Reigniting Your Passion for God Essay Example for Free

Reigniting Your Passion for God Essay The creative force behind all great art, all great drama, all great music, all great architecture and all great writing is passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished in life without passion. Nothing great is ever sustained in life without passion. Passion is what energizes life. Passion makes the impossible possible. Passion gives you a reason to get up in the morning and go and say, I’m going to do something with my life today. Without passion life becomes boring. It becomes monotonous. It becomes routine. It becomes dull. God created you with the emotions to have passion in your life and He wants you to live a passionate life for Him. Passion is what mobilizes armies into action. Passion is what causes explorers to boldly go where no man’s gone before. Passion is what causes scientists to spend late night hours trying to find the cure to a dreaded disease. Passion is what takes a good athlete and turns him or her into a great athlete where they’re breaking records. You’ve got to have passion in your life. One day a man walks up to Jesus and he says, Lord, what’s the most important thing in the Bible? And you know what the Great Commandment is. We’ve talked about it many times. Jesus said, I want you to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Nothing matters more than that. That’s the number one thing in life. I want you to love Me passionately. Nothing else matters in life if you don’t love God with passion. God doesn’t want you to love Him half-heartedly. He wants you to love Him with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. I love the paraphrase of that verse, Mark 11:30, from The Message Jesus said, ’Love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy. Circle the word passion. That word, in Greek, is the word heart. God is saying I want you to put some muscle into it, put some energy, put some emotion into your relationship with Me. Don’t be a wimp about your relationship with Me. Don’t be namby-pamby. Don’t be half-hearted. Give it all you’ve got. Jesus is saying, If you’re going to follow Me, you’ve got to go it with passion. You’ve got to give it some oomph, some spark, some zip, some enthusiasm, some zest. In other words I want you to live your life with me passionately. In fact, this truth is all through the Bible. The Bible tells us that we’re to seek God passionately. We’re to love God passionately. The Bible says that we’re to serve and obey God passionately. We’re to trust God passionately. Then as if you didn’t get the message, in Colossians 3:23 He says Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and not unto men. He says I want you to do everything passionately when it comes to loving Me, serving Me, living for Me. Here’s the amazing thing. In America it’s ok to be passionate about anything except God. That is not politically correct to be passionate about God. I can be passionate about movies. I can be passionate about sports. I can be passionate about politics. I can be passionate about fashions and clothes. I can be passionate about restaurants. But I cannot be passionate about God. That’s a no-no. I typed in the phrase a passion for into Amazon.com and found a couple hundred books with that title. There’s a book call A Passion for Birds, A Passion for Books, A Passion for Cactus, A Passion for Chocolate (that’s understandable), A Passion for Fashion, for Fishing for Flying, for Gardening, Golf, Hunting. There’s even a book called A Passion For Mushrooms. A Passion for Needlepoint, Pasta, Ponies. There’s a book called, A Passion for Potatoes, for Roses, for Shoes. There’s even a book called A Passion for Steam. I can’t figure out what that one’s all about! I don’t know why you’d get passionate about steam. But in our culture today it’s ok to be passionate about anything except your religion, except your faith, except your relationship with God. I can go to a concert, or a political rally or a baseball game and I can shout my head off. I can get excited. I can get hoarse from yelling so loud. When my team loses I could cry. Nobody thinks that’s a big deal. When my team wins I can jump up and dance around and wave my hands in the air. If I do that at a game people go, He’s a real fan! But if I do that in church people say, He’s a fanatic! He’s a nut case. You don’t want to get too emotional about your faith. Its ok about anything else but not that. Romans 12:1 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor. Keep the fires going in your life. Circle the word keep. Notice, it’s not automatic. It’s a choice. It’s a discipline. It’s something you must maintain. You are not by nature passionate about God. It’s something that you must choose to do. You get distracted and everything in life conspires to keep you from being passionate about God. So He says keep your passion going. Keep the fires going. It’s a discipline. It’s not just automatic. This kind of thing being passionate about God has nothing to do with either your personality or your age. Our churches are filled with hundreds if not thousands of senior believers who have walked with God a long, long time and are still passionate. But everything in life conspires to keep you from being passionate. And it dissipates your energy. When you first become a believer and you really understand what a good deal you’ve got you get excited about it, This is quite a big deal! All my sins were forgiven. I now have a purpose for living, and I now have a future home in heaven. What a deal! And you get excited about that when you give your life to Christ and you’re pretty passionate. But as time goes by you begin to lose your steam. You begin to lose your zip, your zest, your enthusiasm. What happened? Why does that happen? That’s what we’re going to look at today. As we go through God’s word we’re going to look at seven passion killers, things that rob the joy out of your life. I thought this would be a very appropriate message, right in the middle of winter, when nobody feels very passionate about much of anything. You want the warmth of summer back. So this morning we’re going to look at these passion killers together. I want you to use it as a checklist. Because God says, I want you to love Me with all of your heart.

