Facing Things Head On

Do you have to be right?

2009-05-07T04:29:00.000-07:00

The May 6 entry in the devotional ‘My Utmost for His Highest’ by Oswald Chambers points out an interesting truth that addresses a problem I have had (and maybe still do) and I know some people at our church have.

Although I am not sure those people think this is a problem for them, they think their brand of Christianity is the only way.

What would Jesus call that? I think this is like James and John wanting to sit on either side of Jesus in Mark 10:35-45. Obviously they thought they were the only ones worthy of this, but to be worthy you have to believe you are the only one who is right.

Brothers and sisters who or what are you focusing on?
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‘A spiritually-minded person will never come to you with the demand— "Believe this and that"; a spiritually-minded person will demand that you align your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One whom the Bible reveals (see John 5:39-40 ). We are called to present liberty for the conscience of others, not to bring them liberty for their thoughts and opinions. And if we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty— the liberty that comes from realizing the absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.

Always measure your life solely by the standards of Jesus. Submit yourself to His yoke, and His alone; and always be careful never to place a yoke on others that is not of Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us to stop thinking that unless everyone sees things exactly as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only one true liberty— the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.’

Don’t get impatient with others. Remember how God dealt with you— with patience and with gentleness. But never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, "Go . . . and make disciples. . ." ( Matthew 28:19 ), not, "Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions."

Dealing with enemies

2009-05-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

This is a response to my wife’s blog Krack Up where she talks about enemies. Go to http://krack-up.com/blog/

I think what Jesus is trying to teach us is not only how important it is to love others but also that we will have to change in order to love our enemies or people we just don’t plain like.

Being a Christian and following Jesus means having to change your thoughts, your beliefs and your actions. Remember what Jesus told the rich young ruler? And what did the RYR do? He either couldn’t or wouldn’t change.

I think if he was smart he would have realized he could have given up the wealth, become a Christ follower and then earned it back with a new belief, a new attitude taught to him by Jesus. But even if he didn’t earn it back his life would have been so much better with Christ.

Those who won’t change are those who haven’t come to the end of themselves and they believe what they think and do is more important than what Jesus says.

Following Jesus is a process and goes way beyond believing, repenting and being baptized. Come on take some more step toward Jesus and live the way he wants you to.

You can do it.

Denominations for $200

2009-04-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Could you handle it?

2009-04-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

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/

What do the words mean?

2009-04-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

“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.

How much is enough?

2009-04-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

‘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

Iron Sharpens Iron

2009-04-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

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.

Whose will?

2009-04-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

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?

More Chicken!

2009-04-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

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?

Compensation

2009-04-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

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.

lie Phone

2009-03-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

I saw a commercial the other evening during one of the NCAA playoff games for the iPhone that was promoting the apps available for the iPhone. I believe they stated that they have apps available for almost everything.

For some reason the thought entered my head that I bet they don’t have an app for lying. An app that would help you to tell if someone is lying when they talk to you on your iPhone.

Think of the uses
· Have your teenagers only talk to you on the iphone about their homework, friends, drugs, alcohol, sex and all kinds of stuff.

· Ask your spouse about what happened to the great gift you gave to him / her

· Ask someone you are dating if they are seeing anyone else

· Ask your boss for a promotion or a raise.

But the best thing about this app is that it doesn’t work the opposite way so that no one will know when you are lying.

These features would make it a best seller, don't ya think?

Patience Grasshopper

2009-03-24T10:32:00.001-07:00

Have you ever seen yourself in public? Were you proud or embarrassed?

Like many things in life you have to know yourself. First you have to get to a point where you can honestly assess yourself and your good and bad points. Then be willing to admit where you are good and where you need to improve. I know lots of people who can’t / won’t get past this stage.

I witnessed two situations in the last few weeks where I saw myself as I used to be.

#1 – I was in line in a convenience store and the guy ahead of me was rung up and he asked the young clerk what he owed. She didn’t speak but pointed at the screen to indicate the amount. He didn’t understand and asked again what he owed and she pointed again at the screen. I said to him that the amount was on the screen.

