I recently joined into a new business venture in the travel industry. We Skype 24/7. We share values, marketing ideas, and yes, constructive criticisms. I firmly believe these people have my best interests at heart. I know that in order to grow and succeed in this business, I need to accept their coaching and criticism. Here's an unabashed promotion website to view for anyone interested in highly discounted and potentially free trips to exotic locations.
http://www.dowhitedtravel.worldventuresdreamtrips.com/
Same thing when it comes to our spiritual life, it's important to have friends that share common beliefs; an inner circle we respect enough to trust their judgment will keep us on the proper path. If we don't have people in our lives that truly care about our faith, it becomes easy to lose our way. There are times in our lives when we need the truthful judgment of others--even when their criticism is hard to swallow. My spiritual inner circle is my growth group, and mentors; these are the people who share my beliefs and whom I trust to judge me critically and honestly. I am truly thankful to have the judgment of these respected friends.
Hebrews 10:25 (New Living Translation)
25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Adjustments in Life
I'm sitting on the couch very gingerly right now, I threw out my back getting boxes out of the attic. In a couple days if it's not better, I know it would be best to go get adjusted at a Chiro.
Os Hillman tells a story of how a grocery store had to adjust how it did business.
There's a story in the Bible where Jesus comes up to some fishermen who had been fishing all night, catching nothing, they has to adjust to catch the critters. When they did, the nets overflowed.
You and I are thrown curves balls in life, and we too, have to adjust.
So this Mid West grocery store noticed it's profit margin sunk during the winter months, couldn't figure out why. It seemed that whenever it was really cold outside, the manager raised the temperature in the store. When customers came into the store it was too warm for them, so they removed their coats and placed them in their shopping carts. This meant less room for food and resulted in reduced sales overall. They lowered the temperature of the store, and as a result, the sales climbed back to the levels they were accustomed to. Their adjustment resulted in restoring sales levels.
So, if you ever wonder why they keep stores cold...Another thing about stores; if you are trying to adjust your diet, just shop the four walls- Dairy, Breads, Produce, and Meats. Forget the middle and watch what that little adjustment does to your bottom (line.)
Ever sat in a chair where one or two of the legs are not adjusted right? Some instances, one whole leg may be missing or broken, causing a dangerous unbalanced situation. Mental, Physical, Social, Spiritual-Four of the chair legs of life.
Any of those legs need adjusting?
Os Hillman tells a story of how a grocery store had to adjust how it did business.
There's a story in the Bible where Jesus comes up to some fishermen who had been fishing all night, catching nothing, they has to adjust to catch the critters. When they did, the nets overflowed.
You and I are thrown curves balls in life, and we too, have to adjust.
So this Mid West grocery store noticed it's profit margin sunk during the winter months, couldn't figure out why. It seemed that whenever it was really cold outside, the manager raised the temperature in the store. When customers came into the store it was too warm for them, so they removed their coats and placed them in their shopping carts. This meant less room for food and resulted in reduced sales overall. They lowered the temperature of the store, and as a result, the sales climbed back to the levels they were accustomed to. Their adjustment resulted in restoring sales levels.
So, if you ever wonder why they keep stores cold...Another thing about stores; if you are trying to adjust your diet, just shop the four walls- Dairy, Breads, Produce, and Meats. Forget the middle and watch what that little adjustment does to your bottom (line.)
Ever sat in a chair where one or two of the legs are not adjusted right? Some instances, one whole leg may be missing or broken, causing a dangerous unbalanced situation. Mental, Physical, Social, Spiritual-Four of the chair legs of life.
Any of those legs need adjusting?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
God and...Playboy?
God and Playboy. Bet you never thought you'd see that in the same line?
I believe it was 1979. Playboy had a pictorial from the number one party school that year -San Diego State University. I was working at the nearby grocery store and recognized one of the bunny hopefuls. Of course, I only bought those periodicals for the articles...articles of clothing maybe, or lack of that is. Yes, I was a curious teen back then. I was in my season of unbelief. Anything that had to do with church or religion was not for me.
So every time she came in the store, I would joke around and ask her out. The response was always the same. I couldn't imagine why she wouldn't go out with me. Finally, one Friday night, I was working Produce, and she came in...again, I asked her out and she said "no thank you," again!
"No I 'm serious, why won't you go out with me?" She went on to say that she only went out with guys who were Christ followers and lived a life accordingly. Well, that stopped me in my tracks. I told her I wouldn't bug her again.