An Analysis of HBOs Sex and the City :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

HBO's Sex and the City has become a cultural icon in its 6 seasons of running. Based on Candace Bushnell's racy book Sex and the City, the show exhibits an unprecedented example of the sexual prowess of women over the age of 35. The result is an immense viewing audience and an evolving view on the "old maid" stigma that a woman's chances of finding love are significantly reduced after thirty-five. In this paper, we will closely analyze the characters and themes of Sex and the City to explain the significance of what the show represents in American culture. Sex and the City is a show centered around four beautiful, successful women in their mid-to-late thirties. Although the show focuses on the "love lives" of the four women, the title has been dubbed "Sex and the City," and not "Love and the City." The question is, why? Well, it could be simply that sex does sell. Perhaps Candace Bushnell christened her book Sex and the City because it would attract more readers. However, while this may be a small, superficial factor in the reasoning behind the title, the content of the show suggests a deeper purpose behind the focus on sex. For the most part, the relationship between love and sex is dichotomized throughout the show. Although the characters end up married or in a monogamous relationship at the end of the series, the majority of the show is concentrated on the women's brief sexual encounters and the glorification of their trysts. Only once in awhile do the topics of love and sex come up simultaneously in the characters' post-sex brunch conversations. The show presents beautiful, successful women having sex and talking about sex like men. Meaning, their promiscuity is excused and their sexual vulgarity is quite often the comic relief in the show. This deflates somewhat the double standard that men can sleep around, but if women do, they are "dirty." Although each character has a different view on sex, they all share the mindset that casual sex is acceptable. The show never breaches this mindset, creating a world where promiscuity and sexually aggressive women are common, and sexy. Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall, is a sexually dominant character who is afraid of commitment. The episode entitled "The Good Fight" ("The Good Fight" 1) features Samantha explaining to her friends that her current lover is just a "sex thing" and that her emotions are intact.

