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Our longtime partner and friend Charles Colson passed away on Saturday, April 21, 2012, at the age of 80.
Chuck lived what he preached: repentance and complete life transformation, made possible by the grace and power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though we can be happy he's with the Lord now, we miss him. We are praying for his friends and family.
We wanted to share the following message from Chuck with you. You can also watch Chuck's message.
-Adam Forrest, Zondervan Blog
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What's desperately needed today is a call to action ... to Christians to get serious about their faith, that is "given once for all and entrusted to the saints," as Jude teaches. [The call to action about our faith] is to understand it, so that you can live it. And it is to understand it so that you can defend it. Where does it begin? It begins with repentance. There has never been a powerful move of God anywhere where the people of God didn't first repent. We've got to repent of our sins of being enculturated, encapsulated, seduced by the culture in which we live. Break free like the church is doing in the Third World, and live the true gospel.
God bless you. -Chuck Colson |
Watch the video message from Charles Colson.
View Colson images & videos on Pinterest.
(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared for information purposes only. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)
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<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">An old-fashioned [incandescent] lightbulb uses about ten percent of its energy to make light. What happens to the other ninety percent? It just makes heat... hot air.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">I often feel like our lives are like that, like these really inefficient bulbs. There's lots of energy going in ... but there's a really small percentage of the energy going into us that's accomplishing what we were called to do in the first place.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">By contrast, an energy-efficient bulb uses about ninety percent of the energy going in to make light. It's light that extinguishes darkness, it's visible light, light we can <em>do something</em> by.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">As a result we don't have to [mine coal] so much, and we don't have to tear mountains down. Less mercury ends up in fish, fewer kids get asthma. A company or an individual who gets involved in efficiency frees up resources for things like feeding the hungry and caring for the sick. It's a way of being a good steward. So, yes - changing your lightbulbs is a way of loving God and your neighbor.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">It seems to me that Jesus is a "big picture" kind of guy... If we choose to follow Christ, we become new people -- with new priorities. Our behaviors change, not just the lightbulbs. When our hearts are changed, our actions follow...</p>
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<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">Jesus Christ came into this world to <em>save</em> the world, not to condemn it, and that's the good news. Falling in love with light is a pivotal part of this love story.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">Jesus, the light of the world, is calling you and me to become children of light. So, my prayer is that you let the light of Jesus sweep over you and remove all the darkness in your life. Then and only then can we become a light to the world... And it will be good.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;"><span>Want to hear more from Matthew on serving God and saving the planet? </span><em> </em><a title="Watch the video "Serving God, Saving the Planet" Session 1" href="http://zndr.vn/JdX9Is" target="_blank"></a></p>
<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;"><a title="Watch the video "Serving God, Saving the Planet" Session 1" href="http://zndr.vn/JdX9Is" target="_blank"><br />Watch the video</a> of Session 1 on YouTube.</p>
<p style="font-size: 13px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">- Adam Forrest, Zondervan</p>
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<p style="font-size: 11px; font-family: verdana,arial,sans-serif;">(<span>This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared for information purposes only. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, <a title="Subscribe to the blog" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/feedburner/zondervanblog?cm_mmc=ZT-_-Blog-Feb12-_-Blog-_-Subscribe+to+Zondervan+Blog" target="_blank">subscribe to Zondervan Blog</a>.)</span></p>
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