Several weeks passed, and she approached me while in the store, and she asked if I still wanted to take her out sometime. "She's come to her senses" I was thinking, but that was short lived. She had recently gotten involved in a group on campus called Campus Crusade for Christ, and had done a 180 on her prior life. They were having a week long event where national speaker's would come and give nightly talks. She had come to "invite" me to join her the following night, and since each of us have our own motivations, I said "sure."
That night, a speaker talked about a God sized void that's only filled by...sex, drugs, and rock and roll? No? Money, prestigue, degrees and titles? No? Fame and fortune, cars and chicks? Again, No? What else doesn't fill a God sized void?
She found it, then, I found it later on in life. Just goes to show you that God can use anything He wants to, including Playboy.
I believe it was 1979. Playboy had a pictorial from the number one party school that year -San Diego State University. I was working at the nearby grocery store and recognized one of the bunny hopefuls. Of course, I only bought those periodicals for the articles...articles of clothing maybe, or lack of that is. Yes, I was a curious teen back then. I was in my season of unbelief. Anything that had to do with church or religion was not for me.
So every time she came in the store, I would joke around and ask her out. The response was always the same. I couldn't imagine why she wouldn't go out with me. Finally, one Friday night, I was working Produce, and she came in...again, I asked her out and she said "no thank you," again!
"No I 'm serious, why won't you go out with me?" She went on to say that she only went out with guys who were Christ followers and lived a life accordingly. Well, that stopped me in my tracks. I told her I wouldn't bug her again.
Several weeks passed, and she approached me while in the store, and she asked if I still wanted to take her out sometime. "She's come to her senses" I was thinking, but that was short lived. She had recently gotten involved in a group on campus called Campus Crusade for Christ, and had done a 180 on her prior life. They were having a week long event where national speaker's would come and give nightly talks. She had come to "invite" me to join her the following night, and since each of us have our own motivations, I said "sure."
That night, a speaker talked about a God sized void that's only filled by...sex, drugs, and rock and roll? No? Money, prestigue, degrees and titles? No? Fame and fortune, cars and chicks? Again, No? What else doesn't fill a God sized void?
She found it, then, I found it later on in life. Just goes to show you that God can use anything He wants to, including Playboy.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Good Day!
Good day!
I'm sure at some point we've all heard Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story."
This is one of his classics's, that in light of all the thing's happening around each and every one of us, sometimes we wonder the "Why." A colleague of mine sent me this on Perspective, so I thought I'd share it with you...
“A long time ago there lived an old man who lived in a very small village. The only possession he had was a beautiful horse that was strong and fast. The horse was his only means for providing for himself and his family. One night a great storm arose. The winds blew tremendously. The horse was frightened and ran feverishly about the choral. As the storm continued the gate to the choral was blown open and the horse bolted and ran off into the desert. The next morning the people of the village gathered together to take inventory of the damage from the storm. Upon hearing that the old man had lost his horse the people of the village went to his humble home. All of the people went up to the man saying, "This is a sad day. You have lost your only possession and the only means that you had to take care of your family. This is bad, this is truly terrible." The old man looked at the people and softly replied, "You don't know this is bad, you don't know that this is terrible."
The days went by and the old man worked his land as best he could. He didn't bother to fix the broken down portion of the choral because he had nothing to keep in it anyway. The old man awoke one morning to the sound of prancing hoofs and the familiar neigh of his trusted horse. He darted out of bed and ran to the choral to find not only had his horse returned but it had led 50 wild stallions it had been running with in the desert right into the coral. As the dawn came the people of the village again gathered themselves at the cottage of the old man. The people exclaimed, "This is so wonderful and good. Now you have all of these horses and all this wealth you will never have another worry. What a great and wonderful thing! The old man faced the crowd and softly whispered, "You don't know that this is a wonderful thing, you do not know that this is good."
The old man had a son who was one of the great young warriors in the village. He spent hour after hour training to perfect his skills with the sword and the sling. One day as he was breaking in a strong black stallion he was thrown from the horse and his leg was crushed. Never again would he be able to use those skills he had worked so hard to acquire. When the people of the village heard the news they responded again by saying, "This is so terrible this is such a bad thing. Now this great young warrior is crippled, what an awful, what a terrible thing. The old man responded, "You do not know this is so terrible, you do not know that this is a bad thing."
Not long after the tragic incident the cry of war was heard in the land and the war lords came to the village and took all of the able young men off to battle and the majority of them were killed.”
I'm sure at some point we've all heard Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story."
