...no

God is not really concerned with whether we win or lose the lottery. He says no on a daily basis to the self-centered barrage of requests we make for easy money without work or responsibility. God is the wisest and most beautiful being in the universe, and He does what is best for us, even when we don’t understand why. 

God does not always say yes to our prayers. 

He is far too loving to give in to self-centered prayers that cause more harm than good.

There is a fascinating account in the Bible of a day in the life of Jesus. It is found in Mark 1:21–39. Here we get a glimpse of how Jesus lived and loved. As the day begins, Jesus goes to a local place of worship and preaches. His power and authority amaze the people. Right in the middle of His message, a man who is spiritually tormented begins shouting out questions and making wild statements. Jesus silences him and speaks to the demon terrorizing the man. The man convulses, screams, and is set free.

After the worship service, Jesus walks with His disciples to one of their homes, where a woman is sick with fever. Jesus goes back to work again. He shows love, care, and compassion by healing the woman.

That same evening, when the Sabbath time of rest is over and people can move about freely, a massive crowd descends on the home where Jesus is staying. This leads to a spontaneous time of compassionate service, during which Jesus heals the sick and frees those who are locked in the chains of spiritual bondage. Sickness is defeated and demons are sent running for the hills!

Very early the next morning, Jesus wakes up and takes a walk. He finds a quiet place where He can talk with His heavenly Father, but some of His disciples track him down to let Him know that there are people looking for Him. The disciples request that Jesus return to town and do more miracles and heal even more people.

Jesus says no.

He is crystal clear in His response.

Jesus knows there are still needs He could meet. 

He knows the people want Him to stay and offer what only He can give them. 

He is profoundly aware that many will be disappointed if He does not come back.

But Jesus is committed to His mission. And His primary focus is not healing. 

He has come to be a teacher and a preacher. So Jesus says to His disciples,

Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come. — Mark 1:38, emphasis added. His response to the request is clear, simple, and mission driven. And it is an emphatic no. In His wisdom, Jesus — who is God in human form — says no to the urgent requests and needs of people so He can say yes to something greater, something better.

When we look back on our lives, I believe, all of us will be thankful that God said no to some of our prayer requests. I dated a couple of nice girls before I met my wife, Sherry, and there were times when I asked God, “Could this be the woman I will spend the rest of my life with?” God said, “No!” When I finally met my wife, I looked back and thanked God for His kind no. His no was preparing me for a better yes!

Jesus was “God with us” Matthew 1:23. 

It was in His power to say yes to every request, yet there were times He said no. 

And if God says no, what does that teach us about the need for us to say no as well?

Take a moment to reflect on your life. Has God ever said no to something you wanted? 

Are you able to see wisdom in that no today?

If God says no, you can be confident that there are times when you need to say no too.

-kevin harney 

...faith

How do we express our faith? We express our love for Christ through worship, missions, tithing, learning more about Him through Bible study and church attendance, but how do you express faith? Our greatest expressions of our faith come when we face uncertainty.

If asked, “Do you have faith?” I am sure you would respond “definitely!” How would your friends, coworkers and neighbors respond if asked how they had seen you express your faith? Uncertainty allows us the opportunity to live out our faith. Daily, sometimes even moment-by-moment trusting God fully and openly. Marriage troubles, unsolvable or long-term illnesses, problems with our children, caring for our aging parents, financial difficulties, and unforeseeable circumstances that bring us to our knees knowing there is not a thing that we can do to fix our circumstances. Not knowing what will happen or what we will face next, we look towards heaven and say, “Lord, I know you have this under control, so I rest in your love and wisdom.”

It has become my opinion that our struggles are our opportunities to glorify God most. Our heavenly director calling out “ACTION!” Sure, people see you each day, some even watch who you’re with, how you drive or spend your time or money, but when hardships come you have the opportunity to show friends and family, neighbors and strangers, coworkers and your community what a mighty God we love and trust. It is faith defined – walking the talk.

When uncertainty tries to take over my thoughts, I go back to what I know and what I want to show. God is my Creator and the author of my days. He is wisdom, and He has a perfect plan for my life to lead me to His glory. He loves me more than I can understand. That is all I need to know. I do not need to know what will happen tomorrow or how things will turn out. I do not need to know what, when, why or how – I just need to know God. My prayer for you today is that you would know God – know that He loves you more than you can understand and know that He has things all under control – just trust Him.

