Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Andy Stanley from his book, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World (p. 27). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That makes sense or does it? Andy says, “Purpose. If you refuse to become a means to an end, your life will never have meaning. That’s the meaning of meaning. Live for yourself and you’ll only have yourself to show for yourself. Become a means to an end and your life takes on . . . meaning. Funerals teach us this. Funerals remind us that the value of a life is always measured by how much of it was given away.” Andy then says, “God created the nation of Israel as a means to a divine end. He created the nation for a global purpose. God’s global plan for the nation was first announced long before there was a nation. Around 2067 BC, God promised ninety-nine-year-old Abraham a son who would become a nation that would bless the world. The entire world.” Andy goes on, ...

A thought by Andy Stanley from his book, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World (p. 20). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) He was the greatest entrepreneur that this world has ever seen. Andy says, “He didn’t come to Jerusalem offering a new version of an old thing or an update to an existing thing. He didn’t come to make something better. Jesus was sent by the Father to introduce something entirely new . People gathered by the thousands to listen. To see. To experience.” He goes on, “But it wasn’t just his new message that made Jesus irresistible. It was Jesus himself. People who were nothing like him liked him. And Jesus liked people who were nothing like him. Jesus invited unbelieving, misbehaving, troublemaking men and women to follow him and to embrace something new —and they accepted his invitation. “As followers of Jesus, we should be known as people who like people who ...