He then said to the clerk why didn’t you tell me what I owed instead of pointing. She said something inaudible to me and he immediately stepped aside and began apologizing over and over. While she processed my items he continued to apologize.

#2 – During the same week I was in a department store in the evening where I noticed a number of people in line to check out as I approached the check out area. I picked a line and started to watch to see if any other check out areas were being opened up so I could move to a different line to shorten my wait. This store will add and subtract clerks, as the customer load requires.

The guy ahead of me in line acted impatiently and began to move around to see if another area was open and when he realized it wasn’t he came back in line. I let him get back where he was as I sensed he was a little upset.

As he was moving back to his spot in line he looked at me and said something like this is ridiculous. Can you believe this? I didn’t say anything.

I did think that in both cases I used to be like both of these guys and in many cases worse. Since I have tried to be more like Christ and have asked him to help me to be like him I don’t have as many instances similar to those above like I used to.

And I am a lot happier!

A Man Definition

2009-03-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

According to Robert Lewis in the Men’s Fraternity book, ‘The Quest for Authentic Manhood’, a real man is one who:

· Rejects passivity
· Accepts responsibility
· Leads courageously
· Expects the greater reward, God’s reward

Would the people who know you best, your family and close friends, say that this describes you?

Only you can change that but by asking God he will help you become this man.

Control

2009-03-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

I just got done watching the Louisville vs Siena Collegeville Basketball game. Siena had a real chance to win a game they weren’t expected to win.

Siena had a lot of opportunities at the end of the game but got impatient and out of control. It’s hard to do anything effectively when you are out of control.

Whose side is he on?

2008-12-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

Lots of discussion today on talk radio about Rick Warren of Saddleback Church betraying the Pro Life cause by accepting the invitation to deliver the invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration.

How do you see this?

Leaders Read

2008-11-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

In the ‘Leadership Wired’ newsletter of 11/24/08, Justin Pinkerman addresses the topic of reading and the influence it has on leaders.

The title of the piece is: Ideas - Vehicles from Present to Future

“Precious few leaders invest time to read books and extract ideas from them - to the detriment of the organizations they lead. Authors spend countless days fine-tuning their ideas into paragraphs and chapters before publishing them as a book. Yet, in a matter of a few hours, a leader can access and absorb those ideas. In turn, leaders can apply new found ideas in their strategy, systems, and organizational dynamics to positively alter the course of their business.

If you doubt the power of a written idea, consider this intellectual progression: Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophical writings on self-reliance informed and inspired a young man named Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau's application of self-reliance to social injustice prompted him to pen an essay entitled "Resistance to Civil Government". Halfway around the world, Ghandi read Thoreau's essay, and it motivated him to organize India's peaceful protest of Britain's imperial rule. Decades later, Martin Luther King, Jr. would draw encouragement and strength from the writings of Ghandi as he coordinated non-violent resistance to the oppressive systems of racism in America.”

I have found that reading provides insight into living and leading. Your knowledge base expands as well as your ability to relate with and converse with many types of people. Do yourself a favor and read, or read more, and you will become a better leader.

Be Interested

2008-11-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

Jim Collins, the author of ‘Good to Great’, was a speaker at this year’s Catalyst Conference.

One of Jim’s mentors gave him what he said was good advice.

“It’s better to be interested than interesting.”

Ask yourself, why would someone be interested in you if you don’t take the time to be interested in them?

How do they know that you aren’t interested in them, you ask? They notice that you don’t stop talking about yourself and what interests you.

It’s never too late to change. Your whole life can change if you start to get interested in others. You will have more friends and followers than you ever could have imagined. Your marriage and your relationship with your kids can improve.

If you are or want to be a leader, you can’t afford not to be interested in the people on your team.

Do you trust facts or hopes?

2008-11-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

Michael Crichton, who died this week, addressed the issue of consensus and science in an address at the California Institute of Technology in 2003. Crichton attended Harvard and Harvard Medical School and was a successful writer and director (ER and Jurassic Park).

Crichton raises some interesting questions and challenges us to trust science based on analytical methods and not on opinions or hopes.

“I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had.

Let's be clear: The work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.