-kathy branzell.

...debris

After some friends lost their home in a tornado, I helped them clean up what was left. There wasn't much. Where their house had once stood was a refrigerator. That's all. Destruction was everywhere.  Debris covered the yard and the nearby woods. All day we sorted through the rubble, hoping to find intact some piece of our friends' lives. 

We could rescue only a few belongings. We uncovered some important papers, a few small personal items, and a handful of photos - not very much to represent an entire lifetime. I'm sure the family treasures these mementos because they're all that remains from their pre-tornado life.

Like the devastating winds of a tornado, I've felt trouble beat against my life. Hardships blow into every life, threatening to knock down all that we value. In the wreckage, we can usually find some valuable treasures, if our eyes are open to recognize them and our hearts are open to receive them.

As long as we're in this world, we will have tribulation. John 16:33  But this Bible verse also says, "In me you may have peace." How can we have peace amid tribulation? Peace doesn't result from the removal of unpleasant circumstances. It comes from releasing our own plans and being open to God's plan. Rest comes from fixing our eyes on Him instead of on circumstances. It comes from giving up on living for myself and living for Him instead.

From God's vantage point, there is no true debris. I'm confident that He is in the midst of any storm, and I try to keep my eyes open to see the gift He gives with the rubble. He has promised that, for those who love Him, He'll bring blessings out of storms.

-marsha jordan

...justice

"I understand Jesus died for our sins. I believe it but I just can't understand why he had to do it. Didn't God have power over everything? I have looked for the answer to this question for a long time. Please help."

Many people struggle with this same issue. Because God is a God of infinite justice, he cannot forgive sin without justice being served. Otherwise he wouldn't be God. This means that all sin must be judged according to the moral law of God and the universe. We can no more defy this law and live than we can defy the law of gravity by jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. The end result will be death unless—unless we apply another law, the law of aerodynamics. This law makes it possible for an airplane to fly and a parachute to lower us to the earth gradually and thereby save us.

There is another universal law that we cannot defy and live. It is "the law of sin and death," which means that the judgment and penalty of all sin is death and eternal separation from God. That is, unless we apply a higher law which is "the law of the Spirit of Life," which is a God-given "spiritual parachute" to save us from eternal death. God provided this law through the death of Jesus who died in our place to pay the penalty for our sin.

Because God is also a God of absolute holiness, no sin or unforgiven sinners can survive in his presence. As some bacteria are not able to survive in the light and die if they are exposed to it, so it is with us. In our sinful state if we were exposed to God and his incredible light, we would be destroyed instantaneously. And herein lies our dilemma.

God's answer to our dilemma lies in the fact that God is not only a God of infinite justice and absolute holiness, but also a God of eternal love. Because of his love, God gave his very own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins to meet the automatic demands of his (God's) justice and holiness. Christ's death made possible God's "law of the Spirit of Life"—our God-given "spiritual parachute"—to save us from eternal death.

-dick innes

...gift

Today, before you say an unkind word,

Think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food,

Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Before you complain about your husband or wife,

Think of someone who's crying out to GOD for a companion.

Today, before you complain about life,

Think of someone who died too early on this earth.

Before you complain about your children,

Think of someone who desires children but they're barren.

Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or sweep,

Think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive,

Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job,

Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.

But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another,

Remember that not one of us is without sin.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down,

Put a smile on your face and think: you're alive and still around.

-author unknown

...change

"It's not my problem. It's my wife/husband who needs help!"

How many times have you heard this defensive type of statement? Having worked in the area of divorce recovery for the past decade or more, I have heard it repeatedly. One person recently said to me, "How do I make my husband understand that he is the one who needs help. He needs to know that he is wrong so he can get counseling."

"And why did you marry this person? What attracted you to him/her in the first place?" I ask. Rarely do I get an honest answer.

This is not true in all cultures but, at least where we make our own choice about whom we marry, there are always underlying reasons why we are attracted and drawn to a particular person of the opposite sex.

At least one single man I know was facing reality when he said that he could walk into a room full of women and would automatically be attracted to the sickest (emotionally sickest) woman in the room! He knew it was because of his own emotional sickness. There's hope for this man.

No matter what your wife/husband has done, the reality is you can't change them. If you try to, it just makes them angry or angrier. As I've said many times, the only one we can ever change is our self, and as we change, those around us are almost forced to change in one way or another. However, this is not always for the best because some people don't want us to change and get angry when we do. Change upsets the games they are playing!

