Live LIGHT

Are you ready to grow more joyful in your generosity? Giving can become a chore or an inconvenience. It’s not meant for either. In this next section of the Live LIGHT Manifesto we look at how to grow more joyful in your generosity I Live Generous Joyfully. Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.  You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 We’re told throughout Scripture and the life of the Early Church that we need to be generous. Do you want to know how to grow more joyful in your generosity? 3 questions to grow more joyful in your generosity God is generous towards us. He has filled the world with His abundance. His grace knows no limit. His righteousness endures forever.  We are to be like our Father who sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. Our gener...

Luke - a video teaching Christmas According the Luke If you want to find the rest of the story check this out. What does Luke say about Jesus' birth? Luke has carefully researched the events around Christ’s birth – and he starts with the events around Jesus’ cousin’s birth – the miraculous birth of John. The book of Luke was written to “Theophilus”. Literally, that means “God-lover”. He could have been a wealthy patron, or it might have been a group of people. What if Greek Christians, before they were called Christians called themselves Theophilians? Luke places Jesus in World History. He writes about Caesar Augustus and Quirinus being the governor of Syria. His genealogy goes from Joseph all the way back to Adam. Luke gives fuller accounts of angels. The Greeks he was writing to were more accustomed to stories of the gods interacting with humans and so would be interested in angelic encounters. He writes about the angel coming to Zachariah who didn’t believe He could become a fat...

Have you heard the 12 crazy-days of Christmas? The final verse goes like this. On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Twelve dozen cookies Eleven shoppers fighting Ten cars a-honking Nine broken presents
Eight bags a-missing Seven Christmas parties Six crazy in-laws Five extra pounds Four credit cards Three crying babies Two missing parts and a dried brown Christmas tree We’ve all been there, right? It’s easy for us to get so distracted with the busyness of the season that we forget the real meaning of the season. Thanks for taking this time to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. Real meaning of Christmas The Christmas Story The Christmas Story comes down to us from antiquity from two main sources. I’m not counting the Armenian Infancy Gospels or the more modern Saint Nicholas folklore. The Story of Jesus coming to earth as a baby are delivered to us by primarily two of the gospel writers – Matthew and Luke. They give the details. They highlight the fulfilled proph...

Do you follow the path and pattern of Jesus? Do you know what patterns he followed that will help you Live LIGHT? In this next section of the Live LIGHT Manifesto we look at some important ones and how we can practically live them out. I I follow His path and pattern. I take my everyday life, my eating, sleeping, going-to-work, and walking-around life and lay it before him as an offering. I only do what I see the Father do. I only say what I hear the Father say. I do everything as unto the Lord. I take thoughts captive, I tear down strongholds, I demolish arguments. There is a lot going on this this mouthful of the the Live LIGHT Manifesto . It’s starts with following His path and pattern. I follow His path and pattern. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21 Jesus left us an example that we should follow in his steps. Bonhoeffer says it this way, “When Christ cal...

Your life matters to everyone in your everyday world. In this next section of the Live LIGHT Manifesto let's look at your everyday world, who the people of peace are and why you matter to them. My life matters to everyone in my everyday world. “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’  If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you.  Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay. Luke 10:5-7 What is my everyday world and why does my life matter to it? My everyday world is another term I may have coined or caught from someone…wait, I think it’s from Peterson’s transliteration of Romans 12:1-2  So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it ...

Priority became "priorities" by marketing executives in 1960's and did a disservice to our English language. In the next section of the Live LIGHT Manifesto we'll look at why Jesus doesn't give us an option to give into the hype.  I know priority can never be plural I know priority can never be plural. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33. Did you know the pluralization of priority is a fairly new phenomenon?  I like to coin and promote new words… you may have already come across a few I use that you can’t yet find in the dictionary. For example: Lighterati - all those who have been called to freedom and use that freedom to serve others in love Unoffendable - to live unable to be offended Interruptible - to live being able to be interrupted like Jesus was I can’t find any of these in a dictionary. Yes, I trained my auto correct to take off the squiggly read lines whenever I writ...

Troubling ways to live… but you can with Holy Spirit's help. Troubling ways to live are what these next few statements in the Live LIGHT Manifesto are to many people who hear them for the first time. They all come from what Jesus said during the sermon on the mount. That whole lecture is troubling when you really read what He says and it hits you that maybe that’s how he wants you to live… ouch.  I can't love God and... I can’t love God and show.  I can’t love God and dough. I can’t love God and worry. I can’t love God and hurry. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. Matthew 6:2 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. Matthe...