I don't know how you feel about religion, but I hate it! It sucks the life and love out of a person. Religion does the very opposite of what Jesus was all about and taught us by His example here on earth; to Love Out Loud (LOL). Religion causes people to caught up in a tangled web of rules, laws, words and indifference.

I was reading this morning in Luke 13 and verse 14 just hit me. It says, "Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "there are six days for work. so come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath"."

I sat in my chair and thought, "Are you kidding me! This woman was crippled for 18 years and Jesus, in an instant, felt compassion on her and healed her, but the religious people got angry because He did it on the wrong day!" I'm thinking, why didn't these religious leaders care enough to heal her on one of the other six days? Instead of loving, caring and being excited for this woman's miracle they are furious.

Religion is dangerous! It sucks and it's wrong. We are called by God to love one another, treat each other the way we want to be treated and care for those who need help. Be very careful not to get caught up in "religion" but develop your relationship with the One who loves ALL of us and showed us how to Love Out Loud.

When there is no vision what happens? People perish! Not physically die, but people lose hope, excitement, zeal and basically get frustrated. And when that happens you begin to slowly die on the inside. When there is no movement, nothing to look forward to, people lose the desire to hang on and fight. Life, church, work, family, whatever, becomes stale and stagnant, and if it's stagnant long enough it starts to stink and the stink will cause people to move! Where there is no vision there is no hope, no life, and no fight. Without hope, life and fight we begin to shut down, get sick and eventually die.

We are all built with an inner desire to move toward something that is exciting, alive, and fresh. It gives us hope, a sense of purpose, a hunger and a passion to fight on.
Passion defined is divine enthusiasm. It's what keeps you driving even when the tires are flat!
In Habakkuk 2:2 it says, "Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by".
When there is a vision that is clear it lets others know that there is life, there are goals we are shooting for , and there is purpose behind what we are doing. There is excitement in the air and it becomes contagious. Everyone wants to be a part of something that is flowing, growing and alive. It's how we were created.

Seriously take some time and ask yourself these questions:

What is my vision?
What am I shooting for?
Do I have goals?
What is my purpose and my passion?

Remember, If you aim at nothing you will hit it every time.

My passion is students. My purpose is student ministry.

I thought I'd take some time and share some of my thoughts, rants, quotes and encouragement from the past year.  I began to journal a little over a year and a half ago and although the format has changed many times over that span the idea has remained the same - to put on paper my thoughts, ideas, encouragements and plans to look back on.   Peter says, "I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder." Journaling, for me, is a way to stir myself up by remembering.  Here is what "stirs me up"...

"If you keep doing what you have always done you will have what you have always had!"

If you don't stand for something you will fall for everything.

The things I am tempted to do is NOT who I am.

What you focus on you will always hit.

Everyone follows someone; I am just trying to follow Jesus.

If it's not worth dying for, it's definitely not worth living for!

If you'll begin to ask God new questions you'll begin to get new answers.

I'm not perfect, but I'm not pretending either! I'm no poser! (thanks Ed)

Life is not about finding yourself but about finding the person God created you to be.

"We don't really believe that God's love is that powerful because if we did we'd behave differently!" (Dan Merchant)

SIN - it will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you're willing to pay."

You cannot keep your eyes on God and your circumstances at the same time. You need to choose which one you will focus on.

"Innovation, when not tethered to the truth of the Gospel, leads to heresy." Mark Driscoll

Serve something greater than Yourself. In doing so you will receive what you need, want and desire.

If you made it this far I hope you found some encouragement, insight and hope in the things that have blessed my life and stirred me up over the past year. 

Stir yourself up by remembering the good things that God has done in your life and is going to do in the days ahead.

Be encouraged, 

Derrick

Speaking of New - it's the end of 2008 and the New Year is here! I LIKE NEW! I think everyone likes new! New car, new ipod, new cell phone, new clothes, new relationship, new Mac Book, new baby, new TV series, new, well, you get the idea, most everyone likes new things. We get tired, easily, with what we have and the desire for new begins to take over. We have to get our hands on what's new. That is one of the reasons why so many of us look forward to a New Year. It's something fresh, different, and exciting. Maybe your 2008 was not so great, so 2009 gives you a new hope, a new start, and chance to make life better. My prayer, for all of us, is that our goals for the New Year would be to be better men, woman, husbands, wives, children, students and ultimately better people than we've been in the past. To strive to be better in our relationship with God, with our families and with the people we are connected with on a regular basis. If we make that our New Years resolution, our life WILL be better in the new year. For me, I am making it a priority to be more commited to God, more commited to my family and church, and more commited to the city of Madison. I like new! And I am eagerly anticipating the newness that 2009 will bring.
Have a great New Year as you experience God, relationships and ideas in a whole new way! Be encouraged, it's a New Year!

So, I have decided to do something new - start a blog. Of course if you know me at all I am into new stuff: Cell phones, technology, computers, cars, hunting or fishing stuff, programs that send all my messages to my cell phone, and the list could go on forever.  What you may not know about me is that I don't tend to think too far in advance or about all the details involved.  That's why I surround myself with people you are detailed and think about those things. Unfortunately, I wont have that privilege with blogging so I am going to have to be diligent and disciplined in keeping it updated and fresh.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm looking forward to it though and if you find me slacking - give me a nudge (not too hard though - I hate pain).