This does not mean that we should put up with someone else's abusive behavior. Not at all. But we need to remember that we are the only person we can ever change. And while we pray for the other person, we need to first ask God to change us—and to confront us with the truth about ourselves so we can see any character flaws we have that we need to work on and resolve.

And we can always ask God to help us to be as Jesus to our husband/wife so that they, seeing Jesus in us, will want him for themselves. That may be the only hope for encouraging others to change.

-dick innes

...joy

Ask young people why they get high on drugs or alcohol or seek sex without intimacy or commitment and they're likely to tell you it's fun and they just want to be happy.

It's tempting to envy the life of fun-loving "party animals," "playboys," and "good-time girls" until one thinks about how they feel about themselves and their lives when they're alone without the hyped-up stimulation they seem to thrive on.

It doesn't take a psychologist to realize that if happiness is the destination, these folks are on the wrong road. The problem is, the intense sensation of fun or feelings of pleasure experienced by a substance-induced buzz or an exciting sexual encounter are quickly replaced with a consuming sense of emptiness that drives a need to start all over to fill the vessel again.

Each time drinkers, drug users, or sex addicts discover that getting what they wanted isn't making them happy, they fall into the despondency conveyed in the famous Peggy Lee song: "Is That All There Is?"

People who make pleasure-seeking the focus of their lives are like drug addicts who need continually stronger and more dangerous doses to get high.

Happiness is different than fun and pleasure. It's a less intense, but more durable, feeling of well-being. It's not a continuous state. A good life is usually seasoned with moments of joy and despair, play and work, success and failure. Happiness is a kind of emotional resting place of quiet satisfaction with one's life.

The art of living a happy life is not having more of what you want but getting better at enjoying what you have.

-character counts

...badly

"Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place" Psalm 51:6.

In 1996, Kenneth Lay made a comment in a book entitled, Business as Mission. 

"In my own case, I grew up the son of a Baptist minister. From this background, I was fully exposed to not only legal behavior, but moral and ethical behavior, and what that means from the standpoint of leading organizations and people. I was, and am, a strong believer that one of the most satisfying things in life is to create a highly moral and ethical environment in which every individual is allowed and encouraged to realize their God-given potential. There are few things more satisfying than to see individuals reach levels of performance that they would have thought was virtually impossible for themselves."

Something went very wrong from the time Kenneth Lay wrote those words and the time he was convicted June 6, 2006. Strangely, Lay never went to prison because he died suddenly of a heart attack a few months after being convicted. 

No one is immune from starting life well and ending it badly. 

Kenneth Lay was the chairman and CEO of Enron.

-os hillman

...heavy

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."Galatians 6:2

You may have read how, "... when Sadhu Sundar Singh and a companion were traveling through a pass high in the Himalayan Mountains, at one point they came across a body lying in the snow. Sundar Singh wished to stop and help the unfortunate man, but his companion refused, saying, 'We shall lose our lives if we burden ourselves with him.'

"But Sundar Singh would not think of leaving the man to die in the ice and snow. As his companion made his farewell, Sundar Singh lifted the poor traveler onto his back. With great exertion on his part, he bore the man onward, but gradually the heat from Singh's body began to warm up the beleaguered frozen fellow, and he revived. Soon both were walking together side by side. Catching up with his former companion, they found him dead—frozen by the cold.

"In the case of Sundar Singh, he was willing to lose his life on behalf of another, and in the process, found it; but in the case of his companion who sought only his own well-being, he only lost it."

As the caption of the painting (housed at Girls and Boys Town National Headquarters in Nebraska) of the "Two Brothers" commissioned by Father Flanagan back in 1943, and copied from the original statue done in sandstone, says, "He ain't heavy, Father ... he's m' brother."

When we treat a needy person who crosses our path as our brother (or sister), the rewards of carrying them until they can get on their own two feet will far outweigh the burden of the load.

-dick innes

...servant

A legend tells of a French monastery known throughout Europe for the extraordinary leadership of a man known only as Brother Leo. Several monks began a pilgrimage to visit Brother Leo to learn from him. Almost immediately, they began to bicker about who should do various chores.

