I love to watch epic movies such as Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, and my personal favorite, Gladiator.  Many may think it is because of the battles with swords or the bloody nature that draws guys to these types of films, and while that may be part of it, the real draw is the stories themselves. It’s the adventure!

I want to live an epic life.

Epic – very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale)

2 Key elements!

1. Making the decision – An epic life does not mean running around with swords and spears with a scottish accent. It means that you make decisions that impact your world and the people in it.  There are problems all around us that need someone to step up to the challenge.  Living an epic mean you make the decision that no one wants to make, or taking on the challenge that no one else whats. It means taking a stand on what is right, not what is popular. It means doing what needs to be done and not doing what is easy.

2. Seeing it through – All new challenges give a fresh excitement and thrill, but living the epic means pushing through when everyone else wants to fall away.  When all is lost, everyone else is gone, and the sensible option is to quite; you decide to step it up a notch and try that much harder.  Our society loves to quit when things get difficult, but we are not called to be ordinary quitters! We are called to be epic!

These two keys can apply to any aspect of life.
- Are you applying these at your job? If not, it is time to step up and make a difference.
- Are you applying these to your family? It is time to be the leader you are suppose to be.
- Are you applying these to you spiritual walk? Time is short and lives hang in the balance.

We only get one life to live, so instead of just watching movies about epic adventures, I have decided to live one!

Will you join me in living the epic!

Several weeks ago I attended a conference called Exponential.  One of the points that really stuck with me was the idea of Identifying abundant life.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10.10 NKJV)

3 Keys to Abundant Life

1. Joy – the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.

   Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:9-11 NIV)

   Are you filled with joy?

2. Peace – a state of tranquillity or quiet

   You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:7-8)

   Is there peace in you heart?

3. Righteousness – acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin

   He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:2-4)

   Are you walking in God’s righteousness?

Abundant life is not a gimmick. It is a gift from our creator. If you are not living this, then stop right now and examine your life.  What have you allowed to come in and steal your joy, your peace, your righteousness (or right relation with God)?

Make a fresh commitment, to both yourself and God, to living within His abundance!

TV is the sedative of the nation.

I have recently been evaluating the way I live my life day to day.  I broke my schedule down to evaluate how I typically spend each part of my day. The format goes like so…

Early Morning (5-8am) – Workout, Quiet Time, Go to work

Morning (8am-12pm) – Work

Afternoon (12-5pm) – Work

Evening (5-8pm) – Go Home, Finish leftover tasks, Watch TV

Night (8-11pm) – Watch TV, Sleep

This schedule over a weeks time ends up with at least three hours of television per day.  That comes out to 15 hours per week (not including weekends), which is more that a total work day. So that mean that out of a week, I have spent almost a total day worth of time staring at a box.

TV is the sedative of the nation.

- Sedative – Something that causes you to be unaware and unresponsive to your surroundings.

How much time is lost while staring the TV. How many opportunities to enjoy life are lost because we are to unaware of our surroundings. Is there anyone of us who can truly claim that our life quality has increased with the amount of television we watch.

One of the ways I personally show affection is quality time.  In the past, I believed that watching TV together is quality time, but this is not so.  I can watch television with a complete stranger.  Television allows us to “spend time” with people but truly not be there. How many families “spend time” together but are still falling apart because of no real connection.

We only get one shot at making our live matter. We only get one chance to impact the people around us.  At the end our our life, we will not evaluate ourselves on the quantity of TV time, but on the quality we passed on to those around us. I am making a commitment to watching much less TV and living a lot more life!

What Does God See You As?

So as I was driving home from Winthrop yesterday, I was flipping through the radio stations and ended up on 89.7 WMHK. Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with this station, this is the Christian station based out of Columbia that generally plays worn out songs  from the 90’s with the occasional contemporary, not played out (YET) songs that I like to worship and jam to. After the string of songs ended that consisted of “By Your Side,” “Testify to Love”, and “I Can Only Imagine,” two of the WMHK hosts came on the radio with a “question of the day.” Here’s how these work… The station asks the question, and callers call in and give them an answer. Well today’s questions was “What do you think God sees you as?” My initial response was “A MESS!” However, before I could focus so much on that response, a caller called in with an answer to the question. This woman’s response to the question was “I believe that God sees me as the clay and He is the potter. He molds me and shapes me into who I should be.” Now obviously, this woman is correct. The bible states on many accounts that He (God) is the potter, and we are the clay. Take the following verse, for instance:

Isaiah 64:8

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

My initial reaction was “Well yeah, that’s true.” But then I started thinking about how cliché that response is. I mean, how many times do we hear messages or sings songs about Him being the potter and we being the clay? So then the wheels in my head REALLY began to turn… which seems to happen a lot on my trips to and from Winthrop. What DO I really think God sees me as? As I thought about this question a little longer, my brain started to drift to a final exam I had just had a few days before. Don’t ask how this happened, my brain just works like that. This final exam was for my Choreography class. (I’m a dance education major.) We had to choreograph a 2 minute dance for ourselves and two other people. I started thinking about how I would really like to revise my choreography. I mean, I loved what I had choreographed, but I would really like to take away a few parts and add new material. Then I started to think about what my purpose was, as the creator of the work, for the choreography. In this case, it was to relay a message to viewers (about technology, but that’s beside the point.)

And that’s when it hit me. God sees me as a work, a piece of choreography, that He is constantly revising. He adds to me and takes away, which is all in his process of making me who He intended for me to be. And like the work I had just created, He created me to have a purpose… a clear, specialized purpose that is revealed to me and others by the movements, steps, and directions that I take. However, also like a piece of choreography, as I am revised, my purpose may also change. Finally, like any experienced choreographer knows, a work is NEVER finished. A piece of choreography may change slightly over years of being performed. A choreographer NEVER looks at his work and says, “That’s it! It’s perfect! It’s done!” No, there is ALWAYS something that can be changed. And there is ALWAYS something that can be added or taken away to enhance the purpose and meaning behind a work. In the same fashion, as a work of Christ, I am never fully complete.

Philippians 1:6

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

So my question is this…

What does God see you as? What is your purpose and your meaning here on earth? What is He is adding to you or taking away in the process of forming you into what He wants you to be?