August 26
"What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul." --- Yiddish Proverb
"When everyone is looking for gold, it’s a good time to be in the pick and shovel business." -- Mark Twain
”Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig.” - Paul Dickson
Survey Shows: One-Fourth of the Country Doesn't Read Books
The typical person in the U.S. claimed to have read four books in the last year — half read more and half read fewer, but one in four did not read any books at all, according to The Associated Press-Ipsos poll released this week. The usual number of books read was seven. The Bible and religious works were read by two-thirds in the survey, more than all other categories. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.
With temps in the 100's throughout the Biblebelt ...It's so dry that the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling, the Methodists are giving out wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks, and the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water!
The bride was anything but a tidy housekeeper. It didn't bother her much until one evening when her husband called from the hall, somewhat dismayed: "Honey, what happened to the dust on this table? I had a phone number written on it."
Taxiing down the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After an hour long wait, it finally took off. A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?" "The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine," she explained. "It took us awhile to find a new pilot."
Christians are a lot like fertilizer.
Piled up in one place they will burn a hole in the ground beneath them.
But spread out over a large field, they can do a lot of good.
"When I was a boy the Dead Sea was only sick." - George Burns
Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening. -- Dorothy Sarnoff
Americans Concerned with Children's Future
When asked by the Barna Group in their most recent survey to indicate which of eleven changes were "absolutely necessary" for the United States to address within the next ten years, the well-being of America's children emerged at the top of the list.
Americans were asked the following question:
Think about how you would like the United States to change within the next 10 years. If you had the ability to make the decisions, tell me how important each of the changes I describe would be to you: absolutely necessary, somewhat important, not too important, or a waste of resources.
"Overall care and resources devoted to children" and "the quality of a public school education" tied as absolutely necessary with 82 percent of the vote. "National security in the U.S." came in third as absolutely necessary with a 72 percent vote. The rest rated as follows: "the lives of poor and disadvantaged people" (69%); "the reliability and honesty in news reporting" (63%); "the investment in environmental protection" (60%); "the state of marriage and families" (60%); "the spiritual state of the country" (53%); "people's sense of belonging to a community" (45%) and "the moral content within entertainment" (44%).
The three highest priorities among evangelicals — who prioritized the eleven issues differently — were enhancing the health of Christian churches, upgrading the state of marriage and families, and improving the spiritual condition of the U.S. In each case, evangelicals were more than 30 percentage points more likely than other adults to identify each of those issues as an absolutely necessary focus for the immediate future. They were also 29 points above the national norm in listing improvements in the moral content of mass entertainment as a priority.
George Barna, who directed the study, suggests that Americans want the future to be more different than similar to the way things are in the nation today. "Americans contend that they lead a good life, but the survey points out that it is not necessarily their desired life, nor are they comfortable with the society they are leaving to their children."
Vermont Battles Over Religious License Plate
The state of Vermont has rejected Shawn Byrne's request for a license plate that read "JN36TN," saying it bans religious points of view on license plates. The plate message stands for John 3:16.
A Vermont judge says the Department of Motor Vehicles "has the right to prohibit religious messages on license plates provided it does not discriminate based on the particular message or viewpoint," reports The Associated Press.
Since the state has accepted other vanity plates with messages like "4PEACE" and "ALL4LOVE," Byrne's lawyer is planning to file an objection to the ruling.
Silver surfers beat the young as Web wizards
Pensioners surfing the internet are spending more time online than their younger counterparts. So-called "silver surfers" dedicate an average of 42 hours a month to the World Wide Web, compared with 37.9 hours among 18 to 24-year-olds. A greater interest in hobbies, news and local issues among the elderly is believed to be driving the trend, which sees over-65s account for nine per cent of all time spent online in the UK.
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." – Colin Powell
"When one door closes another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us." -- Alexander Graham Bell
"If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The teacher asked the class, "If you had one dollar and you asked your father for another, how many dollars would you have?"
Bobby raised his hand and answered, "One dollar."
The teacher shook her head and said unapprovingly, "You don't know your math."
Bobby replied, "You don't know my father."
200 Pounds of Stuff
There is a story of a missionary family in China who was forced to leave the country sometime after the communists took over.
One day a band of soldiers knocked on the door and told this missionary, his wife, and children that they had two hours to pack up before these troops would escort them to the train station. They would be permitted to take with them only two hundred pounds of stuff.
