"...make me a crisis man..."

"Lord, make me a crisis man. Let me not be a mile-post on a single road, but make me a fork that men must turn one way or another in facing Christ in me." -prayer by Jim Elliot

An amazing quote by an amazing man. I desire to grow to be that kind of man. I want to be the kind of man who is so in tune with God that the world will look upon me and not wonder who I live for, but be forced to make a decision about who I live for.

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In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light my strength my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled when strivings cease!
My Comforter my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
-]

I didn't know there was a song with such true words contained in it as "In Christ Alone."

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In Christ alone! - who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This Gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid:
Here in the death of Christ I live
-]

I love this song because there are no filler words, every word is about what the Lord has done and how what He has most graciously done has saved me.

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There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
-]

I think I love this song even more because of the setting where I first heard it. It was last Saturday at the speech tournament right before the final results were announced.

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No guilt in life no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till he returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!
-]

When we sang this song I was in complete amazement of how the Lord had decided to bless me. But, I also knew that no matter what the outcome had been, I still had only once choice. His name must be blessed, when His streams of abundance flow and when I am found in the desert place. That is the only choice for me.

And He is faithful and good. Always!

So, I know what kind of man I want to be. I want to be a man whose life demands a decision by this world because I am living for something greater than this world.

"This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
My Comforter my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand..."

"Practice makes perfect," they say

Who is "they"?

Perhaps "they" are simply the majority or something. Or perhaps it’s the qualified people (to speak in the given field.) Let's take "practice makes perfect" for instance. "They" in the area of this quote would be people who had practiced a lot and knew that it, most definitely, made perfect.

Though...

"someone" had to have said it first. And, either he was surprised/happy that it stuck, or he was left wondering where his gratuity/copyright was.

Some quotes we can say, "as (fill in name) says..." but with these ones, which the author is left to guess, we must simply say, "as they say..."

We're probably doing someone an injustice.

I shall now go back to what I've been doing this whole week... (guess)

"Be A Disciple"

Article 4 – Be A Disciple
By Nate Hanson

"After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven...'"

I wish I had been one of the Twelve. They heard Jesus talk about telling the world about Him and then they saw him go into heaven. When they saw him go into heaven and say that he would come back... I'm sure they didn't think it was going to be a very long time. I'm sure they were thinking days, weeks perhaps. So they rushed out and lived a life that was preaching the beloved Jesus to all. They saw him live, teach, suffer, and die.

They knew the truth. They told it to all. They died for doing so.

But it didn't matter because they knew Jesus would return and they must live for him. They heard him talk about the men who were entrusted with talents and how one man buried his to gain no return while the other man invested his and made his investment profitable. They knew they must live their life’s doing nothing but telling others about Jesus. It was dire to them, they knew their lives weren't long enough to accomplish their task with the greatness they wanted to; to see all come.

But they lived for a world greater than this one. They didn't hear Jesus' commands and "forget" to follow them. They didn't get too "busy" to follow Jesus' last words. And they surly didn't only follow his last commands when it was "safe" to do so.

No, rather they lived for their God, following Jesus commands to the point of death... because, as they had seen, death was only temporary.

[lfe] live for eternity