Deep

The last leg of the race, the final round, the 2 minute drill, the eleventh hour, the final push. This is what it all comes down to. This can make or break the outcome. If you watch a runner coming to the end of the race and the finish line is in sight, one of two things will happen. Either they will start kicking their legs higher and get a smoother, more aggressive stride or they won't and struggle to finish. There are some football teams that you don't want to be less than two touchdowns ahead of in the last few minutes of the game or they will come back and beat you. Finding that strength down deep to draw from is so important.
 I feel that this is where we the church is at today. I believe that we are in the final hours of this earth and real Christians will stand out more than ever. This is our chance to shine brighter than ever.
I remember a MASH show where a colonel or general had died of the flu or something simpler that a bullet or bomb. His man under him thought how wrong this was and decided to change the story. He found the place on the front where there was fighting and ordered a full out onslaught of bullets, bombs, and rockets. He packed his dead leader in a Jeep and sent him directly into the action to go out in a blaze of glory.
The church seems to have learned to live, build, and fight well. We have forgotten how to die well. What if, instead of dying in hospital beads, we decided to buy one way tickets to the places in need of God most and go out reaching as many unsaved as possible? Its time to dig deep to live and die like we mean what we believe.
Hebrews 12:1

Splinter

I remember one time when I was young, I was at my grandparents house and was playing outside with my cousins. Somehow I got a splinter. I went inside and my grandfather put me on his lap, pulled out his pocket knife and made me close my eyes. In seconds, (and almost painlessly) he had the splinter out. It was one of the best memories I have of my grandfather. He was tall, strong, had rough hands, but could be very gentle.
What is a splinter? It's what happens when something starts coming apart. It's usually small amounts and it's not considered good.
I've thought a lot lately how the church in America has been splintering. The true "American" is considered individualistic and independent. We pride ourselves in free thinking as well as pioneering. We want to be first, top of the heap, and world leaders. The church has taken on this exact replica. How little do we think of unification of our faith? How little we think of joining together with others that believe in the same God and focus on reaching people together? We have become splintered.
In Hebrews 10:24-25 it talks about we need to sharpen and build each other up. It says that we need to meet together more and more as the end draws near. Are you meeting up with Christians more or less lately? I feel if we don't meet up more, we will splinter even more. This is the goal of the enemy. The more divided we become, the more we splinter and hurt the Kingdom of God.