Thus began two hours of family wrangling and bickering--what should they take? What about this vase? It's a family heirloom, so we've got to take the vase. Well, maybe so, but this typewriter is brand new and we're not about to leave that behind. What about some books? Got to take a few of them along. On and on it went, putting stuff on the bathroom scale and taking it off until finally they had a pile of possessions that totaled two hundred pounds on the dot.
At the appointed hour, the soldiers returned.
"Are you ready?" they asked.
"Yes."
"Did you weigh your stuff?"
"Yes, we did."
"Two hundred pounds?"
"Yes, two hundred pounds on the dot."
"Did you weigh the kids?" "Um ... no."
"Weigh the kids!"
In an instant the vase, the typewriter, and the books all became trash. Trash! None of it meant anything compared to the surpassing value of the children.
Good Relationships Make a Good Life By Michael Josephson of Character Counts
If we interviewed 100 people who are unusually happy, I think the most prominent common denominator would be unusually good relationships. Despite the widespread promotion of materialism and vanity in our popular culture, wealth and beauty are not enough to produce happiness. In fact, they're not even necessary. What's more, bad relationships--at work, at home, or among friends--are a surefire source of anguish and heartache. For most of us, the connections that most strongly influence our level of happiness are family bonds. And the most powerful of all are at the inner core of family, especially parent-child relationships.
No matter what your age, your kinship with your parents will always have a unique capacity to generate comfort or pain. Many children have ambivalent feelings about their folks. Yet most crave their approval, respect, and love. Parents have a similar need.
If you're a parent, resolve to make more consistent and conscientious efforts to make your children feel appreciated. If you want to make their lives and yours happier, be careful to not demean or diminish their achievements and to avoid expressions of disappointment. Tell your child you're proud to have him or her as a son or daughter.
And if you still can, give your parents pleasure by showing them you love them, not only for what they did for you as a child, but for who they are now. Talk to them frequently and talk of meaningful things. Ask their advice and don't roll your eyes in disdain if you disagree with it. One of the best ways to express your love is through respect. This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one. Reassurance for those of us who fly routinely in our jobs.
"Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives." -- Anthony Robbins
"When everyone is looking for gold, it’s a good time to be in the pick and shovel business." -- Mark Twain
”Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig.” - Paul Dickson
Survey Shows: One-Fourth of the Country Doesn't Read Books
The typical person in the U.S. claimed to have read four books in the last year — half read more and half read fewer, but one in four did not read any books at all, according to The Associated Press-Ipsos poll released this week. The usual number of books read was seven. The Bible and religious works were read by two-thirds in the survey, more than all other categories. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.
With temps in the 100's throughout the Biblebelt ...It's so dry that the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling, the Methodists are giving out wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks, and the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water!
The bride was anything but a tidy housekeeper. It didn't bother her much until one evening when her husband called from the hall, somewhat dismayed: "Honey, what happened to the dust on this table? I had a phone number written on it."
Taxiing down the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After an hour long wait, it finally took off. A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?" "The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine," she explained. "It took us awhile to find a new pilot."
Christians are a lot like fertilizer.
Piled up in one place they will burn a hole in the ground beneath them.
But spread out over a large field, they can do a lot of good.
"When I was a boy the Dead Sea was only sick." - George Burns
Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening. -- Dorothy Sarnoff
Americans Concerned with Children's Future
When asked by the Barna Group in their most recent survey to indicate which of eleven changes were "absolutely necessary" for the United States to address within the next ten years, the well-being of America's children emerged at the top of the list.
Americans were asked the following question:
Think about how you would like the United States to change within the next 10 years. If you had the ability to make the decisions, tell me how important each of the changes I describe would be to you: absolutely necessary, somewhat important, not too important, or a waste of resources.
"Overall care and resources devoted to children" and "the quality of a public school education" tied as absolutely necessary with 82 percent of the vote. "National security in the U.S." came in third as absolutely necessary with a 72 percent vote. The rest rated as follows: "the lives of poor and disadvantaged people" (69%); "the reliability and honesty in news reporting" (63%); "the investment in environmental protection" (60%); "the state of marriage and families" (60%); "the spiritual state of the country" (53%); "people's sense of belonging to a community" (45%) and "the moral content within entertainment" (44%).
