Leave Familiar and Lead to Greatness

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Are you tired of the familiar ? Are you convinced that you were created for more, or at least sure hope you were ?  In this great book written by Bruce Wilkinson, Dream Giver, takes us on a journey through parable of a little man named Ordinary as he leaves his old boring life and sets out on an adventure to find what he was created for.

 Buy it Here

Dream Giver is a book that relates to all of us looking for more. How many times in your life have you thought, there must be more than this to my life ?  You have big dreams and goals, or should I say, you had big dreams and goals. Somewhere along the way you were domesticated, broken, and all your fire and ambition left you. That’s not where God wants you. He created you and all of us for greatness.

Take a day and just reflect on your life and recall those great ambitions  you once had. It’s not too late to find that fire again.  All it takes is a decision by you to fight for it.

Pick up a copy of this great little book and rekindle that spark.  I have not in any way been asked to endorse this book, nor am I financially tied to its sale in any way. I have simply read the book and have added it to my library and you should too.

Stop living in your land of familiar and set out on your adventure  with the Dream Giver to find your big dream. It’s never too late to start again..




Question:

Have you read this book ? If so please give your review so that we can share in your insight.

Fatherless Homes: Reasons and Impact.

So  where have all the daddies gone?   I have been working on some research for an article that I am writing about the loss of father’s in the home and what impact it has on the family.  I’m amazed by what I’ve found.  A large portion  of  children are fatherless in America today; two main reasons exists for this trend. First, the working American father is gone all the time to work and/or play, although he may technically been considered in the home, he is not engaged in his children’s lives.  This could be worse on the family than him actually not being in the home at all in some cases.

The second issue is the actual single mother home. This is an ever increasing trend among all races. However, African-American families experience this at a much higher rate than all other races combined.  Many experts agree that this is a factor in gang expansion. Young boys are looking for acceptance and validation from other men, or at least older boys.  

According to an article published by  The Root.com  11-09-2010.  72% of African-American children are born to unwed mothers.  They site many reasons for this, but the impact is the same.  Children of fatherless homes are much more at risk for  suicide, run away,  behavior disorders, and high school dropout, just to list a few.

But why is this occurring?  The number one reason is that the “family unit” is not looked on as important anymore.  We , as a society, have allowed the degradation of the family to get to a point where it’s seen as a negative rather than a positive. It’s looked upon as “old fashion” or to “evangelical” for today’s world. The increase in casual sex, gay marriage, and similar symptoms are adding to the problem.

I read a book  a couple years ago titled, “what if America were a Christian nation again”.  I have to agree.  Whether you are a Christian by faith or not, you must agree that the principles of family, love, mandates against sexual immorality,   service to a higher authority, as well the basic context of the ten commandments,  all make for a good society.  

The cure for the fatherless home is simply stated but not always simply implemented.   It is obvious that if America would put their values back into the Bible, as this nation was founded on, the problem would nearly disappear. But as l long as we continue to live against the Biblical foundations set forth for us to follow, the problem will only get worse.    

Who are you ? Image and Idenity

The following is a reprint of a sermon reduced to summary by our youth Pastor, Dave Wild. The message was so relevant to our everyday lives that I asked him to share it with us..

Who are you? This is a question that only you and God can answer. Our image is our identity; this is how others see us. In too many cases people don’t know who they are, or more importantly who God would like us to be. The only way to know who God wants us to be is to ask him! Who better to ask than the one who knew us before we were even formed in our mother’s womb, (Jeremiah 1:5). If we go through life not asking, not knowing, then we will miss out on who we were designed to be, you will never develop into the one that God wants you to be…

If we don’t inquire of God about His plans for us, then we allow ourselves to be molded and shaped by others. This is very common in our society today, it’s called identity theft. This happens when we allow Satan to convince us to be someone we are not.

This is a common struggle even in the church today. We often make choices and decisions based on what we see, and because of this we try to justify what we do based on what we see someone else do. The bottom line is that we’ll all be held accountable for what we do, and I don’t think God will let us off the hook with the “ because I saw brother or sister so and so do it” excuse. “ They have been in church their whole life so it must be ok for me to do what they do”. This is another misconception.

We are all individuals, each one of us are uniquely different. Paul calls us peculiar and special. We, each individual, need to learn to ask God what is right for ourselves. Our choices and decisions are what shape and mold our image. Our image is not only what others see ,but also refers to our qualities like intellect and personality.

Genesis 1:26 says that we are all made in His image. This means that if we are a child of God then we should bear some resemblance to him. Just as most children have a likeness to their parents. It should be no different with our relationship with God.

I want to encourage you to inquire of God who He wants you to be and let Him be the one who molds you and shapes you ! Don’t let identity theft rob you of your future..