August 3
The heavens declare the glory of God
and the streets declare the sinfulness of man
Faith does not struggle; faith lets God do it all.--Corrie ten Boom
Most sins are habit forming.
"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time."-- Joe Girard
I had rather do and not promise than promise and not do. -- Arthur Warwick
"Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone." --Gertrude Stein
"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one of them to say 'Thank You?'" -- William A. Ward
"Whinese: the language used by people who complain a lot." -- Unknown
"Happiness depends upon the quality of your thoughts. Entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature." -- Marcus Aurelius
"The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur." -- Vince Lombardi, football coach
Hurry, Hurry. Fast, Fast
I'm not a sociolinguist but I find languages fascinating. The other day I was walking past a Ghanaian man talking on his cell phone in Twi (a local language here). Suddenly, in the midst of a sea of words I could not understand, I heard, "Hurry, hurry. Fast, fast." Why did he need to switch to English to use those words? In a culture where relationships are valued more than task, where listening to someone is more important than crossing off my "to do" list, where greeting someone before you get to the point of your conversation is a very high value--hurry, hurry, fast, fast is apparently a value grafted in from the West. I chuckled as I walked away and slowed my pace down just a fraction--reminding myself that I can enjoy the journey just as much as the destination. By Karen Carr
Life's Opportunity "I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.'" William Penn 1644-1718, Religious Leader and founder of Pennsylvania
True Friendship "Friends are a blessing. Most of us have many friends throughout our life, but very few friends we can really trust, count on and confide in. A true test of friendship is when conflict or disagreement comes along or ego gets in the way--if you can get past it and the relationship stays strong, you just might have yourself a real close friend. Those friends are more valuable than treasure." Ray Lammie, Thought for Today.
THE DUMBEST GENERATION? Emory University English professor Mark Bauerlein (author of "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future") to confirm what many of us have already started to notice: The Digital Age is wreaking havoc on young Americans' ready and writing abilities. Of course, the Internet offers countless opportunities for learning, but Mark's research found that kids are using for vanity rather than intellectual enrichment. Spending endless hours texting, chatting, and posting every intimate detail of their lives online, kids today suffer a new kind of peer pressure -- one that keeps them locked in a state of immaturity. Far from using the 'net for mental enrichment, Bauerleins discovered that average high school students spend an hour per week studying for their classes online and nine hours on social networking sites. No wonder kids' standardized test scores for reading comprehension have been falling since the birth of the 'net.
Worried about your kids? Here's an easy solution: Get the computer and television out of their rooms and set limits! Trade online time for time spent reading and writing. The study and work habits your kids learn during their teenage years will stick with them for years. They'll thank you for it later.
Just A Plowhand I'm just a plowhand from Arkansas, but I have learned how to hold a team together. How to lift some men up, how to calm down others, until finally they've got one heartbeat together, a team.
There's just three things I'd ever say:
If anything goes bad, I did it.
If anything goes semi-good, then we did it.
If anything goes real good, then you did it.
That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you. Paul 'Bear' Bryant, famous college football coach Bryant's words were powerful, just as yours are.
"God answers all prayers. Sometimes He answers, 'Yes,' sometimes He answers, 'No,' and sometimes the answer is, 'You gotta be kidding!'"
CHURCHQUAKE I have just completed reading a book by David T. Olson entitled, The American Church in Crisis. In the final portion of his work, he says, "The American church needs to be 'forever building.' Building is the church's response to God's missional promptings. But the greatest need of the church is 'being restored,' which is a spiritual and supernatural act of God." (Zondervan, 2008, p. 221)
The American Church in Crisis is filled with graphs and charts to support his conclusion that the church does need to keep building and find restoration. For instance, Mr. Olson refutes the church attendance research of both Barna and Gallup. He does not believe between 37% and 43% of Americans go to church each week. His research of nearly 300,000 churches gives evidence that the total attending services is closer to 52 million each week (versus over 100 million), and that instead of 40% attending each week, it is more like 19.5%. Just check out your neighborhood some Sunday.
With regard to the evangelical church, he reports 26.7 million attended church on a given weekend in 2005 — 9.1% of the American churchgoers are connected with the evangelical church.
Where there is church growth, new churches are the leading growth factor. Large churches are the second leading factor.
A statement made in the book taken from a study in Switzerland — and one that I agree with wholeheartedly — is, "If a father does not go to church, no matter how regular the mother is in her religious practices, only one child in 50 becomes a regular church attendee." You know the condition of the church in that country.
