A Life That Matters: Making the Greatest Possible Difference with the Rest of Your Life - Softcover

Hutchcraft, Ron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802436498 ISBN 13: 9780802436498

Verlag: MOODY PUBL, 2007

Inhaltsangabe

The choice to live an ordinary life is no longer an option! Greatness--lasting greatness--is a desire built into every human heart. For the believer in Christ, it is not only possible, but expected. How will your life matter? God wants your life to count for eternity. He wants you to join the team of rescuers He is sending into a desperate world.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

RON HUTCHCRAFT is a veteran of youth and family work, president of Ron Hutchcraft Ministries and a visiting faculty member for the Billy Graham Schools of Evangelism. He is the author of several books, including The Battle for a Generation, A Life That Matters, and Called to Greatness. Ron is the host of the popular radio broadcasts A Word With You and Call To Greatness. He and Karen, his wife, are the parents of three adult children and reside in Harrison, Arkansas.

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You’re living for God, yet you’re not satisfied.
You’re doing the right things, but you’re hungry for something more.
Something bigger. Something greater.
Something that will leave a legacy.

WHAT IS IT THAT YOU ARE MISSING?

In his groundbreaking book, author Ron Hutchcraft answers this question like you’ve never heard it before. He puts asides clichéd thinking, Christian lingo, and religious assumptions and encourages you to explore an untouched side of your faith—communicating your faith to others.

With stories, Scriptures, and study questions after each chapter, A Life that Matters is ideal for personal devotions or group discussions. It is both inspiring and practical. You’ll walk away ready to change your world.

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A Life That Matters

MAKING THE GREATEST POSSIBLE DIFFERENCE WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE By Ron Hutchcraft

Moody Publishers

Copyright © 2007 Ron Hutchcraft
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8024-3649-8

Contents

Introduction: "A Life That Matters".................................81. Out of the Holding Pattern.......................................152. Your Personal Titanic............................................223. Your Clever Disguise.............................................344. Getting into the Lives that Need You So Much.....................445. Breaking the Silence.............................................576. Would You Like to Supersize That?................................757. Thinking Lost....................................................848. Beyond "Christianese"............................................989. Confidently Communicating Christ.................................10810. The Story Only You Can Tell.....................................12111. "No Greater Honor"..............................................13212. A Road Map for Rescuers.........................................14413. Lifesaving Jesus' Way...........................................15314. Removing the Roadblocks.........................................16215. Eternity 9-1-1..................................................175Epilogue: Turning the Lifeboats Around..............................186Notes...............................................................190Resources to Assist You.............................................192

Chapter One

Out of the HOLDING PATTERN

"Those who lead many to righteousness (will shine) like the stars for ever and ever." Daniel 12:3

I thought I had seen the scenery below me before. The pilot soon confirmed my suspicion: our flight had been placed in a holding pattern. That meant we were no longer making any forward progress; we were just continuing to circle the ground we had covered before.

You can get tired of being in a holding pattern really fast. Especially if it's your life that seems to be in a holding pattern. Like a circling aircraft, your life does not seem to be standing still. There is plenty of activity around you. It's just that you aren't really going anywhere. Spiritually, the ground looks all too familiar. And your soul wants more. That's because you were designed for more-much more.

King Solomon revealed that "more" in his personal "diary," the book of Ecclesiastes. In a penetrating insight, Solomon noted that God "has also set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). You and I have eternity in our hearts. There is a dimension of you that cannot be fulfilled by anything that will end. You have an appetite from God for that which you can never lose, that which will last forever. Anything else is just too small.

So a life that is filled mostly with earth-stuff and earth-pursuits is going to be ultimately unsatisfying. Your "small world" restlessness may be your heart's warning sign that you have an "eternity deficit," a deficit God is ready and waiting to satisfy. He is waiting to give you a passion you can pursue on earth that will fill you with the excitement of eternality. It is, in fact, the passion which Jesus pursued all the way to the cross.

The Restless Ones

God has made you restless for more because He wants to eternalize your life-to make it count for that which will last forever. And you will never be satisfied with less. So much won't last forever. Your job accomplishments, your home, your bank account, your sports, your "stuff"-none of it will last forever. Our days just fill up with a lot that is un-eternal and, therefore, unfulfilling. And even our discretionary time tends to fill up with trivial pursuits-a numbing bombardment of small talk, the mental "junk food" of TV, innumerable hours of sporting events, entertainment, or being lost in cyberspace.

But amidst all the demands and distractions of the un-eternal, there is this quiet but relentless voice crying out, "Give me more; give me something that matters ... something that will matter forever."

And the number of the "restless ones" seems to be growing steadily. Everywhere I go, I meet men and women and young people who answer an eager "yes!" when I ask this question, "Do you ever feel a stirring inside that is saying something like this: I want to make a greater difference with the rest of my life than I have made until now"?

That passion to make a greater difference with the rest of your life comes from the One who gave you your life ... who gave His life for you! And only He can satisfy that desire to make a difference. And He will-if you will follow Him into the very eternal pursuit He has made you restless for.

Called to Something Bigger

Some people have a very long memory. Then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sure did in 1991 during the first Gulf War. I heard a report of a press conference he held during the time that Iraq was firing Scud missiles into Israel. Most of us who followed the news at that time will never forget the eerie sights of Israeli civilians donning their gas masks at the first sound of a missile alarm.

The (first) George Bush was the president of the United States, and he had asked Israel not to escalate the situation by retaliating against Iraq. At the press conference, a reporter asked Prime Minister Rabin how he felt about the president's request. He paused for a moment, and then with a twinkle in his eye responded, "The last time the Jews listened to a talking bush, we wandered in the wilderness for forty years!"

Actually, the last time there was a talking bush (the one time there was a talking bush), the Jews were soon after liberated from four centuries of Egyptian slavery during the exodus. The story of Moses's encounter with the Most High at a burning bush is one of the most dramatic moments in biblical history-and a powerful example of how God takes a person from a "small, small world" to a life bigger than he ever dreamed. It is, in many ways, an encounter that God has reenacted with countless believers throughout history. It is an encounter He may have been preparing you for with your hungry heart. If you are restless to make a greater difference with the rest of your life, then the story of Moses at the burning bush may satisfy your hunger and light your way.

The Bible raises the curtain on this life-changing day by telling us that "Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law ... and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up" (Exodus 3:1-2).

With his never-a-vacation responsibilities for the family flock and his family's needs, Moses probably had a full life-but probably not a fulfilling one. He lived in a small, small world. It was safe ... it was comfortable ... but it was small. And this day was supposed to be just another day of "more of the same."

Until God showed up and summoned him by name. "When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am'" (verse 4). Moses had no way of knowing that God was about to blow the lid off his life!

God is still in the life-enlargement business....

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: MOODY PUBL
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2007
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0802436498
• ISBN 13: 9780802436498
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 191
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar