Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Foth Aughtmon (2015-04-28) from their book, A Trip around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure ofa Lifetime (p. 126). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Mark continues this thought by saying, “As a pastor, I’ve seen this play out over and over again in the lives of the people around me. I’ve learned that if someone has a critical eye, they will always find something to be critical about. And if they have a grateful eye, they will find something to celebrate even in the worst of circumstances. The Bible calls this having a ‘good eye.’” Matthew 6: 22– 23 says, “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good , your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness” (NLT). He then says, “Having a ‘good eye’ in life changes how you see yourself and everything around

A thought by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Foth Aughtmon (2015-04-28) from their book, A Trip around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure ofa Lifetime (p. 124). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) How sensitive I am is a decision.  Do you realize that?  I have within me the ability to choose how I take something that you do or say.  I cannot control what you do but I do control my reaction to what you do.  As Dick says, “When Scripture says, ‘As a man thinks, so is he,’ it is raw truth. How we approach life and react to its vagaries determines the bulk of our character. How we love is locked into how we think about it. What angers us is triggered by how we think. It is between our ears that we decide how easily offended we will be. When it comes to harsh words from others, whether my skin absorbs like cotton or deflects like Teflon is a decision I make. All of that happens in a three-p

A thought by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Foth Aughtmon (2015-04-28) from their book, A Trip around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime (p. 120). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I like the adventure of finding new coffee shops.  I stopped at one this morning that I had never been to.  I pulled down a street, saw that the sign said no parking 6 – 8 and went in got a cup of very good coffee spent some time reading and then came out and saw that I had gotten a ticket.  I thought it said 6 pm – 8 am but it said 6 am – 8 pm. So I just got done writing a check to the City of Burbank because I didn’t really read the details.  And that is kind of like how many people deal with their faith.  They don’t really see the details so they lose out on what God really wants/expects from us. Mark says, “Most people are bored with their faith because they are selfish. They think they

A thought by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Foth Aughtmon (2015-04-28) from their book, A Trip around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime (p. 34). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) One thing that a Lawyer does is keep track of each of his billable minutes.  That's how they get paid.  But that is not how our life is to be measured. As Mark says, "Our lives are not just measured in minutes. They are measured in moments — moments when the minutes stand still. And it’s those defining moments that define our lives!" There are specific moments in my life that I go back to that can bring deep emotion in me.  Those moments define what I defined my life to be.  The moment I spent with my grandpa Williams as he shared memories of his life just a few minutes before he went to be with the Lord.  Living moments that he shared with me.  The moment when I was traveling in

A thought by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Foth Aughtmon (2015-04-28) from their book, A Trip around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime  (p. 101). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I think most of us come into marriage thinking that and then along the way we grow up.  But so many individuals keep thinking that way and life isn’t so good for them.  As Mark says, “Those of you who are married know that self-focused marriages don’t do that well.” But that’s not God plan.  He has something better for us. Mark says, “The goal of marriage is not happiness, it is holiness. That thought is not original to me, but I have experienced it firsthand. There is no mechanism whereby God can sanctify a person more than having them live in close proximity to another imperfect person. When I get into an emotional slump, nine times out of ten it’s because I zoom in on something I’m

A thought by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Foth Aughtmon (2015-04-28) from their book, A Trip around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure ofa Lifetime  (p. 98). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It is so very easy as a minister to think that we have a direct line from God so we don’t need to listen to anyone else even our wife.  But that is sooooo wrong.  So wrong.  That is also true of many men who aren’t ministers and also many women who believe they know best and they don’t need to listen.  But that idea is a quick way to ruin a relationship and especially a marriage. Dick says, “Taking the time to hear a spouse brings honor and credence to the conversation. It acknowledges the value of the other person. If we stop talking or listening, we are dead in the water. Silence in a marriage is not golden. It is ambiguous. When silence falls, I don’t know what it means— or am scared I do

A thought by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Foth Aughtmon (2015-04-28) from their book, A Trip around the Sun: Turning Your Everyday Life into the Adventure of a Lifetime  (p. 87). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) The whole thought here by Mark is, “One of our core values as a church is, love people when they least expect it and least deserve it. That is the kind of love Jesus shows to us. When we are at our worst, He is at His best.” Wow.  That is so true of me.  He loves me, He loves me and He loves me.  No matter what I have done He loves me.  That is more love that I give to myself.  I love the Psalms.  I read one every day.  I have done it for years.  Today’s Psalm was the 92 nd Psalm and starting with verse 1 it says, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the most high.”  That is a good way to start each day but then verse 2 says, “It is good to proclaim your unfail