Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Michael Todd, from his book, Crazy Faith.  (p. 4). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Michael continues this thought, "(Okay, sometimes more than five minutes. But a lot can change in a very short amount of time.) Once we recognize that, it’s reasonable to acknowledge that many things that seem crazy to us right now could be normal in the future. Your student loan debt erased or your six-figure mortgage paid off seems crazy. Doctors going up to the ICU to tell the uncle you’ve been praying for that he’s cancer free and can go home seems crazy. The thought of your entire family accepting salvation and living for Christ sounds crazy. Getting your ten-year sobriety chip after abusing substances for decades sounds crazy. Leaving an inheritance of wealth for your great-grandchildren after you grew up in poverty seems crazy. Recovering from what seems like an unending downward spiral of depression to w...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 45). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is important to know. Erwin continues, "Genius is a form of stewardship. To unlock your genius, you must choose to bear the weight of great responsibility. When Mary asked Jesus why he had gone to the Temple, his answer reflected a nonnegotiable intention: 'Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?' He must be there. He must do this. This was not optional. This was his purpose." Erwin says, "There were many things Jesus did not come to do. He did not solve all the world’s problems or remove corrupt leaders from their positions. There were many things, too, that Jesus did, but that were not his purpose. He did heal the sick, but he did not heal all the sick. He came to save humanity from itself. He came to do what no one else could do. In this way, all manifes...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 42). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) We always, it seems, want to give answers but it's in our questions where we really find ourselves and learn? Erwin says, "For three days Jesus sat there, deep in conversation with experts on the Torah and the teachers of the Law. These men had spent their entire lives studying the ancient text we know as the scriptures. They were also the stewards of the over 613 laws that had been added to the Law and the Prophets, dictating the Israelites’ behavior and everyday lives. We are told that Jesus sat among these great teachers for days, listening to them and asking them questions. It is one thing for a twelve-year-old to have information memorized by rote repetition. It’s quite another for him to understand the complexity of the material well enough to ask meaningful questions." He continues...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 32). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)  That is a very interesting and challenging thought. Erwin continues, "The question that demands to be answered is: Where did it go, and what would you be willing to do to reawaken the genius within you?" He says, "I’ve interviewed countless people and taken hundreds of informal surveys while speaking to audiences around the world. When I ask a room, 'How many of you would describe yourselves as creative geniuses?' the number of people who answer affirmatively is usually less than 1 percent. Ninety-nine percent of the room consider themselves uncreative, and at best wish they were creative like those they admire. "I usually ask a follow-up question: 'How many of you would consider yourselves linguistic savants?' The number who say they do is even less than 1 percent....

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 26). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) So that is a necessary place to start. Erwin continues this thought, "If we can understand the origins of genius, we might discover how to replicate it for ourselves. Put another way, we can ask: What does a genius do instinctively that we could begin to do intentionally?" They can do it! He says, "I discovered the critical relationship of the loss of divergent thinking in adulthood and its detrimental impact in every discipline of life while working with universities to develop master’s and doctoral programs, consulting with CEOs and entrepreneurs, doing life coaching with professional athletes and sports leagues, and consulting with churches and denominations. According to one study, at least 95 percent of children are divergent thinkers before the age of twelve. In other words, we are...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 26). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) So true, so very true. Erwin says, "It is one thing when genius gives us new music, a new art form or technology, or a great advancement in science or medicine. But while genius can give us a better world to live in, it almost never makes us better, kinder, more compassionate, more honorable, more courageous, more humane." He continues, "I think of the phrase we often use as an excuse for our worst behavior: 'Well, I’m only human.' Our history as a species is riddled with love and hate, with compassion and violence, with betrayal and loyalty, with bitterness and forgiveness. All these are equally the human story. The tragedy is that somewhere along the line, the worst expressions of our nature became the norm and the best of us became lost in ideals. Religion told us we were all ...

