Before He Ever Worked for Clinton or Fox News

In case you wondered what Dick Morris did before he worked for either Bill (Clinton or O'Reilly)...or was it Hillary....here he is in his first profession.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6uEjifqTaI&feature=related

Or wait, is that Cope?

What If Our Church Was Taken Away?

In his latest book "Jesus Wants to Save Christians", Rob Bell asks the question:

"If our church was taken away- from our city, our neghborhood, our region- who would protest? Only the people who are members? Only those who are a part of it? Only those who attend services? Single mothers? Refugees? Atheists?"

Of course he is talking about your local congregation.

So, what answers did you come up with?

This is a really POWERFUL book, so go out and get it when you get the chance. It's an easy read, time wise. Application wise, it's not so easy.

Thanks Rob.......I needed your wake up call.

Joy

In the movie "The Bucket List", Morgan Freeman tells Jack Nicholson that the ancient Egyptians believed that when you died and went to the next life, the gods there would require you to answer the two following questions before you could go enter the gates. Those two questions were:

A) Did you find joy in your earthly life?

B) Did you bring joy to others in your earthly life?


Being a Christian, I don't believe that is what happens in the next life.........but I do believe those are two pretty good questions to ask. Sadly, most surveys reveal that non-Christians perceive Christians as angry.......therefore not very joy-filled.
I don't believe that is true, but I can see where some people might get that impression. Within the last few weeks a friend of mine told me about a conversation he had recently with another believer. They were discussing different congregations in the town where they both live, and the believer told my friend something to the effect of "you don't need to visit that congregation.......they show a lot of joy there, and you know what happens when joy takes over". Yeah, sad but true. Joy is seen as a vice by some amongst us. Not good, huh?

So, in closing, I guess I will just challenge you to ask yourself the two questions the ancient Egyptians did. I hope you can answer YES to both of them!