October 12, 2008
God never uses an answering machine; he takes each call personally.
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have -- Thomas Jefferson
In those times I can't seem to find God, I rest in the assurance that He knows how to find me. --Neva Coyle
It’s getting to the point where I hesitate to turn on the TV. From the financial crisis, to hurricanes, to Iran, to fuel prices, you name it. And it’s not just the news, it’s the media’s —and the public’s—voyeuristic preoccupation with chaos that troubles me. The news is grim.
I can’t help but be reminded of a lesson taught by a certain Oxford don named C.S. Lewis. Yes, these are frightening times today. But 60 years ago the entire world was at war. It was then that he preached his famous sermon The Weight of Glory. This is what he had to say: “Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun.”
Lewis’ words could not be more appropriate for us today. It’s precisely during times of crisis that we must persevere all the more in our quest for beauty and truth. Chuck Colson 10/09/08
Ricky was at the mall and went into a toy shop, picked up a toy plane, gave the shopkeeper fake money and started to leave.
The shopkeeper told him, "Excuse me little boy, this isn't real money."
Ricky looked at the plane in his hands, looked at the shopkeeper and finally said, "And this isn't a real plane."
Pastor Don was worried that his three-year-old grandson was unusually precocious, and took him to a psychiatrist.
"Right," said the shrink, "We'll just try a few simple tests." To Jack, he said, "Say a few words - anything that comes into your mind."
Jack turned to his grandfather and asked, "Does he want logically constructed sentences or just a few random and purely isolated words without any split infinitives?"
'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.
'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'
"Who says nothing is impossible - I've been doing nothing for years."
A culture focused on instant gratification -- through the overuse of credit cards to buy consumer goods, for example -- has also lost other "traditional values" such as thrift and hard work.
It's a crisis of commitment, it's a crisis of responsibility.
To spend more than you've got is not the way we brought up our kids ... You have a whole credit industry that grew up around people wanting what their parents had without working 20 years to get it.
"Do something wonderful; people may imitate it.' -- Albert Schweitzer
"Character is much easier kept than recovered." -- Thomas Paine
"It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"Whether you think you can or not, you are right." -- Henry Ford
"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." -- John F. Kennedy
"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment." -- Rita Mae Brown
"There are two great days in a person's life--the day we are born and the day we discover why." -- William Barclay
"The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives." - D. L. Moody
"What you allow, you encourage." -- Author Unknown
Steering Through Storms
These are challenging times, and it is difficult to find a silver lining to some of the darker clouds visible to everyone. As election-year rhetoric morphs from harsh to rancorous, the economy of recession continues to take its toll. All of us know lots of people who have lost their jobs. Who will be next to suffer?
One of the interesting fact that some of us have forgotten is that crisis times have often been the stimulus for creative new beginnings. Notable successes have been generated from the ashes of previous economic downturns.
A little perspective from history might encourage you. Walt Disney lost an acting job as a movie extra and started his famous cartoon company in a garage during the recession of 1923-1924. William Hewlett and David Packard teamed up in Silicon Valley in 1938 during the Great Depression. And Bill Gates dropped out of college to launch Microsoft during the downturn of a recession in 1975.
Crisis does seem to spawn an entrepreneurial culture. When the sun is shining, most people are content to let the boat sail under its own power – and to sun on the deck. When the clouds roll in and the boat begins to toss violently on the sea, creative people are encouraged to take risks and to chart new courses.
What about you? Do you see yourself as a thermometer or a thermostat in these tough times? Thermometers do nothing more than reflect their environments. Thermostats change their environments!
If you have had a bad year, have been laid off, or exist in a generally horrible environment, you have a choice. You can be a victim and whine about your fate. Or you can do some serious introspection, set some positive goals for making things better, and start moving ahead.
In the business world, laid-off and unfulfilled workers have changed the world by being bold in hard times. The same thing is true in other settings as well. Individuals, families, and churches who sense that something is wrong always have choices. The single most important choice is between passivity, grumbling, and dejection on the one hand and exploration, resourcefulness, and enthusiasm for a new challenge on the other.
Now that you have seen the newscasts and figured out that times really are tough, it is time to decide about your future. Make responsible choices on the basis of your passions, values, and priorities and not your gloomy circumstance. With the strength of God to help you, you can move from being a melancholy thermometer to become a difference-making thermostat in your world. You can chart a new course and set sail to a brighter destination.
