Don't Waste Your Life

I was viewing the blog of Michael and Rie Ardenz today. Michael is a ministry representative for Gospel For Asia in New Zealand, and his function is to raise support for GFA in his country. If I were ever going to work in the missions field, I believe that is what I would want to do as well. His livelihood is based upon donations, so take a look at his blog and consider supporting him. As you know, my belief in GFA is high.
While viewing his site, I was struck by a video they have linked: Don't Waste Your Life - Randy Alcorn
Here is a quote from the website: www.dontwasteyourlife.com "What is the essence of the unwasted life? I just mentioned it: A life that puts the infinite value of Christ on display for the world to see. The passion of the unwasted life is to joyfully display the supreme excellence of Christ by the way we live. Life is given to us so that we can use it to make much of Christ. Possessions are given to us so that by the way we use them, we can show that they are not our treasure, but Christ is our treasure. Money is given to us so that we will use it in a way that shows money is not treasure, but Christ is our treasure."
Good stuff.

Amish School Tragedy One Year Later

In response to the one year anniversary of the tragedy that occurred in the small school house in Nickel Mines, Pa, USA Today ran an article discussing a retrospective focusing on how the Amish community has responded to the event. The article is fairly well done, and includes Q/A with Steve Nolt author of Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy.
Within the article Mr. Nolt, who is Mennonite, relates that one reason that the Amish were able to so fully commit to forgiveness of the murderer is that they believe that in order to have their own sins forgiven, they too must forgive the sins of others..... I don't argue with that statement, but I will say that stated in that way, it places a great amount of emphasis on the thought, "I'm doing this in order to receive something in exchange." In actuality, my understanding of their motivations, and the motivations of other followers of Christ is more in line with this line of belief, "I have no right to judge others for their sins, because I myself am a sinner too. Furthermore, my Savior loved me despite my transgression so fully that He sacrificed His own life for me. Thus, it is a minor sacrifice on my part to forgive those who hate or hurt me. Any forgiveness that I afford is not to obtain forgiveness in exchange, but instead, is a response of gratitude to the One who has demonstrated amazing forgiveness to me already."
Once again, I encourage you to take a look at the responses to the USA Today article posted below it. Doing so provides some insight into how a lost world views Christians functioning as Christians. For some, it is hard to grasp the actions of forgiveness, but I can understand how confusing it may seem without the personal experience of forgiveness to form your perspective.