Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by John Ortberg, (2015-02-24) from his book. All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know?: God Has Placed before You an Open Door.  What Will You Do?  (p. 118). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) But I thought that if I give my life over to God then He would take away all my problems and He would take care of them all.  I’m afraid that if you believe that then you are wrong.  John says, “If you don’t have one, your current problem is you don’t have a problem. Life is facing and solving problems. When God calls people, he calls them to face a problem. The standard word for the condition of being truly problem-free is dead.” He quotes Ichak Adizes who writes, “Having fewer problems is not living. It’s dying. Addressing and being able to solve bigger and bigger problems means that our strengths and capacities are improving. We need to emancipate ourselves from small problems to free the energ

A thought by John Ortberg, (2015-02-24) from his book. All the Places to Go . . . HowWill You Know?: God Has Placed before You an Open Door.  What Will You Do?    (p. 116). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It turns out that choosing drains us. It takes energy. Steve Jobs Choosing is hard work.  Especially if it is an important decision.   “So wise people”, John says, “shepherd their ‘choosing energy’ well. This is why wise people never make important decisions in a wrong emotional state.” But too many times that is when we make our major decisions, after we’ve been dumped in a relationship, or when we are very lonely, or after we've had a difficult day at work.  When I was a staff minister I had another Pastor call me about every Monday asking if I had a good day Sunday.  He thought after a bad Sunday I might say yes to come to work for him.  John says, “Never try to choose the right co

A thought by John Ortberg, (2015-02-24) from his book. All the Places to Go . . . HowWill You Know?: God Has Placed before You an Open Door.  What Will You Do?   (p. 112). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) There are some thoughts that jump out at me at just the right time.  Many times I am looking for thoughts that would be good to share but this one was for me today.    Here is my question that comes at this thought from a different direction.  If I lose my passion at doing what I am doing do I then need to stop doing what I am doing? No you just keep at it. John quotes Andy Chan who heads up the Office of Personal and Career Development at Wake Forest and who is known by some as a “career-development guru.”  And he says, “That one of the greatest stumbling blocks he has to warn young adults about is the illusion that there is some passion out there with their name on it, and if they could just dis

A thought by John Ortberg, (2015-02-24) from his book. All the Places to Go . . . HowWill You Know?: God Has Placed before You an Open Door.  What Will You Do?   (p. 108). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) But we don’t like to make choices because we are afraid to be wrong.  And that is one of the reasons why we are constantly praying for God’s will in different choices that we are called to make.  It also is very difficult.  It really is. But John says, “God wants us to learn to choose well. That may be why, when we look at the Bible, there is no chapter devoted to ‘How to know God’s will for your life.’ Often when we are faced with a real-life choice, the Bible seems no more helpful than Yogi Berra’s old dictum: ‘When you come to a fork in the road, take it.’ Paul doesn’t write about ‘six steps to determine if he’s the one’ or ‘five ways to discern God’s job for you.’ What we do see are statements l

A thought by John Ortberg, (2015-02-24) from his book. All the Places to Go . . . HowWill You Know?: God Has Placed before You an Open Door.  What Will You Do?  (p. 85). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is such a good thought at the beginning of a new week and close to the beginning of a new month.  How do you view what you do?  Think about this, maybe how you view it is different from how God views it. John says, “When we are born, our world is very small. As we grow, it may become quite large. If we live long enough and grow old enough, it will become small again. If we do not learn to find God in our small worlds, we will never find God at all.” I am finding that true in my retirement years.  There was a time that I was challenged to do greater things as a church planter but now the quality time that I get to spend with my wife, Margaret and with my three granddaughters, Ashlyn, Addison and

A thought by John Ortberg, (2015-02-24) from his book. All the Places to Go . . . HowWill You Know?: God Has Placed before You an Open Door.  What Will You Do?  (p. 18). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I love that thought.  I read on Facebook this morning that a friend of mine had a horrible day yesterday and I felt for her but then the thought came to me but today is a new day.  Yes there is memory of yesterday but today is a blank slate with new adventure and new possibilities and new potential.  What was your day like yesterday?  Learn the lessons from it and see today as a new open door to walk through.  Oh I can see the door and have some fear because of what happened yesterday and decide I’m not going to open it.  That is a real choice for us.  The problems of yesterday can keep us from the possibilities of today.  They can but they don’t have to. John says, “Some of us see the doors and s