The three highest priorities among evangelicals — who prioritized the eleven issues differently — were enhancing the health of Christian churches, upgrading the state of marriage and families, and improving the spiritual condition of the U.S. In each case, evangelicals were more than 30 percentage points more likely than other adults to identify each of those issues as an absolutely necessary focus for the immediate future. They were also 29 points above the national norm in listing improvements in the moral content of mass entertainment as a priority.
George Barna, who directed the study, suggests that Americans want the future to be more different than similar to the way things are in the nation today. "Americans contend that they lead a good life, but the survey points out that it is not necessarily their desired life, nor are they comfortable with the society they are leaving to their children."
Vermont Battles Over Religious License Plate
The state of Vermont has rejected Shawn Byrne's request for a license plate that read "JN36TN," saying it bans religious points of view on license plates. The plate message stands for John 3:16.
A Vermont judge says the Department of Motor Vehicles "has the right to prohibit religious messages on license plates provided it does not discriminate based on the particular message or viewpoint," reports The Associated Press.
Since the state has accepted other vanity plates with messages like "4PEACE" and "ALL4LOVE," Byrne's lawyer is planning to file an objection to the ruling.
Silver surfers beat the young as Web wizards
Pensioners surfing the internet are spending more time online than their younger counterparts. So-called "silver surfers" dedicate an average of 42 hours a month to the World Wide Web, compared with 37.9 hours among 18 to 24-year-olds. A greater interest in hobbies, news and local issues among the elderly is believed to be driving the trend, which sees over-65s account for nine per cent of all time spent online in the UK.
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." – Colin Powell
"When one door closes another one opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us." -- Alexander Graham Bell
"If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The teacher asked the class, "If you had one dollar and you asked your father for another, how many dollars would you have?"
Bobby raised his hand and answered, "One dollar."
The teacher shook her head and said unapprovingly, "You don't know your math."
Bobby replied, "You don't know my father."
200 Pounds of Stuff
There is a story of a missionary family in China who was forced to leave the country sometime after the communists took over.
One day a band of soldiers knocked on the door and told this missionary, his wife, and children that they had two hours to pack up before these troops would escort them to the train station. They would be permitted to take with them only two hundred pounds of stuff.
Thus began two hours of family wrangling and bickering--what should they take? What about this vase? It's a family heirloom, so we've got to take the vase. Well, maybe so, but this typewriter is brand new and we're not about to leave that behind. What about some books? Got to take a few of them along. On and on it went, putting stuff on the bathroom scale and taking it off until finally they had a pile of possessions that totaled two hundred pounds on the dot.
At the appointed hour, the soldiers returned.
"Are you ready?" they asked.
"Yes."
"Did you weigh your stuff?"
"Yes, we did."
"Two hundred pounds?"
"Yes, two hundred pounds on the dot."
"Did you weigh the kids?" "Um ... no."
"Weigh the kids!"
In an instant the vase, the typewriter, and the books all became trash. Trash! None of it meant anything compared to the surpassing value of the children.
Good Relationships Make a Good Life By Michael Josephson of Character Counts
If we interviewed 100 people who are unusually happy, I think the most prominent common denominator would be unusually good relationships. Despite the widespread promotion of materialism and vanity in our popular culture, wealth and beauty are not enough to produce happiness. In fact, they're not even necessary. What's more, bad relationships--at work, at home, or among friends--are a surefire source of anguish and heartache. For most of us, the connections that most strongly influence our level of happiness are family bonds. And the most powerful of all are at the inner core of family, especially parent-child relationships.
No matter what your age, your kinship with your parents will always have a unique capacity to generate comfort or pain. Many children have ambivalent feelings about their folks. Yet most crave their approval, respect, and love. Parents have a similar need.
If you're a parent, resolve to make more consistent and conscientious efforts to make your children feel appreciated. If you want to make their lives and yours happier, be careful to not demean or diminish their achievements and to avoid expressions of disappointment. Tell your child you're proud to have him or her as a son or daughter.
And if you still can, give your parents pleasure by showing them you love them, not only for what they did for you as a child, but for who they are now. Talk to them frequently and talk of meaningful things. Ask their advice and don't roll your eyes in disdain if you disagree with it. One of the best ways to express your love is through respect. This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one. Reassurance for those of us who fly routinely in our jobs.
"Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives." -- Anthony Robbins
posted by joypastordon at 6:24 PM
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