On the third day they met another monk going to the monastery, and he joined them. This monk never complained or shirked a duty, and whenever the others would fight over a chore, he would gracefully volunteer and do it himself. By the last day, the others were following his example, and from then on they worked together smoothly.

When they reached the monastery and asked to see Brother Leo, the man who greeted them laughed. "But our brother is among you!" And he pointed to the fellow who had joined them.

Today, many people seek leadership positions, not so much for what they can do for others but for what the position can do for them: status, connections, perks, advantages. They do service as an investment, a way to build an impressive resume.

The parable about Brother Leo teaches another model of leadership, where leaders are preoccupied with serving rather than being followed, with giving rather than getting, with doing rather than demanding. Leadership based on example, not command. This is called servant leadership.

-character counts

...feel

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher. 

Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer. 

Had no army, yet kings feared Him.

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. 

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. 

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today. 

Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us.

-author unknown 

...like

I have one deep supreme desire,

That I may be like Jesus.

To this I fervently aspire,

That I may be like Jesus.

I want my heart His throne to be,

So that a watching world may see

His likeness shining forth in me;

I want to be like Jesus.

Oh, perfect life of Christ my Lord,

I want to be like Jesus.

My recompense and my reward,

That I may be like Jesus.

His Spirit fill my hung'ring soul,

His power all my life control;

My deepest pray'r, my highest goal,

That I may be like Jesus.

— thomas o. chisholm

...response...

Responsibility = Response Ability 

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands ... so that you will not be dependent on anybody." 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

One of the great principles we need to emphasize to keep ourselves and our society healthy and productive is the principle of personal responsibility. It's a principle that needs, through repetition, to be programmed into our belief system. It needs to be taught and demonstrated in the home and at every level of society—including among the highest business and political leaders in our communities and nation. 

If people don't believe they are responsible, they will not act responsibly. If they believe and know they are responsible, most will consistently act responsibly. 

Obviously, we weren't responsible for our background and upbringing, but we are fully responsible for what we do about these, and for what we become. The world doesn't owe us a living. As the Bible teaches, if we are unwilling to work we shouldn't eat. 

When we repeatedly do anything for others that they can and need to do for themselves, we can make and keep them over dependent, immature and irresponsible. It is not the loving thing to do. 

I remember reading about some sea gulls in a fishing village that, for many years, fed on the scraps the fishermen left. When the fishing industry in this place closed, the sea gulls had forgotten how to gather food for themselves. They died of starvation. 

The same principle applies to people. When we do things to keep them over dependent, we destroy their growth and maturity. It's the same with God, he will bend the heavens to touch the earth to do for us what we can't do for ourselves—such as on the cross of Calvary—but he won't do for us what we can and need to do for ourselves. 

As another has said, "God feeds the sparrows but he doesn't throw the food into their nest."

-dick innes

...help

David writes in Psalm 54:3, "Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life - men without regard for God."

Does this sound anything like the week facing you?  Does it describe the week you had last week?  Does it describe every week of your life?  Are strangers coming at you from every direction with no regard for God and determined to see you fail?  Are troubles coming at you fast and furious?  Maybe the attacks are not from ruthless men, but they are schemes of the devil: negative thoughts, destructive thoughts, tempting thoughts, vengeful thoughts, greedy thoughts, or hateful thoughts.

If you are committed to following God and living as one after God's own heart, like David, these may very well be in your future, or perhaps they describe your life today. Whether the attacks come from "ruthless men without regard for God," or from strangers from the unseen world of Satan, the plan is the same: to slander you, to destroy you, to ruin your reputation, to discourage you, to frustrate you, to weaken your influence, to damage your family, and to devastate your world.

Notice how David responded in Psalm 54:4:

    "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me."  (NIV)

    "But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive!" (NLT)

    "You will help me, Lord God, and keep me from falling;" (CEV)

These thoughts should go with us as we face the strangers, the enemies, and the attacks that fall in our path:

    The Lord is the one who sustains me.

        The Lord keeps me alive.

            The Lord will keep me from falling.

If your husband comes home and tells you that he has decided that he no longer loves you and wants a divorce, remember:

    The Lord is the one who sustains me.

        The Lord keeps me alive.

            The Lord will keep me from falling.

If you receive a notice that your company is not immune to the impact of the economic crisis and layoffs may be unavoidable, remember:

    The Lord is the one who sustains me.

        The Lord keeps me alive.

            The Lord will keep me from falling.

