Thank You

Just a quick thank you to all of you who have called to see how I'm doing and for those of you who have prayed for Danny's family and all of us who have been deeply saddened by his passing.

For the past few days I've spent a lot of time outside just contemplating life and God and all of those questions that seem to go unanswered.

I always come back to the fact that if I could figure God out, then He wouldn't be much of a God (I'm really not all that smart :-) ).

The truth is I really do not understand many of the things about God, but I cannot escape the reality that He has changed my life. That in Christ I do find purpose for living. Without Christ this world would be a mostly cold and heartless place.

Friend, if you simply know about Christ, but have never experienced a personal relationship with Him, I'd love for you to share this incredible, life-changing experience. E-mail me at dave@redoinglife.com and I'll share personally with you my experiences and how you too can find real meaning for living.

In one of the sections of the book I'm working on I talk about how so many view religion as being a crutch - because it is. But it's a crutch that helps us get to where we need to go. If you had a broken leg, you could sit on the couch all day and feel sorry for yourself, OR you could get a crutch, get off the couch and get going. Spiritually, religion is the same thing. It helps you get off your spiritual couch and get going. The important question is where does your religion take you? If it leads you to a personal relationship with the living God, then it's a crutch worth leaning on.

Now for a statement that you may (especially if your religious) need to take some time and think about - what happens to the crutch after your broken leg heals? Do you need it anymore? No, you don't. Religion is the same way - once you've begun a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you no longer need religion.

In all the descriptions of heaven in the Bible, I see no mention of religion - it's all about relationship with God.

Am I advocating abandoning church? No! But I'm advocating that church be soooo much more than religion. If church for you is just about religion, your missing the true purpose for church - you're missing the most critical part - you're missing the relationship with God!

If you're a church leader, let me challenge you - are you leading people toward religion or a relationship? The difference is critical!

More on this in future posts!

Love 'em like Jesus!!