Do you ever ask yourself, “What is the point”?

Why do you make the assumptions about things that you make?

Why do you have the same routine?

Why do you lead the group you lead?

Why do you have the job you have?

What is the point of your life?  Your Year?  Your month?  Your week?  Today?

I don’t know about you, but if I forget the point I begin to feel pointless.

So ask yourself and see what happens.  And then be brave enough to stop doing pointless things.

“Can we please read one more story daddy?” She said with a sweet little voice.
“Maybe this afternoon baby”, I said, “but we have to go to school now so let’s pack up”.

“Ok, (anticipatory giggles from a very cute four year old) I just love these stories.” She says with one last big eyed look that said “please daddy” without saying “please daddy”.

A Disney story? Mickey, Donald, Minne and Goofy in their latest crazy day. Maybe the latest tale of a princess and her prince? Perhaps even one more story about Ariel and Sebastian singing “under the sea” as they dream of being a human (and have you noticed disobeying Dad quite a bit while doing it).

Nope.
None of the above.
This morning it was actually David and Goliath first followed by a tale of a man named Jonah eaten by a very large fish.
The Bible.

There is a love and a yearning for the Bible in my child’s heart. A little habit of the heart that has formed and is teaching me.

Do I yearn for one more story? Do I still realize the great adventure and the great wisdom?

My Kid is growing God’s way and she is causing her Dad to as well.

Bells Palsy Video Update Day 21 from Shawn Wood on Vimeo.

Bells Palsy Video Update – Day 11 from Shawn Wood on Vimeo.

Sun Stand Still is not just a book.  It is a book of course and you should read it.  But this blog post is not about telling you about a book.  In fact If you have not heard of the book I hope you enjoyed a good nap for the last month – welcome back.  But this is not about a book, it really is a story that for me started many years ago.

When you grow up in a small town you know almost everyone.  So it is not surprising that since both of us grew up in Moncks Corner, SC that Steven Furtick and I know each other.  I knew a lot of people.  The God part of the story is that though we are six years apart as a 17 year old and a 23 year old we became friends through an unlikely connection and I count it an absolute privilege that we have stayed friends now for these 13 years.

Here is what I can tell you about my friend.  Before there were thousands of people listening Steven was preaching with the same fire and enthusiasm as he does today.  Before there was a agent or publisher asking Steven was talking about his page 23 experience.  Before there was even a possibility there was this seventeen year old kid telling me in a coffee house in Summerville, SC how he was going to plant a church one day and God was going to move in an amazing way.

I can say as one of the few who heard the beginning of the story from a 17 year old that this deal is legit.  He dresses better now (thank to Holly) and he preaches better now (I hope we all do) but the story is the same.  A young man grabbed by God the way I pray my son will be to believe that God can do an amazing work through his life.

I asked my friend to tell us a little bit about the book.

———————-

Sun Stand Still is all about faith. Audacious faith. It’s something I’m passionate about, but it’s also something that has the potential to be discounted before it’s gotten a fair hearing.
While I was writing the book, I knew I had a few obstacles to overcome. Faith is a sore subject for millions. It’s been abused, mishandled, distorted, and ultimately disfigured.
And then there’s the fact that sometimes it seems like there’s a custom-tailored faith for everyone: If the Galatians 2:20 kind of faith—“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”—is too clunky for you, trade it in. Exchange it for an easier, no-money-down model. If trusting in the miracle-working power of Jesus is too out there for your modern mind, play it safe. Don’t ever ask God to provide for you supernaturally. Don’t dare to ask for physical healing or anything else that would put God on the spot. Because what if he doesn’t come through?
A lot of Christians I know stagger through life in a daze. Suffering from posttraumatic faith disorder, they hunker down in the basement, open a can of Beanie Weenees, and wait for the end of the world. They’re stuck in spiritual survival mode. Living comfortably in spiritual mediocrity. They’re not trying to be hypocrites. It’s just that so far the faith thing hasn’t, well, worked for them.
But we can’t let abuses and misunderstandings hold us back. Regardless of the obstacles we face, God has no plan B. The Bible throws down the gauntlet in Hebrews 11:6: Without faith it is impossible to please God.It doesn’t get any plainer than that. Faith isn’t just a Get Out of Hell Free card. It’s the most vital building block of your relationship with God. And it’s the only real foundation worth establishing your life on.
We can’t abandon the life-changing promise of full-frontal faith because some have dealt with the topic recklessly and unbiblically. It would be a shame for us to let bad experiences or past disappointments keep us bound, poor, and blind to what God wants to do in our lives.
Through Sun Stand Still, I want to show you that you don’t have to settle for spiritual mediocrity. Mundane, ordinary faith doesn’t have to be your destiny. You can discover what happens when you dare to believe God for the impossible, ask God for the impossible—then act in audacious faith for his glory.
Faith was never meant to be a drug to sedate you through a life you hate. It’s a force to transport you to another realm of reality.

