flyfaith plays the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street in Memphis...Sunday, September 4, 6:00 p.m.

I suppose summer is officially over here in Nash-vegas...It was as though half of the workforce took the summer off, and they all decided to come back to work on Monday. And don't even think about going to Walmart for the next week...it's crazy. I made the mistake last night of trying to go down the school supply aisle...what was I thinking??? Now I know why I've never had kids...:)

The band played a concert at the women's maximum security prison last weekend...gives whole new meaning to the term "captive audience."Actually it was the most responsive audience we have ever played for. It was as though they hung on every lyric we sang and every word we spoke. Talk about being "thirsty".........It reminded me how we've become so desensitized to the message of the Gospel. Being in the world is like drinking salt water...you can drink it...it's water... but you will die before you know it if you keep drinking it...

The greatest moments in life are when God uses me to turn someone's eyes toward Him.

I am still mulling over a conversation I had with co-workers last week, in reference to the message I heard on Sunday, April 17, at "The Rock." The pastor spoke of the "one year challenge"....embraced by a man who was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given only a year to live....to withdraw from any organization or activity that did not actively bring others into the Kingdom or make an eternal impact.

Since I work for a Christian publishing company, I expected most people to see the one year challenge idea as a valid consideration. To my surprise, two people sitting with me at lunch vehemently scoffed at such a ridiculous idea. They assured everyone that they were confident in the fact that they are called to "minister" as they go about doing the things they want to do...shopping at the mall, having treatments at the spa, etc, etc.

The "dying to self" thing is definitely not always the same for everyone, but it brings the same results. It's a matter of priority. If we are more concerned about ourselves than others, then we have not died to self. I think sometimes we try to make it too hard. And other times we too easily surrender to our human nature. It's a matter of will...our desire to lay down all we are and carry the cross of Christ Jesus. We need also remember it will not always be difficult....many times it may be, but Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:29-31, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

More often than not, we complicate the matter with "works." It's not about doing so much as it is about being....being in Christ....seeking Him and waiting on Him to speak to us.

Matthew 22:37-39 is a great place to start..."Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Currently Reading Better Together What on Earth Are We Here For? By Rick Warren see related

I always feel lost when I return to work on Monday mornings. Perhaps because my weekends are always so crazy...fun...full of what really matters for the Kingdom...but a perpetual whirlwind. Or maybe because I am forced back into the sea of mediocrity, struggling upstream, against the flow. My brain tells me to stop the fight and let the current carry me downstream with everyone else. That would be so much easier.  My heart screams to persevere: never conceeding to the rushing current.

I keep striving for something...something better...something different. Not another rung on the proverbial "ladder", but SOMETHING. And then I hear it...underneath the noise...the Spirit... reminding me I cannot be satisfied with earthly things. Ecclesiastes 3:11b says God "has set eternity in the hearts of men." Whether we embrace it or not, we have been created for eternity. So, the things of eternal significance are the things I want to spend my time on....not merely punching a time clock.

...hope to see you upstream! 

Currently Reading Next Door Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust By Max Lucado see related

WOW! What a weekend!...probably the most amazing "chill" I've had in a while. The time in JC was great...I love you guys...I really mean it.

Mary, thanks for your hospitality. You're the best!

This fleeting 30 hours in the sea of eternity will be treasured by this sojourner for a lifetime.