This is one of his classics's, that in light of all the thing's happening around each and every one of us, sometimes we wonder the "Why." A colleague of mine sent me this on Perspective, so I thought I'd share it with you...
“A long time ago there lived an old man who lived in a very small village. The only possession he had was a beautiful horse that was strong and fast. The horse was his only means for providing for himself and his family. One night a great storm arose. The winds blew tremendously. The horse was frightened and ran feverishly about the choral. As the storm continued the gate to the choral was blown open and the horse bolted and ran off into the desert. The next morning the people of the village gathered together to take inventory of the damage from the storm. Upon hearing that the old man had lost his horse the people of the village went to his humble home. All of the people went up to the man saying, "This is a sad day. You have lost your only possession and the only means that you had to take care of your family. This is bad, this is truly terrible." The old man looked at the people and softly replied, "You don't know this is bad, you don't know that this is terrible."
The days went by and the old man worked his land as best he could. He didn't bother to fix the broken down portion of the choral because he had nothing to keep in it anyway. The old man awoke one morning to the sound of prancing hoofs and the familiar neigh of his trusted horse. He darted out of bed and ran to the choral to find not only had his horse returned but it had led 50 wild stallions it had been running with in the desert right into the coral. As the dawn came the people of the village again gathered themselves at the cottage of the old man. The people exclaimed, "This is so wonderful and good. Now you have all of these horses and all this wealth you will never have another worry. What a great and wonderful thing! The old man faced the crowd and softly whispered, "You don't know that this is a wonderful thing, you do not know that this is good."
The old man had a son who was one of the great young warriors in the village. He spent hour after hour training to perfect his skills with the sword and the sling. One day as he was breaking in a strong black stallion he was thrown from the horse and his leg was crushed. Never again would he be able to use those skills he had worked so hard to acquire. When the people of the village heard the news they responded again by saying, "This is so terrible this is such a bad thing. Now this great young warrior is crippled, what an awful, what a terrible thing. The old man responded, "You do not know this is so terrible, you do not know that this is a bad thing."
Not long after the tragic incident the cry of war was heard in the land and the war lords came to the village and took all of the able young men off to battle and the majority of them were killed.”
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Empty me
'I've tasted the sweet life, the wild ride, and found a little, is not quite enough."
This is a line from former American Idol semi-finalist Chris Sligh. The song goes on to say;
"I know how my heart can stray...Lord, empty me so I can be filled with you."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrvSnQ77Mvc
This is a line from former American Idol semi-finalist Chris Sligh. The song goes on to say;
"I know how my heart can stray...Lord, empty me so I can be filled with you."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrvSnQ77Mvc
Monday, March 15, 2010
Consider others better then yourselves
My surfing, two-man volleyball, and best man in my wedding buddy and I, once memorized Philippians 2. Both of us at the time were struggling in areas of our life and thought it a great idea to memorize this passage for accountability reasons, but also because these are some cool verses.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=phil%202:1-18&version=NLT
Here are the first 4:
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others... a few verses later talks about living a life above reproach.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=phil%202:1-18&version=NLT
Here are the first 4:
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others... a few verses later talks about living a life above reproach.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
It's all good
There are times in life that God's purpose and plan for our lives seems distant and confusing. It's so easy to miss God's truth because of the circumstances that are right in front of us. However, if we can see beyond the now we just might get a glimpse of God and His BIG picture for our lives.
So, does anyone else ever go to the last chapter of a book to get an idea about the how the story ends? Picture a blimp above a parade; not only can things be seen immediately in front of, but also what floats are coming and those that have made it to the end. God is like that; not only does He see the here and now, but also the there and then. Ultimately, when you check the end of the book; It's all good.
All of us have had those days when life doesn't make much sense. It may be with relationships, finances, or work, or lack of, we all have wondered about the meaning and purpose of it all. Sometimes it just takes us changing our perspective to help us see things more clearly. But more importantly, exercising our faith in knowing God knows.
Many times I wonder what the heck? But guess what,
So, does anyone else ever go to the last chapter of a book to get an idea about the how the story ends? Picture a blimp above a parade; not only can things be seen immediately in front of, but also what floats are coming and those that have made it to the end. God is like that; not only does He see the here and now, but also the there and then. Ultimately, when you check the end of the book; It's all good.
All of us have had those days when life doesn't make much sense. It may be with relationships, finances, or work, or lack of, we all have wondered about the meaning and purpose of it all. Sometimes it just takes us changing our perspective to help us see things more clearly. But more importantly, exercising our faith in knowing God knows.
Many times I wonder what the heck? But guess what,
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