Emergent Brethren

Am almost finished reading a great book on forgiveness.  I HIGHLY recommend it to you.  It is called “Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transended Tragedy.”  By Donald Kraybill.   It takes a look at the Amish School Shootings at Nickel Mines, PA a few years back and the forgiveness they extended. It also takes an indepth look at Forgiveness.  It sure challenges me to extend forgiveness more often and more quickly.

 It also has lots of good stories of forgiveness that would be great to file for sermons.

I recently was given two advance copies of Mark Batterson’s new book, Wild Goose Chaise: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God.  (It is now out in stores and is a good read!)  I finished reading it on vacation… when I was mostly sleeping, eating, reading, relaxing, and reflecting on my life.  In the book, Mark made a comment that caught my attention (actually, he made lots of them, that caught my attention)… he said, “too many of us live by default rather than by design.”
 

Take a moment or two to read that again and think about it.
 

Which way are you living?  By default – just taking life as it comes – not making plans or using the gifts God has given you.   Or, by design – living out of the gifts God has given you and making an impact in the world.
 

One thing I know… we are each one created (designed by God) with different interests, gifts, abilities and when we use them, we are living into the designs God has for us.  And when we do that, life can be pretty exciting and fulfilling.
 

What would your life look like if you were living it by design?