Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Ed Stetzer in his book,  Christians in the Age of Outrage: How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst (p. xv). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)  It really is, isn't it? Ed continues, "We are living in a day—and this is indeed our moment—when we need to live like Christ, as gospel Christians in the midst of shouting, anger, and hatred. And it’s going to get worse. "To be sure, there is a lot in this world that is outrage inducing. Terrorism, sex trafficking and exploitation, systemic racism, illegal immigration, child poverty, opioid addiction . . . and the list goes on. These issues deserve a measure of outrage, don’t they? They certainly deserve our anger." He goes on, "And this is part of the problem. What do we do when the anger becomes too much? When our righteous indignation at injustice morphs into something completely different? How do we know when righteous ...

A thought by John Eldridge in his book,  Resilient  (p. 34). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) It really is. Earlier John says, "It’s almost shocking when we realize how spun up we’ve been. 'Don’t freak out' is essentially what Jesus was saying. This advice is drilled into every form of military training and survival course—when things get hot, don’t freak out. Keep your cool so you can make good decisions." He says, ". . . a simple, satisfying step is to get your head out of the 'wars and rumors of wars' and back into the story God is telling. For example: the story of God should get more of your 'attention time' than any other media. "If you spend thirty minutes a day consuming what is called news (this includes all social media), then you need to spend more than thirty minutes—maybe twice as much—in the Scriptures or listening to biblical podcasts. Instead of using your downtime to sc...

A thought by John Eldridge in his book,  Resilient  (p. 22). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is very interesting. John continues, "This is one more example of how deeply story is woven into the fabric of reality. "Story is the way we orient ourselves in the world. Story is how we figure things out, bring order and meaning to the events around us. The story we hold to at any given time shapes our perceptions, hopes, and expectations; it gives us a place to stand. In this mad hour on the earth, what story are you telling yourself—or letting others tell you?" He asks, "Is it a political narrative? We just need to get the right people in power!   "Is it a social narrative? The issue is injustice! We need justice!  "Is it about the economy? A new era of prosperity is coming!   "Most importantly, is it the story God is telling?" Good questions. He goes on, "We are living in a story, fr...

A thought by John Eldridge in his book,  Resilient  (p. 13). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is so true but let's go back to set this thought up. Earlier John said, "When the human heart and soul experience month after month of disappointment and loss, death rolls in. Dr. Richard Gunderman described the progressive onset of disillusionment as the accumulation of hundreds or thousands of tiny disappointments, each one hardly noticeable on its own. The loss of hope and dreams suffocates the Primal Drive for Life. He says, "But our God has provision for us! "I know, I know—most of you think that what you need right now is three months at the coast. Walking on the beach, drinks on the deck, and with all my heart I hope you find that. But for most of us, a sabbatical in some gorgeous refuge is not available. What is available is the River of Life, God himself, in ways we have not yet tapped into." He ...

A thought by John Eldridge in his book,  Resilient  (p. 1). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And we do have that longing, don't we? John continues, "It has slumbered in the depths of our souls ever since we lost our true home. For our hearts remember Eden. "Most of the time this beautiful, powerful longing flows like an underground river below the surface of our awareness—so long as we are consoled by some measure of goodness in our lives. While we are enjoying our work, our family, our adventures, or the little pleasures of this world, the longing for things to be good again seems to be placated." He goes on, "But when trials and heartbreaks wash in, the longing rises to the surface like a whale coming up for air, filled with momentum and force. This is especially true after times of severe testing, because during the testing we are rallying. But when the storm subsides, the longing for things to be good ...

