After a few weeks off it’s good to be back in the saddle again! By the way, summer’s almost over. Have you taken a vacation yet? If you haven’t, will you?
Summer’s almost over. Have you taken a vacation yet? If you haven’t, will you?
Acccording to a 2006 survey by Harris Interaction and Expedia, 36 percent of workers don’t plan to use all their paid vacation days, and 37 percent never take more than a week off at a time.
So to convince you to take a much-needed break, here’s my list of how vacations can benefit your health and mind. While relaxation and exposure to culture are obvious benefits, there’s a wealth of other rewards too:
By the way…I highly recommend a cruise! Marvina and I loved it!
I recently came across this guest blog post at CNN. Logan Keck, assistant pastor at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Boston.
He says, “what makes so many Sunday morning messages unbearable often has more to do with relevancy than length.”
He also says, “I have quickly learned that what keeps a crowd’s attention is a pastor who can explain how the Bible, an ancient book written for a Mediterranean world, matters to them in their context.”
After Nehemiah had rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, Ezra gathered the people together for a time of worship. The Bible says…
“They read from the Book of the Law, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.” (Nehemiah 8:8)
This is our calling: to open the Word for our people, making it clear and giving the meaning. We do this week by week, passage by passage, even book by book.
Most people, at least those above the age of eight, will forgive a sermon being a little long — as long as it hits them where they are and shows them how to get to where they need to be.
I have found during my most stressful times it is best if I just stop and focus on who God is…it’s a time when I set my requests aside and just seek HIM…
I’ve made a list that helps me when I tend to start stressing out…
HE IS…
I could go on and on…the point being is when stress comes it is an awesome opportunity to know Him. So, if you are stressed out, freaked out and feel like you are about to give out…then “check out” for 10 minutes from your busy life, sit down with a piece of paper, make a list of who the Scriptures say HE IS…and focus on that rather than your circumstances.
You can be sure of this: whatever your conditions are today, they will certainly change. If you’re in the valley right now, there’s a mountaintop in your future. And if you’re on top of the pile right now, there’s a valley not far away. It’s the roller coaster nature of our existence. We go through ups and downs again and again.
If you can be happy only when you’re at the peak, then you’ll be happy only a small portion of your life.
Examine your life right now, and make a choice to say, “This is good enough. I can be happy right here.” Does that mean we forget about the idea bettering ourselves or bettering our situation? Of course not. We’re always pressing on toward the prize. But that’s the difference between complacency and contentment.
Look at your situation with the eyes of contentment. Recognize the presence of God in the details of your life. Accept each day with a sense of gratitude. Face each moment with a sense of assurance, knowing that whether this is easy or not, you can endure it through Christ who gives you strength.
Richard Carlson is a psychologist who worked for many years as a stress consultant. He wrote Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (And It’s All Small Stuff). He said that one of the most destructive mental tendencies he has seen in people is that of focusing on what they want rather than what they have. Those who say, “I’ll be happy once this desire is met,” just find something new to want and delay their happiness a little longer.
Carlson says that there is a way to be happy. It is to stop focusing on what you want, and focus instead of what you have.
Decide to appreciate all that there is to appreciate in each and every moment of your life.
From TIME Magazine.
In the heart of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, Christians held a Pentecostal revival, complete with faith healing and speaking in tongues.
As a tropical downpour fell, believers’ tears mixed with rain — and a line of sick and disabled took to the stage to claim they had been cured by a God they, like Indonesian Muslims, call Allah. “People think Indonesia is just a Muslim country, but look at all these people,” says pastor David Nugroho, whose Gesing church boasts a congregation of 400 worshippers today, up from 30 when it was founded in 1967. “We are not afraid to show our faith.” (Entire article here)
Some of you will remember former pro quarterback Kenny Stabler. He once said, “In the NFL, there are 25 guys who can throw better than I can. But I can make guys win.” I guess that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? Being able to win.
In the NFL, as in life, content is more valuable than form.
Most real estate professionals will tell you that on a percentage basis, a new coat of paint will increase a home’s selling price far more than new plumbing will.
This is a trap we must refuse to be caught in. In the Old Testament, we are reminded that God’s priorities are different than ours. God said to Samuel…
“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
We may sometimes allow ourselves to be satisfied with good form—a great family, a nice car, a pretty house, a good job, a respectable religious affiliation, a dignified manner of worship—but God reminds us that the content of our lives is much more important than surface level appearances. Samuel said…
“To obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22)
Our ongoing challenge is to strive to improve the content of our lives, rather than merely settling for good form.
