Campus Crusade has seen great accomplishments over the years. The organization has 25,000 full time staff and more than 553,000 volunteers in 196 countries. Their “Jesus” film has been translated into more than 700 languages and seen by 4.5 billion people. It is the most widely viewed film ever produced. Campus Crusade has also distributed more than 2.5 billion copies of their booklet “Four Spiritual Laws.”

Two years ago, Bill Bright was diagnosed with an incurable ailment afflicting his lungs. At that time, doctors gave him one year to live. Today, Bright is 80 years old, and on oxygen 24-hours a day, but he continues to press on.

Despite his health and past accomplishments, Bill Bright actively serves the Lord. He is currently involved in the launch of a new project which plans to train 5 million lay pastors to start 5 million house churches around the world.

At the last session of the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis, June 12, 2002 Bright said, “Circumstances do not contribute to our misery. It’s our lack of understanding of who God is and his wonderful, holy purpose for us that frustrates so many.” He adds, “To surrender yourself totally, irrevocably, without reservation to the living Christ is the greatest privilege man can know… I am 80 years old and just beginning to really understand, though I preached it for many years, the importance of being dead to Bill Bright. Bill Bright has no rights in my life. Christ has purchased me; I belong to him. And if I refuse to walk in the light as He is in the light, I am the loser.”

—baptistpress.org, June 19, 200, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

In the book, Dying to Live, author Clive Calver offers an unique example of what it means to take up our cross every day. Calver writes, “An old friend of mine once put it very simply. He confessed, ‘I want to die to myself, and I want to be crucified with Christ. But I know that as soon as I can I will want to compromise myself away from the cross. What I need is a Roman guard at the foot of my cross to ensure that I never come down.’ He is absolutely right. The cross does not have just a one-time impact on our lives. And remember, none of us can die to another person’s cross – each of us has to surrender to our own. Then we live our lives from that perspective, because each cross is personal, Jesus said that we must take up our cross daily to follow him (Luke 9:23). That is the secret to moving on in God. The Lord does not expect perfection, but he does celebrate progress”

--Dying To Live, The Paradox of the Crucified Life, Clive Calver, 2009, Authentic Publishing, pg 41. .

Luke 9:23-25 (HCSB) “Then He said to [them] all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. 25 What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself?”

“The Life of Riley” was a popular sitcom in the fifties. Riley was constantly trying to take the easiest (and cheapest) way out and often got into trouble as a result. In one episode, called “Do It Yourself,” he tries to build a boat for a fishing trip with his friends, but ends up knocking down his living room wall.

We sometimes get caught up in the same type of thinking – wanting to be in control instead of letting God sit on the throne of our lives – often with disastrous results.—Jim L. Wilson and Stephen Argilla

TV clip from “The Life of Riley” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3V9fwr-bAo
Date Accessed: November 11, 2012

James 4:7–10 (HCSB) “Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people! 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Your laughter must change to mourning and your joy to sorrow. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”