It's Raining Again

This morning I listened to Supertramp's "It's Raining Again".  Mainly because that's the way I felt.  Then I listened to "Hang on Little Tomato" by Pink Martini.  Two completely different styles of music, but both about keeping your spirits up.  Lyrics to "It's Raining Again" say,

C'mon you little fighter

And get back up again

Oh get back up again

Fill your heart again ...

Lyrics to "Hang on Little Tomato" are all good and very poetic, and there is no specific chorus, say,

The sun has left and forgotten me

It's dark, I cannot see
Why does this rain pour down
I'm gonna drown
In a sea of deep confusion

Somebody told me, I don't know who
Whenever you are sad and blue
And you're feeling all alone and left behind
Just take a look inside you and you'll find

You gotta hold on, hold on through the night
Hang on, things will be all right
Even when it's dark
And not a bit of sparkling
Sing-song sunshine from above
Spreading rays of sunny love

Just hang on, hang on to the vine
Stay on, soon you'll be divine
If you start to cry, look up to the sky
Something's coming up ahead
To turn your tears to dew instead

And so I hold on to his advice
When change is hard and not so nice
If you listen to your heart the whole night through
Your sunny someday will come one day soon to you

Two completely different songs.  Either way, both speak to the world raining down upon us and hanging on through the night to get back up again with a full heart because if we hang on, tomorrow will be a better day.  As great as that advice is, I wonder if the world truly understands how impossible that is to do without the Spirit of God dwelling inside.

David wrote in Psalm 3:2-3, "So many say that God will never help me.  But Lord, You are my shield, my glory, and my only hope.  You alone can lift my head, now bowed in shame."  And in verse 8a he says, "Salvation belongs to the Lord." 

God alone lifts our head.  I may can lift it for a while with a renewed hope, but eventually my sustainment will run out.  No matter how strong I am, at some point I will not be enough.  No matter how strong my friends or family are, at some point they will not be enough.  No matter how strong positive sayings and quotes are, at some point they will not be enough.  No matter how beautiful and inspirational nature is, at some point it will not be enough.  "God alone"  is all that will ever be enough to fill my heart and lift my head.

This salvation from the hand and heart of God belongs only to Him.  In nothing else can man find their rescue, their fulfillment, their completion.  Nowhere else can man look to be saved.  Salvation only is found in the Lord.  It is His property; His action; His character; His essence.  As Natalie Grant sings in "In Christ Alone", In Christ alone my hope is found.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like ...

"The kingdom of heaven is like ..." Jesus says 11 times in Matthew.  And every time He uses a parable to describe it.  I get the impression that He is trying intently to describe something that He knows is hard for us to understand and so He applies story after story to show the many sides or facets of this topic.  Seven of these parables are in Matthew 13. 

I find this whole chapter humorous from a teacher-student viewpoint.  Jesus starts the conversation by speaking to the multitudes in parables, specifically the one regarding the Sower.  The disciples then ask Him why He speaks to them in parables and Jesus answers because it is not given to them (the multitudes, not the disciples who He says can understand) to understand the kingdom of heaven.  He then follows this by telling the disciples seven straight parables.  Obviously, the disciples needed some remedial training as much as I do. Whoa unto me whenever I think I understand something!

But Jesus had a clear intention regarding clarifying what "the kingdom of heaven is like."  In verse 16, Jesus presents to us how blessed we are if we are able to see what God is doing and hear His message and instruction on our hearts.  This seemingly simple thing, this communication we take for granted, is the greatest blessing our lives will ever have.  This verse is the key to the following seven parables that follow it.

The ability to know God, to feel His presence of Spirit, to hear wisdom in words or depth of heart, to see God in His Creation or in the expression of love to another, to experience a dwelling inside that overflows and encompasses all of who you are, completing every aspect of what you know yourself to be and filling every hole in your being.  This is what you will value above everything else in this world  (v 44).  This is for what you will "sell out" (v 45-46).  And if we will let His word take root, it will grow to be the greatest structure in our lives, so much, that all the other parts of our life will depend upon it (v 31-32).  Then we will bear fruit ourselves (v 23).

