What fascinates me is how many people think that only they have the right answer to following Christ or being a Christian. To the point of being Pharisees.
Just this past week I heard that someone was not attending the right Bible Study.
What strikes me is that when Jesus recruited the disciples all He said was 'follow me'. I think if it was important what denomination or group you belonged to or who was your mentor He would have called that out almost immediately.
What if you don’t have the right answer when you get to Heaven and Jesus asks you what denomination you belonged to, or what group you were part of or who was your mentor? So if you don’t get that right you don’t get in?
I think the people who think they are the only ones with the right answers for Christianity may be keeping people away from Jesus. I don't want to have to answer for that one.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Could you handle it?
This past Tuesday I saw a documentary / movie titled ‘The Human Experience’ at Penn State that talked about life issues that disadvantaged people face from the homeless in New York City, children that are in need of care in Peru, HIV Aids infected people in Ghana and a leper colony in Africa have to deal with.
It was informative and moving but what it showed was that life is happening all over the world and it isn’t always good. Our reaction is critical to dealing with the bad hands that we are dealt.
In the film is seen a young boy in Peru with no arms and only one leg who was energetic and enthusiastic and didn’t complain. The same can be said for a man at the leper hospital. No complaints. No whining.
The film team, all in their late teens and early tenties at the time, went with the idea that they may be able to help the people who are disadvantaged and in need but many times they stated that those who appeared to have the problem or the handicap actually taught the members of the film team more.
The one thing that stands out and was heard was how important that faith is.
Makes you want to ask yourself - how strong is your faith?
You should check it out!
http://www.grassrootsfilms.com/
It was informative and moving but what it showed was that life is happening all over the world and it isn’t always good. Our reaction is critical to dealing with the bad hands that we are dealt.
In the film is seen a young boy in Peru with no arms and only one leg who was energetic and enthusiastic and didn’t complain. The same can be said for a man at the leper hospital. No complaints. No whining.
The film team, all in their late teens and early tenties at the time, went with the idea that they may be able to help the people who are disadvantaged and in need but many times they stated that those who appeared to have the problem or the handicap actually taught the members of the film team more.
The one thing that stands out and was heard was how important that faith is.
Makes you want to ask yourself - how strong is your faith?
You should check it out!
http://www.grassrootsfilms.com/
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
What do the words mean?
“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
- Rudyard Kipling
This quote expresses why we listen to the words that people speak but we ignore the actions of those people. Words can make us feel good just like drugs or alcohol so we will overlook things.
In an interesting piece in the April 15 Wall Street Journal titled ‘War by Any Other Name’ Joe Queenan talks about how people can be manipulated, distracted or even controlled by creating new generic phrases.
Some examples are:
War on Terror is now ‘overseas contingency operation’
Beheadings are now ‘cephalic attrition’
Genocide is now ‘maximum – intensity racial profiling’
Mass murders is now ‘peoples’ liberation army’
Guess what ‘off–site impasse adjustors’ is or ‘the ostensibly malefic’? Look them up at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123958305263912309.html
The purpose is to make the new terms or phrases more acceptable and less offensive. After we use a phrase over and over we become comfortable with it and not as upset by its implications if it doesn’t sound as bad or horrific as the actual act.
If we aren’t careful we can forget what the phrase really means. And maybe we don’t want to be reminded of how bad life can be at times.
Actions speak louder than words is a phrase that will serve us better if we will only take the time to watch what others do and the way they act and then think about what those actions tell us.
Then check out the words they use to see if they describe the act or the action or do they seem like something designed to confuse you or mix up your thinking.
- Rudyard Kipling
This quote expresses why we listen to the words that people speak but we ignore the actions of those people. Words can make us feel good just like drugs or alcohol so we will overlook things.
In an interesting piece in the April 15 Wall Street Journal titled ‘War by Any Other Name’ Joe Queenan talks about how people can be manipulated, distracted or even controlled by creating new generic phrases.
Some examples are:
War on Terror is now ‘overseas contingency operation’
Beheadings are now ‘cephalic attrition’
Genocide is now ‘maximum – intensity racial profiling’
Mass murders is now ‘peoples’ liberation army’
Guess what ‘off–site impasse adjustors’ is or ‘the ostensibly malefic’? Look them up at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123958305263912309.html
The purpose is to make the new terms or phrases more acceptable and less offensive. After we use a phrase over and over we become comfortable with it and not as upset by its implications if it doesn’t sound as bad or horrific as the actual act.
If we aren’t careful we can forget what the phrase really means. And maybe we don’t want to be reminded of how bad life can be at times.
Actions speak louder than words is a phrase that will serve us better if we will only take the time to watch what others do and the way they act and then think about what those actions tell us.
Then check out the words they use to see if they describe the act or the action or do they seem like something designed to confuse you or mix up your thinking.
How much is enough?
‘As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.’
- April 15, 2009 ‘My Utmost for His Highest’ Daily Devotional by Oswald Chambers
http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php
- April 15, 2009 ‘My Utmost for His Highest’ Daily Devotional by Oswald Chambers
http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Iron Sharpens Iron
The local Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference is coming up soon on Saturday, May 2, 2009, in Harleysville, PA at the Branch Creek Community Church.
The conference is based on the scripture: ‘As Iron Sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another’ Proverbs 27:17
Why should you go to a Men’s conference?