It means that we should make it our aim—in our family, in our career, in our relationship with God—to live life from the inside out.
A couple of years ago a woman filed a $1 million lawsuit against Dr Pepper. She had been chosen to participate in their halftime punt-catching promotion during a college football game. She didn’t win, but it was, according to her suit, Dr. Pepper’s fault.
She had been told she would receive three punts from a kick-simulation machine (catch one, $50,000; two, $250,000; all three, $1 million) and was told that the punts would come down in the general vicinity of the 50-yard line.
She missed all three because, she said, her they came down too far away: one landed on the 44, one landed on the 45, and one landed on the 42. Therefore, she argued, it was Dr. Pepper’s fault that she didn’t win $1 million!
Sometimes it’s difficult for us to admit it’s our fault. It’s difficult to admit the role we play in our failures, in our setbacks, and our sin. It’s not easy to say: “I had a chance, but I blew it.” Too often, instead of fixing the problem, we settle for fixing blame — on anyone other than ourselves.
Whether it’s in our relationships, our career, or our spiritual life, improvement (and, ultimately, mastery) begins with accepting responsibility for our own limitations, mistakes, and failures.
When you don’t perform up to par — professionally, personally, or spiritually — you’ve got two choices. You can fix the blame or you can fix the problem. The first step in problem solving — the first step toward wholeness — is taking responsibility. From there, we begin moving forward!
It’s no coincidence that so many books of the New Testament contain verses encouraging us to stay faithful in difficult times. Persistence is an essential characteristic for anyone who wants to succeed in the Christian life.
Rarely a month goes by that I don’t talk to someone who’s ready to throw in the towel on some aspect of their calling.
Sometimes it’s a volunteer weary of the extra work that comes with being a leader. Sometimes it’s a pastor weary of not seeing measurable results. Sometimes it’s a believer weary of the struggle to live a holy life.
This is what Paul referred to in Galatians 6:9: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap of harvest if we do not give up.
The season between sowing and reaping can sometimes be long. It can also be hot, dry and difficult. There are times for each of us when saying, “I quit” seems like the most attractive option.
During these times, we’ve got to remember the words of Scripture.
Walt Disney once said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” That’s good business advice, and his life proves it. It’s even better spiritual advice. In this sense, the “hell” we go through is temporary; God’s abundant blessings are waiting on the other side. Keep going!
We look at our watches; God looks at the calendar.
One of the most difficult lessons for believers to learn is to wait on God. By nature we’re not patient, and our culture offers little encouragement to develop the habit. We want, we need, we think we deserve everything now.
Even Paul spent 17 years in preparation before he began the ministry that God called him to on the road to Damascus. But you can be sure that each of these saints would say it was worth the wait. It always is.
There are, no doubt, a number of things that you are waiting for, too: victory, healing, peace, growth, vindication, success.
Remember one thing: God is on his way.
Sometimes the night seems to last forever. Sometimes his silence seems permanent. That’s because we look at the clock while he looks at the calendar.
Solomon wrote, “God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
We cannot see the whole scope of God’s work, but the scope exists. And we may not see the big picture, but there is one.
Today might be just another day of waiting for you, but here’s how you can make it better: Take your eyes off the clock and turn them toward Jesus. Spend this time waiting in expectation rather than desperation. God is at work in your work in life, making all things beautiful in their time.
Nehemiah teaches us three important truths about handling criticism:
Expect it.
When spectators watch a race, where do they focus their attention? On the front runners! Someone said, “Criticism is something you can avoid easily; by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” But those three options don’t work. So Nehemiah answered his critics, “…I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down…” (Nehemiah 6:3) Don’t step down to the level of your critics.
Evaluate it.
“…Sanballat… sent to me, saying, ‘Come, let us meet…‘ But they thought to do me harm.” (Nehemiah 6:2) When people say, “I’m going to tell you something for your own good,” often they’ve nothing good to tell you. When you’re criticized, ask yourself:
• Who criticized me? “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” (Proverbs 27:6) Has this person earned the right to speak into your life?
• Why was this criticism given? Out of a personal hurt, or for my benefit?” Hurting people hurt people; so maintain the right attitude, looking for the grain of truth, making the necessary changes, and taking the high road.
Outlive it.
When Nehemiah’s friends told him to run and hide, he replied, “‘I will not‘ …So the wall was finished… in fifty-two days… when all our enemies heard of it… they perceived that this work was done by our God.” (Nehemiah 6:11-16)
Sometimes you’re in more danger from the counsel of your friends than you are from the criticism of your enemies. That’s when you must know who you are, know what God’s called you to do, and outlive the criticism!