Here’s an important truth: The higher your sense of entitlement, the lower your sense of gratitude. The more I feel entitled to something, the less thankful I am for it. Why? Because, obviously, I deserve it and why should I be grateful for something that I am entitled to? We can only be grateful when we know that we do not deserve our blessings and we did not create them. I don't believe it's coincidental that the Greek word for thanks is built on the word for grace. Grace and gratitude are closely related. Grace, in its simplest terms, is unmerited favor. I receive what I did not deserve - and that should lead to gratitude. Gratitude requires humility because entitlement and pride are often found holding hands. A prideful person finds it hard to be thankful. On the other hand, a humble person is grateful for whatever blessing comes…
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Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” - Luke 17:17-19 I’ve looked into my own heart and I know that when it comes to spiritual things, I’m a leper. Without Jesus’ touch, I would have died in my sin and spent eternity separated from him. Perhaps this story in Luke 17 points to a deeper leprosy that lives below the surface, in our spirit – the leprosy of ingratitude. To be unthankful, to be unappreciative, is in fact to be diseased. The only question that remains is what kind of leper will I be? Ungrateful? Too busy to say thank you? When practiced, thanksgiving has the power to transform us into different people. Here is a basic principle that…
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Do you have astigmatism? Astigmatism occurs due to the irregular shape of the cornea or lens inside your eye. It’s your cornea and lens that properly focus the light that enters your eyes, allowing you to see things clearly. With astigmatism, vision becomes blurred at any distance. How is astigmatism treated? One of the most common ways is to wear corrective lenses like glasses or contacts. Or, like me, you might opt for some form of LASIK surgery and reshape the cornea altogether. When it comes to life, do you see the world through eyes of gratitude or do you suffer from the astigmatism of ingratitude? For some of us, to develop the habit of thankfulness might only require corrective lenses – learning to see the world differently. For others, it might require reshaping our entire heart and entire mind.
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We had a tremendous turnout for our recent Vision Night at Mountainview. We started hosting an annual Vision Night last year as a way of celebrating the previous year and outlining the goals and dreams that are on the horizon. What I will do over the next few posts is to recap what we shared. What Will We Do In 2015 To Further Accomplish Our Vision of Starting Churches and Campuses? By focusing on Glorifying God, Growing in Jesus, and Going into the world, we will be creating the proper environment for growth. Growth will allow us to move more intentionally and aggressively in accomplishing our vision. In addition funding new missions and setting aside money for reserves and tech upgrades, we also used part of the stock donation to create a bucket to help support new churches. I’m pleased that in addition to Elevation and Front Range, we are…
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We had a tremendous turnout for our recent Vision Night at Mountainview. We started hosting an annual Vision Night last year as a way of celebrating the previous year and outlining the goals and dreams that are on the horizon. What I will do over the next few posts is to recap what we shared. The GO Part of Our Mission Leads Us to Our Vision “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14-15). As we look to the future, we know there is still much work to do. We live in a great area and…
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