Blessed are we who have not had His Word "snatched away" from our heart by Satan (v 19).  For we will be separated from the wicked (v 41-42, 49-50) and taken to the Father to be with Him when all is passed away (v 43). 

Treasure your communication with your heavenly Father more than your own life.  Love all the time you have with Him knowing this is where life truly resides.  Keep your eyes and ears open, looking and listening to where He is leading and to what He is conversing.  That life, focused on that conversation valuing it more than anything seen, heard, or experienced physically, is what the kingdom of heaven is like.

Don' Worry, be happy!

Matt 6:  ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

In the insightful theology of Bob Marley: Don't worry, be happy!  Sounds easy enough, but the engineer in me always asks: how?  Some turn to chemical assistance.  Others turn to the advice or simply gossip of others.  The Gospel message is not about finding answers within ourselves or even in this world, but to look to God.  Matthew chapter 6 reminds us that we are to depend on God for everything, what we eat, drink, etc.  Yet the pattern I see in my own life and in the life of the church is to be self-sufficient until that turns out to be insufficient.  Once in a crisis, we pray that 9-1-1 prayer that starts "Oh God!"  The root cause as I see it is summed up in an excellent blog by a Haitian Missionary who points to the fact that we treat the gospel message as simply a "get-out-of-hell-free card."  In other words, we buy into Jesus as Savior, but we don't want to let Jesus be Lord.  We're quick to let Jesus be Lord over those things we have no control over such as life and health, but our careers, relationships, appetites, hobbies, etc are all off-limits as we believe we can be the masters of our own happiness.  Then we spend hours upon hours wondering why we're not content, we lack joy, and we can't seem to find fulfillment in life.  I believe this is the Holy Spirit screaming at us that we're missing out on the benefits of a spirit-filled, God-centered, Jesus is Lord of all life.  When we fail to allow God to be fully in charge, then we're forced to worry about how things will turn out.  We worry about how others will perceive us.  We worry about how our careers will progress, what will happen tomorrow in my job, what will happen in my relationships, how will my kids turn out, and on and on.  This is not the life that Jesus has called us to live.  We are to live in the confidence that God goes before us (Ps 119:105), has a plan for us that is filled with hope (Jer 29:11), that all these things will be added (Matt 6:33).  We need to live in confidence that God holds our future and in the end, God wins!  I believe it is confidence in the one who can truly not just save us, but truly give our life purpose, meaning, direction, and joy that displaces fear and worry. 
Does your life give testimony to a God who is Lord of all and in whom you rely daily or have you bought into the lie that God rewards those who help themselves?  Are you planning, scheming, worrying, developing a plan and asking God to endorse it or are you praying that God would guide you and living in confidence that He didn't bring you this far to abandon you now? 
What are you worried about?  Perhaps God is pointing out an area in your life that isn't yielded to His lordship, something that you stubbornly hold onto as "yours."  Do you trust him or do you think you've got this?  Jesus said you can only serve one master.  Is Jesus Lord, or are you in charge?

Get Out of Jail Free

This is a blog post and is an excerpt from the working book manuscript by Matthew Ayers titled Holiness in Fresh Perspective: Covenant, Cross and Kingdom.  I thought the concept of our standard teaching, at least from most Baptist pulpits, is significant as Matt is obviously trying to lead to a point that there is a lot more to knowing Jesus than just getting our "fire insurance".

This, for far too many Christians, sums-up Jesus, the cross, and the resurrection.  Believe in Jesus and you’ll be issued a “Get Out of Hell Free” card. Really? Is it really that one-dimensional?  Does this sum up the sixty-six books of scripture, the promises to Abraham, Israel, David, the Disciples and the church today?  Is this what it’s all about?

To borrow the phrase that Paul repeats again and again in Romans in response to the conclusions not to be drawn from his teaching, “By no means!” (Rom 3:4, 6, 31, 6:2, 15, 7:7, 13, 9:14, 11:1, and 11).