A thought by John Ortberg, (2015-02-24) from his book,  All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know?: God Has Placed before You an Open Door.  What Will You Do? (p. 15). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) What is God’s will for my life?  What does He want me to do?  The problem is that is the wrong question.  Here is the whole thought of John, “God’s primary will for your life is not the achievements you accrue; it’s the person you become.”  He continues, “God’s primary will for your life is not what job you ought to take; it’s not primarily situational or circumstantial. It’s not mainly the city where you live or whether you get married or what house you ought to be in. God’s primary will for your life is that you become a magnificent person in his image, somebody with the character of Jesus. That is God’s main will for your life. No circumstance can prevent that.” No the question is, who does He wa

A thought by John Ortberg, (2015-02-24) from his book. All the Places to Go . . . HowWill You Know?: God Has Placed before You an Open Door.  What Will You Do? (p. 7). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is the full thought by John, “What a gift to know that open doors are not reserved for the specially talented or the extraordinarily strong. God can open a door for anyone.” And God writes through the Apostle John in Revelation 3:8 (NIV), “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” Now John in his book here quotes one of his college professors, Jerry Hawthorne, who says, “A door is one of the richest images in literature. It can mean safety (‘my door is chained and locked’) or hiddenness (‘no one knows what goes on behind closed doors’). It can mean rejection (‘she shut the door in my face’) or rest (young mothers’ favorite room is the bathroom, where they can close the doo

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: TheUnpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 164). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now we call this day, the day that Jesus died on a cross, Good Friday.  Satan thought it was a good Friday.  He finally had gotten back at God.  He hated God and he thought killing His only Son was a good thing.  But if you read the last book in the Bible you will find that it was not a good thing for Satan.  He hadn’t won. Now the Jewish religious leaders thought it was a good Friday.  I mean they finally got rid of a major problem for them.  But did they?  If you read the rest of the story you will find that it wasn’t really a good day for them. No, it was not a good Friday for them but a Good Friday for us.  As John says, “Out of his remarkable brilliance, breathtaking courage, and inexplicable love, Jesus sized up a situation that defeated every human at

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 130). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I understand that some people have a problem with the matter of Christians striving to convert people who don’t believe like them.  That is one of the things they say they don’t like about Christians but that is one thing we can’t help doing.  As John says, “The idea of conversion itself would come to the world through Jesus.”  And to us it is a very good thing.  It is good news and we want to share it. John says, “Where before Jesus was there a movement that actively sought to include every single human being, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, status, income, gender, moral background, or education, to be loved and transformed? Not only had there never been a community like this before, but there simply had never been the idea of a community like this before

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: TheUnpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 93). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) John says, “If someone is in my in group, I will tend to magnify their good qualities and overlook their negative qualities. If somebody is in the out group, I look for the bad and overlook the good. I look at each member of ‘ us ’ as a unique individual. I tend to look at everybody who is one of them as all alike.” I really don’t think that is Jesus way of thinking.  John then says, “For Jesus, the categories break down like this: It’s not us and them . It’s perfect and not perfect . It’s holy and sinful . Which puts all of humanity on the same side: the wrong side. But Jesus was determined to make that his side.” He loves us, all of us.  He died for us, all of us with no distinction.  Somehow we need to catch that.  Father forgive us for we have all sin

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: TheUnpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 73). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know what you are going through right now.  I remember when I was going through a very difficult time.  I loved being a pastor, I loved being a church planter.  There was nothing else that I wanted to do but I remember the realization that slowly came upon me that I was done with that part of my life and that I was to retire.  Change can be difficult but what would have happened if Jesus hadn’t changed his occupation?  His earthly father was a carpenter and that was what Jesus was doing but one day he changed.  As John said, “One day a carpenter left his shop and began to teach. What would the history of our world be if Jesus had not changed careers? Imagine that he stays in the shop: there is no teaching ministry, no crucifixion, no rise of the church, n

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: TheUnpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 37). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Margaret and I were talking this morning on our drive to her work about how a women friend of ours was unjustly given a lower financial bonus than another person where this woman worked.  And this other person was a man.  And I got to thinking about that injustice later and of how that really would bother Jesus.  And in turn it should bother me. The whole thought that John says here is, “Jesus’ crankiness and compassion came from the same source: his outrageous love for every individual, and his pain when anyone is undervalued.” Is that true of us today who say we are followers of Christ?   

