What's Your Excuse?

A priest and a rabbi are in a car crash and it's a bad one. Both of their cars are demolished but amazingly neither one of them is hurt. After they crawl out of their cars, the rabbi says, "So you're a priest. That's interesting; I'm a rabbi. Wow, just look at our cars! There's nothing left, but we're unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace." The priest replies, "Oh, yes, I agree. It's a miracle that we survived and are here together." "And here's another miracle," says the rabbi. "My car is destroyed but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink the wine and celebrate our good fortune," he says, handing the bottle to the priest. The priest nods in agreement, opens the wine, drinks half of it, and hands it back to the rabbi. The rabbi takes it and puts the cap back on. "Aren't you going to have any? asks the priest. "Not right now," says the rabbi. "I think I'll wait until after the police make their report." Good morning! I just wanted to take this time and remind all of you that today is "National Day Of Prayer" day. So pray! : ) On this day of national prayer recognition what should we pray for? Most people in the United State would probably say " we need to pray for our country and government". While this is valid, what are some other things that you can think of? There are many things that are going on in our world that need prayer: The oppressed people of Burma, the sick and poor of Africa, the newly homeless in Haiti, the blinded sheep of north Korea, The continued aggression in the middle east. All these topics need our prayers, but most of all the people effected by these situations need leaders from the church to bring them the gospel of Christ. Prayer is powerful, but it is the fruit that comes from the changes in peoples lives that were led to Christ by another believer who chose to be a catalyst for God to do His work through them - not because they were able, but because they chose to be available. I'm not delivering this message as someone who is leading by example, but as someone who is just as lazy as you, stuck in the small insignificant world of me. We all have our excuses for why we don't make ourselves available to do God's work. We are too busy, too tired, not rich enough, not strong enough, not smart enough, not good looking enough, not popular enough, not perfect enough, and guess what...... We never will be. When I was growing up I used to think that maturity just happened when you got older. I had a mindset that was rooted in the idea that someday I would wake up and just happen to be good enough and smart enough, then someone would notice and propel me in the direction I needed to go to do the things I wanted to do. Never did I think that if I wanted to do something I just had to do it. I thought that i had to be given the information first, not that all I had to do was go get the information and knowledge for myself. For example: I used to be angry at my Dad ( a long time ago) for not showing me how to do the things he was good at ( fixing cars, building things, remodeling a house). I had expected him to take time and show me how to do the things that he loved to do, that I had expressed no interest or patience in. I later learned that he never had anyone sit him down to teach him these things, he had no formal call to action. He simply wanted to learn how to do something and did it. We as believers suffer from this mentality when comes to serving God. We want to serve God, but either don't know how or we are waiting for a formal invitation to do so even though God has already commissioned us to do so. We all have our excuses for not responding to God's call to action, but there is one individual who really has a good excuse. His name is Nick Vujicic. This man is living proof that we have everything we need to impart the love of Christ to the world. Nick Vujicic has no limbs, but has impacted millions of people around the world! He is so inspiring you may just become jealous of a man who has no arms and no legs. With his disability he has overcome obstacles that most of us couldn't imagine overcoming. With his disability he has delivered the Gospel of Christ to people all over the world. With his disability he is able to do many of the same things that we can - better. With his disability he is thankful of what he has - not bitter of what he doesn't. With his disability he has brought hundreds of thousands of people to the kingdom of God! With is disability he has inspired and helped millions. With his disability he has accomplished more than most of us could imagine! Nick Vujicic has no arms and no legs. What's your excuse? There are so many people that live their lives trying to get ahead, trying to be successful, and all for the wrong reasons. Nick reminds us that we are richly and abundantly blessed with everything that we need from God - and he has been a testimony to that! These videos ( listed below in link form) not only remind us of the things we take for granted, but is also a tool to help us realize our own insecure selfishness and see the value in what really matters in this world. It's not money, pride, success, sex, style, outer beauty, knowledge, politics, popularity, status, etc. It's people, focusing on others is what is really important in this world. God desires a relationship with EVERYONE ! The murderer, homosexual, the thief, the liar, and you. As Christians we are not to go around showcasing God through our morality. We aren't good enough! We need to demonstrate God to others by showing them His love. The best part is that - again - Nick reminds us that we are abundantly blessed with everything we need to do so. We don't even need limbs! Many of us try to deliver the gifts we have received from God to others as a way to bless them. I write a lot of e-mails in hopes to inspire and be a blessing - to exhort others as well as inspire though music, or the use of my technical skills. While using our talents and gifts for God's glory is essential, sometimes the best thing we can do is to provide someone else's testimony as a way to bless others. I am definitely not the first person to pass these videos around. In fact I know many of you have already heard about Nick and his testimony. Even if you have, take time to watch and listen again. Then, pass this along. I pray this inspires you today! Blessings, David Roediger Watch all these videos! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmSM3eLEC8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Cwx2UbTJA&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjzOwRAKfA0&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DkBRuWIa_o&feature=related