July 15, 2014: Volume 3, Number 18
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MORE WITH
30 60 100 MINISTRIES |
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|  "Paper or plastic?" You hear that question from the supermarket cashier, but it also applies to your relationship with Christ.
In Plastic Is Artifical, the second in a three-part feature series, find out how God can work through your manufactured layers to build a more authentic relationship with you.
Let us know how this series encourages you when you send us an email. And always keep growing!
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| SPIRITUALLY HEALTHY LEADER� SERIES WRAPS UP ON AUGUST 11 | The Spiritually Healthy Leader� workshop series equips you to be spiritually fit, manage conflict, maintain healthy relationships, set a healthy pace, and overcome leadership challenges.
 Session 6: FINISHING WELL
Friday, August 8: 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Christian leaders face both common and uncommon dangers. But you can set a preventative and corrective course to fight the good fight of faith and finish well. Learn how to rely on Christ through pitfalls and success to finish well. Register today. |
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30 60 100 MINISTRIES IN GUATEMALA
|  We return to Guatemala July 24 - August 1 for two outreach projects. First we will join our grandson and son in an organic gardening outreach in Los Romeros community on Vulc�n Tajumulco.
Then we'll return to Guatemala City and join the FCCI-Guatemala leadership team in several follow-up meetings and open seminars. 
Thank you for praying with us as we equip local leaders, teach pre-Christian leaders, and encourage new believers and established Christian leaders in this beautiful country.
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 Feature: PAPER OR PLASTIC, PART 2
PLASTIC IS ARTIFICIAL | Second in a two-part series about building an authentic relationship with Christ.
"Paper or plastic?"
You hear that question from the cashier when she asks you to choose bags for your groceries.
But it can also refer to your relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you prefer paper or plastic? A paper relationship with Christ can be shallow and superficial. But what about plastic?
Plastic Is Versatile ... and Artificial
Plastics are manufactured, derived from polymers - long chemical compounds which are shaped and formed into a desired product. Additives can further alter a plastic's color, texture, and appearance. Changeability makes plastic adaptable to almost unlimited circumstances.
Because plastics are versatile and easy to make, they have come to replace many traditional materials in construction, electronics, security systems, autos, household items, and packaging.
What Does a Plastic Relationship With Christ Look Like?
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Image: 88 Frets
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Plastic's universality means that it is everywhere, both literally and figuratively...as in the "plastic smiles" on the faces around you.
Like other plastic materials, a plastic smile is artificial. You see it when people put on a good front, pretending to be happy or fulfilled or close to God even when they're not. A plastic smile conceals what is happening with you. You can pin one on to prevent others from seeing the truth, but that same artificiality can also lead them to believe something about you that isn't real. A plastic smile can be deceptive.
On a spiritual level, your relationship with Jesus may be like a plastic smile. Do you put up a good front to others, pretending to be close to Him or deliberately misdirecting them? Maybe your spiritual plasticity even conceals the truth from yourself. Or perhaps your plastic relationship with Jesus simply keeps Him at arm's length and prevents His access to your heart.
There are at least two problems with a plastic relationship with God. First, He sees through the veneer and hungers for authenticity with you. And second, plastic is not alive. Manufactured materials don't grow or reproduce or affect change. They are not God's living stones.
Build a Living Relationship
Plastic recycles easily. You can take plastic bottles to the recycling center to be remade and you can plaster plastic over your spirituality again and again. But when recycled, plastic's fundamental construction does not change. It is still artificial.
But you can re-constitute plastic another way. Though plastic doesn't break down quickly in landfills, it melts easily - especially when exposed to light. While wood, grass and food scraps decompose through biodegradation (meaning they're transformed by bacteria), plastic decomposes by photo degradation (which requires sunlight, not bacteria.) When UV rays strike plastic, they break the bonds holding the long molecular chain together.
That's good news if you're struggling with a bit of plastic in your relationship with Christ.
"Everything exposed by the light becomes visible" (Ephesians 5:13, NIV). The Light of the World, personified in Jesus and given to us in God's Word, can reveal artificialities. When you expose a plastic spiritual veneer to light, its bonds break. Truth tears back what was artificial and manufactured in your relationship with Christ.
You're left with what is authentic and alive - living stones, which are what God uses to build His Kingdom (1 Peter 2:4). Living stones are the genuine article.
Paper or plastic - which should you choose in your relationship with Christ? Neither.
Paper or Plastic? Part 1: Paper Is Superficial - You May Rip
Growth Point
Build a relationship with Jesus that is living and genuine, not artificial.
Scripture
You also, like a living stone, are being built into a spiritual house. (1 Peter 2:4, NIV). Prayer Points - What are indicators that your relationship with Christ may be artificial?
- Describe a person you know who has a deep relationship with Jesus Christ and how you have seen him reflect authenticity.
- Ask God to let His light shine through your plastic layers.
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| What People Are Saying ... |
 "You may never know where your Cultivator messages from the Lord will go or how they'll impact the body, but I want to share this with you. As I was talking with a friend at church I felt she would greatly benefit from reading your recent communique on intercessory prayer. I was able to give her your feature article. Thank you so much for your faithfulness!" Jayne N. |
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