Extraordinary
Last month I posted this on MosacRC’s blogg and neglected to post it here.ÂÂ
Our community of faith. love, and hope moved into the new community center yesterday! What an amazing place! The atmosphere was great and energy was high. We also began our new spiritual conversation on living a life beyond ordinary. Here are our opening dialog [it will appear this Saturday in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin].
“How can I live a life that is beyond ordinary?� I must admit that at first I was taken back when a college student recently asked me that question. But I shouldn’t have been. After all, we are all searching to get more out of life. We even dream of living an extraordinary life!
How do we live an extraordinary life? In the book of Philippians [1:1-11] God invites us to experience the very best of life. Experiencing God’s best is not based on our circumstances but on our choices. God not only invites us to experience the very best of life but God enables us with “depth of insight to discern what choices to make – what is best.� Bad circumstances don’t guarantee a bad life but our choices shape our lives. An extraordinary life begins by making extraordinary choices. By making extraordinary choices we can break out of the routine, the blasé, and mediocrity.
I believe that we are ordinary people invited to experience an extraordinary life. We can make extraordinary choices to create a remarkable future and change the world around us.
But why should we start to make extraordinary choices? For one, as I already stated, we are all long deep inside for something more. I also remind myself on a regular basis that our present circumstances are the results of our past decisions.
Yet, the most compelling reason to develop an ability to make extraordinary choices is wrapped up in our future. Our future is being shaped by our present choices. What seems like insignificant decisions today have larger ramifications in the future than we realize. When we choose poorly, we shape our future with pain and tragedy.
In the closing scene of The Last Crusade Indiana Jones had to choose the right chalice after watching another man die by drinking from the wrong cup. The first man “chose poorly.� I love when the knight tells Indy, “You have chosen wisely.� Ironically, or not, when faced with his “life or death� choice – Indy reminds himself of what should inform his decision. He was to look for the “cup of a carpenter.� How simple, how profound!
At our Community of Faith, Love, and Hope we believe that people who make extraordinary choices have two characteristics. They have mastery over their own lives because Jesus has mastery over their life. Second, they are magnetic. They are upright yet not self-righteous. People are drawn toward them. They have freedom others see and want. They can point others to Christ as they are asked how they are able to live they the way they do.
What choices should you make? You might want to begin by choosing to follow Jesus Christ and allow Him to transform you from the inside out. I pray that as you do, you will start making extraordinary decisions and experience a life beyond ordinary!