How have we ended up in a place where our theology grants license to promote the gospel as synonymous with a Get Out of Jail Free card?  I’m sure the answers are many, but the bottom-line, I believe, is that we have tragically lost sight of the salvation narrative.  Sandra Richter said it well with this, “most Christians have not been taught that the story of the Old Testament is their story…The church does not know who she is, because she does not know who she was” (Richter, Epic of Eden, 17).  Paul does not make this mistake.  If we read Paul without the Old Testament in perspective, we will misinterpret all over the place.

One of the central pillars for reconstructing the proper framework for interpreting Paul and his doctrine of holiness is the salvation narrative, the big picture, God’s single plan.  But what do we mean by “salvation narrative”?  In a phrase, the salvation narrative is the story of God’s single plan to re-establish his reign through his chosen human agents in the creation; to renew the world and its righteous governance.  To borrow N. T. Wright’s language, what we’re talking about is “God’s World Renewal Project”.  This is the story of scripture. God’s plan to restore and renew the creation from its condemnation and corruption that came as the consequence of human disobedience and moral autonomy.  This story of God’s mission is what we will regularly refer to as God’s World Renewal Project.  It is only when we have this larger framework in mind that the concepts of covenant, cross, kingdom, and holiness come clearly into focus.

This concept of God’s World Renewal Project is fundamental for putting together the big picture.  In fact, it is the big picture.  Understanding Paul, holiness, whatever it may be, means reading Paul against the backdrop of this salvation narrative.  If we discard the salvation narrative, we end with a one-dimensional, out-of-balance theology.  We end up, sadly and wrongly, thinking about salvation as being solely about me and Jesus and our language ends up sounding a lot like this: “Jesus died to forgive my sins so that I can go to heaven”.  While this statement is true, it is incomplete and heavily out of balance with the thrust of the gospel according to scripture.  The gospel, the full gospel, Paul’s and Jesus’ Gospel, is much deeper, richer, and more profound than this.  It is about so much more than where we spend the after-life.  The full gospel is a rich, and complex thing that cannot and should not be flattened out by removing or neglecting the long story of God’s enduring and faithful plan to redeem the creation.

So what is there to this Jesus beyond His work of life, death, and resurrection that we should get to know?  Why would the Bible talk so much about walking with our Lord when all we need to do is believe in His Son and we're covered, right?  How well do I know Jesus?  How close do I want to be to Him really?  Am I consumed with how I can walk with Him "closer still"?  Why not?

The Matt says, "It is about so much more than where we spend the after-life" and I agree.  It is about our life now.  When Jesus says so many times "Heaven is like ...", I believe He is describing how we can be now when united closely with our Lord.  Knowing Jesus is about how we live this minute, this hour, this day.  If heaven is being with God forever and I can have God's Spirit with me now, then I should be able to walk in heaven today.  And I should not be slack in seeking, looking, or searching for that close walk with Jesus at all times.

Why worry?

Worry is faith in fear, not faith in Jesus Christ. Worry is fear, and fear is the rejection of faith! The Bible says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear" (2 Tim 1:7)! - John Hagee Ministries

Once in a while I come across things on the internet that grab me and make me think.  I'm not sure I agree with the first sentence herein, but its worth some thought.  I've always believed worry to be a lack of faith, not faith in fear.  Furthermore, worry isn't always a bad thing.  When it consumes you, blocks you from obedience, and affects your ability to function, obviously it is out of hand.  On the other hand, failure to realize and approach problems in life can represent apathy which can be worse than a little worry. 

For Us

IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN EVER BE AGAINST US? - Romans 8:31

How do we ever forget this concept?  I so very often look at how things happen and wonder with my ever-so-tiny and very limited view of the complex interworkings of the people and events around me, not to mention all people and the universe itself, and wonder why things happen the way they do.  Tony Dungy asks "How many times have we prayed for a certain outcome, imagined that a problem has only one solution, and lost heart when that outcome or solution didn't occur?"