If your parents inform you that they do not love each other and are separating, remember:

    The Lord is the one who sustains me.

        The Lord keeps me alive.

            The Lord will keep me from falling.

If your doctor suggests exploratory surgery, remember:

    The Lord is the one who sustains me.

        The Lord keeps me alive.

            The Lord will keep me from falling.

If you find yourself alone in an empty house with no place to go and no one to talk to, remember:

    The Lord is the one who sustains me.

        The Lord keeps me alive.

            The Lord will keep me from falling.

If you are forced to accept that the dream you have dreamed your whole life is probably never going to come true, remember:

    The Lord is the one who sustains me.

        The Lord keeps me alive.

            The Lord will keep me from falling.

If you find yourself discouraged, defeated, and deserted, remember:

    The Lord is the one who sustains me.

        The Lord keeps me alive.

            The Lord will keep me from falling.

These words are not intended to minimize the difficulty of any painful situation mentioned above, or your own unique struggles.  Instead, they are written with the hope that whatever attack you may face this week you will remember that...

     It is the Lord who sustains us,

        It is the Lord who keeps us alive, and

            It is the Lord who will keep us from falling.

We cannot survive the attacks of this world or the demonic world on our own. We must depend on the Lord.  David's source of strength is our source of strength.

     The Lord is the one who sustains us.

         The Lord keeps us alive.

            The Lord will keep us from falling. 

                He will deliver us in all our troubles.

The Lord is the one who sustains me. 

God is my help!!!

-tom norvell

...no

"...There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:1

Stop condemning yourself!  God says, 'I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins' (Isaiah 43:25).

When God says He forgets your sin and you insist on remembering it, it's like saying your standards are higher than His. That's akin to idolatry! The Bible says, "...God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32). In the Old Testament when someone sinned they brought a lamb to the priest and he would shed its blood on the altar as payment for their sin. Once that was done the record was expunged and the issue was settled.

You say, 'But I don't feel forgiven.'

     Forgiveness comes by faith, not by feelings. As long as you live by feelings, Satan has a weapon he can use against you at every turn.

You say, "But what I did was so wrong"

     As long as you truly repent, whatever you have done can be pardoned.

You say, 'But Satan keeps bringing it up.'

     That's because he is called the "accuser" (Revelation 12:10). But notice how you overcome Satan the accuser: "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony..." (v. 11).

Next time Satan accuses you, say, "I'm glad you brought that up."  Then tell him what the blood of Jesus has accomplished on your behalf. If you do that, he will flee.

Learn from your failure, grow stronger through it, use it to bless others, move on with your life and stop condemning yourself!

-bob & ebby gass

...dad

The Bible says our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).

Over the years, the attack on the institution of fatherhood and the strategy to make fathers unloving and ineffective is a primary goal of Satan himself. Because if fathers are distant, distracted, disconnected, or even abusive, children will believe all fathers are this way, even a heavenly Father who claims to love them unconditionally.

But this is clearly not God’s plan. His desire is for all fathers to reflect aspects of His character, an earthly mirror of a heavenly reality. Matthew 7:9–11 illustrates this quite clearly. In this passage, Jesus is speaking to a group that must have included many fathers. Note what He says:

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!

From God’s perspective, all fathers — even ones who are not Christians — are created to imitate His goodness.

If this were not the case, the entire analogy Jesus used loses its meaning. Good fathers are an example of common grace, like the life-giving rain which falls on the righteous and the wicked alike (Matthew 5:45).

When you contemplate the symbolism in Jesus’ examples in Matthew 7:9–11, a deeper meaning, especially for fathers, is evident. For example, consider the comparison of bread to a stone. Especially to a small child, a piece of bread and a small stone may look the same and feel the same. But they are not the same. Bread was, and remains today, a key source of physical life and sustenance, and it represents spiritual life as Christ’s body, which was broken for the salvation of the world. A stone, especially in the time of Christ, could be a tool of destruction and death. Remember, stones were used to martyr Stephen.

The symbolism in the comparison of a fish to a serpent. The fish is a key symbol of the Christian faith. Jesus’ first disciples were fishermen whom He transformed into “fishers of men.” These men fervently shared the good news that salvation is available for all men. In contrast, the serpent is the symbol of the Evil One who seeks to thwart the gospel and lead humankind down a path of destruction and death.

