Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Person (Kindle Locations 2627-2628). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition . I wonder if one of the major problems we have at making a commitment with someone else is because we have to lessen the love of our life which is ourselves.   And there is so much we have to give up in order to do that. I have been noticing again what it means for a couple to have a new baby come to live with them.   I mean that other person demands that you decenter yourself.   To those of us who are married and those of us who are parents it is totally worth it.   And to those whose relationships are all based upon themself and those whose children take second place in their world they have totally missed out on the beauty, excitement and adventure of life with someone else.   I am sorry; if I am the love of my life then I have deprived my life from really living.   There is nothing

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Person (Kindle Location 2355). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. That is so true.   Relationships are built on give and take, in other words, talking and listening. Not one person talking and the other person listening but each one talking and each one listening, really listening.  In there comes understanding and caring.   Now in conflict there usually isn’t any listening.   Oh both may be talking, telling their side of the situation, trying to convince the other one that they are right and that blocks communication which in turn damages relationships.   You see, relationships are built on the mutual desire to build each other up and not tear them down.   And conflict is built on tearing the other person down and building yourself up.   In conflict it is all about winning and the other person losing and that is damaging and it eventually could kill the relationsh

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Person (Kindle Locations 2277-2278). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition . So many don’t really realize it but the most important thing in our lives is our relationships.   God showed that by His creating us so He could have a relationship with us and Christ showed that by His coming to earth.   Adam our representative broke the relationship with God and Christ came to heal it through His death. Now that is also true with us and our broken relationships with others.   Remember how Jesus said, “ Father… forgive us the wrongs we have done ”, that is healing our relationship with God, “ as we forgive the wrongs others have done to us”, that deals with our broken relationship with others.   That means in order for us to have a relationship with God we need to ask for forgiveness of our rejection of Him and also the wrongs, the sins we have done against Him.   Then w

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival (p. 19). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. That is so true.   I am right now sitting at a Starbucks writing this.   When many people find out that I spend a lot of my time at Starbucks they will usually say something about the coffee.   And I want to jokingly say, “Oh, do they serve coffee?”   I don’t come to Starbucks for the coffee, I come for the people.   It is a place where I can connect with people.   The truth is I have found that “life is at its best when it involves other people.”   Have you found that out yet? If you have spent any time on my 2 blogs, you know that I am retired.   For 3 ½ years my wife Margaret worked at home.   She would work but it also meant that we could have lunch together.   In other words, she was accessible to me but now she works in an office.   That means she leaves at 7 am and comes home at 6 pm five days a week.   That

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) in his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival (p. 10). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. My wife, Margaret has changed jobs and in that we have changed locations.   Now for some the thought of changing jobs and then changing locations brings great anxiety into their life.   They will do everything they can to make sure they don’t have to change.   They haven’t found yet that change can be their friend, not their enemy. I’m reading right now though the Gospels in the New Testament and I was reading today an amazing story in Luke.   Jesus was walking in a crowd and a woman touched Him and she was healed of a physical problem she had had for 12 years.   She decided she was tired of the problem and she wanted a change.   Jesus knew something had happened and He asked, “Who touched me?” and with fear she told Him and all those people what had happened.   Jesus then said, “Daughter, you took a risk trusting me, and

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Perso n (Kindle Locations 2083-2084). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. It is so easy for us to believe that we have arrived.   For some after they have finished their level of education they think they have learned all they need to learn so now they are to do.   Margaret this week went to see a new Doctor here in Pasadena.   With her being a diabetic she needs to see a doctor on a regular basis so there we were.   This man was an old 66.   Now in a little over 5 months I will turn 66 but I don’t think I am an old 66.   I love my computer and my kindle and my iPhone but this guy didn’t even have a computer.   He didn’t believe he needed it.   That was just one area that showed he was living in another century.   Needless to say we are looking for a new doctor. There are a lot of Christ followers like that.   They can point to a day when they were saved and sa

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Person (Kindle Locations 780-781). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. I have just come to really realize this fact.   Margaret and I are in a new city and we are in the process of making some new friends; I in my Starbucks world and she in her work world but not in our church world.   We have been driving 60 miles to attend one of the greatest churches in the world and sitting and being taught and challenged by one of the great pastors of our day but we have made no new friends.    And he challenged us this week to the fact that this is wrong. On our drive home from church Saturday night, Margaret and I both agreed that we needed to find a church closer to where we live.   Pastor Rick said that each one of us would go through this year some kind of crisis where we would need a support group.   We thought about the fact that if something happened to us, we wouldn’t