Yet this verse says and forevermore says, If God is for me, who can ever be against me?  Do I think that when something doesn't go the way I think it should that God has forsaken me?  By my count, God says 17 times in the Old Testament that He will not forsake us.  Not only will He not leave us to ourselves, but He is for us.  He is on our side.  Everything that happens will work out for our betterment so that we can proclaim How Great Thou Art. 

Dungy answers his question saying "I am reminded that in every outcome - whether it was the one I had been praying and hoping for or not - God has a good plan in place, something whereby He will be glorified."  I am reminded of the song Blessings.   That song says so much and certainly conveys the right thoughts and attitudes regarding our understanding versus His working for us.  We have to know this, not just hope for it, but know that God is on our side and does not work against us.  Any thought we have to the contrary is un-Christian and could be hypocrisy.  

Once we establish our thinking to the cause that God is for us, then we must be confident that there isn't anything in Creation that can stand against Him.  And since He is for us, then who can stand against Him within us?  What in Creation will prevent God's will for our spiritual growth, His sanctifying grace working within us?  There is nothing to stop this apart from us choosing not to accept His work in us. 

Today and forevermore God is with you and for you and will never leave you.  Know this and live!

May 27

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  (Col 3:17 NIV)

Back to work.  After nearly two weeks, I'm headed back to work.  I've learned as I age that in order to consistently work at optimum capacity and competency, I've got to take some time off work every now and then to recharge, rejuvenate, and reinvigorate.  Unfortunately, my type A personality doesn't lend itself to rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation.  There is always something to do, something to fix, and something to enjoy.  So, I go back to work, tired.  The challenges I faces when I left, remain.  Some of these involve people and those are always the most challenging of issues.  Annual performance appraisal season doesn't always proceed as people would like.  I would be easier for me to simply say "hey, you're doing great, keep at it" when performance is clearly lacking.  Instead, I've got to deal with people with a great sense of fairness and integrity. 
Integrity is something that is always challenged.  Yesterday, for instance, as we went fishing under competing rules in state vs federal waters, I found it personally challenging to fish with integrity.  We rarely "limit out" (in fact I can't recall a hunt or a fishing trip where I had to quit as I had reached a limit) and its easy to justify a little hedging as "we're not the problem" or "hey, we're just a few hundred yards away - no one will know."  I knew and it's important for me to model integrity for my son as well as the other young men on the boat.  So, I threw a couple of fish back that as it turns out, we could have kept (once we had an accurate distance to shore).  In the end, I think it more important to err on the side of integrity than to keep a nice fish.   
Today as I deal with people as well as challenges involving a myriad of projects that aren't as simple as they seem on the surface, I feel a little like Solomon must have felt when confronted with governing a vast kingdom at a young age - I'm simply not wise enough to deal with these issues correctly.  Yet, I know who is and pray that God would inspire me to deal with these issues correctly, fairly, and with a dose of His grace. 
Lord may everyone I come in contact with today be blessed by Your presence.  May my actions be Holy and acceptable to you, and may You be glorified in all that I do and say. 

Holy

Phenomenal writing regarding what is Holy.  For me this has extraordinary clarity.  The rest of the writing is on this post.  Apparently is is part of the manuscript for a book that is still in writing entitled Holy is a Four Letter Word.  Any emphasis on it is mine.

Jesus is the champion of the holy life. Not only his deeds and good works, but more than these, his voluntary death on the cross. I’m first reminded of the story in John 2 about the wedding at Cana. As the host family finds themselves short on wine, Mary, Jesus’ mother, invites Jesus to intervene. Jesus, however, seems reluctant. He responds to Mary by saying, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). This, at first glance, seems a bit bizarre in two ways. First, it seems that Jesus is speaking harshly with his mother. Second, and more to the point for us here, he responds as if he is not going to get involved, but we all know that in the end he does, in fact, turn the water into wine.

So, what did Jesus mean when he said “My hour has not yet come.”? He clearly didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to help, because he did. What Jesus meant is that the primary mission of his earthly ministry was not to turn water into wine. Rather, Jesus came to die. All the other stuff of Jesus’ ministry simply points to his death. His death is the ultimate demonstration of the inner life of God—the life of holy, self-giving love.

