But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit. Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins.
Titus 1:20:23 NLT
Micah 6:8 NLT
Show mercy
Christians have sometimes been accused of shooting their own wounded. In our zeal for God, we can sometimes become impatient and judgmental with those who struggle with sin and doubt. Instead of rejecting them, Jude says, we should have mercy on them—just as Christ had mercy on us when he forgave our many sins. While we must not tolerate or accept sin, we are to love and accept others with kindness and mercy. If you know someone who has fallen away from God, your kindness may be just what is needed to lead them back to God.
From the TouchPoint Bible
(Tyndale House) p 1122
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
PUTTING IT OUT THERE
We used to play spin the bottle when I was a kid," says comedy writer Gene Perret. "A girl would spin the bottle, and if the bottle pointed to you when it stopped, the girl could either kiss you or give you a nickel. By the time I was 14, I owned my own home."
Gotta admire persistence. Because rejection is hard to take. Especially when it comes from someone you know. Or, come to think about it, someone you don't know.
And we all want to be appreciated. We like being valued for what we do and who we are.
American football coach Bum Phillips lives in a world where one can become a hero or a heel in an amazingly short time. One mediocre season and a coach, even a good one, can be out of a job. Like Phillips once said, "There's only two kinds of coaches -- them that's been fired and them that's about to be fired." Sounds like they might
want to make friends with rejection.
Few things hold people back more than the fear of rejection. They don't ask for what they need because the answer may be no. They don't ask their boss for a raise or for more time off. They don't ask for help. They are afraid to be the first to say "I love you" (what if they don't hear "I love you" back?). They don't ask for a better deal or a lower interest rate. They don't submit that manuscript to a publisher. In short, they don't let their wants and needs be known, for fear of being turned away, turned down or turned out.
But the wonderful truth is this: If you can accept NO for an answer, you can ask for anything. ANYTHING. When no is an acceptable and okay answer to what you'd like, you can fearlessly ask for whatever you need.
I love the expression, "I'm just putting it out there." Just put it out there. Ask. And don't worry about the response. Nobody can say YES if you never asked. Just put it out there and don't be afraid -- you may be surprised at the answer you get. Sometimes people just need to be asked. And if you don't get the response you want, are you any worse off than before?
Hey -- I'm just putting it out there.
-- Steve Goodier
Gotta admire persistence. Because rejection is hard to take. Especially when it comes from someone you know. Or, come to think about it, someone you don't know.
And we all want to be appreciated. We like being valued for what we do and who we are.
American football coach Bum Phillips lives in a world where one can become a hero or a heel in an amazingly short time. One mediocre season and a coach, even a good one, can be out of a job. Like Phillips once said, "There's only two kinds of coaches -- them that's been fired and them that's about to be fired." Sounds like they might
want to make friends with rejection.
Few things hold people back more than the fear of rejection. They don't ask for what they need because the answer may be no. They don't ask their boss for a raise or for more time off. They don't ask for help. They are afraid to be the first to say "I love you" (what if they don't hear "I love you" back?). They don't ask for a better deal or a lower interest rate. They don't submit that manuscript to a publisher. In short, they don't let their wants and needs be known, for fear of being turned away, turned down or turned out.
But the wonderful truth is this: If you can accept NO for an answer, you can ask for anything. ANYTHING. When no is an acceptable and okay answer to what you'd like, you can fearlessly ask for whatever you need.
I love the expression, "I'm just putting it out there." Just put it out there. Ask. And don't worry about the response. Nobody can say YES if you never asked. Just put it out there and don't be afraid -- you may be surprised at the answer you get. Sometimes people just need to be asked. And if you don't get the response you want, are you any worse off than before?
Hey -- I'm just putting it out there.
-- Steve Goodier
Monday, August 17, 2009
GOOD PEOPLE
A doctor said to his patient, "You have a slight heart condition, but I wouldn't worry about it."
"Really, Doc?" the patient replied. "Well, if you had a slight heart condition, I wouldn't worry about it either."
We can sometimes get the impression that most of the world is more or less out for themselves and that people care little about the plight of others. But I choose to believe differently. I believe that a lot of people are basically concerned about others, even if they don't always know how to express it. That is perhaps why a certain story, clipped years ago and filed away, has remained one of my favorites to this day.
A trucker relates that he was traveling through rural North Carolina on I-95 when a brown sedan merged onto the highway. It weaved back and forth between lanes, causing the driver of the truck to shift into a lower gear. At first he thought the driver was drunk, but when he came closer, the trucker saw an old man shaking uncontrollably behind the wheel. He noticed a Citizen's Band aerial whipping to and fro as the car jerked between lanes, so he called on the radio: "You in the brown
Chevy, if you can hear me, pull over. Pull off the road!"