What Jesus is saying in this passage is that fathers should make sure their children have both physical and spiritual life.

Godly fathers are to provide a pathway and a connection to God’s saving grace because when they give their children “good gifts,” it makes it much easier for children to connect with a heavenly Father who gave the best gift of all — His Son, who died on a cross for their sins. So when their children hear, “Dear heavenly Father,” it’s winsome rather than worrisome.

 -roland warren

...old

"So here I [Caleb] am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said." Joshua 14:10-12

A former mentor of mine, the late Cecil Osborne, spent most of his working years as the pastor of a church that helped found a number of daughter churches. He also saw the need for a counseling ministry for hurting people, and when he retired from the pastorate at or about age 65, he set up a full-time counseling ministry. He was close to age 60 when he published his first of a dozen books, The Art of Understanding Yourself," and kept counseling until he was well into his 80s.

Numerous other people have seen great achievements in their senior years. For example, "Cervantes completed Don Quixote when he was nearing 70. Clara Barton, at 59, founded the American Red Cross. Goethe finished the dramatic poem 'Faust' at 82. Verdi composed 'Othello' at 73, 'Falstaff' in his late seventies. Benjamin Disraeli became Prime Minister of England for the second time at 70."

"Pablo Picasso was still painting at age 91. Arturo Toscanini gave his last performance at 87. Konrad Adenauer was chancellor of West Germany at 87. And the accomplishments of many senior members of God's Kingdom would make an even more impressive story if they could all be told."

Admittedly, in Caleb's day people lived much longer than we do today. Nevertheless, no matter how old we are, we are never too old to serve God. Just check with your pastor and he will show you many ways you can do this.

-dick innes

...civility

When George Washington was 16, he discovered a booklet of 110 maxims describing how a well-mannered person should behave. He was so convinced that they would help him become a better person that he set out to incorporate them into his daily living. Among Washington's many virtues, his commitment to civility marked him as a gentleman and helped him become a universally respected and enormously effective leader.

By today's standards, Washington's notions of civility seem quaint and old-fashioned, but the purpose of manners and etiquette is to soften relationships with respect and to treat others graciously.

Instead of updating our concept of manners to accord with modern lifestyles, we seem to be abandoning the notion of civility entirely. We're exposed to heavy doses of tactless, nasty, and cruel remarks on daytime talk shows, dating games, and courtroom and reality programs.

As a result, we've produced a generation that's comfortable being brutish and malicious and a society that's increasingly coarse and unpleasant.

In a tense world full of conflicts, frustrations, and competition, civility is an important social lubricant that helps us live together constructively. If we care about the world we're making for our children, we need to be less tolerant of mean-spirited, discourteous, and impolite remarks, and do a better job of teaching and modeling civility.

-character counts

trading...

According to legend, Dr. Faust traded his soul to the devil for knowledge and magical powers. In an updated version of the legend, Damn Yankees, an avid Washington Senators baseball fan makes a similar deal to become a home run hitting star who leads the Senators to a pennant over the Yankees.

That's one context for the latest exhaustively documented revelations that Barry Bonds broke the home run record of another cheater, Mark McGwire, by using an elaborately designed combination of steroids, growth hormones and other drugs to build muscle and power. For most watchers of the game, the new book, Game of Shadows, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams (excerpted in Sports Illustrated) just confirmed and added interesting detail to the obvious: Bonds's late career change in appearance and his emergence as the greatest power hitter in the history of the game was the result of "juice," the slang term for illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Apparently, he began pumping up his performance and his body in 1999. That means 210 of his 708 home runs were illegal and that his true lifetime batting average would sink below .300.

Bond's record of 73 homers in a season, his unprecedented string of Most Valuable Player Awards for 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, and his batting average titles for 2002 (.370) and 2004 (.362) should be, but won't be, expunged, though they will surely be demeaned by a footnote.

He will probably never be adjudicated a cheater in a court of law, but the evidence is good enough in the court of public opinion, and he will surely end his career in disgrace. And so he joins scores of prominent athletes sentenced to the Hall of Shame for trading honor, reputation and, perhaps, their souls for the fool's gold version of immortality—the adulation of sports fans and the glory of setting records.

At the root of these unwise and immoral trades with the devil is the cheaters' illusion that satisfying an obsessive lust will create lasting pleasure, and that, in the end, they will find a way to cheat the devil, too.

