Author: Bradley Alexander

  
No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I don’t call you servants any longer, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you. You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last. As a result, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. I give you these commandments so that you can love each other. (‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭13-17‬ CEB)
Today is a very important day as an American, it is a somber day for many, but in that somberness there is also joy. Christ our savior knew that in order to give what He most desired to give there must be sacrifice. The old way must be severed and for that to happen he woud do the ultimate sacrifice, lay down his life for his friends. 
Today in its somberness we are abundantly thankful for that have made tthe ultimate sacrifice so that we can do we do. 

Think for a moment what it would be like to not have the freedom and opportunity to worship God on Sundays, without the sacrifice of the many that have served America that would null in void. Today be thankful for what you have because of the sacrifice of many. They have given us so much. If you know someone in the military, thank them, because they know that if asked they will lay down their life, and yet that doesn’t detur them from serving in the way they do. 

To all that have or are currently serving I thank you and to those that have made the ultimate sarcrifice I cannot thank you enough for the love you have shown the many. You teach us what love is truly about. 

Finally I thank you and praise you God for being the originator, innovator, and creator of that love.  

  

In Christianty God is not a static thing – not even a person – but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost like a drama.
– C.S. Lewis

http://dvo.me/gRq2kopuxm

Today at the house my wife, Amy and I are having a garage sale, so for the last couple of weeks we have sorting through our garage and seeing what we have and figuring out what we need. We have said many things, but today I am thinking about one word. 

Stuff. 

So today I am ponderinng why in the world do we have so much stuff? What do we really need? 

I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul said: 

But even beyond that, I consider everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him, but what I lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ (‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬ CEB)

Everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. As disciplines we see what we need through the lens of Christ Jesus. He is more than we could ever ask for. It’s no wonder Paul wrote this, but when you have Christ, things begin to become less attractive, because through Christ we have more than we thought possible. 

What do I need? 

I need Jesus. Give me Jesus. You can have all this world, just give me Jesus. 

You know me everyone I love me some methodism and I was geeking out yesterday when I found the greatest thing ever on the United Methodist Church website. I found this:

Yes sir.

So here are the rules from the website:

The United Methodist Church has existed in various forms for more than 200 years. Test your knowledge of its history with these questions.

Come back each week day until June 17 (John Wesley’s birthday!) for a new question. Also, pass on this quiz to others to encourage them to test their knowledge as well.

This quiz is a partnership between United Methodist Communications and the General Commission on Archives and History.

Here is the Quiz! 

Good luck Methodorks!

I struggle with reading. I love it and I wish I didn’t struggle with it, but for some reason I struggle with it. Being the way I’m wired as someone that is ADD I find it hard to just sit and read. I gotta be doing something, but I desperately need to.

I have to.

It’s important to have these times of sitting and reading. I want to talk with you all today about pushing ourselves outside ourselves. For the longest time I have loved the phrase “A Holy Discontent.” A great read on this topic is Bill Hybels book, “A Holy Discontent.” (I know I just told you to do something I struggle to do, keep listening). For a scriptural connection let’s begin to think about how Paul said this life is us running a race. Pressing onto a goal.

So what is that goal?

Well for me it has to be to continually grow in Christ, to always press forward seeking Holiness. If that is your goal then Holy Discontent is a phrase you need to be familiar with. Let me explain it this way:

Never stop learning. Ever. Ever. Ever.

Make sense?

The grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ is something that is meant to be experienced, eaten, and shared with a community over and over again. That is what we call growth. So, back to my original point: What are you reading?

If you aren’t reading anything I would invite you to join me in reading what I am reading:

I have read the prologue and chapter 1 and I am hooked. Rachel Held Evans has been a voice of great conviction for the Christian community for several years now and one I would encourage you to read or at least be aware of. Here is what it said on the back of the book about Searching for Sunday:

For a generation that has largely said, “count me out,” church represents a complicated relationship of both longing and apathy. There’s a history there – a past full of confusion and hurt, but a past that often is impossible to abandon. In Searching for Sunday, Rachel Held Evans exposes her own thorny relationship with the church, articulating the concerns, frustrations, and hopes of many of her peers. Through a series of stories told around the church’s sacraments – baptism, confession, and communion, among others – Evans offers the beginnings of a road map back to church and the resurrection that awaits when we are willing to give up and begin again.

I would encourage you to press on to holiness, to the goal that Christ gives us with this new life in whatever way that you choose. If you join me in this book I will be posting occasionally my thoughts on the book. This is a book that has topics that we need to talk about, even and especially if it makes us uncomfortable.

My prayer for you is that you will press on to holiness and you will embrace Christ, for in that embrace we see what life is really about.

Grace and Peace,

Bradley Alexander