  A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 24). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Maybe this is true of you. Erwin continues, "Frankly, a huge reason I am compelled to believe is because of who I was, who I have become, and who I am still becoming. My high school English literature teacher told me not to bother going to college because I would never make it. Forty years later I am the author of ten books, have won awards as a writer, and have received a doctorate in humane letters. I didn’t have a future before my encounter with Jesus. Now, for more than thirty-five years, I have traveled the world and made a living as a futurist consulting with corporations and coaching CEOs, entrepreneurs, and leaders from the business world, professional sports, and higher education." A caterpillar to a butterfly He then says, "I am convinced that my life is the outcome of th...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 20). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) This is good. Erwin continues, "I fully believe in the divinity of Jesus and in the historical accuracy of all the scriptures. I believe God stepped into human history, took on flesh and blood, and walked among us, and that his name is Jesus. It doesn’t lessen my fascination with the humanity of Jesus. Neither does it diminish his genius." He says, "If you are a person of faith, it may feel offensive to you to explore Jesus’s genius apart from his divinity. But I believe that we have for too long attributed all that Jesus did, and all that he was, to his divine nature. Other than convincing us of his divinity, I wonder, what can we learn from the Jesus who walked on water, fed thousands with only five fish and two loaves of bread, and healed the sick? Could it be that our fixation on the...

  A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 18). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Erwin goes on, "Or maybe, Jesus made me human again. "The data goes far beyond my own personal experience. For more than two thousand years, millions of people across the world have been transformed through their faith in Jesus Christ. If you were a cultural anthropologist looking to examine this phenomenon from a purely scientific perspective, you would have a massive sample size. The control group stretches across all of modern history, every economic and educational stratum, and virtually every culture across the face of the earth." He says, "Academics even have a term for how a culture is transformed through belief in Jesus Christ: 'redemption and lift.' In his book Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind , economist Lawrence E. Harrison observed how the Christian mindset...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 16). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Good, good, what are they? Unbelievable! Erwin says, "Genius sees what no one has seen and hears what no one has heard. It explains what could not be understood, creates what could not be imagined. Whatever the genius does with their talents, they do it better than it has ever been done—and, more often than not, make it look easy while doing it." He continues, "If I were to make a short list of what marks a genius, I would say: They are heretical. They are original. They are transformative in their field. They are extremist. "They are heretical in that they violate the status quo and challenge our most deeply held beliefs and values. They are original in that they see the world from a perspective that has never existed before. They are transformative in that their lives become a mar...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book, The Genius of Jesus   (p. 7). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Genius, maybe there is something here to challenge us. Erwin says, "The word 'genius' is expressive of the capacity to be generative. The genius gives birth to something new. The genius creates. The mark of true genius is that the impossible becomes possible. The unknowable becomes knowable. The invisible becomes visible. The genius speaks the future into existence. Genius expresses itself in every domain in which humans create. Wherever there is a field of human accomplishment, there is potential for the expression of genius." He goes on, "The genius does not always have the highest IQ, the best education, or even the most comprehensive knowledge of their field. But their combination of originality, imagination, creativity, perspective, passion, and intelligence merge together to ...

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 122). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) So, why did He? Charles says, "His miracles provided relief from pain and fear, and taught of a God who cares deeply about the suffering of people and who heals for free. Jesus performed many more miracles than are described in the Gospels (John 20:30), and His motivation for them was nothing more than compassion." He goes on, "Viewing His miracles as a whole, the astonishing power of Jesus should be a source of comfort. The matters we or the world might consider trivial, He cares about and wants to remedy. He longs to relieve our worries and has promised to supply our most fundamental needs. He has taken dominion over illness, tragedy, chaos, and death. And His power is not limited by time, distance, superstition, prejudice, or even the forces of evil. He taught by way of His miracles of r...

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 108). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Ok, so what does he mean? Charles says, "This is the notion that ancient people were habitually superstitious and automatically looked for a supernatural explanation for anything that baffled them. They viewed the world differently, but they were neither stupid nor easily deceived." He continues, "Today, reasonable people exist in an uncomfortable tension between the dogma of science, which denies the existence of the supernatural, and the fanaticism of some television evangelists who peddle it for donations. And for those unwilling to suspend belief, the supernatural exhibitions of faith healers aren’t very convincing. They perform their illusions in very controlled environments, and the 'healings' are either limited to mild improvements or they claim results that are difficult to ...

