April 19
"Whatever you are most devoted to will determine how your life is shaped." -- Tod Bolsinger
"Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are." -- James Allen
"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." -- Marla Jones
"There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men." -- Billy Graham
"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up." -- Paul Valery
"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." -- John Lubbock
Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of someone else." -- Judy Garland
"Conversion without discipleship is openly implied in much of our evangelical teaching. It has become strangely possible to be Christ's without taking up the cross." - C. D. Alexander
Too often are we so preoccupied with the destination, we forget the journey.
A woman in our diet club was lamenting that she had gained weight. She'd made her family's favorite cake over the weekend, she reported, and they'd eaten half of it at dinner.
The next day, she said, she kept staring at the other half, until finally she cut a thin slice for herself. One slice led to another, and soon the whole cake was gone. The woman went on to tell us how upset she was with her lack of willpower, and how she knew her husband would be disappointed.
Everyone commiserated, until someone asked what her husband said when he found out. She smiled. "He never found out. I made another cake and ate half!"
On the Lighter Side
Once Winston Churchill received an invitation from George Bernard Shaw to one of his opening plays back in the early 1900s. The note read, "Enclosed are two tickets to the performance of a play of mine. Bring a friend--if you have one."
Churchill sent back this reply: "Dear GBS, I thank you very much for the invitation and tickets. Unfortunately, I am engaged on that night, but could I have tickets for the second night?--if there is one."
Where Diplomas Don't Count
At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in." Hungry not only for bread--but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing--but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a home of bricks--but homeless because of rejection. Mother Teresa
"We generally change ourselves for one of two reasons: inspiration or desperation." -- Jim Rohn
A pirate walks into a bar with a paper towel on his head. The bartender says, "What's with the paper towel?"
The pirate says, "Arrr! I've got a Bounty on me head!"
If you have a guest room, before guests arrive or just to keep the bed fresh when unused, tuck several fabric softener sheets under the bottom sheet to keep it smelling nice.
A student from Korea was complaining about how difficult it is to learn the English language. He felt that American idioms were particularly difficult to comprehend. He said that he had studied English for nine years in preparation for attending the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. On his first day at the school, as he was walking across the campus, an American student casually greeted him with, "Hi, What's the good word?" The Korean boy stopped dead in his tracks. He thought to himself: "I don't know the good word! You would have thought that after nine years of studying English, someone would have told me what "˜the good word' was!"
Later, trying to solve this puzzle, he decided to turn the tables and ask an American, "What's the good word?" and listen to his reply. So, approaching a fellow student, he repeated, "Hi! What's the good word?" The quick response was, "Oh, not much. How about you?"
It was obvious that neither of these students knew what the good word was. It's a rather plastic greeting. But I can tell you the good word for today: Christ the Lord is risen. That's the Good Word. And because it is; it says a great deal about our lives.
The national debt
In 1973, the National Debt was approximately $466 billion. That was about $2,200 for every man, woman and child.
Last December, it was approximately $10.7 trillion, a 23-fold increase. And the per capita national debt had risen to nearly $35,000. This year’s budget deficit will raise the debt to approximately $12 trillion.
These total an estimated $52 trillion and the bill will begin to come due in 2011, when the first of the “Baby Boomers” reaches 65.
Sixty-four trillion—about $200,000 per man, woman, and child—and still climbing.
A New Shalom
When Jesus appeared to the disciples, his greeting was, "Peace be unto you." The Hebrew word shalom, for "peace," is a most comprehensive word, covering the full realm of relationships in daily life and expressing an ideal state of life. The word suggests the fullness of well-being and harmony untouched by ill fortune. The word as a blessing is a prayer for the best that God can give to enable a person to complete one's life with happiness and a natural death. If the concept of shalom became all too casual and light-hearted with no more significance than a passing greeting, Jesus came to give it new meaning. At Bethlehem God announced that peace would come through the gift of God's unique Son. The mission and ministry of our Lord made it quite clear that Jesus had come to introduce the rule of God and to order peace for the world.
Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.
"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps." --David Lloyd George
If a man will begin in certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning (1605)
Thomas Jefferson ranks as one of our nations greatest intellects but not many people know that he rejected the notion of miracles. When he approached the scriptures he could not tolerate those passages, which dealt with the supernatural. So what did he do? He wrote his own bible. In the Thomas Jefferson Bible you will find only the moral teachings and historical events of Jesus' life. No virgin birth. No healing of Jairus' daughter. No walking on water. And, no resurrection. Here is how his bible ends: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed."
It is very easy to rewrite history. To say, "that did not happen." But the story remains that the disciples were witnesses to these events. Thomas Jefferson is in essence calling the disciples liars and that they continued throughout the first century, for 70 years, to propagate those lies. Furthermore, Jefferson's Bible has been robbed of its power. I am convinced that the church does not accomplish 2000 years of life inside the walls of a closed dark sepulcher. There is no power in that dark place; rather, the Church is alive because He is alive forevermore.
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up: It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning, the lion wakes up: It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle: When the sun comes up, you'd better be running.
When your feet hit the floor running in the morning what motivates you? Fear or a sense of mission?
Winston Churchill had planned his funeral, which took place in Saint Paul's Cathedral. He included many of the great hymns of the church, and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul's, intoned, after the benediction, the sound of Taps, the universal signal that says the day is over. But then came the most dramatic turn: As Churchill instructed, as soon as Taps was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of Reveille - It's time to get up. It's time to get up. It's time to get up in the morning. That was Churchill's testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be Taps; it will be Reveille. The worst things are never the last things.
On Knowledge
The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.
Harry S. Truman (1884 - 1972) 33rd President of the U.S.
It ain't so much the things we don't know that get us into trouble.
It's the things we know that just ain't so. Artemus Ward (1834 - 1867)
"In real life, of course, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case, it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market."
Don't tell me that worry doesn't do any good. I know better. The things I worry about don't happen.
Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.
Life without a mission is a tremendous omission.
"Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are." -- James Allen
"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." -- Marla Jones
"There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men." -- Billy Graham
"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up." -- Paul Valery
"What we see depends mainly on what we look for." -- John Lubbock
Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of someone else." -- Judy Garland
"Conversion without discipleship is openly implied in much of our evangelical teaching. It has become strangely possible to be Christ's without taking up the cross." - C. D. Alexander
Too often are we so preoccupied with the destination, we forget the journey.
A woman in our diet club was lamenting that she had gained weight. She'd made her family's favorite cake over the weekend, she reported, and they'd eaten half of it at dinner.
The next day, she said, she kept staring at the other half, until finally she cut a thin slice for herself. One slice led to another, and soon the whole cake was gone. The woman went on to tell us how upset she was with her lack of willpower, and how she knew her husband would be disappointed.
Everyone commiserated, until someone asked what her husband said when he found out. She smiled. "He never found out. I made another cake and ate half!"
On the Lighter Side
Once Winston Churchill received an invitation from George Bernard Shaw to one of his opening plays back in the early 1900s. The note read, "Enclosed are two tickets to the performance of a play of mine. Bring a friend--if you have one."
Churchill sent back this reply: "Dear GBS, I thank you very much for the invitation and tickets. Unfortunately, I am engaged on that night, but could I have tickets for the second night?--if there is one."
Where Diplomas Don't Count
At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in." Hungry not only for bread--but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing--but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a home of bricks--but homeless because of rejection. Mother Teresa
"We generally change ourselves for one of two reasons: inspiration or desperation." -- Jim Rohn
A pirate walks into a bar with a paper towel on his head. The bartender says, "What's with the paper towel?"
The pirate says, "Arrr! I've got a Bounty on me head!"
If you have a guest room, before guests arrive or just to keep the bed fresh when unused, tuck several fabric softener sheets under the bottom sheet to keep it smelling nice.