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Person (Kindle Locations 1691-1692). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. There is a great desire for many to have God speak to them.   The surest way to do that is to read His Word, the Bible.   If you do you will hear Him speak to you.   The Bible is the living word of God. I love to read.   I have over 75 books on my Kindle right now.   I have read or am reading over 50 of those.   I read two newspapers every day.   I have over 45 columns that I read every day on Google Reader.   I have made a commitment to read the four Gospels 13 times this year.   I love to read.   I want to learn and to be entertained but the most important reading that I do is my quiet time every morning.   This is the time when I am seeking what God wants to say to me every day through His Word and then writing it down in a journal.   Do you do that?   Do you take time to read the Bi

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) in his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Person (Kindle Location 1562). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. We are headed into one of the most positive days in the world.   It doesn’t matter your belief in what it stands for or your understanding of it, is a great day because of all the gifts.   It is a day that we are the most like God because God is a giver. Now one of the greatest gifts He gave you and me was our opportunity for life.   We are a new telling of God’s unending love story.   He gave us the potential of life because He loved us.    This past year has been an unending story of God’s love for Margaret and me.   I mean, we got to live on Long Island, New York, then Seminole, Florida and now Pasadena, California.   It has been unbelievable.   And we also added a new member to our family, Harper Olivia Cole.   Over and over, God has weaved His love story in our lives.   And if you looked a

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) in his book, What Matters Most: How We Got the Point but Missed the Person (Kindle Location 597). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. This is a form of plagiarism that we don’t seem to be using.   Notice how we respond when someone wants to wish us a happy holiday instead of a merry Christmas.   Or how we’ve handled the just past election and those who were on the other side.   Or those who are on one side or the other on the gun issue, or those who love Fox News and those who don’t.   I’ve just noticed that I’m not showing much of God’s love in what I just wrote.   It had a judgment tone to it, didn’t it?   The truth is, love shows its truest form in dealing with someone who disagrees with me.   Didn’t Jesus say something in His hillside sermon about loving your enemies? Our stands that we make in Jesus name goes a long way to show how weak or strong our relationship is with Jesus.   They show how much we really know Him.

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13), from his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival (p. 29). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. From what I gather, we are headed into a very fearful time for our nation.   It is some kind of a cliff or something.   And it seems like those who are CHRIST followers are some of the most outspoken and the most fearful. I wonder if God may allow it to happen so we would quit putting our trust so much in our government, our economy, our jobs, our political party, our circumstances and more in Him.   He has a plan and He wants to fulfill it through us.   And fear can be one of His means of waking us up to His plan and His possibilities and to wake up our creativity to solving the mess we in our self-centeredness have gotten us into. What do you think?   

A thought by Leonard Sweet (2012-03-13) from his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival (p. 20). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. I understand the need for meditation and solitude for short periods of time.  I really do but life has so much more enjoyment and more meaning when you live it with someone else.  Now relationships are risky.  There can be pain involved but it is worth the risk.  The more pain can mean more fear and more needed courage and confidence.  Where do you get courage and confidence?  Well you get it from a good friend.   So how do you get a good friend?  You get one by being one no matter what. I love the story in the Old Testament of the close friendship of David and Jonathan.  David thought that Saul was also his friend but because of the jealousy of Saul, who was Jonathan’s father, David became Saul’s enemy.  But David and Jonathan still remained close friends.  Jonathan’s courage and commitment helped David through a ve

A thought by Leonard Sweet (2012-03-13) from his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Reviva l (Kindle Locations 136-137). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. We were created by God for relationships.  We have this need built within us to connect.  As God said when He created Eve for Adam, “It is not good for man to be alone.”    He created us for a relationship with Himself but He also knew that we would need a physical relationship with someone else.  But Satan started in the beginning to do all he could to sever the relationship of man to God and to damage the relationship between Adam and Eve.   And he has been doing his best at continuing to keep us from having meaningful relationships.  So we need to do everything in our ability to stop Satan’s plan.  As Ruben Welch in his book said, “ We really do need each other. ”  We need a relationship with God and a relationship with each other. Satan uses so many methods to keep us alone.  He uses abuse, rej

A thought by Leonard Sweet (2012-03-13) from his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Reviva l (Kindle Location 143). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Have you ever watched The Voice on NBC on Monday night?  If you haven’t, there are 4 celebrities who have their backs to a person who is singing and if they want that person to be on their team they push a button and then they are turned around to see what the person looks like.  They make their choice just on their voice not on their looks.  You wonder sometimes if they wouldn’t have made their chose if they would have seen what they looked like.  In our need to connect so much is based upon our appearance.  I think that is why in many cases social media has been such a success.  We may have more confidence to connect with someone because they don’t know what we look like.  I know the danger in that but I also know the deep loneliness and to many it is worth the risk. We really do need each other, we