I love the game Monopoly. Not the online game…the real board game – the old school version.
The game Monopoly was originally created to highlight the pitfalls of greed, consumerism and the world banking system. Winning the game means having a monopoly – all the pieces, all of the properties, and all of the money. The only way to do that? Bankrupt all of the other players. As good as it feels to bankrupt everyone, when the game is over, everything goes back in the box.
Life is like a game of Monopoly. You strategize, take risks, and wheel and deal to improve your position. But when the game is over, all the pieces go back in the box. When the game of life is over, your body is placed in the grave. Only eternal investments will follow you into eternity.
To get the most out of life, you must arrange your priorities around what matters most. A life that focuses on temporary prizes will result in disappointment when the game is over. Consider today’s post as an invitation to join me on a journey to study the life of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21).
Be a friend and bring a friend to Mars Hill Baptist Church (8AM or 10:30AM) on Sunday, February 22, 2014.
Lately, a lot of “so called” experts believe the church is in decline. I don’t.
As a result, there are plenty of conferences offering their latest and greatest pitch to stop the church’s decline. Each year we’re invited to hear “celebrity” pastors share God’s plan for the church and how we ought to adopt it and be large and successful like them. Frankly, I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a venue to really address how and why churches grow.
Many pastors & church leaders make their annual pilgrimage to Catalyst, Saddleback Church, Willowcreek Association’s Leadership Summit, North Point’s Drive Conference, Greater St. Steven FGBC, The Potter’s House, etc. and come away excited and delusional with unrealistic expectations. Ed Stetzer calls it ministry pornography. (more…)
Self-confidence is one of today’s most popular subjects. Conferences, seminars, workshops, and best selling authors tell us that the key to success is to be self-confident. Consequently, we’re encouraged to live boldly, think big, and craft BHAG’s (Big Hairy Audacious Goals).
Confident people inspire confidence in others: their audience, their peers, their bosses, their customers, and their friends. And gaining the confidence of others is one of the key ways in which a self-confident person finds success. Having self-confidence is even finding its way into church life. How so? (more…)
Some believe the local church is dead and that her best days are behind her. The church is not dead, its alive. Her best days are now and ahead. I believe, as Bill Hybels says, “the local church is the hope of the world.”
I grew up attending church. Many of my earliest memories are times spent at the Mars Hill Baptist Church of Chicago, with church people, or in church services. So when I meet people who aren’t regular attenders it’s a surprise to find that sometimes they don’t know why you might be a part of it.
Why go to church? What’s the benefit of attending regularly? When you understand the “why” it makes it easier to understand the “when” and “where.” (more…)
Spiritual growth is not automatic. If it were, every person who is born again would progress along a certain path and at some point automatically “arrive” spiritually. Instead, just like physical growth, spiritual growth is a gradual process of development.
If you’ve been at Mars Hill Baptist Church long, you know how important practical teaching is to our church. Our goal is simple. We begin by identifying what is important for people to know. Practical teaching reveals where we are and where we need to go. We want the message to come alive so we added REWIND.
REWIND is weekly email designed for us to look back to Sunday’s message and allow God’s Spirit to prompt us in areas that need to change in our lives (before we shelve the thoughts in the archives of our mind). There are three sections to it: (more…)
God designed us in such a way that we are really just a big bundle of appetites, expectations, and desires. Appetites include security, an appetite for love, an appetite to be respected, to be cherished, and to feel successful. God designed to have appetites, but each one of our appetites creates tension. The reason you feel tension in your life, is because one or more of your appetites are clamoring for MORE.
Your ability or inability to manage your appetites will determine the direction of your life. That’s why I decided to begin 2015 with a new series called “All Things New.” On Sunday, January 4, 2015 (8AM or 10:30AM), I’m kicking off this series discussing the tension you face in your pursuit of MORE. Together we’ll look at the Story of Jacob and Esau and discover how uncontrolled appetites can lead to destruction (Genesis 25). Grab a friend and meet us at Mars Hill Baptist Church. You’ll leave stronger, better, and wiser.
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Best regards,
Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.