There is no such thing as consensus science. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period. . . .

I would remind you to notice where the claim of consensus is invoked. Consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough. Nobody says the consensus of scientists agrees that E=mc2. Nobody says the consensus is that the sun is 93 million miles away. It would never occur to anyone to speak that way. . . .

To an outsider, the most significant innovation in the global warming controversy is the overt reliance that is being placed on models. Back in the days of nuclear winter, computer models were invoked to add weight to a conclusion: "These results are derived with the help of a computer model." But now large-scale computer models are seen as generating data in themselves. No longer are models judged by how well they reproduce data from the real world -- increasingly, models provide the data. As if they were themselves a reality. And indeed they are, when we are projecting forward. There can be no observational data about the year 2100. There are only model runs.

This fascination with computer models is something I understand very well. Richard Feynman called it a disease. I fear he is right. Because only if you spend a lot of time looking at a computer screen can you arrive at the complex point where the global warming debate now stands.

Nobody believes a weather prediction twelve hours ahead. Now we're asked to believe a prediction that goes out 100 years into the future? And make financial investments based on that prediction? Has everybody lost their minds?”

See the piece at the following link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122603134258207975.ht

You Say It's Your Birthday

2008-11-06T05:19:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday DK!

I love You.

E

Say Thanks

2008-10-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought about what makes people unhappy. There are probably a lot of things we could look at and discuss.

But I think a big part of unhappiness is not being thankful.

If you can get to the point where you can thank God every day for everything in your life, especially Him, your life will be different. You will realize that God is the source of everything.

Living for God helps us realize that all of life's circumstances are temporary and we will eventually be with Him in a place we cannot imagine.

Read what Paul said in Philippians 1:20-22

Whose story is it?

2008-10-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

I received a call today from someone who was asked to participate in a ministry area that would involve teaching and leading. At the same time he was interested in being part of another ministry area doing something he really enjoyed. He pursued the latter situation but it didn’t work out for numerous reasons.

He explained to me that leading and teaching are two of his gifts and this is something he wants to do. He was reminded by his family that he has done this previously and has done it well. Because of these circumstances he recognizes God at work in his life.

Interestingly those of us who lead like to take credit for all kinds of stuff that may not be totally the result of our efforts. I am not referring to the person who called me but to many people who pray for God to work in their ministry area and then seem to forget when God delivers.

How many times have we taken the time to pray and ask God to bless us and guide us in our efforts but when the result we desire occurs we want to take the credit? It’s kinda like we want God to do the heavy lifting and make everything work out so we can take the credit.

I think God is just using us to achieve His ends and because we are human we use our human senses to try to understand Godly things and automatically take the credit. We need to continuously ask God to help us see things as He does so we can better understand how He is working and not look for the credit ourselves.

Let’s continue to talk with God but let’s acknowledge God working.

Independent Choices

2008-10-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

I came across an interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal on Independent voters. It got me to thinking about my post of a few days ago titled ‘Message to Independents’.

John Avlon, who is the author of ‘Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics,’ wrote a piece titled ‘What Independent Voters Want.’ See the link below.

Avlon states, ‘For Americans who’ve grown accustomed to hundreds of cable channels and unlimited choices on the Internet, politics is the last place people are expected to be satisfied with a choice between Brand A and Brand B’.

I wonder if the Independents can make the distinction between the candidates. One will encourage choices through the market system. The other wants more government spending and control and that usually results in less choices.

It should be interesting to see the outcome.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122445963016248615.html

Are you confused?

2008-10-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday one of the VP candidates made this statement.

‘It’s one three letter word – JOBS!’

Although this is funny, depending on your party affiliation, it helps to point out something we overlook. It seems so many people pay more attention to the words people use rather than the actions they manifest.

Politicians are great at using words to explain away things so they appear to be innocent or in fact on the other side of an issue than they have previously stated.

‘Before I voted against it I voted for it.’

If we only base our decisions on what people say rather than on what people do, we will make a lot of mistakes. A word that describes the harmony between what someone says and does is congruence.

