temporary things

Today's life lesson. All we see, touch and spend our time doing is temporary unless it's within God's will.

We visited one of the 7 wonders of the world today (not sure who decided what the 7 were), anyway Angkor Wat is a huge area of extraordinary temple ruins. I guess they were forgotten and then rediscovered some time later - what a discovery!

I was captivated by the detail of each old piece of stone. Each carving represented hours of an artists life. Each stone represented the pain of endless hours of toil lifting and arranging these huge pieces for a greedy earthly king.

My understanding is that the king that commissioned all the artists and builders and slaves that had to labor for years to create this temple complex, killed them when they finished his kingdom. The very people that provided the splendor in which he lived were rewarded with death. He did this in order to protect the kingdom's construction secrets.

The complex now lays in complete ruin - attracting tons of tourists, yet in the eyes of eternity - pointless - even evil. Still today idols are worshiped here.

Although I was completely breathless at the craftsmanship that went into this marvel, it made me extremely sad as well. So pointless that all the years of building, all the loss of human life and now the rubble were simply the result of a selfish, Godless man-king.

I searched my heart as I left the site, hand in hand with the 'daughter-orphan' we love so much, have I built pointless kingdoms in my own life? What needs to be torn down in order for my life work to not be temporary? What is it God wants from me?

he's gone

This was the title on one of the million or so articles concerning Lebron's departure from Cleveland.

In the midst of all the burning jerseys and bobble heads I heard only one voice of reason.

I didn't catch who the reporter was but he said the following. "We should thank Lebron for leaving. Now we can actually afford to build a team!"

Superstars are a blast to watch, but they can hurt almost as much as help if they have to carry the entire team. No one can sustain leading alone. Ministry is the same, it takes a team.

We have the greatest volunteer team at Crossroads that I have ever worked with in my life! We will be honoring our volunteers this summer when we have a volunteer appreciate picnic in a couple of weeks. I cannot wait! No superstars needed, just one big ministry working together to further the Kingdom and please our Lord!