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: TheUnpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 26). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) This thought hit me as I was looking for something to share with you today.  One thing it said to me was that when Jesus looks at an immigrant, a person of a different race, a poor or rich person, one who thinks different from me, one whose sexual orientation is different from mine, he sees the image of God.  As John says, “He saw this in everyone.”  And then John goes on to say, “It caused him to treat each person with dignity.”  Do we need to do that today?  Do we need to treat each person we see with dignity?  And then the thought goes on to say to me that when Jesus looks at me , at you , he sees the image of God. John shares that “novelist George MacDonald delighted in writing about princesses and princes. Someone asked him why he always wrote about princ

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 175). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Oh how our kids need that.   Oh how our mate needs that.   Oh how our parents need that.   Oh how our friends need that.   Oh how our God wants that. I like how John puts it.   He says, “When you say ‘Blessed are you, O Lord,’ you are not only expressing gratitude, but you are saying, ‘I want to make you happy and praise you, God, with my gratitude for what you have done.’ It’s a subtle reminder that gratitude is good for both the person expressing it and the one receiving it.” John also says, “Gratitude does not always come naturally. You will not always feel grateful. But you can take the time each day to remember the benefits you received, see your benefactor, and thank him for his benefits. As Thornton Wilder put it, ‘We can only be said to be alive in those moments

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 171). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We so easily get into this trap of entitlement.   I mean even Christians can mistakenly believe that we are entitled to stuff but all that we have is because of His grace.   John continues this thought by saying, “and without a grateful heart the soul suffers. Because the soul needs gratitude.” I find it so easy at this Season to feel that we deserve gifts.   I mean I expect my family to give me gifts.   It’s Christmas but that is not the reason for this Season. Yes we celebrate a gift that was given but we were very undeserving of that gift.      John continues.   He says, “Here’s the deal: The more you think you’re entitled to, the less you will be grateful for. The bigger the sense of entitlement, the smaller the sense of gratitude. We wonder why in our world we keep

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 169). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is what John says to do… “Today, when you greet people, begin your conversation with a little complaint. The Bible calls that grumbling, as in ‘Do everything without grumbling.’ It might be a complaint about something in your life: your health, your job, money problems, the fact that you don’t have a spouse, the fact that you do have the spouse that you have. It might be something about the person you’re greeting. You don’t like how they’re dressed. Or you just don’t like their personality, or maybe you’re jealous. Just greet a friend or colleague with something like, ‘Man, did I have a horrible night’s sleep.’ I’d be thrilled if you couldn’t think of anything. ” He continues,  “ Tomorrow, try to greet people with a word of gratitude. I hope this is a lot easier for

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 163). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) John tells of a study on this by a research group affiliated with the University of Chicago and they recently listed the ten least happy jobs in the world and the ten happiest jobs in the world.   He said, “What they found was the ten least happy jobs actually were more financially lucrative and offered higher status than the ten happiest jobs. The difference? People in the happiest jobs had a higher sense of meaning. Less money, less status, but a higher sense of meaning.” He then goes on to say, “The main thing you bring home from your work is not a paycheck. The main thing you bring home from work is your soul. Work is a soul function. We’re made to create value.” Solomon, the writer of the Old Testament book Ecclesiastes in the Bible says, “There is nothing better f

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 157). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We are going through some tough times racially right now in our country.   And we are forgetting that each person on each side has the dignity and depth of a soul.   I live in a city where there are many homeless who walk the sidewalks each day with their hand out and I find it difficult to not forget they have the depth and dignity of a soul.   Some of you have the same problem with a Democrat and others a Republican.   But John here is reminding us of something that is so easy for us to forget.   And that is we demean people when we forget they have the depth and dignity of a soul. John continues his thought with “Even the people I don’t like have souls. The soul cries out for connection. To love someone with your soul means your will, your choices, your mind, your thought

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 153). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) “There are two great words in the Bible, Dallas said, that describe the posture of our souls toward other people. One is to bless. The other is to curse. We are creatures with wills, and in every encounter with other people we will what is good for them, or we fail to do so: we will what is bad. We cannot help ourselves.”   John heard Dallas Willard say these words. John then continued this thought with, “Blessing is not just a word. Blessing is the projection of good into the life of another. We must think it, and feel it, and will it. We communicate it with our bodies. Blessing is kind of like an ancient dance of the Hokey-Pokey; before you finish you have to ‘put your whole self in.’ Blessing is done by the soul.” I have problems smiling for a camera but I don’t with