A thought by John Eldridge in his book, Resilient  (p. xii). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Let's go back a bit.  In talking about what we have been going through during the Covid-19 pandemic,  John says, "Follow me closely now. To be suddenly stripped of your normal life; to live under the fear of suffering and death; to be bombarded with negative news, kept in a state of constant uncertainty about the future, with no clear view of the finish line; and to lose every human countenance behind a mask—may I point out that this is exactly the torment that terrorist regimes use to break down prisoners psychologically and physically?" He says, "Folks, this had a traumatic effect, and we’ve got to plan for our recovery and find new resilience. " 'At least we can get back to our normal lives,' one friend said. But that’s not true either. I know you want it to be true, but events are converging that preve...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 37). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book. John says, "One of my roles as a motivational teacher is to try to help people reach their potential. For years, I tried to inspire passion in audiences by going about it the wrong way. I used to tell people about what made me passionate, what made me want to get out and do my best. But I could see that it wasn’t having the effect I desired—people just didn’t respond. I couldn’t ignite others’ passion by sharing my own. "I decided to change my focus. Instead of sharing my passion, I started helping others discover their passion. To do that, I ask these questions:  What do you sing about? What do you cry about?  What do you dream about?" He goes on, "The first two questions speak to what touches you at a deep level today. The third answers what will bring you fulfillment tomorrow. The answ...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 36). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book. John says, "What carries people to the top? What makes them take risks, go the extra mile, and do whatever it takes to achieve their goals? It isn’t talent. It’s passion. Passion is more important than a plan. Passion creates fire. It provides fuel. I have yet to meet a passionate person who lacked energy. As long as the passion is there, it doesn’t matter if they fail. It doesn’t matter how many times they fall down. It doesn’t matter if others are against them or if people say they cannot succeed. They keep going and make the most of whatever talent they possess. They are talent-plus people and do not stop until they succeed." He later says, "Loving what you do is the key that opens the door for achievement. When you don’t like what you’re doing, it really shows—no matter how hard you try to pre...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 26). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Does that make sense? John says, "That may seem obvious in the physical realm. Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. However, in the human realm, many people don’t make the connection. They simply hope for good results. Hope is not a strategy. If you want good results, you need to perform good actions. If you want to perform good actions, you must have positive expectations. To have positive expectations, you have to first believe. It all goes back to that. Radio personality Paul Harvey observed, 'If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it.' It all starts with belief." John continues, "A popular activity for tourists in Switzerland is mountain climbing—not the type of climbing that the world-class mountaineers do to s...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 26). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Our expectation can make such a difference in our life. John continues, "It just doesn’t happen. I once heard a story that I have not been able to confirm about an aviation pioneer who built a plane the year before the Wright brothers made their historic flight in Kitty Hawk. The plane sat in this inventor’s barn because he was afraid to fly it. Maybe it was because it had never been done before. Maybe it was because he expected it to fail—I don’t know. It’s said that after the news reached him about Orville and Wilbur Wright, the man flew his plane. Before then, he didn’t believe in himself enough to take the risk." John goes on, "There are two kinds of people in this world: those who want to get things done and those who don’t want to make mistakes. The Wright brothers were of the first type. T...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 23). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) John says, "If you want your talent to be lifted to its highest level, then you don’t begin by focusing on your talent. You begin by harnessing the power of your mind. Your beliefs control everything you do. Accomplishment is more than a matter of working harder or smarter. It’s also a matter of believing positively. Someone called it the 'sure enough' syndrome. If you expect to fail, sure enough, you will. If you expect to succeed, sure enough, you will. You will become on the outside what you believe on the inside." He continues, "Personal breakthroughs begin with a change in your beliefs. Why? Because your beliefs determine your expectations, and your expectations determine your actions. A belief is a habit of mind in which confidence becomes a conviction that we embrace. In the long r...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 21). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) John continues, "The more you believe in your potential, yourself, and your mission, the more you will be able to accomplish. If you keep believing, you will someday find yourself doing what you once considered impossible." He later says, "Do you believe in your mission? Are you confident that you can accomplish great tasks? Do you expect to achieve your goals? These are necessary ingredients to lift your talent from potential to fruition." He goes on, "I need to say one more thing about mission. It needs to include people. Only a life lived for others is worthwhile. As you fulfill your mission, will others around you say . . . 'My life is better as a result,' or 'My life is worse as a result.?" He then says, "One of my prized possessions is a simple crystal paperw...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 18). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) It really is. John continues, "It doesn’t matter what others might think. It doesn’t matter where you came from. It doesn’t even matter what you might have believed about yourself at a previous time in your life. It’s about what lies within you and whether you can bring it out." He says, "There’s a story about a farm boy from Colorado who loved to hike and rock climb. One day while climbing in the mountains, he found an eagle’s nest with an egg in it. He took the egg from the nest, and when he got home, he put it under a hen along with her other eggs. "Since he hatched among chicks, the eagle thought he was a chicken. He learned chicken behavior from his 'mother' and scratched in the chicken yard along with his 'siblings.' He didn’t know any better. And when he sometimes felt...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 11). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is so true. John continues, "Once people figure out where their sweet spot is (the area where they are most gifted), what often hinders them isn’t lack of talent. It’s lack of trust in themselves, which is a self-imposed limitation. Lack of belief can act as a ceiling on talent. However, when people believe in themselves, they unleash power in themselves and resources around them that almost immediately take them to a higher level. Your potential is a picture of what you can become. Belief helps you see the picture and reach for it." Later John says, "Your potential is a picture of what you can become. Inventor Thomas Edison remarked, 'If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.' "Too often we see what is, not what could be. Peopl...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 9). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)  Have you found that to be true? John says, "You see, people who neglect to make the right choices to release and maximize their talent continually under-perform. Their talent allows them to stand out, but their wrong choices make them sit down. Their friends, families, coaches, and bosses see their giftedness, but they wonder why they so often come up short of expectations. Their talent gives them opportunity, but their wrong choices shut the door. Talent is a given, but you must earn success." He continues, "In contrast, talent-plus people come as close as humanly possible to achieving their potential. They frequently overperform. People see their giftedness and are amazed at how they continually rise above expectations. Their talent gives them opportunity, and their right choices open the d...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (p. 6). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)  John says, "Some people seem to be blessed with a multitude of talents. Most of us have fewer abilities. But know this: all of us have something that we can do well." He continues, "In their book Now, Discover Your Strengths , Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton state that every person is capable of doing something better than the next ten thousand people. And they support that assertion with solid research. They call this area the strength zone, and they encourage everyone to find it and make the most of it. It doesn’t matter how aware you are of your abilities, how you feel about yourself, or whether you previously have achieved success. You have talent, and you can develop that talent." He goes on, "If I asked you who would be more successful, the person who relies on his talent ...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book,  Talent Is Never Enough  (pp 2-3). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) John continues, "A wonderful, simple illustration of the importance of talent can be seen in a sports event like the high jump. Winning the high jump requires one person who can jump seven feet, not seven people who can jump one foot. Such an example may seem obvious, yet don’t we often believe that we can accomplish more by throwing more people at a task? That isn’t always the right solution. In fact, there are many tasks that call for talent more than numbers. Like high jumping, they require the extraordinary talent of one person, not the mediocre talent of many." But later he notes, "We should separate what they can do from who they a re. "Fred Smith, author and former president of Fred Smith Associates, shared a bit of wisdom with me many years ago. He said, 'The giftedness is usual...