Frog stands for: (F) Forever (R) Rely (O) On (G) God
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have -- Thomas Jefferson
In those times I can't seem to find God, I rest in the assurance that He knows how to find me. --Neva Coyle
It’s getting to the point where I hesitate to turn on the TV. From the financial crisis, to hurricanes, to Iran, to fuel prices, you name it. And it’s not just the news, it’s the media’s —and the public’s—voyeuristic preoccupation with chaos that troubles me. The news is grim.
I can’t help but be reminded of a lesson taught by a certain Oxford don named C.S. Lewis. Yes, these are frightening times today. But 60 years ago the entire world was at war. It was then that he preached his famous sermon The Weight of Glory. This is what he had to say: “Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun.”
Lewis’ words could not be more appropriate for us today. It’s precisely during times of crisis that we must persevere all the more in our quest for beauty and truth. Chuck Colson 10/09/08
Ricky was at the mall and went into a toy shop, picked up a toy plane, gave the shopkeeper fake money and started to leave.
The shopkeeper told him, "Excuse me little boy, this isn't real money."
Ricky looked at the plane in his hands, looked at the shopkeeper and finally said, "And this isn't a real plane."
Pastor Don was worried that his three-year-old grandson was unusually precocious, and took him to a psychiatrist.
"Right," said the shrink, "We'll just try a few simple tests." To Jack, he said, "Say a few words - anything that comes into your mind."
Jack turned to his grandfather and asked, "Does he want logically constructed sentences or just a few random and purely isolated words without any split infinitives?"
'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.
'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'
"Who says nothing is impossible - I've been doing nothing for years."
A culture focused on instant gratification -- through the overuse of credit cards to buy consumer goods, for example -- has also lost other "traditional values" such as thrift and hard work.
It's a crisis of commitment, it's a crisis of responsibility.
To spend more than you've got is not the way we brought up our kids ... You have a whole credit industry that grew up around people wanting what their parents had without working 20 years to get it.
"Do something wonderful; people may imitate it.' -- Albert Schweitzer
"Character is much easier kept than recovered." -- Thomas Paine
"It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
"Whether you think you can or not, you are right." -- Henry Ford
"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." -- John F. Kennedy
"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment." -- Rita Mae Brown
"There are two great days in a person's life--the day we are born and the day we discover why." -- William Barclay
"The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives." - D. L. Moody
"What you allow, you encourage." -- Author Unknown
Steering Through Storms
These are challenging times, and it is difficult to find a silver lining to some of the darker clouds visible to everyone. As election-year rhetoric morphs from harsh to rancorous, the economy of recession continues to take its toll. All of us know lots of people who have lost their jobs. Who will be next to suffer?
One of the interesting fact that some of us have forgotten is that crisis times have often been the stimulus for creative new beginnings. Notable successes have been generated from the ashes of previous economic downturns.
A little perspective from history might encourage you. Walt Disney lost an acting job as a movie extra and started his famous cartoon company in a garage during the recession of 1923-1924. William Hewlett and David Packard teamed up in Silicon Valley in 1938 during the Great Depression. And Bill Gates dropped out of college to launch Microsoft during the downturn of a recession in 1975.
Crisis does seem to spawn an entrepreneurial culture. When the sun is shining, most people are content to let the boat sail under its own power – and to sun on the deck. When the clouds roll in and the boat begins to toss violently on the sea, creative people are encouraged to take risks and to chart new courses.
What about you? Do you see yourself as a thermometer or a thermostat in these tough times? Thermometers do nothing more than reflect their environments. Thermostats change their environments!
If you have had a bad year, have been laid off, or exist in a generally horrible environment, you have a choice. You can be a victim and whine about your fate. Or you can do some serious introspection, set some positive goals for making things better, and start moving ahead.
In the business world, laid-off and unfulfilled workers have changed the world by being bold in hard times. The same thing is true in other settings as well. Individuals, families, and churches who sense that something is wrong always have choices. The single most important choice is between passivity, grumbling, and dejection on the one hand and exploration, resourcefulness, and enthusiasm for a new challenge on the other.
Now that you have seen the newscasts and figured out that times really are tough, it is time to decide about your future. Make responsible choices on the basis of your passions, values, and priorities and not your gloomy circumstance. With the strength of God to help you, you can move from being a melancholy thermometer to become a difference-making thermostat in your world. You can chart a new course and set sail to a brighter destination.
Frog stands for: (F) Forever (R) Rely (O) On (G) God
posted by joypastordon at 4:47 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home