In HOPE

 

  In HOPE 9.3

back to home

David Timms  

 

 

http://www.readyshare.com/Users/djtimms@hiu-edu/Living%20the%20Lords%20Prayer%20-%20Cover%20image.jpg


Prayer for Today

Jesus, thank you for washing my feet -- for stooping to cleanse the grime I carry into Your Presence. Thank you for emptying Yourself that I may be filled. Teach me to live the same way. Break me out of the ruts of my own making and grant me the vision and the courage to pour myself out for this sin-sick world. May the towel and the basin become more than symbols in my own life. Turn them into deep resolve as I follow You. Amen. 

 

Hope Happenings

Hope International University is delighted to partner with the Apostolic School of Theology to offer accredited undergraduate and graduate ministry degrees to pastors, lay leaders, and others within the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship . AST now serves as an Institute within the University to serve the 50 million constituents of the WPF. This is an exciting expression of our Restoration Movement call to unity "that the world may believe."

Hope International University
Fullerton  CA  92831

 

 


“If you want to identity me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I think I am living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.” ~ Thomas Merton

 

 
The Towel & Basin

 

Most people have little clear purpose in life. After dating, courting, marrying, having children, and establishing a career (and not all those things happen for all of us), life easily settles into “same old, same old.”

 

Each day follows a familiar routine. As creatures of habit we establish predictable patterns. Many of us leave for work at the same time each day, do the same kinds of tasks day in and day out, and return home in the evening to watch the same TV shows. We may have variations from time to time because of a gym membership, kids’ clubs, or special church programs. But all in all, it’s the “same old, same old.”

 

Would anyone watching us know what we live for?

 

Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life (2002) hit the bestseller lists for a long time, in part because it helped people see their lives from a larger perspective than kids, work, and home. Similarly, the more recent One Month to Live by Kerry and Chris Shook (2008) enjoys wide popularity because it provokes us to define what matters most in life to us.

 

What gives us purpose and focus?

 

From a Christian perspective, purposeful living has nothing to do with our own ambitions but with the pursuit of God and the well-being of others. It does not mean achieving personal goals but extending ourselves to others’ needs. To live purposefully and passionately is to love completely; to love the Father and to love each other, not with casual interest but focused attention. Such living abandons self-indulgence and pursues service; yes, service.

 

In the middle of that first Holy Week -- as the cross loomed -- Jesus gathered His disciples together, took up a towel and basin, and washed their feet. Then he urged them to do likewise, not just for each other but for the blistered, bruised, deformed, and dirty feet of the world. They would serve the broken and the beaten, the disillusioned and the defeated, the hurt and the humbled, not to demonstrate obedience but to define their life’s vocation and purpose.

 

When we rediscover the centrality of service, we’ll move beyond the “same old, same old” and find that the calluses of this world become crowns in the Kingdom.

 

In HOPE –

 

David

 

 

 

Want to chat more on a topic? Hit "Reply" and share your thoughts.
I'm always happy to explore these issues further.

To subscribe:  Email [email protected] and write "Subscribe to In HOPE" in the subject line. This is a free service; no advertisements; no sharing of the e-list. Unsubscribe in the same way.

You can find back issues of "In HOPE" (2005-2009) at http://www.hiu.edu/inhope/.

David Timms serves in the Graduate Ministry Department at Hope International University in Fullerton, California. "In HOPE", however, is not an official publication of the University and the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Administrators or Board. "In HOPE" has been a regular e-publication since January, 2001.