One last figure that scares me is that, each year from 2000 to 2005, an estimated 4,000 new churches were started — but each year, his research showed 3,700 churches closed or a net gain of 300. To keep up with the population growth, 2,900 more churches would need to be started each year, or a total of 6,900.
• Women Are Happier than Men Until ... The Journal of Happiness Studies reports that women are happier than men — but only until their late 40s. The study, which analyzed data from 47,000 people, considered happiness levels of men and women. It found that in their 20s, women are happier than men. Researchers blame that on young men's lackluster love lives and low-paying first jobs. The gap closes with age — and, by 48, men are happier. The study suggests it's because, by then, men are married and better off financially.
The Law of Abundance Stephen Covey, in his "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", talks about the Law of Abundance vs. the Law of Scarcity. There's plenty to go around. And the more you give, the more you have to give. But how interesting! Covey writes about this, and folks act like it is new. Jesus performed it, 2000 years ago, on a rocky hillside in Palestine. There is plenty of Jesus to go around!
The Negative Verses the Positive Outside a small town in New Mexico is a sign that reads as follows: "Welcome to Portales, New Mexico, home of 12,493 friendly folks and 8 or 10 grouches."
Isn't that the way it is everywhere? There are always a few negative folks around to tell you that Murphy's laws will ruin everything. I like the story about the little boy who was trying to raise some money by collecting old bottles, going door-to-door in his neighborhood. When he came to the home of a woman who was the "town grouch," the little boy asked, "Do you have any coke bottles?" "No," she replied with a scowl. Then he said, "Do you have any old whiskey bottles?" "Young man," the woman replied, "Do I look like the type of person who would have old whiskey bottles?"
The little boy studied her for a moment and then asked, "Well, do you have any old vinegar bottles?"
Isn't it tragic that some people go through life so negative and sour and bitter? And if you don't watch out, they will infect you with their thinking.
How can we live positively in this world where much is discouraging? I think I see some clues in one of the miracle stories of the Bible. Jesus once fed 10,000 people with only five loaves of barley bread and two little fish. The disciples saw the negatives but Jesus understood the positive presence of a little food.
"If you took NyQuil and No-Doz at the same time, would you dream you couldn't sleep?"
If you have trouble getting your children's attention, just sit down and look comfortable.
If you always DO what you've always DONE, you'll always BE what you've always BEEN.
and the streets declare the sinfulness of man
Faith does not struggle; faith lets God do it all.--Corrie ten Boom
Most sins are habit forming.
"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time."-- Joe Girard
I had rather do and not promise than promise and not do. -- Arthur Warwick
"Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone." --Gertrude Stein
"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one of them to say 'Thank You?'" -- William A. Ward
"Whinese: the language used by people who complain a lot." -- Unknown
"Happiness depends upon the quality of your thoughts. Entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature." -- Marcus Aurelius
"The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur." -- Vince Lombardi, football coach
Hurry, Hurry. Fast, Fast
I'm not a sociolinguist but I find languages fascinating. The other day I was walking past a Ghanaian man talking on his cell phone in Twi (a local language here). Suddenly, in the midst of a sea of words I could not understand, I heard, "Hurry, hurry. Fast, fast." Why did he need to switch to English to use those words? In a culture where relationships are valued more than task, where listening to someone is more important than crossing off my "to do" list, where greeting someone before you get to the point of your conversation is a very high value--hurry, hurry, fast, fast is apparently a value grafted in from the West. I chuckled as I walked away and slowed my pace down just a fraction--reminding myself that I can enjoy the journey just as much as the destination. By Karen Carr
Life's Opportunity "I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.'" William Penn 1644-1718, Religious Leader and founder of Pennsylvania
True Friendship "Friends are a blessing. Most of us have many friends throughout our life, but very few friends we can really trust, count on and confide in. A true test of friendship is when conflict or disagreement comes along or ego gets in the way--if you can get past it and the relationship stays strong, you just might have yourself a real close friend. Those friends are more valuable than treasure." Ray Lammie, Thought for Today.
THE DUMBEST GENERATION? Emory University English professor Mark Bauerlein (author of "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future") to confirm what many of us have already started to notice: The Digital Age is wreaking havoc on young Americans' ready and writing abilities. Of course, the Internet offers countless opportunities for learning, but Mark's research found that kids are using for vanity rather than intellectual enrichment. Spending endless hours texting, chatting, and posting every intimate detail of their lives online, kids today suffer a new kind of peer pressure -- one that keeps them locked in a state of immaturity. Far from using the 'net for mental enrichment, Bauerleins discovered that average high school students spend an hour per week studying for their classes online and nine hours on social networking sites. No wonder kids' standardized test scores for reading comprehension have been falling since the birth of the 'net.
