Martha and I just threw a fresh coat of paint on the outside of our house, along with a new blanket of mulch. Of course, it’s still the same old house, with the same old dirt in front of it; it just has a fresh outer coating.

Sometimes people think this is what becoming a Christ-follower is like: a new coat of paint on life – Christian coral or Believer blue or Salvation salmon. A pretty coating of religious behavior. But that is like putting makeup on a pig (no offense to pigs.) When you surrender to Jesus, He starts building a new you from the ground up! Yes, He uses your existing DNA, but everything that matters about you is changing. It’s more like taking an old house down to the studs and rebuilding it than like a coat of paint. We don’t add a new outside veneer; rather, we become new from the inside all the way to the outside.

So, what about you? Are you just putting on a fresh paint job, or are you allowing God to do a full restoration?

Jesus prayed the passage in John 17:20-23 out loud in front of a crowd. He was driving home a point. Unity among Christ Followers would demonstrate the reality of His presence in the world. Martha and I have made a marketplace observation, Christ Followers at work are unified in a common cause…

Sometimes it’s tempting to just ignore a rule or bend it ever so slightly! But people are watching – right? Living with integrity makes a BIG statement and causes curiosity.

Jim and I take a LOT of road trips for iWork4Him., which necessitate well-time pit stops; one such stop is McDonalds at Exit 301 in Brooksville, FL - The timing of this stop is perfect, but the manager Patty is the real reason to make it a destination.

The Church is everywhere: in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces and of course in the 4 walls building we also call a church. If Jesus had wanted us to build a bunch of buildings, he probably would have downloaded a few blueprints for us.