Consumerism is rife everywhere. Marketers are busy serving our generation on "how to consume". The thing about consumerism is that it can never be satisfied. No sooner you have bought the latest 'model' - the marketers are busy pre-releasing the next greatest thing.

We only need to see the ridiculous queues worldwide when APPLE releases it's latest iPhone! People camp out on the streets for days to be the first to own the latest serving from APPLE.

Well, the church of Jesus is called to build an enduring Kingdom - a world with out end - eternity! A kingdom filled with so many opposite values to what we see expressed around us each day - love, selflessness, faithfulness, endurance, generosity, going the extra mile, etc. I believe to truly serve our generation we have to kill the driving internal mantra of the human heart "giving in order to get". This is still a subtle 'in it for me' driver that will effectively only cause us to do something for others as long as I get something in return.

How do you like this description of the life of King David: Acts 13:36 "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption" We all know David was an imperfect human being. He failed many times. However - he was a 'man after God's own heart' and his chief internal driver of his heart was to 'serve his own generation by the will of God'.

Almost every time God presents me with an opportunity to serve I have to kill the question that will try and bounce around my mind, "What's in it for me?" Jesus said our ministry can be summed up in one sentence: "Love God with all your heart, and love others the way you want to be loved". Let's rise to the challenge of loving like never before. Amen