We are not the only ones with the same tendency to misunderstand the holy life. The religious leaders of the Jews during Jesus’ time misunderstood as well. Their misunderstanding also meant that they were misguiding their followers. They were supposed to demonstrate the holy love of God summed up in the cross. Unfortunately, they failed. This resulted in people having the wrong idea of the inner lie of God’s self-giving love. This being the case, Jesus in his earthly ministry was redefining people’s theology—Jesus came to redefine how people understood what it meant to be holy, to be set a part for God, to share in his nature. We all know that people misunderstand God today in much the same way that they misunderstood God more than two thousand years ago. During the time of Jesus, people thought that God was impossible to please, judgmental, fierce, quick to anger, and highly exclusive. People believed this because this is precisely what the leaders of God’s covenant people testified in their public example (the pharisees, scribes and other temple officials). Unfortunately, people today have the wrong notion of who God is for the same reasons. The testimony of the church is intended to be the window into the inner life of God, just as Jesus was. We are the body of Christ. When we fail at this, we too become the object of these harsh words of Jesus to the scribes and pharisees: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter go in.” Jesus came to give people the right idea about God. That idea is Love.

Our testimony, my testimony, as the body of Christ, is to show people who God is.  Do I do that in a ready fashion?  Is God that apparent in my life?  I would ask others but I am afraid at the answers I might receive.  Does my family show people who God is?  Is God that apparent in our life?  And, corporately, does our church show people who God is?  Is God that apparent in the life of the church?  ...  These are hard questions, but necessary ones!

Just Show Up

Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. - Matthew 15:29-30

Tony Dungy's devotion for today is about "just showing up".  He remarks his regrets about how he allowed work to overrule his time with his family for the mundane events and how he changed as time passed.  He doesn't mention it, but in the back of my mind is his son's suicide.  I can only imagine that the regret for time lost with that son is immense.  He finishes his thoughts by saying, "Spend time with your family and loved ones - for no reason at all but to be there.  You will witness miracles you might otherwise miss forever."

I have to say I have found his findings to be true.  It is very important for me to be at home even when there is nothing going on.  Sometimes I get there and wonder why I'm there, everything is functioning fine.  I tend to think about the work I could be doing at work, but I have worked on this and now I don't think about that so much.  I do find that I tend to feel like I don't know what to do and that anything I think of isn't interaction with family (yard work, exercise, study).  But just being in sight of the kids is important I think.  It helps me maintain my priorities. 

I think of my brother through these thoughts and towards how much family time he has missed.  He has never been to any family member's weddings or funerals.  He spends three hours a day training through running or biking.  At a time of his career when he can spend the most time with his family he has effectively shunned his family and cracked it apart.  I continue to say to him it is a lack of faith on his part.  He is pursuing himself.  If anyone should know, I unfortunately and most regrettably recognize it. 

As much as I hate to type the last paragraph, I just felt it necessary to call out the two paths we all are able to choose regarding "just showing up".  God won't waste our experiences so I'm sure God will still use my brother in every way that He is allowed.  I myself am very thankful and grateful that God has allowed me to stay married to my amazing and beautiful wife and be home with my children.  He is just too good to me.  I praise God today for giving me the opportunity to "just show up".

Going Home

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35 NIV)

So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:9 NIV)

I wish I could say I had vacationed long enough and was looking forward to being home, but I have to admit that I've just gotten used to retreating into a fantasy world each day where all I have to do is be with family and find an attraction with short lines.  I'm mindful that even Jesus had to withdraw at times.  His method of recharging, however, wasn't some overblown rat, but prayer. He retreated and plugged into his real source of power. I return to some significant technical and personnel challenges at work, and will clearly need divine guidance to appropriately face and correctly address these challenges. 

