Survivor?

I'm an avid reality show watcher and my favorite is "Survivor" it's intense, exciting, sometimes cruel, sometimes fun, but one thing that always amazes me each season is watching the one (strong) player that always believes they will win because their the smartest or the strongest, but that's never how it ends, it always ends with the winner being the one that survives. Afterall the theme of the show is (outwit, outplay, outlast).

I was contimplating this very thing this morning as I was catching up on this past Thursday's recorded show. Then I open Pastor Hoss' blog and he has a YouTube posted by Perry Noble and in it he refers to a quote by Rick Warren that says "out love, out live, out fruit our critics." wow I like that quote cause it is for those of us in the ministry a strong truth we should live by. We gotta out love people, we gotta out live their attacks and criticism, and we gotta out fruit them. I challenge all of us starting with me to learn more and more everyday how to outlove outlive and outfruit those that would seek to hurt us, hurt our families, our ministries, our friendships, our churches. God says "be strong in the Lord" that's outliving, it says "you'll know them by their fruit" that's outfruiting them (is outfruiting a word) and it says "love your enemies do good to them" that's outloving them. So let's merge Rick Warren's challenge and the reality show Survivors challenge and...

Out love
Out live
Out fruit
Out wit
Out play
Out last...all those that come against us remembering it is not flesh and blood we wrestle with but the principlalities and powers of this fallen world we live in, and let's take this challenge and bring others into a saving knowlege of Jesus Christ and show them how amazing living for the King truly can be.

Living as a Survivor, see you in worship (well if the roads aren't frozen) let it snow let it snow let it snow! sharla