Swindoll, Charles R.. Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series) (p. 105). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.   A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 105). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) It is so easy for us to panic isn't it? Charles says, "Very often we leap into action and apply a familiar fix without considering unseen issues or lasting consequences." He then says, "The next time a financial emergency pops up and you’re short on cash, think about this tendency before you reach for the credit card or ask for a loan. Could it be that you’re denying God the opportunity to provide for you in His way and at a time He deems appropriate? What if you were to pray and present your need to Him in humble submission . . . and then wait ?" Now that is a very good thought, isn't it? Yes, yes! #continuethought

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 100). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is so true? Charles says, "Or, as the Mark Twain character Pudd’nhead Wilson put it, 'Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.' Many in the scientific community see faith as holding a belief that either contradicts or ignores reason. But that’s not what I call faith. That’s stupidity!" Charles goes on, "Faith does not run contrary to evidence; faith goes beyond evidence. Faith doesn’t ignore reason, but faith doesn’t wait upon it either. Faith is merely a choice to trust, something we do every day. Go to the airport and at any given moment you’ll see a group of people board an aircraft—eighty tons of metal and wire assembled by the lowest bidder, maintained by people they’ve never seen, and flown by people they don’t know. Yet they buckle up and settle in by the thousands...

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 90). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) It really is. Charles says, "It embodies almost every attractive quality we hope to find in others. Grace is a gift of the humble to the humiliated. Grace acknowledges the ugliness of sin by choosing to see beyond it. Grace accepts a person as someone worthy of kindness despite whatever grime or hard-shell casing keeps him or her separated from the rest of the world. Grace is a gift of tender mercy when it makes the least sense." He goes on, "The Old Testament Hebrews knew grace as chesed , which described God’s unrelenting, overabundant love for people, despite their unfaithfulness. The ancient Greeks understood grace, or charis , as 'that which brings delight, joy, happiness, or good fortune.' (1) Grace begets grace, and Jesus radiated this quality. His invitation, 'Come to Me...

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 87). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Yes, He has. Charles says, "Religion says, Work more. Try harder. Do this. Don’t do that. Give until you have no more. God isn’t yet pleased with you. Push, push, harder, longer! Jesus looked into the hearts of exhausted, overburdened, anxious, stressed-out people and offered a better way." Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28–30 Later Charles says,  "Jesus said, in today’s terms, 'Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—...

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 80). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is an interesting thought. Charles says, "All you need is a visible institution to embody the beliefs of the people you want to control and the credibility to determine who can be in and who should remain out. If someone believes you hold his or her eternal destiny in your hands, you can make him or her believe almost anything, want almost anything, do almost anything. Some of the world’s greatest evils have been accomplished by people who believed that what they were doing—however horrific or inhuman—was good and right, based on their religion. A classic example is 9/11." He continues, "In first-century Israel, two primary groups vied for religious control over Israel, which kept them locked in a symbiotic, love-hate relationship with each other. The aristocratic Sadducees occupied the...

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 76). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Now this is what Christ offers to us. Charles says, "And while abundant life has profound implications beyond the grave, Jesus gave every indication that it also has practical relevance here and now. As I reflect on the kind of life He offers, I find four tangible qualities." He goes on, " Soaring . Life . . . as God intended it enables us to live above the drag of fear, superstition, shame, pessimism, guilt, anxiety, worry, and all the negativity that keeps people from seizing each day as a gift from Him. The abundant life allows a person to start the day by saying, 'Lord, I’m Yours. Today is Yours. I give You all of my problems as I begin this new day. I know I’ll struggle and grope, and I may even stumble, but I know You are with me and You will use every experience of my life to incr...

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book,  Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series)   (p. 71). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Ok, let's hear what he says. Charles says, "Certainly the mother plays a necessary role and the doctor helps, but let’s face facts: we call birth a miracle because God alone makes it happen. And what about the role of the baby? What does the baby contribute to his or her own birth? Nothing. "Birth from above, as with physical birth, is not something that can be earned, deserved, or worked for. You can’t pray long and hard to receive it. You can’t clean up your life enough to make it possible. And you don’t join a church to be born from above. All of that is just as nonsensical as a baby saying that he decided to form himself within his mother’s womb." Earlier he said, "Nicodemus, one of Israel’s great theological and philosophical minds, struggled to comprehend the kind of life Jesu...