The lessons go well beyond sports: 

Never do something that will work out only if it is never found out, 

never trade honor for glory, and never trade the future for today.

-character counts

...darkness

A Candle in the Darkness

I often think my life insignificant

And each deed quite small,

But a candle in the darkness

Is seen by the eyes of all.

Help me to glow brightly enough

So everyone can see

God is Light and God is Love,

And God is living in me.

-janice m. lyons

92...

While watching a little TV on Sunday instead of going to church, I watched a church in Atlanta honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years. He was 92 at that time and I wondered why the church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.

After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as the applause quieted down, he rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding gait to the podium. Without a note or written paper of any kind he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak:

"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. 

The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me, the only thing that would comfort was this verse:

"Jesus loves me this I know, 

For the Bible tells me so, 

Little ones to Him belong, 

we are weak but He is strong.

"Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me,

Yes, Jesus loves me,

The Bible tells me so." 

...ready

"So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man [Jesus] will come at an hour when you do not expect him."Matthew 24:44

I read how, "while on a South Pole expedition, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island, promising that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. Contemplating their narrow escape, the explorer said to his men, 'It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!' They replied, 'We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, "He may come today."'"

Christ's coming to earth the first time some 2000 years ago is an indisputable fact of history. His birth was as real as the birth of Julius Caesar. And the temple he visited in Jerusalem was as real as the building of the Coliseum in ancient Rome. The Coliseum still stands. I visited it last year and was awestruck, not only with the marvel of its structure; but also with the history of the time it represented. Equally real is the promise of Jesus that he would return again to earth to take all his true believers to be with him forever in Heaven. That promise still stands.

We don't know exactly when that time will be. As an old pastor friend used to say, all the signs that Jesus said would precede his coming have been happening in some way ever since he was on earth, but today "they are all standing up at once."

Like the explorers on Elephant Island, we need to be prepared and ready for Jesus' coming. He will be coming, whether we are ready or not. 

What if it were today, which it very well could be? 

Would you be ready?

-dick innes

paradoxical...

In 1968, when Kent M. Keith was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard, he wrote these "Paradoxical Commandments" as guidelines for student leaders to find personal meaning in the face of adversity:

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People who need help may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth. 

Give the world the best you have anyway.

The essence of these commandments is that all of us must choose to do what we think we should, even when we think we have good reasons not to. They remind us we are capable of rising above common practices that demean our nature and culture.

We can rationalize distorting the Golden Rule to read "Do unto others as they have done unto you" or "Do unto others before they do unto you," but in the terminology of the 1960s, we then become part of the problem rather than the solution.

-character counts.

...child

Month One

       Mommy, 

       I am only .25 inch long 

       but I have all my organs.

       I love the sound of your voice.

       Every time I hear it

       I wave my arms and legs.

       The sound of your heart beat

       is my favorite lullaby.

Month Two

       Mommy,

       today I learned how to suck my thumb.

       If you could see me

       you could definitely tell that I am a baby.

       I'm not big enough to survive outside my home

       though.

       It is so nice and warm in here.

Month Three

       You know what Mommy

       I'm a boy!

       I hope that makes you happy.

       I always want you to be happy.

       I don't like it when you cry.

       You sound so sad.

       It makes me sad too

       and I cry with you even though

       you can't hear me.

Month Four

       Mommy,

       my hair is starting to grow.

       It is very short and fine

       but I will have a lot of it.

       I spend a lot of my time exercising.

       I can turn my head and curl my fingers and toes

       and stretch my arms and legs.

       I am becoming quite good at it, too.

Month Five

       You went to the doctor today.

       Mommy, he lied to you.

       He said that I'm not a baby.

       I am a baby, Mommy, your baby.

       I think and feel.

       Mommy, what's abortion?

Month Six

       I can hear that doctor again.

       I don't like him.

       He seems cold and heartless.

       Something is intruding my home.

       The doctor called it a needle.

       Mommy, what is it? It burns!

       Please make him stop!

       I can't get away from it!

       Mommy! HELP me!

Month Seven

       Mommy, 

       I am okay.

       I am in Jesus' arms.

       He is holding me.

       He told me about abortion.

       Why didn't you want me, Mommy?

Every Abortion Is Just: One more heart that was stopped. Two more eyes that will never see. Two more hands that will never touch. Two more legs that will never run. One more mouth that will never speak.

-author unknown.