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December 4, 2012: Volume 2, Number 3
In This Issue
BACK 40 MATCHING GIFT OPPORTUNITY!
Feature: ARE YOU DESPERATE -- OR DISTRACTED?
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
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Greetings!
How do you use your remote control? Flipping channels can be easier than watching the news. The distraction of a high-energy basketball game or a mindless sitcom keep our minds off hard realities.

But there's one channel you'll want to stayed tuned to. Read about it in this issue's feature, Are You Desperate -- or Distracted?

Dalton & Vicki up closeWe're excited about what God is doing through our Back 40 campaign. Let us know how we can connect with you to share more about it.

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BACK 40 MATCHING GIFT OPPORTUNITY! 

 special thank you to those of you who have already become Back 40 Backers -- partners who support us in providing short-term coaching, equipping, and training to believers living remote areas.

Just last week, a gracious donor has designated a $5,000 matching gift for Back 40. This means your gift now will be doubled -- up to $5,000!

Will you help us proceed with this exciting campaign and make this match as soon as possible? Learn more and give here .

Thank you for your prayers and gifts which help us cultivate the next generation of believers in the Back 40.
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What People Say About The Back 40


"Got your Back 40 letter: great idea! There must be untold millions of Christians working away in who-knows-where. Good to see that you're thinking about them. They're not often in any spotlight."

Milton J., elder, Pismo Beach, CA
featureFeature:  ARE YOU DESPERATE - OR DISTRACTED?
Images of flattened homes, crushed cars, and building debris flitted across our TV screens in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Many of us felt saddened for the victims. But soon the reports became too overwhelming to bear. It was easier to flip the channel to a sitcom or a football game. Distractions keep our minds off the victims' desperation.

When you think hard, you can relate at a certain level to their despair. Many believers can recall a moment crying out to God, "I need You!" Yet very few of us stay there, clinging to Him. We flip off His channel (but may keep Him as one of our "Favorites.") Why?

man-changing remote Distractions Dilute Desperation

In our western world of over-abundance and over-achievement, desperation has become a state of shame ... a feeling to avoid. "She's desperate for a guy" or "He's desperate for a job" are sentiments most often shared with pity.

So when distractions grab our attention, it's tempting to seize them and "change channels" in order to escape the desperation we feel for God. We flip away from pursuing God to pursuing some other validation or activity. There's no shortage from which to choose. We may even feel secretly relieved for the distraction. It's much easier not to feel desperate for God.

The upshot?  Our desperation for God gets fuzzy and loses focus ... eventually turning to complacency.

What God Thinks of Our Desperation

God is less interested in being one of the channels to which we flip. Rather, He wants to be our primary setting, one we view with a laser-like focus. "You will seek me and find me," God says in Jeremiah 29:13, "When you seek me with all your heart."  Desperation for Him is the only emptiness He guarantees to be filled!

And while the world may look down on the vulnerability which accompanies desperation, God rewards it. "The love of most will grow cold," said Jesus. "But he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Desperate for God? Don't change that channel. Get there - and stay there. It's a great place to be.

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buttons-on-remote Growth Point

   

God rewards a desperate hunger for Him.

 

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Scripture


The love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
(Matthew 24:12-13, NIV)

 

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Prayer Point
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  • On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being complacent about God, 10 being desperate for more of Him in your life), where are you?
  • Name the distractions that can pull you away from a desperate hunger for God.
  • Lyrics to Michael W. Smith's worship song, Breathe, read, "I'm desperate for you; lost without you. This is the air I breathe - Your holy presence living in me." Use that song as a prayer to God to grow in your hunger for Him.

 

What People Are Saying ...

"Thanks for the most recent issue of The Cultivator. Good stuff as always and greatly appreciated!"

Ray C., Western States Fire Protection


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