This week at my fav. cafe I saw a display for "Thank you water" and a brief blurb on how 100% of the profits go to give clean water . What a GREAT idea !! Sometimes we wonder how we can make a difference in our world yet here's a simple idea, a lot of persistence and some marketing and the potential to bring about change is HUGE !!
So check it out ...thankyouwater.org and if you have to pay for water then give this a try .....and keep being open to imagine ......and implement !
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Imagine...
This week I've been in Penrith (it's outside Sydney somewhere) at a conference run by Pastor Jack Hanes on missions.
Earlier this year he changed the name of his church to "Imagine Nations" to fit in with their twenty year history and 2020 vision for global church planting. Jack had found our church name a little "out there" as have many older christians. Many times telling our network name as "Imagine" has opened up interesting conversations and quirky looks.
However Jack said he was reading a secular book on 20 terms that will shape this century. The number one word was "Imagine". So he changed their name but put their focus on nations.
I like the open ended nature of our name though don't you?
Imagine .... arts, justice, the poor, transformation, church planting, kingdom business, making a difference, real relationship, truth, authenticity, great marriages, integrity, reformation, grace, love, family, community. There are SO many ways and things to imagine and God has no limit to what He can do... The only cap is our ability to ask or think or imagine.
So imagine .......
Earlier this year he changed the name of his church to "Imagine Nations" to fit in with their twenty year history and 2020 vision for global church planting. Jack had found our church name a little "out there" as have many older christians. Many times telling our network name as "Imagine" has opened up interesting conversations and quirky looks.
However Jack said he was reading a secular book on 20 terms that will shape this century. The number one word was "Imagine". So he changed their name but put their focus on nations.
I like the open ended nature of our name though don't you?
Imagine .... arts, justice, the poor, transformation, church planting, kingdom business, making a difference, real relationship, truth, authenticity, great marriages, integrity, reformation, grace, love, family, community. There are SO many ways and things to imagine and God has no limit to what He can do... The only cap is our ability to ask or think or imagine.
So imagine .......
Monday, February 23, 2009
How much would you pay for a Widow's Mite?
At two am this morning I got an interesting SMS saying "how much did you pay for your widows mite we've been quoted 550 US dollars"
Now I did have my phone by the bed because a friend is facing a health challenge and I know the night is the worst time, so I said contact me anytime and meant it. Also sometimes someone from our church living in Laos needs to contact me for support but I wasn't expecting a shopping message !
2000 years ago a widow gave a small coin (about 1 cent or 5 cents) into the offering and unknown to her Jesus was watching. He commended her not for the value of the gift but for the heart attitude of giving all she had. Jesus also said that her gift would be talked about for a long time.
Not sure if even He was picturing my blackberry jumping around at 2am !!
For the record I paid way less than they were being quoted and one of our business friends on a subsequent visit to Israel negotiated harder and paid less than me.
Interesting today that now this coin is named after this nameless woman and we are paying a lot for it but trying to get a bargain in the process !
Sometimes it seems we want to link with a miracle and obedience to God but we want to negotiate a bargain on our own terms. Discount faith and living?
Instead of debating the price and competing with each other over terms maybe we should all just take a free look and remember what it symbolizes ... A woman who gave all she had . Someone who didn't let what they didn't have hold them back but gave what she did have.
The question isn't what should I pay for this coin but what should I learn from it.
A heart of radical love that gave everything as a gift to God.
Now I did have my phone by the bed because a friend is facing a health challenge and I know the night is the worst time, so I said contact me anytime and meant it. Also sometimes someone from our church living in Laos needs to contact me for support but I wasn't expecting a shopping message !
2000 years ago a widow gave a small coin (about 1 cent or 5 cents) into the offering and unknown to her Jesus was watching. He commended her not for the value of the gift but for the heart attitude of giving all she had. Jesus also said that her gift would be talked about for a long time.
Not sure if even He was picturing my blackberry jumping around at 2am !!
For the record I paid way less than they were being quoted and one of our business friends on a subsequent visit to Israel negotiated harder and paid less than me.
Interesting today that now this coin is named after this nameless woman and we are paying a lot for it but trying to get a bargain in the process !
Sometimes it seems we want to link with a miracle and obedience to God but we want to negotiate a bargain on our own terms. Discount faith and living?
Instead of debating the price and competing with each other over terms maybe we should all just take a free look and remember what it symbolizes ... A woman who gave all she had . Someone who didn't let what they didn't have hold them back but gave what she did have.
The question isn't what should I pay for this coin but what should I learn from it.
A heart of radical love that gave everything as a gift to God.
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