A student from Korea was complaining about how difficult it is to learn the English language. He felt that American idioms were particularly difficult to comprehend. He said that he had studied English for nine years in preparation for attending the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. On his first day at the school, as he was walking across the campus, an American student casually greeted him with, "Hi, What's the good word?" The Korean boy stopped dead in his tracks. He thought to himself: "I don't know the good word! You would have thought that after nine years of studying English, someone would have told me what "˜the good word' was!"
Later, trying to solve this puzzle, he decided to turn the tables and ask an American, "What's the good word?" and listen to his reply. So, approaching a fellow student, he repeated, "Hi! What's the good word?" The quick response was, "Oh, not much. How about you?"
It was obvious that neither of these students knew what the good word was. It's a rather plastic greeting. But I can tell you the good word for today: Christ the Lord is risen. That's the Good Word. And because it is; it says a great deal about our lives.
The national debt
In 1973, the National Debt was approximately $466 billion. That was about $2,200 for every man, woman and child.
Last December, it was approximately $10.7 trillion, a 23-fold increase. And the per capita national debt had risen to nearly $35,000. This year’s budget deficit will raise the debt to approximately $12 trillion.
These total an estimated $52 trillion and the bill will begin to come due in 2011, when the first of the “Baby Boomers” reaches 65.
Sixty-four trillion—about $200,000 per man, woman, and child—and still climbing.
A New Shalom
When Jesus appeared to the disciples, his greeting was, "Peace be unto you." The Hebrew word shalom, for "peace," is a most comprehensive word, covering the full realm of relationships in daily life and expressing an ideal state of life. The word suggests the fullness of well-being and harmony untouched by ill fortune. The word as a blessing is a prayer for the best that God can give to enable a person to complete one's life with happiness and a natural death. If the concept of shalom became all too casual and light-hearted with no more significance than a passing greeting, Jesus came to give it new meaning. At Bethlehem God announced that peace would come through the gift of God's unique Son. The mission and ministry of our Lord made it quite clear that Jesus had come to introduce the rule of God and to order peace for the world.
Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.
"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps." --David Lloyd George
If a man will begin in certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning (1605)
Thomas Jefferson ranks as one of our nations greatest intellects but not many people know that he rejected the notion of miracles. When he approached the scriptures he could not tolerate those passages, which dealt with the supernatural. So what did he do? He wrote his own bible. In the Thomas Jefferson Bible you will find only the moral teachings and historical events of Jesus' life. No virgin birth. No healing of Jairus' daughter. No walking on water. And, no resurrection. Here is how his bible ends: "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulcher and departed."
It is very easy to rewrite history. To say, "that did not happen." But the story remains that the disciples were witnesses to these events. Thomas Jefferson is in essence calling the disciples liars and that they continued throughout the first century, for 70 years, to propagate those lies. Furthermore, Jefferson's Bible has been robbed of its power. I am convinced that the church does not accomplish 2000 years of life inside the walls of a closed dark sepulcher. There is no power in that dark place; rather, the Church is alive because He is alive forevermore.
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up: It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning, the lion wakes up: It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle: When the sun comes up, you'd better be running.
When your feet hit the floor running in the morning what motivates you? Fear or a sense of mission?
Winston Churchill had planned his funeral, which took place in Saint Paul's Cathedral. He included many of the great hymns of the church, and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul's, intoned, after the benediction, the sound of Taps, the universal signal that says the day is over. But then came the most dramatic turn: As Churchill instructed, as soon as Taps was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of Reveille - It's time to get up. It's time to get up. It's time to get up in the morning. That was Churchill's testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be Taps; it will be Reveille. The worst things are never the last things.
On Knowledge
The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.
Harry S. Truman (1884 - 1972) 33rd President of the U.S.
It ain't so much the things we don't know that get us into trouble.
It's the things we know that just ain't so. Artemus Ward (1834 - 1867)
"In real life, of course, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case, it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market."
Don't tell me that worry doesn't do any good. I know better. The things I worry about don't happen.
Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.
Life without a mission is a tremendous omission.
posted by joypastordon at 11:05 PM
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