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book, Talent Is Never Enough (p. 1). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) John says, "French poet and dramatist Edouard Pailleron pointed out, 'Have success and there will always be fools to say that you have talent.' When people achieve great things, others often explain their accomplishments by simply attributing everything to talent. But that is a false and misleading way of looking at success. If talent alone is enough, then why do you and I know highly talented people who are not highly successful? He continues, "Many American business leaders are obsessed with talent. Some think talent is the answer to every problem. Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink , notes that many companies and consultants put finding people with talent ahead of everything else. He says, 'This "'talent mind-set'" is the new orthodoxy of American m...

A thought by Touré Roberts in his book,  Balance ,  (p. 17). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Toure says, "The more I grow in Balance, the more I recognize how noisy life is and is increasingly becoming. ... one of the reasons why self-awareness and mindfulness are such coveted goals is because, among other things, people are trying to manage the noise. It seemingly gets louder than we can manage, because the world’s population is constantly growing while technology is making the world smaller and smaller. Consequently, our lives become more and more crowded. We are increasingly exposed to the life, thoughts, opinions, issues, comments, passions, and preferences of strangers simply by logging on to the internet and our social media accounts, with new platforms vying for our attention every day." He continues, "As a result, the noise of strangers adds to and amplifies our own noise, and with each day and each log-on th...

A thought by Touré Roberts in his book,  Balance ,  (p. 9). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) He continues the thought, "it’s the place where the sun always shines!" He says, "I share my fascination with the midnight sun in order to illustrate the concept of balance. While I explored various other analogies to help describe my understanding of balance, none of them captivated my attention as did the vivid particulars of what it would be like to enjoy sunshine 24-7. Although I’ve experienced balance in the way that I want to share with you, it can be challenging to explain. Once you get it, your own internal light begins to shine, but getting it requires insight, revelation, and practice. "As we begin our journey to balance, we must first realize that balance is not a discipline, an activity, or an exercise. Balance is a place. That’s right, Balance has a location, and going forward, when I refer to Balance—the plac...

