Reupping...
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A week from Sunday our Participant's will be invited to renew their Vow. Our Participant's are those who have come to the place in their faith journey where they commit to living as a full Participant in our way of life.
They are imperfect people who are committed to Celebrating Christ in their daily life, they are Connecting with Christ's other followers, and they are Contributing to the mission Jesus gave us.
Anytime you consider "re-upping" a lot of thoughts go thru your mind, at least in mine. Can I do this? Will I screw it up? What will this take? Do I want to do this?
Joshua was a leader of God's people in the Old Testament. There is a defining moment of commitment on Joshua's part. Since Joshua already was participating in God's plan, we could call this a "reupping" moment. In Joshua 24:14-15 he makes a commitment in the presence of his community. (Interesting how very little of God's way takes place in isolation.) Basically, he puts all his cards on the table.
His commitment? It's simple... "We're in."
In the backdrop of verse 14, he urges everyone to have a certain essence to their way of life. He calls it "serving God wholeheartedly".
Hmmm...wholeheartedly versus halfheartedly? 
The English word wholeheartedly is a word translated from two Hebrew words. The Hebrew for wholeheartedly is:
'emeth - means "in stability" that comes from truth
tamiym - means "in sincerity" that comes from integrity
Wow, that changes things! Is there stability to how I Celebrate, Connect and Contribute with Jesus? Is there integrity between this way of life I committed to follow and my actions of the past 3 months...this past year?
One definition of integrity is, "The French and Latin meanings of the word hint at its origins, "that the whole thing is working well, undivided, integrated, intact and uncorrupted." Integrity, Henry Cloud
In a culture desperately looking for authenticity, the worst thing we can do is perpetuate a shallow, superficial image of Jesus. The say one thing, do another version of Christianity is what we say causes us to puke. Are we personally living something different?
The credibility of Jesus in our culture is at stake.
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