Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2000-03-08) from his book, Failing Forward: How to Makethe Most of Your Mistakes (p. 102). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It is so easy to be self-absorbed isn't it?   John says, “Selfishness ultimately hurts not only the people around a self-focused person, but also the selfish person himself. It inclines the person toward failure because it keeps him in a negative mental rut.”  Man that is the truth. I read so much of that on Facebook. So how do you get out of this negative mental rut?  John tells of a response by Dr. Karl Menninger when asked, “‘What would you advise a person to do if he felt a nervous breakdown coming on?’ Most people expected him to reply, ‘Consult a psychiatrist,’ since that was his profession. To their astonishment, Menninger replied, ‘Lock up your house, go across the railway tracks, find someone in need, and do something to help that person.’” John t

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 C. Maxwell (2000-03-08) from his book, Failing Forward: How to Makethe Most of Your Mistakes (p. 84). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) OK, I can see that I need to take care of some things in my past to not let them hold me back to not let them be my total focus but how do I do that?  What do I do?  John gives some good guidelines in this.  He says, “Take time right now to list the negative events from your past that may be holding you hostage: For each item you listed, go through the following process. 1. Acknowledge the pain. 2. Grieve the loss. 3. Forgive the person. 4. Forgive yourself. 5. Determine to release the event and move on. If you are having a hard time because you're holding grudges, talk to God about the issue and ask Him to help you through the process. No matter how difficult this becomes, persevere through it. You will not be able to be your best today until you say good-bye to y

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2000-03-08) from his book, Failing Forward: How to Make the Most of Your Mistakes (p. 78). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you come to realize that yet?  When my father was killed in a truck accident it colored my life for a long time but finally the pain turned to good memories that I hold onto.  I somewhere somehow let go of the pain. John says, “Someone who is unable to get over previous hurts and failures is held hostage by the past. The baggage he carries around makes it very difficult for him to move forward. In fact, in more than thirty years of working with people, I have yet to meet a successful person who continually dwelt on his past difficulties.” Have you ever gotten in a car and found the driver looking continually in the rear view mirror?  He is totally looking at where he has come from.  Of course not.  If it happened you would immediately want him to stop and

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 Andy Stanley (2015-01-06) from his book, The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating (p. 20). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now I’ve quoted this thought as a grabber.  It is not to be read and just accepted and quoted but it is something that I hope does get you to stop and strive to understand what it really means. Here is the context that Andy said it.  He said, “I’ve met with many struggling married couples who would describe themselves as having ‘marriage problems.’ But in all my years I’ve never talked to a married couple that actually had a marriage problem. What I’ve discovered is that people with problems get married and their problems collide. What was manageable as a single person eventually becomes unmanageable within the context of marriage. Marriage problems are easy . They rarely require counseling. But when the premarriage past surfaces in a marriage, that’s another story.” My son Brett and h