Reasons To Be Connected - Reason 7

She seemed to be suspended at this precarious angle for what seemed like an enormously long time, and then she found her balance and regained her stable footing. My daughter Cierra is a gymnast. Of all the events that she performs the most difficult for her is the balance beam - this 6 inch wide piece of wood suspended in the air. I have trouble just walking a straight line let alone trying to do flips and hand stands - the mental image you have at this moment is not a pretty one -- neither is the one I have.

Today's reason -- reason number 7 -- why it is important for us to be connected -- connected to God and to others, is that connections help us balance our lives.

In each of our lives we need to find balance. Memory is our connection to the past. Vision is our connection to the future. Awareness is our connection to today. Without a connection to the past we become rootless. Without a connection to the future we are hopeless. Without a connection to today we without passion. Without a connection to God we are powerless.

How are you doing? Are you staying on the beam? Are you struggling to stay on? What are you doing today that will help you maintain and grow your bablance?

Reasons To Be Connected - Reason 6

Almost 30 years ago, July 1979, I was ordained in the Free Methodist Church -- it hardly seems possible. As I have taken moments recently to reflect I have been gently reminded that I didn't come to that point or to this point in my life, without people who have significantly impacted me. People like Elmer C. Cook, Walter Janowski, Carson Reber, Richard Snyder, Dr. Stanger, Lyle Schaller, Jeff Patton and a host of others, none the least of which is my friend and spouse Linda.

Today's reason -- reason number 4 -- why it is important for us to be connected -- connected to God, and to others, is that connections keep us growing!

Knowing the right thing to do is rarely enough to keep us doing the right thing over the long haul. We need partners to do it with us and encourage us when we feel like giving up.What an incredible experience to be a part of a team!

Who are the people who are connected to you? Who encourage and motivate you? Who will you invest your life in?

Reasons To Be Connected - Reason 4

Linda, my bride of almost 29 years, loves to put jigsaw puzzles together. When she begins there are pieces everywhere and as you look at all the pieces you have no idea what it all means . . . it doesn't make any sense, just a jumbled mess.

Today's reason -- reason number 4 -- why it is important for us to be connected -- connected to God and to others, is that connections help us understand life!

Connections enlarge our perspective. There is a mystery to life, that can seem like a series of random unrelated events until one is able to see the connections. Like a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces must be joined together in order for us to see the big picture. Information is useless unless we see how it connects to some part of our life.

Think of a time when thing you solved the "jigsaw mystery". How will this information, when connected to the reality of your day today, help you put the pieces together?

Reasons To Be Connected - Reason 1

At Ransomville Free Methodist Church we believe that we were created for connection! Our church exists to connect all people to Jesus. In connecting to Jesus we also find it essential to connect to one another! Currently I am on the tailend of a personal spiritual retreat. One of the items that I have been reading was a magazine by Rick Warren. In the beginning of this mag he lays out ten reasons we need to be connected. I thought that these were so basic, clear, and important, that I want to for the next 10 days share with you 1 reason each day.

Reason 1 - Connections are the essence of life!

All one has to do is to look at how you and are made -- many different parts, but each connected to the other. None of our parts can live on their own - they are dependent on the "body connection". Now the body can from time to time continue to live without some of its less essential parts, but it still is still a connected unit.

What is true about the body, is true about everything else! A disconnected life is really no life at all.

1 Corinthians 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.