Are you radical or just impulsive?
by Dale Coad
We just celebrated a fantastic retreat with the theme, "Thriving in Change." Our colleague and retreat speaker Don Exley focused on God's passionate love for us facilitating powerful encounters with Jesus. Our extended communion service in the historic Wesleyan Chapel at Epworth was as intimate experience as I have ever had with Jesus. Where do we go from here?
With 20128 looming on the horizon, can we take those power encounters and incorporate radical new ideas that are pregnant with possibilities with any surety that we've heard from God? Something may be crying out for change but is it God's mandate or our own discontentment? How does a believer distinguish between a Divine mandate versus an impulsive need for self-validation masked by a false sense of Spiritually?
At the retreat we establish clearly that Jesus must be at the very core of all of our changes for us to thrive. As Colossians 1:15-17 MSG declares,
"We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels--everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him."
How often do we pursue a radical change in the culture of our field only to find out the change must first take place with us? Some of our radical ideas will be become self-validating with time while others will serve only to reveal deep needs in our walk with Jesus. The difference between being radical for Christ versus being impulsive to meet our own needs is revealed in our walk with Jesus.
Are we authentic in our love for Jesus?
Does his character shine through us in our relationships with others?
Are we moved with compassion seeing the needs for others around us as Jesus was moved? (Matthew 9:39)
May we be radical for Jesus in 2018 for His sake and fully discover everything that He has purposed for us this year!
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| Caribbean Retreat on St. Simmons Island, Epworth Retreat Center (Click on link) https://www.dropbox.com/s/pgwkc8uwglvwxiv/Caribbean%20Retreat%202017_11%20Worship%20in%20Historic%20Chapel.mov?dl=0 |
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| Caribbean Retreat Rope Course (Click on the four links below) |
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