Worried about your kids? Here's an easy solution: Get the computer and television out of their rooms and set limits! Trade online time for time spent reading and writing. The study and work habits your kids learn during their teenage years will stick with them for years. They'll thank you for it later.
Just A Plowhand I'm just a plowhand from Arkansas, but I have learned how to hold a team together. How to lift some men up, how to calm down others, until finally they've got one heartbeat together, a team.
There's just three things I'd ever say:
If anything goes bad, I did it.
If anything goes semi-good, then we did it.
If anything goes real good, then you did it.
That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you. Paul 'Bear' Bryant, famous college football coach Bryant's words were powerful, just as yours are.
"God answers all prayers. Sometimes He answers, 'Yes,' sometimes He answers, 'No,' and sometimes the answer is, 'You gotta be kidding!'"
CHURCHQUAKE I have just completed reading a book by David T. Olson entitled, The American Church in Crisis. In the final portion of his work, he says, "The American church needs to be 'forever building.' Building is the church's response to God's missional promptings. But the greatest need of the church is 'being restored,' which is a spiritual and supernatural act of God." (Zondervan, 2008, p. 221)
The American Church in Crisis is filled with graphs and charts to support his conclusion that the church does need to keep building and find restoration. For instance, Mr. Olson refutes the church attendance research of both Barna and Gallup. He does not believe between 37% and 43% of Americans go to church each week. His research of nearly 300,000 churches gives evidence that the total attending services is closer to 52 million each week (versus over 100 million), and that instead of 40% attending each week, it is more like 19.5%. Just check out your neighborhood some Sunday.
With regard to the evangelical church, he reports 26.7 million attended church on a given weekend in 2005 — 9.1% of the American churchgoers are connected with the evangelical church.
Where there is church growth, new churches are the leading growth factor. Large churches are the second leading factor.
A statement made in the book taken from a study in Switzerland — and one that I agree with wholeheartedly — is, "If a father does not go to church, no matter how regular the mother is in her religious practices, only one child in 50 becomes a regular church attendee." You know the condition of the church in that country.
One last figure that scares me is that, each year from 2000 to 2005, an estimated 4,000 new churches were started — but each year, his research showed 3,700 churches closed or a net gain of 300. To keep up with the population growth, 2,900 more churches would need to be started each year, or a total of 6,900.
• Women Are Happier than Men Until ... The Journal of Happiness Studies reports that women are happier than men — but only until their late 40s. The study, which analyzed data from 47,000 people, considered happiness levels of men and women. It found that in their 20s, women are happier than men. Researchers blame that on young men's lackluster love lives and low-paying first jobs. The gap closes with age — and, by 48, men are happier. The study suggests it's because, by then, men are married and better off financially.
The Law of Abundance Stephen Covey, in his "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", talks about the Law of Abundance vs. the Law of Scarcity. There's plenty to go around. And the more you give, the more you have to give. But how interesting! Covey writes about this, and folks act like it is new. Jesus performed it, 2000 years ago, on a rocky hillside in Palestine. There is plenty of Jesus to go around!
The Negative Verses the Positive Outside a small town in New Mexico is a sign that reads as follows: "Welcome to Portales, New Mexico, home of 12,493 friendly folks and 8 or 10 grouches."
Isn't that the way it is everywhere? There are always a few negative folks around to tell you that Murphy's laws will ruin everything. I like the story about the little boy who was trying to raise some money by collecting old bottles, going door-to-door in his neighborhood. When he came to the home of a woman who was the "town grouch," the little boy asked, "Do you have any coke bottles?" "No," she replied with a scowl. Then he said, "Do you have any old whiskey bottles?" "Young man," the woman replied, "Do I look like the type of person who would have old whiskey bottles?"
The little boy studied her for a moment and then asked, "Well, do you have any old vinegar bottles?"
Isn't it tragic that some people go through life so negative and sour and bitter? And if you don't watch out, they will infect you with their thinking.
How can we live positively in this world where much is discouraging? I think I see some clues in one of the miracle stories of the Bible. Jesus once fed 10,000 people with only five loaves of barley bread and two little fish. The disciples saw the negatives but Jesus understood the positive presence of a little food.
"If you took NyQuil and No-Doz at the same time, would you dream you couldn't sleep?"
If you have trouble getting your children's attention, just sit down and look comfortable.
If you always DO what you've always DONE, you'll always BE what you've always BEEN.
posted by joypastordon at 6:01 PM
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