Eternal Perspective...

It was McLean Bible Church's topic for this morning's service. One that we may have all heard before, but needs to be heard again and again, until it finally gets through. (Quick Side Note: According to The Washington Post, weekly attendance of MBC reached 13,000 by fall '07. You dont realize the enormity of that number until its applied to people belonging to one church. And see the size of the building to serve all of them. This morning, I realized it driving into their own two story parking garage and getting lost on my way into church...)

The service was centered around the following idea: Our ability to live lives of passion, filled with holy abandonment to the will of God, lies solely in our ability to interpret our circumstances with an eternal perspective. The pastor, Todd Phillips, then defined eternal perspective as interpreting sacrifices in light of the whole - glorifying God and spreading the gospel. In order to better communicate this truth, he used the real life examples of Steve Sawyer and David Ring. Their stories need to be shared.

Steve Sawyer had a significant impact on the Kingdom, all because of his perspective. "Id rather have AIDS and know Jesus, than not have AIDS and not know Christ." He chose to embrace his suffering and allow God to use it. And with that goal at heart, Steve reached students all across the nation, telling his story on college campuses. Simpy because, as he said, "my life took on a whole new perspective." Pretty compelling.

David Ring, likewise, has a powerful story. Check it out: David Ringer Testimony Wow. How can a man like that, with Cerebral Palsey, stand up there and honestly say, with joy in his heart, "If you dont like the way I am, hang in there, Im still in the oven...God's still cookin on me"? He can say that, instead of drawing pity and dwelling in resentment because he knows, deep in his heart, that God's strength is made perfect in weakness. His example brings me to shame, yet inspires me on toward Christ.

And one more quick note on the subject. I talked to Chuck Colson for a few minutes today. And to fit in with the theme of the day, we got onto the topic of God using suffering to make us more like Christ. Talking about his new book, The Faith, Chuck said, "I wrote something in there that many Christians do not like. I wrote that the closer we come to being like Christ, the more apt we are to suffer." He then went on to say that after having two out of three children battle cancer, he has found that God is good. Eternal perspective, indeed.

After all of this, I may go on to live my self-focused life. I may wake up tomorrow and be more worried about the feeling of loneliness that comes with being away from home than I am about how God is trying to draw me to Himself. I may get wrapped up in missing those I love, instead of getting wrapped up in the closeness of God's presence. I may fall into the mentality of simply getting through the day, and miss the joy God is trying to bring me in a bird's chirp, the sun's warmth, or the whisper of my name as He calls me. But I pray I will not. I pray His message to me today through these stories changes me, and tomorrow my perspective is completely eternal...

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Lesson for Today: Apparently its possible to drive from Hawaii to Virginia, if the Hawaii license plate I saw today on a Ford Escape is any indication.