Amazingly, he did! The trucker pulled up behind the car and climbed from his cab. The elderly man staggered from his auto and fell into the trucker's arms. He poured out a story of months of fear and pain that accompanied the illness of his only daughter.
Now he was returning from the hospital where it was decided that she would cease any further treatment. In the hospital he remained "strong" and stoic for his daughter, but out on the road he fell apart.
The two men talked for the good part of an hour. The father eventually decided to share his pain with his daughter and said he felt good enough to drive home. The men embraced and the trucker followed him for 50 miles. As they drove along, the two talked together on the radio.
The older man finally acknowledged that his exit was ahead and thanked his new friend again for the help. The trucker asked if he could make it home all right and, suddenly, a third voice broke in on the conversation: "Breaker 19, don't worry, good buddy. Go your way. I'll see him home!" Glancing in his mirror, he saw a livestock truck move into the exit lane behind the brown sedan.
I think there are good people the world over. People who will gladly give that caring touch, a needed warm embrace or a patient and listening ear. They are like angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
Look around. You're sure to see one. And look in the mirror. You might spot one there, too.
-- Steve Goodier
"Really, Doc?" the patient replied. "Well, if you had a slight heart condition, I wouldn't worry about it either."
We can sometimes get the impression that most of the world is more or less out for themselves and that people care little about the plight of others. But I choose to believe differently. I believe that a lot of people are basically concerned about others, even if they don't always know how to express it. That is perhaps why a certain story, clipped years ago and filed away, has remained one of my favorites to this day.
A trucker relates that he was traveling through rural North Carolina on I-95 when a brown sedan merged onto the highway. It weaved back and forth between lanes, causing the driver of the truck to shift into a lower gear. At first he thought the driver was drunk, but when he came closer, the trucker saw an old man shaking uncontrollably behind the wheel. He noticed a Citizen's Band aerial whipping to and fro as the car jerked between lanes, so he called on the radio: "You in the brown
Chevy, if you can hear me, pull over. Pull off the road!"
Amazingly, he did! The trucker pulled up behind the car and climbed from his cab. The elderly man staggered from his auto and fell into the trucker's arms. He poured out a story of months of fear and pain that accompanied the illness of his only daughter.
Now he was returning from the hospital where it was decided that she would cease any further treatment. In the hospital he remained "strong" and stoic for his daughter, but out on the road he fell apart.
The two men talked for the good part of an hour. The father eventually decided to share his pain with his daughter and said he felt good enough to drive home. The men embraced and the trucker followed him for 50 miles. As they drove along, the two talked together on the radio.
The older man finally acknowledged that his exit was ahead and thanked his new friend again for the help. The trucker asked if he could make it home all right and, suddenly, a third voice broke in on the conversation: "Breaker 19, don't worry, good buddy. Go your way. I'll see him home!" Glancing in his mirror, he saw a livestock truck move into the exit lane behind the brown sedan.
I think there are good people the world over. People who will gladly give that caring touch, a needed warm embrace or a patient and listening ear. They are like angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
Look around. You're sure to see one. And look in the mirror. You might spot one there, too.
-- Steve Goodier
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
WHAT GREATNESS IS ALL ABOUT
A school music teacher received this essay from an eight-year-old student concerning Johann Sebastian Bach: "He was a GREAT composer. He had 20 children and had an old spinster in the attic to practice on."
Actually, I don't know the exact number of children he had, but it seems to be quite a few. And I don't know what he kept in the attic ... or what he practiced on. But the student was absolutely right about one thing: Bach was a GREAT composer.
Not all of us can be great at what we do. I try to do some things the very best I can. But that means I cannot give much attention to some of the less important tasks.
But what about just being good at WHO WE ARE? Good human beings? Even being GREAT at who we are?
Author James Michener learned something about greatness on a stormy night in the South Pacific. His plane was trying desperately to land on the Tontouta airstrip but could not do so. After several attempts in the dark of night, his knuckles were white with fear. When they finally landed safely, Michener went out and walked the length of the airstrip, looking at the dim outlines of the mountains they had so
narrowly missed. He wrote this:
"And as I stood there in the darkness I caught a glimpse of the remaining years of my life and I swore an oath when peace came, if I survived, I would live the rest of my years as if I were a great man. I did not presume to think that I would be a great man. I have never thought in those terms, but I could conduct myself as if I were. I would adhere to my basic principles. I would bear public testimony to what I believed. I would be a better man. I would help others. I would truly believe and act as if all men were my brothers. And I would strive to make whatever world in which I found myself a better place. In the darkness a magnificent peace settled over me, for I saw that I could actually attain each of those objectives, and I never looked back."
Michener says that the very next day he started to draft the book TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC.* And if it can ever be said that he became a great man, I suspect it was only because he decided to be a better man than he was before.