“You can order your copy of Sun Stand Still here: http://elevat.io/n/sssbook“

And

Visit the Sun Stand Still page:
http://www.sunstandstill.org/

If you have not heard this past week has been quite the ride for my family. Last Sunday I started having some mild tingling of my tongue. No big deal, just kinda weird. On Monday it got worse through-out the day until Monday night when I could not whistle. Again, weird and starting to fighten me a little.

Then Tuesday morning when I woke up I had complete paralysis on my left side, what I would later that day learn was Bell’s Palsy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell’s_palsy)

You don’t realize how much you use something, like your face, until you can’t use it.  Here is just a short list of the last week:

Negative:
Can’t close my eye (have to manually blink and lots of eye drops)
Positive:
Get to wear an eye patch and its not even Pirate Day.

Negative:
Can’t smile with half my face.
Positive:
Make my family laugh until they almost pee themselves every time I do smile.

Negative:
No drinking without a straw
Positive:
No drinking without a straw – everybody loves straws

Negative:
Cannot move my left eye brow
Positive:
Naturally have a “Rock” impersonation that is awesome.  Combined with the eye patch I am one tough dude.

Back to the update.
I have thrown every thing possible at this deal – spiritual, physical, naturapathy and medicinal.  It seems to be working and today has been a real turning point.  I can tell I am getting some feeling back.

So keep praying.
Keep laughing with me and most importantly feel free to join  me in wearing a patch on your eye!

Planning Christmas 2010 Welcome from Shirts Don't Suck on Vimeo.

Guest Post by Sarah Cunningham

The day that halted my generation’s leisurely flight [through our world], I reported to work as usual as the tragedy up the coastline hit the news.

“Did you hear that a plane just hit the World Trade Center Tower in New York?” the church receptionist asked me as I passed her desk on the way back to my office.

That’s weird, I remember thinking. Why is the church receptionist suddenly playing anchor woman? She’s never passed on a headline before.

But this was not enough to jar my oblivion. The news was still calling the crash an accident and thus, my reaction was somewhat shrugging disregard, mustering only momentary empathy for the family of whatever pilot had manned what I expected was a twin-engine plane crash.

This, I’m afraid, is the way I hear—or rather don’t hear—the daily news. I consider whatever trauma or tragedy is reported for just a minute before letting my music or my shopping list sweep it away.

It wasn’t until the plane was identified as an airliner that my heart joined my head in the listening. And it wasn’t until a second plane crashed and the FAA grounded all planes that I began to realize how my generation’s concept of our world was crashing as well. ~Excerpt from Part IV of Picking Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life’s Weeds

Look.  Here is the deal.  You or I don’t want to be another story of another Christian trapped in an addiction.  We need accountability in this area.

Do you have a filter on your computer?  Does your spouse or a close friend get a report of what you use?  During the Song of Solomon series we have been doing at Seacoast Church I have been reminded again of the beauty and potential destruction of sex.

So why don’t you join me in adding an internet filter to your computer today?

Here is a link to a free month trial of safe eyes - the xxxchurch and daveramsey.com recommended filter of choice.

http://bit.ly/c0hypu