The Dash

So here I sit, one day after Christmas. The day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. And in my devotions I'm reading about Jesus' death. What struck me was this: The contrast between these two stories and how awesome and powerful and VERY well known they both are. BUT, what about all the stories in between. What about all the things that Jesus did between His birth and death. What about those stories? As I've talked about before, I love to read and meditate on the lesser known (or at least the lesser talked about) passages in the Bible about Jesus' ministry. As Jeff talks about, we can kind of just pass by these incredible stories and totally miss what they meant then and what they mean to us here in 2007.

Then this thought: What about you and me? What are we doing between our birth and death. Go to any cemetery and look at any gravestone and what do you see? You see the "pertinent" info--the name, date of arrival, date of death, etc. BUT what you don't see is what I think is most important information. And that is this-- What did that person do with their "dash"? That little dash-mark on the stone between their birth and death is what I want to know about. I want to what they did with their life-- their "dash". What is their story, ESPECIALLY their God story?

So, again, what about you and me? What are we doing with OUR dash. Five, ten, even fifty years from now, what are people going to say we did, or are doing, with our lives?

In the future, when people look back on the "history" of Cheyenne and Element Church, I don't want them to say or think " Wow, look what so-and-so did." Or even "Wow look what Element Church did" I want them to say this--"Wow, look what GOD did in Cheyenne!" "Look at what God can do with and through people that simply obey and then go do."
Grant

Fireworks

One of the pastor's blogs that I follow was talking about not getting complacent and comfortable in our life. He was telling how as a teenager he used to work at a fireworks stand and as a result is almost numb to the power and beauty of fireworks. He then paralleled that concept to the Christian life and how we can so easily become complacent. How we can take for granted ALL that God has done for us and is continuing to do.

So it got me thinking about my own life and what in my life would be my version of working in a fireworks stand. What is my version of "stopping to smell the roses"? And then it hit me--sunrises. I LOVE sunrises. The beauty, the splendor, the amazing colors just take my breath away. But... how easily I can take them for granted. In my sixteen years with Frito-Lay I have seen almost six thousand sunrises. Six thousand! Yet how easily I can just assume that tomorrow the sun will come up again and it will be beautiful and I can just go on living my life.

I never want to to that. I never want to be that man that takes all that God has done for me and treat it like yesterday's news. Where I've come from, where I'm at, and where God is taking me IS a miracle. May I never forget that. May you.

Grant

Random Thoughts

Just some thoughts that have been on my heart.......

--Our volunteers at Element Church ROCK! Seriously they are amazing. Sometimes on Sunday morning I take a moment and just stand back and watch and listen. I am blown away. I know Jeff and Adam feel the same way. I could, and probably should, go on. But I really just wanted to say to those of you that volunteer at Element--THANK YOU! I hope God blesses you as much as you are a blessing to me and others. I have received many compliments about our First Impressions team (ushers and greeters). We have actually had people tell us that the reason they came back to Element Church is because someone said "Hi" to them and made them feel welcome. WOW.

--A personal journal entry the other day went something like this---" I will continue to write down in this book my concerns, my victories, my frustrations, my praises, etc. BUT this morning I really feel God saying 'Grant, just PRAY' " Then I was reminded of a blog from another pastor I had recently read---"God again reminded me that He can do way more with my simple obedience than I can do in a lifetime of planning" So simple. Just pray and obey.

--I will try to blog more. Honestly, it kind of freaks me out that other people actually read them. I hope it helps. It does help me to collect my thoughts and type them out.

Grant