Wes Linda

On the way home from Fusion Church Plant last night, we had in one of the Third Day worship albums and a couple of songs played that I’ve always loved and I thought they might help us remember what’s been done for us, and hopefully life our mood a bit.  So, here you go, hope you enjoy.  Please let me know which songs help you best focus on what’s been done for you by Christ. The second song “Love Song” is in my opinion one of the most powerful songs I’ve heard that has always made me stop and give thanks for the life I have.

As I traveled over 800 miles in the past week, I came into contact with quite a few people.  Some on the road, some at gas stations, some in malls, some in my family and some in fast food restaurants.  I noticed something very interesting.  Generally, people just aren’t happy.  I ran into people who were hurried, annoyed, angry, sad and just generally unhappy.  Those emotions were relayed in various ways.  Some through their words.  Others through their gestures.  And unfortunately, many displayed them through their behavior.

What concerned me most, was that many of these people I encountered were also Christians & that’s where I was really confused.  As followers of Christ, we have the answer to these issues.  We have a relationship with a savior and through this relationship we should have peace.  Especially during the Christmas season, a time when we reflect on the birth of our Saviour and the salvation that he brought.  Paul shares with us in Romans 5 & 6 thoughts on the Peace and Joy and Life we have through our relationship with Christ.

Romans 5

Peace and Joy

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a]have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we^[c] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Quoted From BibleGateway.com

Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.  I know that we’ll have trials and tribulations in our lives.  I know we’ll all struggle at some point and that is okay.  What I hope is that we stop and take a moment to realize what is our lives, the friends,  family, blessings and most importantly, Salvation & life through Jesus.   I want us to realize that the dramatical play we have turned our lives into is simply not the reality that Christ wants us to live.  Our best opportunity to introduce Christ to those that do not know him is by living and showing the love we’ve received through our attitudes and how we handle the adversities in our lives.

If your car breaks down, it’s O.K. there are people to help fix it.  If you are hurt or sick, it’s O.K., there are people to help fix you.  If you are lonely, it’s O.K., there are people around that truly love you!  No matter what you may go through in life, your relationship with Christ is real, and the community around you loves you.

So the next time you stub your toe at work, or have to work an extra hour or two one night to meet a deadline, remember that your response to that situation is one of the key ways to show the love of Christ in your heart.  Remember these things, and more importantly, realize that the rest of it, just isn’t that important.

1. You have a direct relationship with Christ, and that should mean something to your heart.  If it doesn’t, that relationship probably needs to be revisited.
2. How you respond to every situation is a statement of what your relationship with Christ is like.
3. No matter what situations you encounter, there are always people who are there to help you through.

Realize these are the thoughts of one man, truly imperfect, trying to find his way through this crazy world.  Feel free to correct me, befriend me, teach me, and grow with me.  Life’s a true journey, and hopefully we can all make it through with the joy and peace that God has given us.

2009 started out in a wonderful way for our family.  On January 5th, 2009 we welcomed our darling angel Rebekah into our family.  Since then 2009 was a year of mixups, screwups, hurdles, and calamity beyond imagination.  Looking back, I’m pretty happy to let 2009 go and move on to 2010.  Sure, there are some great memories, but I for one need a clean slate, a fresh start, something to give me a renewed focus.  I guess the change in calendar will do the trick.  At least I hope it will.

To help with my focus in 2010, I’ve come up with 10 New Years resolutions.  5 are personal, 5 are professional, and hopefully all are realistic.  Join me in sharing your vision for the upcoming year.

I’ll start with my professional goals, these are probably fairly boring to most of you, so I’ll get them out of the way.  I’ll then move on to my more interesting personal goals.  If nothing else, this will give you guys something to nag me about as 2010 wears on.

Professional Goals:

1. Learn WordPress in and out.  Become a Guru building CMS web sites using the WordPress system.  I’ll need some help with this, so I’ll likely be reading the WordPress Bible by Aaron Brazell over at Technosailor.
2. Learn Javascript, I have the Javascript Bible in the basement…guess I’ll need to dig that out.
3. Learn PHP & MySQL, same here.  Got the book, haven’t focused on reading it.  That needs to change.
4. Become a better videographer and video editor.  Would love to learn how to tell a story using video.
5. Work on my focus and organization!  This is the biggest thing that I need to work on.  I’ve got to get focused, or this is going to be a rough year.

Ok, so those are my professional goals.  As I shared, probably pretty boring, but hey, should be fun right?  Now onto the personal goals!

Personal Goals:

1. Get my weight to start with a 1.  This either means going up to 1000lbs, or down to 199lbs.  I’ll let you guess which one my wife @katylinda is pushing for.
2. Improve our personal finances so we can purchase a home.   This is going to be the tough one, getting out from under bills, and stopping the free flow of money that we so enjoy.
3. Learn to play guitar!  This is going to be a wild and crazy ride.
4. Get back to playing golf.  This is one passion that I truly miss, and I want to get back to playing on a regular basis.
5. Most Important Resolution for 2010! Be the best husband and father that I can possibly be.  Tell my angels every day how much I love them, and show that love in my actions.

So there you have them.  10 things I’m highly unlikely to achieve this year!  What?  If I set the expectations low, then they’ll be easy to break through! ;0)  Lets have fun in 2010!