5 Ways to Make a Maximum Impact With the One Life You Have

This weekend we look at the best-known story from Daniel. 

Daniel is approaching the end of the one life he had to live. He’s at least 80-years-old, and his life hasn't turned out to be the one he had envisioned for himself when he was kid and in his early teens growing up in Jerusalem.

He had been taken into exile in Babylon, leaving his home and family and his dreams behind.

But here we find him toward the end of his life, and he has not only outlasted the empire, he’s serving at the highest levels of government for a new king, a king that defeated the Babylonian Empire. 

A few months ago I heard four TED speakers address the secrets to a long life on the TED Radio Hour program. One of the speakers talked about these amazing people that live what we would consider hard and "primitive" lives, but they live longer than the average American.

His point was that If you live their very difficult way, you can add about 2-3 years to your life!

He didn’t seem to hear himself. He was calling for complete change to the way we live to gain only three years at most!

One of the four speakers, though, hit the nail on the head. He said it’s not about how long you live, but how well you live the one life you live. 

For a follower of Jesus, we know deep in our hearts that this means living a meaningful life of service to God and others—loving God and our neighbor well. It’s a life on mission for God.

So this weekend we’re take lessons from Daniel on what it takes to make a maximum impact and live a meaningful life. 

Photo by Swaraj Tiwari on Unsplash. Cropped by me. 

This is Us

We are the church, whether we are gathered or scattered--each one of us, a part of the body of Christ, wherever we go, whatever we do.

So, where can you find us, and what are we doing? 

Another Apex missions story this week. Five Oaker Daniel Visness (far left in the picture) shares a bit of his experience in Japan, a 7-week immersion in missions. By the way, we'll be sharing more about the next Apex opportunities in the coming weeks. 

"Before this trip, I had really been struggling with my identity as a Christian; honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I was one anymore. But through my experiences, and especially through talking with my team leaders, I am now confident of my faith and know that, yes, I actually am a Christian. Truthfully though, the most change has occurred in my life through the interactions with my teammates. It took me a long time to realize it, but, upon looking back, I realized that working alongside them opened my eyes to a lot of junk that was in my life. I hadn’t even realized it, but I was struggling with depression and serious judgmentalism; it was really hard for me to get along with anyone, especially people who I judged more harshly than others. ...Looking back, I know God used this trip in my life to change me, to force me to open up to people again, to become someone who actually represents Christ in everything I do. I’m making progress, but change doesn’t come easily to me; still, I praise God for what he is doing in my life."