Today is Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. It is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. I am praying today for Israel, Jerusalem and all Jewish people, that they may know peace, forgiveness and God's eternal salvation through Jesus the Messiah of the world. Join me today in prayer for Israel. It is also the 16th day of Ramadan and I am reminded of the Muslim men, women and children in Aceh who have suffered so much and are desperate need of a good news. I am praying that during this season of Ramadan many kingdom workers in Aceh would have the opportunity to speak of the life that is found in Jesus.

Yesterday was an awesome Sunday! David Ruzicka, one of our Pastors, spoke powerfully about the church and the reality that the local church is the hope of the world! I was moved and inspired! I went during the second service over to experience our senior high Realife service. Daniel Willingham, our Interim Student Pastor, was awesome as he spoke of Jesus' healing of the blind man, he actually took dirt and poured water into and put it on the eyes of one of students acting as the blind beggar. I sat and listened as he spoke of different kinds of people in the story and challenged students to consider the truth of God's word. Probably the capstone of the morning was the announcement that 36 leadership families have made their Live Out Loud commitments totaling over 1.4 million. I am inspired by generosity, sacrifice and obedience of our leaders. Not all of our leadership were able to get their commitments in but wow! I can't wait till this Sunday to see the generosity of God's people as we move forward. My Sunday finished with my Life Group as we watched the Live Out Loud lesson on commitment. Great job Garth! I was challenged by the creative use of resources to accomplish the goal. That brings us right to today's S.O.A.P.

As I S.O.A.P. ed up this morning in Luke 16:1-15, I found myself asking why Jesus would commend a dishonest worker. But as I meditated upon the passage it became clear that Jesus was commending the worker for using money rather than serving money! Wow! How many times have I been caught up in the pursuit of money, wealth, riches, or prosperity for me? As a child of God I have earthly treasure that can be used to build my kingdom or God's Kingdom. The heart of this passage is about being wise and discerning in the use of my resources to serve God's agenda. I want to master money not have money as my master! There is only one God, one King, one Kingdom, one agenda and I want to commit everything to battle. Until tomorrow ...