our gifts more wholeheartedly. As we do, we will see a greater fulfillment of our mission to be fervent followers of Jesus Christ reaching out to our world. What will be different for you this year? What changes could you make that would result in a significant growth in your own life... Read more →

Life as Adventure Have you ever thought of your life as an adventure? Our kids used to love reading the Choose Your Own Adventure book series when they were younger. The stories are formatted so that, after a couple of pages of reading, the reader, as the main character in the story, faces two or three options, each of which leads to more options, and then to one of many endings. The number of endings could range anywhere from 12 to 40. This allows for a realistic sense of unpredictability, as the reader chooses their own adventure. Life is a... Read more →

Tomorrow is Lent, an important part of the liturgical year for many Christians, lasting approximately six weeks leading up to Easter Sunday. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer through prayer, repentance, generosity and fasting (or the giving up of certain types of luxuries). You may want to consider committing yourself to this journey as the next step after our own 14 day period of prayer and fasting. YouVersion has put together a Lent For Everyone Reading Plan. Lent for Everyone is a devotional created and written by N.T. (Tom) Wright. For each day of Lent,... Read more →

In his most recent book, What Makes Us Tick?, Australian sociologist Hugh Mackay observes that “from the family to the workplace, from the school gate to the local coffee shop or pub, and from religious, political or sporting affiliations to friendship circles, both online and offline, we are as socially interdependent as ever. Our default position, as humans, is together, even for those of us who cherish time alone ... We need to belong.” He goes on to say that “this desire to belong drives our attachment to two kinds of groups: herds and tribes ... The herd, typically comprising... Read more →

A few reflections from Proverbs 3: 1. Remember the words of wisdom taught to you. Don’t forget them. Store them in your heart and live them out. As a result, you’ll have a long and satisfying life. Things such as loyalty and kindness are essential. Write them deep within your heart and wear them so everyone can see them. If you do this, you will find favour with God and people, and you’ll gain a good reputation (vs.1-4). 2. Do you want to renew your health and vitality? Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don’t rely on... Read more →