Turning Off Your 2001 VW Jetta Daytime Running Lights

I found out last weekend, after the annoying hassle of turning my car on & off to keep warm while at the drive in, how to turn off my Jetta's daytime running lights while keeping the car is on & in park. Simply pull the handle up on the parking brake & the lights should switch off automatically.

Somewhere buried in the Owner's Manual it tells you how to do that, but there is probably like 5 books in that thing. Plus I'm thinking a lot of people (like me) are searching Google for it before going to any manual. Let me know if this helped.

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear

I've read through one of Max Lucado's latest books called Fearless: Imagine your life without fear. While the book was good overall, and has some great insight, for me I wasn't able to pull out anything too profound. He does a great job of re-enforcing some of those truths and lies that I buy into about my freedom in Christ, which is good. Below is a book review from Keiki Hendrix. Take a look and let me know what you think.

In 'Fearless - Imagine Your Life Without Fear', Max Lucado examines the issue of fear, its roots and reasons and offers the only sustainable answer - confidence in Jesus Christ.

It starts with a discussion of 'Why We Fear' and describes the contrast between faith and fear, what faithful and fearful behavior looks like, and the resulting affects they produce in our lives.

Max Lucado begins this focus on fear with a story of his brother's own death, a result of his life long battle with alcohol describing the ultimate cause as fear.

The remaining chapters are addressed to specific types of fears. Fear of 'Not Mattering', of 'Running Out', of 'Not Protecting My Kids', of 'Overwhelming Challenges', of 'Worst Case Scenarios', of 'Violence', of 'Coming Winter', of 'Life's Final Moments', of 'What's Next', of 'God Is Not Real', of 'Global Calamity', and of 'God Getting Out of My Box'.

The chapters are short and written in Lucado's appealing, kind, conversational manner. If you have ever read (or heard) Max Lucado, you will understand his gentle, almost soothing writing and speaking style. It is unique to Max Lucado and adds greatly to his discussion of exposing fear and exalting faith in Jesus Christ.

There are personal stories he shares (such as the story of his brother Dee), poems, and practical plans for overcoming the issue of fear. I found his P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L plan particularly useful. It is found in Chapter Four.

As a Ladies Bible Study Teacher, I've recently become acutely aware of the 'fear factor' among many of the people in my life. Before I read this book, I had come to the conclusion that fear is an opponent. Fear is an enemy and must be battled. This book also lists and describes the weapons needed to find a battle with fear.

The book includes a discussion guide which reviews each chapter using the three step attack of 'Examining Fear', 'Exposing Fear' and 'Battling Fear'. These are great tools to use in a small group study.

I highly recommend this book for personal reading or in small group bible study.

Question: What is an area of your life where you do not experience freedom the way God intended it?

Restless Peace

Below is a blog post that I put up a couple days ago on the blog at LeaderTreks, where I work (summitlive.org if you're interested). Take a read through it, & let me know what you think. I'm sure you'll be challenged just like I am.

I had the privilege of talking with one of our interns from this past summer. She was in Costa Rica for the summer & I had the opportunity to do a 2 week trip with her when I visited over the summer.

As we talked through her experiences both in Costa Rica & now back home she told me she is still struggling to feel peace in her heart. She has a unique testimony to share in the fact that she stumbled upon God without really any help from anyone but that persistent Holy Spirit just a couple short years ago. It was cool to see that she was already challenging herself in her faith as she devoted her entire summer to mission, students & discipleship this summer.

But like I said, she is still working through this concept of finding peace back home. She told me that she's decided to be involved with areas of service that need the presence of Christ & also has taken advantage of some fun things as well but that restlessness still exists.

Now I'm willing to bet a lot of you have no idea what she's feeling or I am talking about. The truth is most of us have yet to be impacted by God in way that truly changes our outlook on life. To literally return to our daily lives and feel like a stranger in your own skin is a foreign concept. The Bible talks about this in Hebrews 11 (known as the Hall of Faith). In verse 13 it says that these faithful people (Moses, Abraham, Rahab, etc) "were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth."

I think in welcoming the promised things from a distance is where the restlessness comes from. If we truly are disciples of Christ then there should be a level of restlessness for us to see the Kingdom (our true home) here on earth. Even though we can be sure of what we hope for & certain of what we do not see (Heb 11:1) it does not bring a prolonged period of rest to our lives where we just sit & wait for heaven to come.

We need to be challenged with this thought; if you are feeling at peace, feeling comfortable, you may have it all wrong. You may disagree with me and say that Jesus is all about peace but if you take a look at his life, those who followed him (and preceded him) you will find a lifestyle of restlessness. As Erwin McManus says, "it's hard to imagine that Jesus would endure the agony of the Cross just to keep us in line."

I think this is a path that all of us who work for & intern with LeaderTreks are challenged with at some point. We initially may not like the idea of restlessness, the thought of having the taste of bitterness in our mouths every day, but I think we are realizing it is leading to something much sweeter; living life to the full.