I've been challenged by my 70 year old friend Leon (pictured with his equally amazing wife Pat) and his amazing passion for Jesus. but more than that with his wealth of wisdom. I can only dream that at that age I will be so wise and have ordered my life to the extent to which he has done. I'm challenged that I am undisciplined, lazy and easily distracted and that so many of the problems I face actually come as a product of these aspects of my life.

I know I can't change everything in an instant but maybe, just maybe I can make one change today and another tomorrow and so on. Life, they say, is what happens while we're making plans. but I believe that this coming year for us is to be a year of action and change. building our new home is a part of that change but really all that will achieve is a relocation of the same problems into a better environment. NO! change must happen independent of circumstances, change must come regardless of environment. only then will that change be sustained and successful.

Stay tuned and I'll let you know how I go.

Have a great day. Richard

How do you View the Bible?

I read an article by the Barna group. (see link below) about the difference in how generations view the Bible. It challenged me about how I think about God's word, what I am doing to make the Bible relevant to the Generations following and what legacy I am leaving as to the Word of God.

Let me know what you think. Rich

http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/317-new-research-explores-how-different-generations-view-and-use-the-bible

Perceptual Gaps

However, despite these similarities, the Barna studies show that the youngest generations are charting a new, unique course related to the Bible. Here are the types of changes being forged by young adults:
 Less Sacred – While most Americans of all ages identify the Bible as sacred, the drop-off among the youngest adults is striking: 9 out of 10 Boomers and Elders described the Bible as sacred, which compares to 8 out of 10 Busters (81%) and just 2 out of 3 Mosaics (67%).
 Less Accurate – Young adults are significantly less likely than older adults to strongly agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches. Just 30% of Mosaics and 39% of Busters firmly embraced this view, compared with 46% of Boomers and 58% of Elders.
 More Universalism – Among Mosaics, a majority (56%) believes the Bible teaches the same spiritual truths as other sacred texts, which compares with 4 out of 10 Busters and Boomers, and one-third of Elders.
 Skepticism of Origins – Another generational difference is that young adults are more likely to express skepticism about the original manuscripts of the Bible than is true of older adults.
 Less Engagement – While many young adults are active users of the Bible, the pattern shows a clear generational drop-off – the younger the person, the less likely then are to read the Bible. In particular, Busters and Mosaics are less likely than average to have spent time alone in the last week praying and reading the Bible for at least 15 minutes. Interestingly, none of the four generations were particularly likely to say they aspired to read the Bible more as a means of improving their spiritual lives.
 Bible Appetite – Despite the generational decline in many Bible metrics, one departure from the typical pattern is the fact that younger adults, especially Mosaics (19%), express a slightly above-average interest in gaining additional Bible knowledge. This compares with 12% of Boomers and 9% of Elders.