Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life (p. 144). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I remember when we were living in Las Vegas and I was sitting with my kids waiting in a hospital for Cancer surgery on Margaret, my wife, and their mother and looking up and seeing a very good friend from Phoenix walking in to be with us.   I don’t think he really realized what that meant to me.   Real friends are so important. Craig said, “Who do you call in those moments? Who do you want to confide in as you enter the valley of the shadow of life’s most heart-wrenching events? “Other than family members, most people either call a close friend or wish they had someone they could call. In those moments, we desperately need each other. We need someone who cares to be present with us, someone to listen to us vent or hold us while we cry. We need trusted friends to love us and

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life (p. 142). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Who are your closest friends?   Craig says, “When we connect with another person, we become a conduit for their values, beliefs, and decisions… In the Bible, Solomon wrote, ‘Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm’ (Prov. 13:20). If you stick close to people who are wise, you’ll become wiser. If you hang out with people who are godly, you’re likely going to grow closer to God. If you become close friends with people who make good decisions, chances are you’ll make good decisions too. ” Craig later says, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.   Any success I have in life is the direct result of a decision that changed the story I get to tell today. With God’s help, I connected with the best, God-loving, wise people I could fin

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life (p. 130). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Did you realize that? Craig says, “It wasn’t until I was in seminary that I learned the history of God’s church. For the first couple of centuries, it was incredibly difficult for followers of Jesus to gather. For one thing, their lives were often in danger. They also couldn’t own buildings, so finding public places where they could gather was challenging. Then in AD 313, Emperor Constantine declared Christianity a legal religion. For the first time in history, it became safe (at least in some places) for Christians to gather, and for the first time, churches could own buildings.” He goes on, “But we have to remember that the church is not a building. The church is the people. That’s why I try to remind myself that we don’t go to church; we are the church. “And since we