The most profound statement in The Purpose Driven Life is, "Every act of our lives strikes some chord that will vibrate in eternity" (p. 38).

Imagine a musician hitting chords or singing notes without ever listening. Do we ever expect those who are tone death to be musicians?

Gifted musicians are gifted listeners. They listen to themselves, to band mates, even to the conductor - by watching him. Watching is a form of listening. Be careful: watching is not looking, just as listening is not hearing.

Looking and hearing are passive activities. The subject is receiving vibrations but is not registering what the vibrations are. In such a case, the looker and hearer may as well be tone death. Watching and listening are active activities. The subject is receiving vibrations and is discerning and connecting and judging and willing - he acts, or I should say, he responds. Every act of our lives strikes some chord that will vibrate in eternity. That chord will either add to the concert or take away from the concert, depending on our ability to listen.

Listening (and watching), therefore, is the most spiritual act one can undertake. Is it no wonder Jesus said we may be ever seeing and ever hearing, but never perceiving and never understanding, because if we had ears to hear and eyes to see, then we will turn to him and have life. (Matt 13:15)

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Reading The Purpose Driven Life the second time is a completely different experience. The first time I was not reading with my heart. I looked at the validity of arguments, proper use of scripture, practical applicability, etc. This is a crime because the text is not meant to be scrutinized as such. The purpose of the text is to get us closer to God. A level of vulnerability and openness is required. This time when reading, I pray, “What are you trying to say to me, Lord?” Instead of analyzing the text, I analyze myself. I feel more and more convinced that at my middle age it is not too late to make a difference in this life and that I am required to live and die for one thing which God has uniquely prepared for me.

***

Notice the role the heart plays in understanding.

In Jesus’ own words:

For this people's heart has become calloused;

      they hardly hear with their ears,

      and they have closed their eyes.

   Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

      hear with their ears,

      understand with their hearts

   and turn, and I would heal them.

***

I believe prophecy is possible because I believe we can hear God. And we can speak as if it were from God. Most pastors have this gift because when they deliver a sermon, the words cut right to the heart as if God were doing surgery. A sermon is not a show, a form of entertainment to please you. Nor should a sermon expound worldly ideas and passions. No, a pastor expounds the mind of God: His ways, not ours. Those words come from out of this world. One ought to be frightened, if one grasps the profundity of it.

***

Rick Warren is but an ordinary guy. He loves the people God loves. And when he preaches, he preaches out of love. He says a prayer before every sermon:

Father, I love you and you love me. I love these people and you love these people. Love these people through me.

This is not an audience to be feared, but a family to be loved.

There is no fear in love; perfect love casts out all fear.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”
Preaching without love is just noise (not music).

The Purpose Driven Life is a 40 day sermon.

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With this post I have finally broken the silence – in more ways than one, e.g. I added music for the first time. I can’t help but fall in love with this tune:

There are secrets that we still have left to find

There have been mysteries from the beginning of time

There are answers we're not wise enough to see

Here’s a riddle for you…Find the answer...
There's a reason for the world...

Joshua Harris speaks not only through words written down but he speaks a message (a story) of God’s goodness through his whole life. A life-lived is a message, and Mr. Harris chooses to have his life speak of Jesus.

He is courageous for laying down his life for something greater than himself. His life points not to himself but to Jesus, love, and others. Every part of his life is examined and given over to harmonize with the Song. Nothing is held back and left untouched.

This is what theology essentially is. It seeks to answer the very one question: How shall I now live?

It’s a question many of us do not tackle because we fail to see our life as a story. Instead, short-sightedness for the here and now and a lack of faith to hope and believe that God will intervene are the prevailing attitudes of our times. The Me-Now population over occupy the Us-Later population. Which population do you think will be able to speak of Jesus and of true love?

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A theology of dating is what Joshua Harris spends his whole life figuring out. At a young age it was impressed upon him that Christians need to reflect seriously the practice of dating. The world’s practice is out of sync with God’s heart and Josh with the eyes of God saw that something needed to be done. He did not speak it nor preached it, he showed it – and then he explained it. He prophesized, then courageously followed God’s voice.

I give him 2 e-props for writing what he did, but 100 e-props for living it out. He is the most misunderstood widely read Christian writer of our time. Many slam him for “changing his mind about dating” when in fact everything he wrote has always been to answer a single question: how do I glorify Jesus in my relationships? All his books (I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Boy Meets Girl, Not Even a Hint, Stop Dating the Church) are different pictures, different angles, of the same object. Like a jigsaw puzzle, they all come together to form a message of a life lived for God.

In one sentence, his answer (from what I understand) is: We glorify Jesus in dating when we exercise wisdom, uphold purity, serve others, and love our community.

Weird answer? Find out how it all relates by reading the book.

***

We all need to ask not just how will I glorify Jesus by dating, but how will I glorify Jesus by:

-spending my money
-working at my job
-taking care of my body
-driving on the streets
-making friends
-playing sports
-etc., etc.

That’s what theology is, to think seriously how one should live his or her life in view of the Cross.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

On the cover slip: “Silence is Praise to You…”

From the song "You":

In the heavens, on the earth
There is no one like you God
And these words are not enough
To tell of who You are

Who can know the mind of God?
Who can understand Your ways?
And these words are not enough
To tell of Your great name

Your love can melt the hardest heart
Your words can bring the dead to life
Nothing is impossible for You

You got to check out this CD. www.timhughesmusic.com

In the wisdom of Dave Tunikaitis: “Do not let your circumstances cause you to doubt God, but let the Word of God cause you to doubt your circumstances!”

That is just another way of saying: “Let the Word of God transform the circumstances, do not let the circumstances dictate who God is.”

This is just another way of saying: “Let the Word of God transform the culture of the Church, do not let the worldly culture be the standard for the church.”

This is just another way of saying: “Let the Word of God change the world, do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world.”

This is just another way of saying: “Let the words of God transform the way you think by the renewing of your mind, for you were once a sinner who did not hear from God. Now you know what God wants you to do and you know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.”

Do you really think Christians hear from God? If you find one, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. And then when this prophet speaks, it’s like the sound of a pin drop.

God absolutely hates sin. This is an example of God being different than you.

God goes to great lengths to destroy sin. He sent the flood, he destroys cities, he sent his son to die…

It’s amazing at what great lengths we go to create sin, what lengths we go to reason that a sin is not a really a sin, what lengths we go to scheme and think of ways so that we can sin, and what lengths we go to hide it from others. We do this so well we fully deceive ourselves that we are no longer sinning. Is it not the worst hypocrite who says “I love God” on one hand, but do not allow God to “invade your space”? You only love God on your own terms, as long as it is comfortable for you and you get what you want.

These do not hear because of the simple fact of sin or they think they hear but they only hear themselves.

***

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

-Jesus (in John 3:3)

To repent means to "change your mind" - it is a completely new way of thinking. When you are born you move from one way into something completely new, for example, a baby from the womb into the world. It is the same for a Christian.

The things that are strengths in the world are not strengths in the eyes of God. From Dave Tunakaitis:

Strengths in the World              Strengths in the Eyes of God

-Independence                                     -Dependence

-Pride                                                   -Humility

-Revenge                                              -Forgiveness

-Rebellion against Authority                  -Submission to Authority

-Indifference                                         -Love

There’s more, but do you want to hear it?