Greatness may never have been your goal. But you and I can be a little better today than we were yesterday. We can help others a bit more today than yesterday. We can act more deliberately as if all people are our sisters and brothers. We can leave the world a better place tomorrow than we found it today.
And if that is the way to greatness, then we all can head that direction. One step at a time ... beginning today.
Steve Goodier
www.LifeSupportSystem.com
* Michener's quote comes from "OUT OF THE BLUE: Delight Comes Into Our Lives," by Mark Victor Hansen & Barbara Nichols with Patty Hansen (HarperCollins, 1996).
Actually, I don't know the exact number of children he had, but it seems to be quite a few. And I don't know what he kept in the attic ... or what he practiced on. But the student was absolutely right about one thing: Bach was a GREAT composer.
Not all of us can be great at what we do. I try to do some things the very best I can. But that means I cannot give much attention to some of the less important tasks.
But what about just being good at WHO WE ARE? Good human beings? Even being GREAT at who we are?
Author James Michener learned something about greatness on a stormy night in the South Pacific. His plane was trying desperately to land on the Tontouta airstrip but could not do so. After several attempts in the dark of night, his knuckles were white with fear. When they finally landed safely, Michener went out and walked the length of the airstrip, looking at the dim outlines of the mountains they had so
narrowly missed. He wrote this:
"And as I stood there in the darkness I caught a glimpse of the remaining years of my life and I swore an oath when peace came, if I survived, I would live the rest of my years as if I were a great man. I did not presume to think that I would be a great man. I have never thought in those terms, but I could conduct myself as if I were. I would adhere to my basic principles. I would bear public testimony to what I believed. I would be a better man. I would help others. I would truly believe and act as if all men were my brothers. And I would strive to make whatever world in which I found myself a better place. In the darkness a magnificent peace settled over me, for I saw that I could actually attain each of those objectives, and I never looked back."
Michener says that the very next day he started to draft the book TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC.* And if it can ever be said that he became a great man, I suspect it was only because he decided to be a better man than he was before.
Greatness may never have been your goal. But you and I can be a little better today than we were yesterday. We can help others a bit more today than yesterday. We can act more deliberately as if all people are our sisters and brothers. We can leave the world a better place tomorrow than we found it today.
And if that is the way to greatness, then we all can head that direction. One step at a time ... beginning today.
Steve Goodier
www.LifeSupportSystem.com
* Michener's quote comes from "OUT OF THE BLUE: Delight Comes Into Our Lives," by Mark Victor Hansen & Barbara Nichols with Patty Hansen (HarperCollins, 1996).
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Those who trust in God are no longer guilty...
Think you're an exception?
For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious ideal.
Romans 3:23 NLT
Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
James 4:17 NLT
Details, please?
(1.) Remember what St. John says: "If our heart condemn us, God is stronger than our heart." The feeling of being, or not being, forgiven and loved is not what matters. One must come down to brass tacks. If there is a particular sin on your conscience, repent and confess it. If there isn't, tell the despondent devil not to be silly. You can't help hearing his voice (the odious inner radio), but you must treat it merely like a buzzing in your ears or any other irrational nuisance.
(2.) Remember the story in the Imitation, how the Christ on the crucifix suddenly spoke to the monk who was so anxious about his salvation and said, "If you knew that all was well, what would you, today, do or stop doing?" When you have found the answer, do it or stop doing it. You see, one must always get back to the practical and definite. What the devil loves is that vague cloud of unspecified guilt feeling or unspecified virtue by which he lures us into despair or presumption. "Details, please?" is the answer.
(3.) The sense of dereliction cannot be a bad symptom, for Our Lord Himself experienced it in its depth—"Why has thou forsaken me?"
C. S. Lewis in Letters to an American Lady
For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious ideal.
Romans 3:23 NLT
Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
James 4:17 NLT
Details, please?
(1.) Remember what St. John says: "If our heart condemn us, God is stronger than our heart." The feeling of being, or not being, forgiven and loved is not what matters. One must come down to brass tacks. If there is a particular sin on your conscience, repent and confess it. If there isn't, tell the despondent devil not to be silly. You can't help hearing his voice (the odious inner radio), but you must treat it merely like a buzzing in your ears or any other irrational nuisance.
(2.) Remember the story in the Imitation, how the Christ on the crucifix suddenly spoke to the monk who was so anxious about his salvation and said, "If you knew that all was well, what would you, today, do or stop doing?" When you have found the answer, do it or stop doing it. You see, one must always get back to the practical and definite. What the devil loves is that vague cloud of unspecified guilt feeling or unspecified virtue by which he lures us into despair or presumption. "Details, please?" is the answer.
(3.) The sense of dereliction cannot be a bad symptom, for Our Lord Himself experienced it in its depth—"Why has thou forsaken me?"
C. S. Lewis in Letters to an American Lady
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