Just Continue That Thought...

A thought from Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 31). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. Some people are good at hiding what is happening on the inside.   They have done it so long.   Now if they are hiding it then it probably is a negative thing, something painful, or a type of guilt.   If it is good thing they probably don’t want to hide it. I knew a friend who hid an evil practice behind a jovial personality.   Only a few people knew the truth.   He hid behind the façade of being a minister for many, many years.   And he fooled a lot of people, even members of his family.   Finally he was arrested and it all came out. Some hide great emotional pain behind a smile or a fun loving personality.   It is their way of not dealing with it but it needs to come out to someone who can help with the healing of it. A few years ago, Margaret, my wife started having a problem in swallowing.   My tenden

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 2555). Kindle Edition. To some having power with humility would be an oxymoron but to Jesus it was the key to power.   Humility is when you say you need help, power to many is when you don’t need help.   “I have the power to do what I want.”   It is all a dependency issue.   It is all in who you depend on.   Humility is a dependency on God.   It is saying, “I need You God in my life to give me the power and to use the power as you would use it”. Humility is real power. Now the problem with power without humility is that it many times is used from a self-centered motive.   And in that situation others can be hurt.   The other day there was a NASCAR race where two drivers were having problems between each other and one of the drivers at the end of the race purposefully drove his car into the other guy’s car and caused the other guy to wreck.    And the

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 2494-2495). Kindle Edition. So true but we sure do like to try.   So much we try to do sitting in our office or in front of the TV.   We know we can make a difference.   We have the talent, the ability and the idea.   We are going to do it.   We have the play, the plan we just don’t have the drive to break the huddle and go for it. What is it that is keeping you from doing “it”, whatever “it” is in your life?   What is it?   There is something that you use as a reason or should I say an excuse for not starting.   Stop for a moment and come to grips with that specific reason and then set it aside and go for “it”.    Make it a stepping stone not a stopping place.   If it’s a closed door to you open it up or knock it down.   Don’t let it stop you. Like in football, they get a penalty and lose some ground or they get tackled for a loss so they get in their

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival (p. 112). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. I am retired minister.   When I was still working my work had a way of setting up a weekly agenda but retirement lends itself to a lot of potential randomness.   Retirement didn’t mean I was done with life it just said I had more control.   And I knew that wasn’t a potential good thing for me so I set out to build some structure to my day, to my week not because I had to but because I wanted to keep on making a difference with my life. I have a clear framework to my day.   It is the reason I am able to keep on growing mentally, socially, financially, physically, spiritually and influentially.   All of those areas are a part of the framework of my life.   They give my day great satisfaction and great productivity. You see no matter what stage you are in your life, you need to be striving to make a difference in yours

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart (p. 145). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. That is why so many can’t forgive.   They don’t feel like they have been forgiven.   One of the great benefits to having a relationship with Christ is the ability to forgive others because we have been forgiven.     1 john 1.9 says, “If we confess He’ll forgive.”   Now of course for some that is a problem.   They will not ever admit that they have ever been wrong so confessing for them is a problem.   But admitting is the plart you pay and forgiveness is the part He plays. Now let me tell you, admitting can be so liberating in its self.   I mean the action you did that you know is wrong keeps you in a state of negative guilt and in that state you feel miserable.   And of course when you feel miserable no way do you want someone else to feel good.   So no way are you going to forgive them.   They shouldn’t feel

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 1502). Kindle Edition. That has been the picture of Margaret and my life.   It is really unbelievable the life that we have lived.   I am right now sitting outside at Zeli Coffee Bar on the street where the Rose Parade goes down in Pasadena, California with the sun shining on my face.   A little over a year ago we were finishing three great years of adventure living on Long Island just outside New York City.   We then moved to Seminole, Florida for an exciting nine months on the Gulf of Mexico with my mom, my sister and brother in law and my brother but then the opportunity came and here we are in Pasadena.   A lot of potential failures along the way but here we are.   I was reading this morning in the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of Philip.   He had had the privilege of meeting an important Ethiopian official and made a difference in his life beca

A thought by Leonard Sweet, (2012-03-13) from his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival (p. 111). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition . This past weekend they did some changes in the Starbucks that I usually go to and they are doing away with the tables where I usually sit.   I said something to my wife, Margaret about it and she said, “You aren’t going to be a cranky old man are you?”   That was very good advice for this old man. It is so easy to live life in the familiar.   You just don’t have to make decisions, you just do the same thing but that isn’t necessarily a good thing.   Someone said that a rut is a grave with the ends knocked out.   There is no adventure, no excitement, no challenge, and no variety in living in the familiar.   I mean, there may be some new people to meet on the other side of Starbucks but for sure there is an opportunity to put one’s selfish desires aside.   And that is always a good thing. Maybe I need to change the