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Words and actions

The best apology is changed behavior.. words are meaningless.

Encouragement

Once I did bad and that I heard ever; twice I did good, but that I heard never.

An Old Couplet

Life

“What Screws us up Most in Life is the Picture in our Head of How it is Supposed to Be.”

Do these

Live beneath your means.

Return everything you borrow.

Stop blaming other people.

Admit it when you make a mistake.

Give clothes not worn in 3 years to charity.

Do something nice and try not to get caught.

Listen more; talk less.

Every day take a 30 minute walk.

Strive for excellence, not perfection.

Be on time.

Don ́t make excuses.

Don ́t argue.

Get organized.

Be kind to kind people.

Be kind to unkind people.

Let someone cut ahead of you in line.

Take time to be alone.

Reread your favorite book.

Cultivate good manners.

Be humble.

Realize and accept that life isn ́t fair.

Know when to keep your mouth shut.

Go an entire day without criticizing anyone. 

Learn from the past.

Plan for the future.

Live in the present.

Don ́t sweat the small stuff.

It ́s all small stuff. 

Failure

"Failure is a fact of life not a way of life."

Perserverance

Beware of giving up too soon. Our emotions are not reliable guides. 

-John Piper

Perseverance

“Press on – nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Perseverance and determination alone are omnipotent.”

- Calvin Coolidge

Success

Success is what you do with what you got.

-Woody Hayes

Go fever

On January 28, 1986, after five weather-related delays, the space shuttle Challenger lumbered heavenward amid a thunderous overture of noise and flame. A mere 73 seconds later, system failure tore the shuttle apart, and all seven crewmembers perished.

The disaster was attributed to an O-ring seal known to have vulnerabilities. Insiders referred to the fatal mistake as “go fever”—the tendency to ignore vital precautions in the rush to a grand goal.

Contrition

To experience the profound liberation of forgiveness, one must simply go to God and confess the sin with a humble heart and a contrite spirit. Contrition involves a genuine and godly sorrow for having disobeyed God. It differs from the repentance of attrition, which is a false form of repentance motivated by a fear of punishment. Attrition is seen in a child who, when he sees a paddle in his mother’s hand, is sorry that he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. True repentance acknowledges the reality of the guilt and does not try to justify it. Anyone who approaches God with true humility, contrition, and an earnest resolution not to commit the sin again will surely receive the forgiveness of God.

Deciding the right thing to do

Choices determine destiny.

So much of what we do on a daily basis is driven by our emotions, our desire for pleasure. Day in and day out we make small choices. Once in a while, there is an important choice that we are faced with. We do stop and think about these, weighing the sides of varying paths. We usually do not give much thought to all the small choices we make on a daily basis - not really realizing that in aggregate they all add up to driving us to our destiny.

Today in church we learned 6 valuable words and associated questions that we should apply to all we do in order to assist us in making sound decisions that will provide us joy in life and ultimately to a destiny that we will cherish and not regret. As our pastor explained - the Bible is not a rule book but rather a guide book. Keeping these questions in mind as we go about our daily lives and choosing to do certain things and not others will certainly lead us to joy.

• Expediency (helpful) 1 Corinthians 6:12a
• Question: Does it help me or does it hinder me?
• Note: Before doing something simply determine if it is something that helps me or builds me or others. If it is something that will deter my development and not improve it, I should refrain from doing it.

• Enslavement 1 Corinthians 6:12b
• Question: Will this thing enslave me?
• Note: To be free doesn't mean free to do what I want but rather free to do what I ought to do.

• Example 1 Corinthians 8:9, Romans 14:13,21
• Question: Will it cause someone else to be hurt?
• Note: What you are doing may not hurt you, but it may impact or hurt others. What I do - will it wound someone else's conscience? Will it cause someone else to sin? Will it drag someone else down? If it will, for their sake, leave it alone - stay away from it. (Romans 14:7)

• Edification 1 Corinthians 10:23b
• Question: Will it build me up?
• Note: Am I a better person for doing this? 

• Exaltation 1 Corinthians 10:31
• Question: Does it exalt (glorify) Jesus?

• Evangelism 1 Corinthians 10:32,33
• Question: Will it hinder my witness?

Grief

Faith versus Reason

Faith versus Reason

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

The first battle between faith and human reason took place in the garden of Eden. Spurred on by the lies of the serpent, Eve began to look at her situation from a purely logical perspective and decided she was being cheated by God out of something good. Her faith faltered as "reasonable" thoughts of self-interest filled her mind.

I am not saying that the way of faith is never logical, but by operating only on the basis of reason, a conflict with the Lord is inevitable. The reason is that His instructions and actions don't always appear reasonable from a human perspective. Although Isaiah 55:8-9 describes God's thoughts and ways as higher than man's, many people judge divine ideas to be lower than human intelligence.

Paul emphasizes this when he points out that God's choices are illogical by the world's standards. His message of salvation seems foolish, and His messengers appear weak and unimpressive. In an age that thrives on recognition, admiration, and importance, a person who believes the Bible is considered a weakling in need of a religious crutch to cope with life. While this description is given in derision, it's actually quite accurate. Recognizing their helplessness, believers lean on Christ so He can raise them to stand with Him in righteousness.

That day in Eden, sin and self-importance entered the human heart. But all the worldly wisdom that fuels our pride is nullified by God. He is looking not for great and impressive people but for weak, humble servants who can boast only in Christ. The Savior alone is their strength and wisdom.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.

God's Wisdom

God's Wisdom Revealed

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

After exposing the futility of worldly thinking in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul introduces Christians to the higher realm of godly wisdom. This kind of knowledge and understanding isn't available through human intelligence and reasoning; it comes strictly through divine revelation. Only those indwelt by God's Spirit have "the mind of Christ" (v. 16) and access to "the things freely given" to them by God (v. 12).

Without this supernatural insight, no one can accurately know the Lord or His ways. Many people say they believe in God yet may not have a correct understanding of Him because their perceptions are based on their own thoughts and ideas. It's easier to custom-design a god to fit our preferences than to make the required adjustments that worship of the one true God demands.

Even believers need to guard against trying to fit God into their preconceived image of Him. The Bible is the only reliable source of divine revelation, but we must be careful to consider the Scriptures as a whole—it's critical that we don't just pick and choose the verses we want to believe. For example, by focusing only on passages that emphasize the Lord's lovingkindness while excluding those that speak of His holiness and justice, we misunderstand His true nature.

Let's seek to know the Lord in truth by considering the entire counsel of Scripture. Divine wisdom is available to every believer through the Holy Spirit, who searches the depths of God. May we never try to limit Him to fit our preferences. Instead, may He enlarge our minds to embrace His thoughts.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.

Titles

A man is what he does.  Titles are a distraction created to deceive obtuse people.

Elite

...being elite is not about how talented you are; it's about how tough and committed you are to getting better.

-Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer's father

Every day of my life, it was drilled into me: Do your work. Tell the truth. Own your own mistakes. Respect your elders. Keep your mouth shut and do the right things. Never quit.

-Urban Meyer speaking of his father in "Above the Line"

You become what you are

This morning is what it is because you were what you were yesterday. Be what you should be today so that you can be what you want to become tomorrow.

Involved or committed?

As with bacon and eggs:

The chicken is involved.

The pig is committed.