Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Beyond Heaven's Door (p. 37). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Even in the most final activity of our life, God has a purpose. Max says, “Many people assume that death has no purpose. It is to them what the black hole is to space—a mysterious, inexplicable, distasteful, all-consuming power. Avoid it at all costs. And so we do all we can to live and not die. God, however, says we must die in order to live. When you sow a seed, it must die in the ground before it can grow (1 Cor. 15:36). What we see as the ultimate tragedy, he sees as the ultimate triumph. “And when a Christian dies, it’s not a time to despair but a time to trust. Just as the seed is buried and the material wrapping decomposes, so the fleshly body will be buried and will decompose. But just as the buried seed sprouts new life, so the body will blossom into a new body. As Jesus said, ‘Unless a grain of wh

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

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, Beyond Heaven's Door (p. 29). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) No, I’ve never seen a farmer grieve over a seed being planted.   He understands the miracle when a seed is planted. Max says, “Don’t you know that you will soon witness a mighty miracle of God? Given time and tender care, this tiny kernel will break from its prison of soil and blossom into a plant far beyond its dreams.” Max later says, “A friend told me that Paul’s parallel between seeds sown and bodies buried reminded her of a remark made by her youngest son. He was a first grader, and his class was studying plants about the same time the family attended a funeral of a loved one. One day, as they were driving past a cemetery, he pointed and said, ‘Hey, Mom, that’s where they plant people.’“ He then says, “The apostle Paul would have liked that. In fact, he would like us to change the way we think abou