The flip side is that God has placed me in a place where others go to vacation.  What an awesome blessing!  That reminds me that often we don't look at "going home" correctly.  I was reading an obituary several months ago about a wonderful Christian who had "lost" their battle with cancer.  Like being disappointed to have to "go home" to the world's most beautiful beaches, I think too often we as Christians have the wrong view of death.  For us, this is the ultimate victory.  It signifies that our race against sin, destruction, and death is over, and we have won - permanently.  I'm not wishing an untimely demise upon myself or anyone else, but I do look forward to the day that I won't have to face the raw challenges that await me at home.  Yes, the mouse has been a great distraction, but it has not recharged me, made me wiser, or given me the grace I'll need to meet the challenges that await.  I lacked the wisdom, grace, and energy I needed to find the best solutions to these thorny issues when I left, and the mouse hasn't done anything to change me or these problems.  For wisdom, power, and grace to face the challenges that await, I must cover myself with payer.

Seek Him First

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ... But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - Matthew 6:31,33-34

This is one of the hardest aspects of living to stay a hold.  It seems I can grasp it but I can't live it very well.  I find that I go to a point of saying "that stuff then doesn't matter" and get flippant to its regard but I think I understand Jesus' point as being quite different.  If I stop working to focus solely on God's ministry will I be neglecting my family or myself?  Do I expect God to work a miracle of provision daily or am I not doing His will in providing?  These questions are the ones I wrestle with when considering these verses.  It is easy to get confused and wrapped into a cycle of I'm not having enough faith versus I'm not hearing God's will and to finally just drop it due to a lack of clarity.

However, my understanding to this point is that Jesus is saying focus on the purposes of God in your life, focus on the Spirit dwelling inside of you and to His promptings for understanding, direction, and wisdom, focus on being and doing what He is leading you towards.  And while keeping this the center of your attention, have complete confidence that God will take care of everything else. 

The lure for people who are working furiously to succeed is that if they can just do a little bit more a little bit better a little bit faster a little bit more accurately a little bit cheaper, then they can be successful.  This work becomes their life's focus.  Everything else in life is supplementary to their work.  Their validation, their confidence, their excitement for living, their purpose is all wrapped up in this work.  God never intended for us to be given to something that is not eternal.

We are to be confident that our heavenly Father who loves us will take care of us.  He will provide for us and is in our tomorrow forevermore.  Let us focus on today and how He wants us to lean on Him and where He wants us to walk with Him.  Let us be ever mindful and our thoughts be laid at His feet this day and let Him make the work we do and the relationships we interact be blessed.

Thrive

Casting Crowns sing,

"We know we were made for so much more

Than ordinary lives.

It's time for us to more than just survive,

We were made to thrive."

Webster's defines thrive as to grow or develop successfully; to flourish or succeed.

Grow, develop and then to flourish.  By definition, if we are thriving, we are growing and developing into something more, but we don't stop just with being a student, we flourish.  We grow healthily and we do very well.

Charles Stanley writes, "What is it that would make God see me as a success?"  This is the question we must learn to ask and answer as we determine what succeeding really means.  Mr. Stanley continues by answering the question with "My greatest achievement is a continuing desire to be the person He has called me to be and to reach the goals He has helped me to set."  He is saying that our success is really God's success when it is accomplished.  We are the person God wants us to be and we have done the things God wants us to do.  So, our victories belong to God and He then deserves all the praise.

In order to thrive, we need to recognize that we need to grow and develop continually to have the perfected knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Paul says we are to yearn to know Christ personally,  to know the power of His resurrection, to be willing to partner in His sufferings and go with Him unto death itself.  We have to reach for this and want to find it.

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.   So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet!  - Philippians 3:12-15

What is the "everything God has for us"?  It is Himself.  He works for our "good" (Rom 8:28) and that good is more of Him in us and less sin (1 John 3:8b).  His character in us shall come to rule.  Where He is there is life (John 14:6), but not just life, life abundantly (John 10:10b).  When we are becoming the person God wants us to be we not only have life, our life flourishes.  And it is because it is God in us who is overcoming, reaching out, and worshiping.

"We were made to thrive."  Do not settle for less.  Reach out to God and be willing to grow!