Phillipians 4

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

RCC 5/2/10 How to make good plans (James 4:13-17)

James 4
13 Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Boasting About Tomorrow
The foolishness of forgetting God. He is the "key"

-Our common problem: Everyday life. The curse of the familiar.
-Our flawed assumptions: That we are in control, we assume his place. We don't know tomorrow. Don't boast. Worry is a flawed attempt to control.
-Our greatest good: Gods will. "If the Lord wills". We are not in control. Seek Him. Don't force anything! Jer 29:11. We can't take the credit when things go right. Proverbs 16:1-3,9
-Act on what you know: Sins of omission. Act. No fear, He is responsible for the results.

God please open the doors for my family's future

Joel's Book List

BUSINESS
how to win friends and influence people (HTWF&ip)
good to great
e-myth revisited
4 obsessions of an extrodinary executive
lead like Jesus
getting things done
the world is flat
the one minute manager
jack
7 habits of highly successful people
free prize inside & purple cow

LIFE
Htwf&ip
4 hour work week
sucess mastery acadamey (brian tracy seminar)
personal power II (tony robbins seminar)
the greatest mystery in the world
rich dad poor dad
the millionaire next door
psycho cybernetics

fountainhead
enders game
team of rivals
crusade
think and grow rich

CHRISTIAN
The Bible (proverbs, james, john)
mere christianity
5 love languages
the practice of the presence of God
don’t waste your life
boundries
battlefield of the mind
messy spirituality
do something

NEXT READ

Brokeness

Don't hide your broken pieces. It is like duct tapping cardboard over your broken car window. Share your broken pieces and let God turn them into a beautiful mosaic. Your test is your testimony. Feeding the multitudes: take it, break it, & give it away.

Life Goals (updated 3/22/10)

1. Prayer together every morning at 6:00am
2. Read Bible daily
3. 1 Christian book per month (do a marriage book or Bible study weekly)
4. Pray every night with family
5. Meaningful relationships (have a Paul, Barnabas, & Timothy)
6. Involved in ministry
7. Give 15%, save 15%
8. 1 yr expenses in bank (cash)
9. Diversified investments (real estate, stocks, other)
10. Work out daily, best shape of life
11. Flexibility, freedom and finances to spend 1mo/yr in WA, 1mo/yr in Ventura, & 1mo/yr traveling
12. Joel: learning, systemizing, teaching (coaching, writing)
13. Rece: singing, ministering to women, creative (art, beauty, writing stories)

Two Kinds of Trials (RCC - Dave Champness)

2/7/10
James 1:9-12

Trials are inevitable
You can stand up under them

Trust in God
Seek his wisdom
Share the load (brother)

Trial of Poverty
let the poor know they are rich

Trial of riches
let the rich know they are poor
"never seen a U-haul following a hearst"
store up treasures in heaven
(world of opposites)

The Payoff
- crown of life
- life that is full and forever

Where is your hope? Does your calendar and checkbook reflect that?

CS Lewis' View of Creative Evolution

One reason why many people find Creative Evolution so attractive is that it gives one much of the emotional comfort of believing in God and none of the less pleasant consequences. When you are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that the whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms, it is nice to be able to think of this great mysterious Force rolling on through the centuries and carrying you on its crest. If, on the other hand, you want to do something rather shabby, the Life-Force, being only a blind force, with no morals and no mind, will never interfere with you like the troublesome God we learned when we were children. The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you. All the thrills of religion and none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen? (CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, pg26-27)