Swan Lake Comparative Essay

The timeless Swan Lake is today prized as one of the world's greatest and most renowned classical ballets to ever exist. For over one hundred years Swan Lake has been performed, adapted and rewritten innumerable times to enthrall a wide range of audiences all across the world. Whilst the foundation of how Swan Lake began and came to be is still, to some extent, unknown, it is widely believed that the production was originally choreographed by Julius Resigned with the accompaniment of celebrated Russian composer Russian Tchaikovsky for the musical score.It was first resented as The Lake of the Swans by the Ballet of the Moscow Imperial Abolish Theatre in 1877 in Moscow, Russia. Brash Judgment and calamitous reviews were passed upon this production and in turn, most ballet companies today now establish their staging both choreographically and musically on the revival created by Marcus Petite and Level Vivian, which opened in 1895. Seen through the eyes of millions, countless variations of Swan Lake have been created since its original formation in 1877.One of the most recognized recreations is the Swan Lake modernized by the hieroglyphic genius Grange Murphy and presented by the illustrious Australian Ballet Company in 2002. A spiraling love triangle between the changeable Prince Siegfried, a delicate Dotted and an alluring Baroness von Rotate, Grange Murphy's adaptation of Swan Lake is one to rival most others around the world. Although rewritten countless times, the original plot of Swan Lake follows the tale of the young Princess Dotted, who, under the spell of an evil sorcerer interchanges between a swan and a beautiful young woman.Prince Siegfried, a young man of 21 and soon to e married, stumbles across a lake of beautiful swans whilst on a hunting trip. He discovers through the Swan Queen, Dotted that the evil sorcerer had cast an enchantment on many beautiful girls to turn them into swans, and the tears of their grieving parents had formed the lake. Soon after, Prince Siegfried falls madly in love with Dotted. She reveals to him that the only way the spell could be broken is if a man, pure in heart, pledges his everlasting love to her.This angers the evil enchantress Baroness Von Rotate, and she manipulates Prince Siegfried into infesting his love to Doodle, a girl posing as Dotted and so happens to be Von Rotator's daughter. Dismayed and with a broken heart, Dotted throws herself into the lake, followed by Prince Siegfried who was horrified by his mistake. Together their spirits ascend into the heavens above Swan Lake. Grange Murphy's adaptation breathes new life into the classic Swan Lake by taking a realistic and modernized approach, twisting it in with sensual fantasy and warped spectacle.These themes, combined with others such as betrayal, instability, depression and confusion deviate room the fantasy world seen in the original production and take precedence over the linear narrative of Swan Lake to construct a realistic repres entation that is relatable to audiences all across the world. Murphy's variation of Swan Lake revisits the story of Dotted; the young and naive lover of Prince Siegfried who she is to be married to. After a series of events, Dotted is driven insane by his overpowering infatuation with Baroness Von Rotate.She is then committed to a sanatorium where her emotional damage is irreversible. This is perceived through a range of striking, fragmented events that are seemingly impulsive and uncontrollable. A number of visions are seen through the eyes of the mentally unbalanced Dotted, including a heart shattering pas De deuce between herself and Prince Siegfried, where she appears as a feeble, broken swan and tries to escape his grasp. This is soon followed by an encounter with Baroness Von Rotate, who walks past the window of her enclosed room, arm in arm with the Prince.After much deceit and changeability, the Prince realizes his heart truly belongs to Dotted and tries to find her once mor e, but it is all n vain as Dotted has committed suicide, descending gracefully into the lake, clothed in a long dress. This modern variation, through exploiting the themes of love, loss and desperation maintains an emotional connection to the audience while still fabricating a strong production to be an escape for the audience to enjoy.Grange Murphy made further alterations to the traditional Swan Lake to push the boundaries of contemporary ballet, a style of dance that has recently arisen in the 20th century, incorporating both modern dance and classical ballet. This was flawlessly achieved y Murphy through his involvement in the Sydney Dance Company. The movements used are fundamental to the storyline of Swan Lake as Murphy has staged it to be predominantly driven by romance. He utilizes elements of daring floor work, suspenseful lifts and fluid motions to create a ministering and expressive work of art.In appreciation of classical ballet, many graceful leaps and lifts are used, i ndicative of the traditional swan's fragility. In contrast to this, the scene where Dotted becomes is driven insane wing for the attention Prince Siegfried wild, harassing movements are used, strongly channeling contemporary dance. This is again seen in the imagined fantasy duet between Dotted and Prince Siegfried, when she is locked in the sanatorium. This duet includes variations of movements associated with classical ballet by upside-down grand rondo De Jamb, parallel retires pirouettes and large, sweeping movements.In recognition to the original Swan Lake, Murphy's adaptation still follows the vital elements of the production, including the corps De ballet of graceful swans and a number of unchanged repertoire pieces. The tagging of Grange Murphy's Swan Lake is an astounding construction of visual and aural components to be the driving force behind his modern interpretation. He gives his story a fresh edge by using the original Tchaikovsky score, as recorded by Richard Bonged, r ather than the well-known Richard Dried arrangement that most ballet companies use today when performing Swan Lake.This was a subliminal device used to link the contemporary production back to its foundations. The sets used in Murphy's production are unrivalled. The lake is always present, either in full view or just beyond a foreground interior. In Part 1, it is a fragile, natural spectacle, in Part 2 it is a pool of brooding tranquility and in Part 3 it finishes as a black receptacle of ultimate heartbreak and tragedy. The sanatorium is a minimalist environment- cold, intimidating and antidemocratic.The space used for this scene is small and enclosed limiting movement and in turn, making them more effective. The impeccable costuming influenced by Edwardian times creates a contrast between the traditional Swan lake that focuses it's costuming around the middle ages and drives the narrative forward with repeated motifs. Deist's enormous flowing white wedding dress is one of the most memorable costume devices used, with it hinting at a division between Prince Siegfried and Dotted.

Quantitative Research Critique - 571 Words

Introduction The focus of the article by Spurlock and Hunt (2008) was on an empirical study researching whether the HESI Exit Exam possesses any usefulness in predicting pass-rates on the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses. The authors identify the variables of the study as HESI Exit Exam scores and NCLEX-RN outcomes, emphasizing the relationship between the variables as being previously determined by research literature as â€Å"marginal at best† (Spurlock Hunt, 2008). The stated primary purposes for the research by Spurlock and Hunt (2008) were to examine if HESI Exit Exam scores had the ability to predict NCLEX-RN outcomes, and to explain the inconsistencies between predictions of HESI Exit Exam scores and actual NCLEX-RN results. The article indicates that the research is significant in nursing due to the weight of importance placed on NCLEX-RN outcomes â€Å"†¦by nursing school administrators, educators, and graduates, as well as by prospe ctive students and their parents† (Spurlock Hunt, 2008). Review of Literature Following the introduction, the authors continue into a review of literature in which the cited sources addressed relevance to the study’s variables. The review of literature consisted mainly of primary and current sources, with no citations preceding the article by five years. It is within this section of the article where the authors chose to further discuss the previous research conducted on the variables and how the variables haveShow MoreRelatedA Critique Of A Quantitative Research Article1289 Words   |  6 PagesThe following is a critique of a quantitative research article with a qualitative component. 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