Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 1809 May 02, 2009
Thought for the week: "Dwight Eisenhower used to demonstrate the art of leadership with a simple piece of string. He'd put it on the table and say, 'Pull it, and it will follow anywhere you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.'"
"When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free." – Catherine Ponder
"Time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future." – John F. Kennedy
"You have two hands. One to help yourself, the second to help others." – Unknown
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." – Theodore Roosevelt
"Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains." – Emilie Cady
"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." – George Herman "Babe" Ruth
In our Anglican Church, each service begins with a greeting. The officiating clergyman says, "The Lord be with you." The congregation used to respond by saying, "And with thy spirit." But, with the modernizing of the liturgy, the minister now says, "The Lord be with you," and everyone responds with, "And also with you." One Sunday a visiting bishop went to a church where the sound system was known to be old and unreliable. As he approached the microphone, he tapped it several times and finally said, "There's something wrong with this!" Without hesitation the whole congregation answered faithfully, "And also with you."
Pulpit Bloopers is copyright 2002 by Sermon Fodder Ministries (www.sermonfodder.com) and was compiled from contributing members of the Sermon Fodder List. Cited on Mickey's Funnies, www.mikeysfunnies.com.
Columnist Rick Reilly gave this advice to rookie professional athletes: "Stop thumping your chest. The line blocked, the quarterback threw you a perfect spiral while getting his head knocked off, and the good receiver drew the double coverage. Get over yourself."
The truth is, every touchdown in life is a team effort. Applaud your teammates. An elementary-age boy came home from the tryouts for the school play. "Mommy, Mommy," he announced, "I got a part. I've been chosen to sit in the audience and clap and cheer." When you have a chance to clap and cheer, do you take it? If you do, your head is starting to fit your hat size.
I don't remember many things from childhood, but one thing I do remember: I was alone with just my thoughts, without parents, or friends. As an 11 year old, I had a problem with my inner ear and was scheduled for surgery at the hospital. In those days, the mid-1950s, one was to be at the hospital the day before surgery. After arriving at Seattle General Hospital I was put in an antiseptic bed, though I wasn't feeling a bit sick. After Mother had left for home, I began to ponder thoughts of being alone. Could I handle it?
Perhaps you've experienced times when you felt alone and in need of faith. This year I started re-reading the Bible, beginning in Genesis, and see stories of people alone, in need of a living faith. I was inspired with the story of Abraham in chapters 12 through 17. When Abram was 75 years of age, God appeared to him to lead him and his family to Canaan. During this time, God said that his descendants would inherit the land. The only problem was that Abram (later, Abraham) did not have a child.
When Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him and promised that he would have a son of his own. When Abram really took the promise seriously, God changed his name to Abraham, (father of many nations). So with us, when we believe God's promises, our relationship with Him changes. God asked Abraham to live entirely before Him, and to live blameless in close communion. Living, and walking with God is a living faith. Also, God changed Sarai's name to Sarah. One year later, when Abraham was 100 years of age, Isaac, his son was born.
While contemplating these chapters, I went to Galatians where Abraham's faith is noted. I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase: "If it is to be, it is up to me." Thirteen years earlier, Abraham had gotten a son, Ishmael. He and Sarah had felt that it was up to them to provide the solution through Hagar, Sarah's maid—seeing that Sarah was barren. With Isaac, God said that for Him, nothing is impossible if they believed, not even an improbable birth.
In Galatians, as in Genesis, a close and personal relationship with God is based on believing that he provides for us, and not on what we do. My freedom in Christ is affirmed when I wait for God's answer to my prayer. It is noted in the second chapter of Galatians, that the life I live should be lived by faith. It is to be a living faith, a personal faith in close communion with the Holy Spirit who lives in me. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow, and today. Live freely!
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he'd stuck it out.
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow –
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are –
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit –
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit
As I watched nearly five dozen eager graduates of the Los Angeles Police Academy throw their hats in the air celebrating their achievement, I knew they were the survivors of a rigorous training, but their journey wasn't over.
Ahead of them was a full year of supervised field training, and it was unlikely all of them would make it through their probation.
It's difficult to cut hard-working and hopeful probationers, but if an organization wants to create a culture of excellence, its gatekeepers (those in charge of hiring, training, retention, and promotion) must exercise clear-eyed objectivity and demonstrate unflinching courage by weeding out those who are unwilling or unable to be excellent.
In policing as in many other fields, the stakes are simply too high to knowingly accept less. No one wants a surgeon, teacher, or peace officer with marginal skills or a shaky character.
Yet everywhere we see signs of declining standards. Public and private organizations regularly lower their expectations due to political expediency, misplaced loyalty, forced diversity, or perceived necessity. Adequacy has become the shifting standard defined as "the best we can get."
Two results are inevitable when we lower standards: The quality of service sinks as fewer people strive for the best within them, and mediocrity becomes the norm as good people move up and out, leaving behind a growing proportion of so-so performers.
Two results are inevitable when we insist on excellence: Performance increases as everyone does better than they otherwise would, and some people are asked to leave.
Management can avoid its responsibility, but it can't dodge the consequences of shirking it. Excellence is achievable, but not without sacrifice and discipline.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was in the wrong."1
On more than one occasion Jesus confronted the Pharisees in no uncertain terms for their hypocritical behavior, as did the Apostle Paul to Peter in the above Scripture verse. So when is it right for us to confront others and when do we need to keep silent? How do we know when we are reacting in proportion to what has happened or if we are overreacting? When someone attacks us personally, when do we turn the other cheek? Or when we see wrong in society, business, or politics, should we speak out or should we look the other way and say nothing?
When people attacked Jesus and accused him falsely, he remained totally non-defensive and said nothing because he had nothing to hide. On the other hand, when people misused the house of God and used people for their own ends, or tried to hide their hypocrisy behind a facade of religious piety, or loved their man–made legalistic rules more than they loved people, Jesus spoke out against them in no uncertain terms.
The bottom line is our motive. Jesus always did what he did because he loved God and he loved people. He attacked evil and wrong head on because it was destructive to those whom God loves—us. Furthermore, Jesus always spoke with authority but was never authoritarian, rigid, controlling or manipulative because he always acted out of pure motives and had no hidden agenda.
What we need to do if we are going to make an impact in our world is, first of all, to acknowledge our own shortcomings and, with God's help, work to overcome these. Second, we need to love the things God loves and hate the things he hates and speak out against the things God hates as Jesus did. We need to be angry with these too. We simply cannot love righteousness without hating unrighteousness.
Remember that meekness is not weakness, and also the words of Edmund Burke who said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me the insight to discern that which is right and that which is wrong, and give me the courage to stand up and be counted, speak out against and confront the wrong, but always in a loving and Christ-like manner. And help me always to be willing to do my part to bring about change. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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