Fleeing Temptation - Sean Patrick

Created or Creator? - Jared Keiffer

"Marathon or Sprint?" by: Jared Keiffer

"It’s a marathon, not a sprint!"

Back in the days that I turned in regular 100 hour work weeks at a CPA firm I was constantly encouraged that life and your career was a marathon, not a sprint. I must admit I think I probably said that to people too when a conversation came to an awkward standstill and I had no better cliché to pull out. But what does that mean?

Pace yourself. One of the most important aspects of a marathon, and probably where this catchphrase comes from, is pacing yourself. If you talk to a rookie marathoner, it is typically the greatest tactical challenge that they face. They don’t want to over-exert themselves in the first few miles and end up not finishing the race. When it comes to life and career, a similar mindset is taken. Where a sprint is about all out exertion, a marathon is about pace and caution.

“You’ve got a thirty or forty year career ahead, don’t wear yourself out in your first five years!”

I wonder how many of us take this mindset and apply it directly to our life in Christ?

The apostle Paul gives us a touch of truth into the race that is our life: 1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

How painful to be a runner in the race and finish with a bit left in the tank. How painful to finish and not even be winded.

When we cross the great finish line in this life and come face to face with the creator, how do you want to have run the race? Do you want to give an account of a sprint that left you exhausted and spent for the cause of Christ? Or do you want to run a well paced, casual jog that leaves you with plenty left in the tank and regrets abounding?

As Paul prepares to finish his life on earth he says this to his young protege in 2nd Timothy 4: 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Paul knew with confidence that he had sprinted out his life and was eager to finish in the arms of his savior. He had been tormented, beaten, and mocked. He had gone without food and had toiled long hours for the sake of the gospel. He wrote these final words in a prison awaiting his execution.

Are you jogging or sprinting? Are you giving it all and spending yourself in the pursuit of God?

Are You Worshipping Jesus? - Dave Bogue

Christians and Social Justice - Tony Hall

How Are You Worshiping? - Dave Bogue

"The Turning Point" by: Jared Keiffer

     
        Life changes. Sometimes it’s dramatic and newsworthy. Other times, it passes under everyone’s radar but yours. Regardless, we all experience turning points in our lives. Likewise, we see great turning points outside of our lives as well. For the American nation, a true turning point would be the Revolutionary War. We became an independent country. For the younger generations, perhaps September 11, 2001 is the main turning point in our sphere of our reference. Something dramatic happens and things are never the same.

        No matter our nation, age or ethnicity, there is one turning point that we all share and it is indisputable and undeniable. “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said’” (Mt. 28). It’s hard to get a good grasp of the cross, the empty tomb and what it all means. As the bible clearly states, the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor 1:18)…and so is the empty grave. But to those who are being saved it is the power of God. And through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ we have the greatest turning point in human history.

        From the beginning we were doomed for destruction. The lives of man marred by the sin inherited from Adam (Rom 5) and perpetuated in our daily lives. We were destined for an eternity of damnation. Much like our American forefathers, we were under the control and influence of a foreign power. However, as Jesus took on human flesh, became a servant and entered our world, our hope began to change. A turning point had been initiated. Jesus lived the perfect life and then went to the cross to absorb and quench the entirety of God’s wrath. Where our sin had earned us punishment and death, Jesus took that punishment and death.

        As Tim Hughes so beautifully puts it:
               The greatest day in history,
               Death is beaten, You have rescued me.
               Sing it out, Jesus is alive!
               The empty cross, the empty grave,
               Life eternal, You have won the day,
               Shout it out, Jesus is alive!

        No matter the turning point in U.S. history or in our own lives, it all fades in comparison to the riches of the grace Jesus lavished on us as he became the pivotal turning point in the history of God’s creation. Many could claim to die for their followers, and some even have. But there is only one perfect lamb that not only died but was raised to new life. It truly was the greatest day in history.

        Are you grateful? Have you realized what Jesus has done for you? Have you believed in him as the turning point for the world and for your life?