So you can learn more and grow closer to God
So you can model what the men you are leading should do to grow
To get around other Christian Men and see their faith and commitment to Christ
To hear specifically what God wants you to hear and learn
To be around men who love God
To be around men who are struggling in their relationship with God
There are many more reasons
When you say that you already know all that stuff, is that God talking or you?
Check the website for more information and also to see the other ISI Conferences going on around the country
http://www.ironsharpensiron.net/conference-details.php?conference=107
Order your tickets now and let me know that you are going.
The conference is based on the scripture: ‘As Iron Sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another’ Proverbs 27:17
Why should you go to a Men’s conference?
So you can learn more and grow closer to God
So you can model what the men you are leading should do to grow
To get around other Christian Men and see their faith and commitment to Christ
To hear specifically what God wants you to hear and learn
To be around men who love God
To be around men who are struggling in their relationship with God
There are many more reasons
When you say that you already know all that stuff, is that God talking or you?
Check the website for more information and also to see the other ISI Conferences going on around the country
http://www.ironsharpensiron.net/conference-details.php?conference=107
Order your tickets now and let me know that you are going.
Whose will?
I have always related well to Charles Stanley because when I hear him speak or read his books I know he has gone through the situations that he is talking about. I started to have a hunger to know God from his teaching and guidance. He is both a model and a mentor as he desires to serve God.
In this short piece from his book, ‘10 Principles for Studying Your Bible’ Stanley relates that he ‘…realized that many times God’s plan is not something we can understand from a human perspective. I had a pressing desire to pray and read His Word.’
‘There was also an emotional churning within me that would not stop. I found great comfort through reading the Psalms and studying how David gave himself completely to the Lord. He held nothing back, and this is exactly what God wanted me to do – give all of myself to Him. Over a few weeks He revealed to me that He was indeed going to move me (to Atlanta from Bartow, Fla.). Even though I did not like the idea, I surrendered myself to Him. And the moment I said yes, the inner churning in my spirit stopped The way I discovered God’s will for my life was through submitting and studying what the Bible had to say about situations similar to my own. The way I learned to obey was through prayer, surrender to God and also by continuing to read about the lives of men and women who gave themselves to be used by God.’
Too many times we try to do it on our own. By depending solely on human solutions and actions we don’t see what God wants for us or what he wants to teach us. And when we only look at things from a human perspective we can’t understand why stuff happens to us.
What is God trying to teach you about yourself and others today so you can live for Him?
In this short piece from his book, ‘10 Principles for Studying Your Bible’ Stanley relates that he ‘…realized that many times God’s plan is not something we can understand from a human perspective. I had a pressing desire to pray and read His Word.’
‘There was also an emotional churning within me that would not stop. I found great comfort through reading the Psalms and studying how David gave himself completely to the Lord. He held nothing back, and this is exactly what God wanted me to do – give all of myself to Him. Over a few weeks He revealed to me that He was indeed going to move me (to Atlanta from Bartow, Fla.). Even though I did not like the idea, I surrendered myself to Him. And the moment I said yes, the inner churning in my spirit stopped The way I discovered God’s will for my life was through submitting and studying what the Bible had to say about situations similar to my own. The way I learned to obey was through prayer, surrender to God and also by continuing to read about the lives of men and women who gave themselves to be used by God.’
Too many times we try to do it on our own. By depending solely on human solutions and actions we don’t see what God wants for us or what he wants to teach us. And when we only look at things from a human perspective we can’t understand why stuff happens to us.
What is God trying to teach you about yourself and others today so you can live for Him?
Friday, April 3, 2009
More Chicken!
Listening to some of the leaders of the more tax and more spend group in Washington it reminds of the story of the fox(es) and the hen house.
To update the story and bring it to current times, the foxes are already in the hen house and they are telling the farmers that they (the farmers) are to blame for the lack of chickens in the hen house.
So the solution the foxes come up with is for the farmers to provide more chickens for the foxes!
It makes perfect sense to the foxes. As long as the foxes’ needs are taken care of everything is fine. Just throw out a few criticisms of the farmers, when they complain, once in awhile for being greedy and uncaring and everything will be ok.
Hey Barney can I have a leg this time?
To update the story and bring it to current times, the foxes are already in the hen house and they are telling the farmers that they (the farmers) are to blame for the lack of chickens in the hen house.
So the solution the foxes come up with is for the farmers to provide more chickens for the foxes!
It makes perfect sense to the foxes. As long as the foxes’ needs are taken care of everything is fine. Just throw out a few criticisms of the farmers, when they complain, once in awhile for being greedy and uncaring and everything will be ok.
Hey Barney can I have a leg this time?
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Compensation
A piece from the book "Goals" by Brian Tracy.
In his famous essay "Compensation," Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that you will always be compensated in life in direct proportion to the value of your contribution. If you want to increase the size of your rewards, you must increase the quality and quantity of your effort. If you want to get more out, you have to put more in. There is no other way.
This applies not only to material and career succes but also to success in relationships. It’s like a savings account. As long as you contribute you will have something to get back. But stop contributing and see what happens when you are looking to get something out.
In his famous essay "Compensation," Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that you will always be compensated in life in direct proportion to the value of your contribution. If you want to increase the size of your rewards, you must increase the quality and quantity of your effort. If you want to get more out, you have to put more in. There is no other way.
This applies not only to material and career succes but also to success in relationships. It’s like a savings account. As long as you contribute you will have something to get back. But stop contributing and see what happens when you are looking to get something out.
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