People get credibility and have influence as a leader by doing what they say they will do. Andy Stanley, in the book Visioneering, calls this Moral Authority. If there is a difference between your actions and your words people may vote for you but you will have difficulty getting them to trust you and follow you if you are their leader.

But I think the reason politicians continue this type of behavior is because they think they can continually talk themselves out of any situation, especially the situations that will cost them power and or money. And if others go along with the charade it makes it appear all right.

I think we get the politicians we deserve because we don’t demand more from them, not in government giveaways but in their behaviors. Could it be because we don’t demand enough of ourselves?

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time trusting politicians who say something different than what they do. I am always questioning why they can’t do what the say or why they don’t say what they do.

This has been a problem throughout history.

Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon

2008-10-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have developed an interest in the Tampa Bay Rays for a number of reasons. They have not been winners in the past, their Manager, Joe Maddon, is from my home town and he has a somewhat unconventional approach to the game.

Following are some excerpts from a USA Today piece on 9/23/2008:

‘Joe Maddon might intentionally walk your best hitter with the bases loaded. He might use five outfielders against you. He most certainly won't shy away from breaking with tradition if he thinks it will help his Tampa Bay Rays win.

The manager of baseball's surprise team is an out-of-the-box thinker who insists he doesn't make those decisions by the seat of his pants. The seat of a bicycle is another story.

An avid rider, Maddon often cruises around major league cities trying to conjure ways for the Rays to win. This season it has worked, as he has managed Tampa Bay to its first winning season and playoff berth in its 11 seasons.

"It's therapeutic," Maddon says. "Managing definitely is a passion. But bike riding (is), too, if that makes any sense."

Maddon, who turned 54 the day before the Rays clinched their playoff spot Saturday, has been waiting for this moment longer than the fans — 31 years in the Angels organization before he became Tampa Bay manager in 2006; since he was a 6-year-old in blue-collar Hazleton, Pa., where his fiercely proud 75-year-old mom still works at the Third Base Luncheonette.

He's a wine connoisseur and a voracious reader; a student and tinkerer of everything from baseball to the human psyche. And that combination, unusual as it might seem in a locker room, all comes together during his rides.

"When I'm able to ride, I feel a lot freer in my thinking," Maddon says.

"Free thinker" is how Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia describes his former bench coach of six years, with whom he won a World Series in 2002. "If Joe wasn't in baseball, he would have been an incredible engineer," Scioscia says. "He's always looking at things from the perspective of, 'Let me break it down and see if there's a better way to do it.' "

That could mean positioning five players in the outfield against the Red Sox's David Ortiz or intentionally walking the Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton with the bases loaded. It could mean daring Rays pitcher Scott Kazmir to try to hang a slider. It could mean trying to persuade players and coaches to read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

"I thought I was doing stuff by the seat of my pants," Maddon says of how Blink changed him. "All that stuff I thought about on bike rides gets all stirred up in a vat. That's what instinct is."
Perhaps Maddon's greatest skill is his ability to feed players the heavy stuff and not lose them.

"He's a genius and a good guy," designated hitter Cliff Floyd says.’

Link to the USA Today article:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/rays/2008-09-22-rays-maddon_N.htm

Advice for Parents

2008-10-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

What do young people want from us as an older generation?

This is a question posed in an article written by Billy Graham titled ‘From One Generation to the Next’ which appeared in the July / August 2008 issue of the magazine titled ‘decision’.

He then went on to list eight points.

They want, first of all, to be loved
Youth want to be recognized as persons
Young people want to be trusted
Young people want to be accepted
Young people want to be listened to
Young people want their parents to forgive them
Young people also want authority
They want a faith they can believe

Billy also intersperses some advice for parents in the article.

Nothing is more provoking to a child than parents who don’t trust him.

When parents have confidence in a child, the child in turn will have confidence in the parents

Parents are great on giving advice without hearing the problem. Listen to your teenager.

Never hold a grudge. Parents, forgive your young people; young people, forgive your parents.

Parents, don’t ever give up praying for your children.

Young people need the security of authority. They need discipline and sometimes chastening.

Young people want a challenge. They want a flag to follow. Christ can provide it all.