jon mark music

rethink…

this conference is coming up January 19-21st 2008 at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA. it will be packed full of both church and world leaders alike who will be addressing their thoughts on the past year and the things that just maybe they would…

rethink…

some of the speakers will include: George H. W. Bush Sr., George Barna, George Foreman, Lou Holtz, Lee Strobel, Larry King…as well as the co-hosts Dr. Robert H. Schuller and Erwin McManus (my favorite author, whom i listen to on i-tunes each week).

check out their website www.rethinkconference.com to see more information on the conference or to have your church host a simulcast of the conference.

i would highly recommend checking out their site and attending the conference if at all possible. if you aren’t able to attend try to find a church near you that is hosting a simulcast and get there! let’s see what there may be that God has for us to…

rethink…

Ephesians 3:12-21(NLT)

12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. 13 So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored. 14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

this morning i’m just thinking of all the things that i have to be thankful for. not that i don’t to this every day, but i don’t think i give enough time to it…and for some reason i started thinking about this passage. so i just kept reading over it and reading over it and wondering why this passage was coming to my mind???

then verse 19 really started to stick out to me…

19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

i was made complete when i received Christ as my Savior and i was able to experience His love for me. i am now experiencing the fullness of life each and every day. so instead of thinking about all those things i would change about myself or the present circumstances of my life or about those things i really “need”…i need to focus on the fact that i have been made complete and i already have the fullness of life. i need to focus on what that means in my life and the ways i am able to experience that fullness each day…

so this morning i’ll share a few things with you that the Lord has reminded me of…

breath, sight, smell, touch, hearing, speaking, the ability to walk, strength to physically function on my own, for a house that keeps me warm at night, for electricity and running water, for a job that God uses to help supply for my family, for a vehicle that gets me to and from work, for the great number of family and friends, for a mom and grandparents that taught me about God and His love for me, for an amazing and extremely beautiful wife that puts up with ME! for God’s little gift named molly, for the gift of music and being able to hear and read and understand music, for the ability to sing (on pitch most of the time), for instruments and the ability to play them, for the many people who have taught me through the years both in classrooms and in life, for a Creator that knows me by name, for the grace and mercy that God offers a fresh and a new each and every day, for the sacrifice of His Son so that i could know His love and be made complete, for His Word that i can read and grow in my knowledge, for the Holy Spirit revealing the Word to me and empowering me to live each day, for snow!, for a church that loves God and wants others to know the love that He has for them…

you get the picture…i pray that today and in the days ahead we can all focus on the countless ways that we get to experience fullness of life each and every day.

PS…so after i get this all typed up and update my prayer request for shea and mary…i go to my facebook page were i have a “daily bible verse”…the verse for today is ephesians 3:16-19…so i think i’ll be reading over that a few more times today and seeing what all the Lord has to show me.

this week has been a very eventful week in the mckanna house. sunday night we were at our journey community and molly came back from child care screaming. this may be typical for some 6 month olds, but not her. kasey and i are very spoiled by a daughter who is very easy going and doesn’t let much upset her at all. after about 20 minutes of this,there was a little tiny white thing discovered and it was poking through her gums. we were relieved to know there was a reason for the screaming. then wednesday night this routing started all over again, with tooth number two. very exciting, yet draining, both at the same time.

then thursday morning came…mom and dad are getting ready just like any other day in the mckanna house. but when dad reaches to rinse his hands in the sink, he is all but taken to his knees with a stabbing pain in his back. wow!!! i enjoy a good lazy day like anyone else, but not under these circumstances! the only position that was comfortable for the next 12 hours was lying flat on my back staring at the ceiling. (i now know every spec of dust on our ceiling fan in the bedroom!)

i go through these two stories for a reason…it reminded me of a verse that i had to memorize for my last class, personal evangelism. james 2:10…

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

i’m sure that you are wondering how these things are in any way related…my mind works in weird ways!!! so let me try to explain. you see, we (or at least i) tend to over look the “little” sins or those that aren’t all that important in my mind. you know, it’s ok to share a little gossip or stretch thee truth when i’m telling a story. it’s ok to focus all of my time, energy, resources, my whole life on things…good things…but not GOD.

according to this verse, if i leave room for those “little” sins…even just one…i’m guilty of all sins, even the “big” ones. just as one little tooth or one small disc in my back has major impact…one little sin has some major impact!!! it’s not just 30 minutes of screaming or 12 hours of lying on your back…no it’s the fact that one “little” sin cost Christ His life. that’s major impact!!! just one point…

thank You Lord for the grace that is new to me every morning.

thank You for the Sacrifice that paid for that one point, many times over.