A thought by Touré Roberts in his book, Balance ,  (p. 4). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Toure earlier said, "Balance will teach you how to align with the highest version of yourself in any given moment. A version of you that, among many other things, replaces anxiety with peace, dysfunction with progress, and stagnation with unlimited creativity." He continues, "That’s what this book is all about. You will discover throughout these pages that life uses every moment in our existence—especially the chaotic ones—to nudge us toward a greater version of ourselves, which in turn produces extraordinary experiences. My belief is that the message in these pages will unlock that ability within you to discover a new method of balancing all the areas of your life. "We will explore in detail that idea that Balance is actually a spiritual location and requires spiritual means and spiritual insights to get there. We’ll get i...

A thought by Ann Voskamp in her book,  WayMaker ,   (p. 34). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is a good thing, yes it is. Ann says, "Expect nothing but expect hesed . Expect God to knock at your door, expect God to rise on your horizon, expect hope and mercy and miracles and a glass of cold water, but just don’t expect God to come looking any way you expect. Expect nothing but hesed , the lovingkindness of God—just not in the kinds of ways you’d ever dreamed. Pain will come, but name it a mystery, and find manna in it, and taste bits of miracle even in what you can hardly stand and don’t understand." She continues her story, " 'You okay?' Farm Boy had turned around that snow-globe December night, laughed a bit nervously, making another U-turn at the end of the street. 'I know we’re now kinda late—or actually really late.' "But maybe, if we’ve already connected, we’ve already arrived. W...

A thought by Ann Voskamp in her book, WayMaker ,   (p. 30). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That's not exactly what we usually want, is it? Ann continues, "I think I’ve always expected . . . more ." She says, "I mean, maybe that’s always been the story, right from our collective beginning. The whole of the rest of the garden of Eden wasn’t enough; we wanted—expected—more. Though we were chosen to bask in the bliss, we weren’t satisfied until we could choose our own way, pick our own dreams, take a bite out of our own choosing, and have all of it. But to be dangerously frank, the way God chose for us in the garden can seem misguided at best, and foolishly illogical at worst: Don’t eat this fruit. Why in the name of all things holy does He choose to forbid . . . fruit ? What in the world is immoral about savoring a bit of the proverbial apple? Why obey a commandment not to sink your teeth into the sweet, an edic...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 40). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Now that is good to know. Bob continues, "It’s true, and the only ones who can’t see this are usually the unhappy ones." He goes on, "If you choose happiness and joy, then kindness and empathy and engagement are the outcomes. If joy is going on inside of us, everyone will know because it will be expressed outwardly as kindness and caring and action in your life. You’ll be nicer, and trust me when I say this is what the earth needs more of. Why am I telling you to be nice in a book about distraction? The primary reason is because people who aren’t nice distract everyone around them. You know it’s true, and if you are one of the not-nice people, you are in fact banking on this cause and effect. We are not going to get to the important, courageous, purposeful work of being the most priceless versions of ourselves if we aren’t ...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 38). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Now, that is a great way to put it. Bob continues, "If you fill your days with trivial stuff, you will look up one day and a year or a decade or a half-century will have passed. Don’t wait until you are old to ask yourself: What have I done with all that time? Why not ask yourself right now? What am I going to do with all the time ahead of me? What do you want your answer to be? Once you decide what you want the future to look like, make a couple of moves like your life is actually yours to live—because it is. Quit the job, call the friend, make the apology, launch the dream, take the shot . . . heaven is just hoping we will." He says, "I’ve spent some time exploring the branches on my family tree, and it turns out that most Goff men come from the factory like a windup toy with only a certain number of turns. We’re Energi...

A thought by Bob Goff in his book,  Undistracted   (p. 36). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Now that is interesting but maybe not surprising. Bob continues, "I bet most of us think 'happy' is a result of other choices, but that’s not all of it. Sure, circumstances can be truly awful, but feeling happy is a choice just like any other. It’s not that we don’t want to be happy; we just get distracted by so many unhappy things that we never get back around to happiness. Perhaps we think we need an invitation or permission to be happy. And what if we want happy feelings to transition into a deep and abiding joy with a longer shelf life? He says, "Consider this. In stark contrast to our complicated decision tree, a child makes less than 10 percent of the decisions adults make each day. Maybe one of the benefits of the childlike faith Jesus said we need is that there are fewer decisions to make, and hence, fewer distra...