Above all else

This morning I met someone at a church encounter weekend for new believers.  To my surprise, I found that he hadn't accepted Christ yet.  I found it interesting that he had agreed to come for a two-day encounter without accepting Christ first, so I took time to sit with him and find out more, and walk through some of the basics of Christianity that he'd heard about for the past two days, particularly our John 3:16 Good News In A Nutshell illustration (ask me if you haven't heard of it - it is an excellent 5-minute summary of what Christianity is!). As I chatted with him, I found myself not only explaining, but also reflecting myself, on what Christianity, and more broadly, life, means.  When I was younger, I thought the Christian life basically meant two main things: (a) going to church; and (b) praying when we need help about something - studies, work, health, family etc.  But really, going to church only made me, well, a church-goer, not a Christian.  Pray...

I was with my church friends yesterday, and we were sharing our New Year resolutions.  This is always a time for reflection, so here I am, putting these thoughts to paper. What's the use of resolutions? Someone joked that it's better not to make resolutions, so that you never break them.  You see, the underlying premise of that statement is that, if I had made a resolution, I would have broken it. So either way, I've ended up failing.  But with a resolution, I know when I've fallen short.  Without a resolution, I am oblivious, but I've still fallen short . Someone else looked back at last year before sharing her resolutions for the year to come.  I think that's another great thing about resolutions - you can look back a year later and be grateful for all that God has led you through.  Otherwise, we will walk through life, thanklessly oblivious to God's presence and provision, and glibly oblivious of our need to be transformed, day by day, into C...