Christ Follower--100 Words

I’m a Christ follower.

Simply put, I believe in and follow Jesus Christ.

I’ve given my life to Him. He is my Redeemer. Savior. Lord. And, Friend.

I love Him. And, I know He loves me.

Yet, I am not perfect.

I am not even good many times.

I’m a sinner.

I fail miserably. I fall short of His plan.

I could excuse it on being human. Or, not always understanding His Word or plan for my life.

I could do that. But, why lie.

Mostly, when I fail, it’s my own choosing.

Lord, forgive my stumbles and weak ways.

Names--100 Words

Double names.

Is that a southern thing?

Billy Bob. Mary Frances.

I’m not referring to first/last names. I’m talking about people known by their first/middle names. Always. No exception.

My parents didn’t do that. They did curse me by calling me by my middle name instead of my first name. (I digress.) The only times my parents used my first/middle name together was when they also used my last name: Michael Steven Heartsill! Exclamation point—important. I was in trouble.

What name are you known by? Son? Daughter? Mother? Wife? Father? Husband? Liar. Truth-teller? Friend? Foe?

My hope? Christ Follower.

Lego My King!

A Swedish church unveiled a life-size statue of Jesus Christ during their Easter morning mass.

The nearly 30,000 Lego bricks used to make the 5.8 foot statue were donated by parishioners, Per Wilder, the pastor of the Oensta Gryta Church in Vaesteras.

“It is a fantastic installation and it will be there as long as we think it is in a good spot,” Wilder said. “All those I spoke with were full of praise, saying how fantastic the model looks and how much good work we put into this.”

Wilder said work on the statue was started a year and a half ago.

Wonder if they have spent an equal amount of time telling people exactly who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross and through the empty tomb.

Christmas Is Good, But the Best Is Yet to Come

While Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I doubt that anyone is more excited than I am to decorate for the celebration, I always approach Christmas with a little different view about what the season means. You see, Christmas is not an end in itself. Christmas is the beginning of the story.

If you put Christmas into the perspective of a book, Christmas would be Chapter 1, or maybe even the Introduction or foreword.

Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Deity becoming flesh. Christmas is about about a baby breaking through history, at a certain place and time.

But, we can't lose sight of the fact that Christmas would mean little if we didn't have another chapter/holiday--Easter!

The empty cross and the empty tomb demonstrated God's love for all of us!

While I will celebrate Christmas and enjoy the focus on Jesus' birth, I will not forget the true extent of God's love for me, as He allowed His Son to die for my sins.

We place a cross (see below) on our tree to remind us of another tree, placed on a hillside, stained with the blood of our Savior. A cross that I deserved to die on, but instead, God allowed His only Son to shed His blood for me, for my sins, for my unworthiness, on that cross.

The manger is special. The little baby Jesus is sweet, cute, and demonstrates to us God's desire to be a part of our world. But, the cross, the empty cross and the empty grave demonstrate the full extent that God would go to rescue us.

May your Christmas season be filled with not only the birth of Jesus Christ, but also with an understanding of His life, death, and resurrection.

Tuesday's Question of the Day

Take a few minutes to think about this question, well, in truth, there are two questions for today:

1) Do we see Christ in others?

2) Do others see Christ in us?