Monday, August 31, 2009

Disappointed?

Well get used to it!
I actually had someone tell me that one time. How encouraging!!
But it is also true. We WILL be disappointed at one time or another in this life. It is part of the living process. But it is how we deal with disappointment that determines wether disappointment will cause a multi car pile up or be a momentary speed bump on our journey of life.
The greatest people in history dealt with disappointment.
Abraham Lincoln ran for a government office and lost before he won the presidency of the United States.
George Washington, who won many a military victory as a commander, was constantly facing disappointments over loss military battles in his life.
Jesus himself, was disappointed over the lack of faith he found in his own followers.
We are constantly disappointed in this life, but we can find consolation in others who also suffered disappointments but did not allow their disappointments to keep them from achieiving great things in thier lives.
So get disappointed today, get over it and get on with it!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Remember the Golden Rule...

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" my Mom used to tell me that all the time. Did you know it is not in the Bible? Well in that exact wording is isn't but the threads of that saying are woven throughout the Bible. So if that is the case, why don't more people do it?
In our culture we have turned that around, it is now "do unto others before they do it unto you" and that is just wrong.
I got to thinking, if we treated people like we wanted to be treated the world would be pretty good. You want respect, then give some respect. You want some compassion then give some. You want unconditional love, then give some unconditional "I don't care what you do to me I will always love you" love back to someone. But as much as people say this is what they want, most want it one way. They want you to do unto them as they would have you do unto them, not as they would do unto you. It is a sad state to be in, when you are always taking and never giving.
But that is not an excuse for us to do the same. My Momma said, "remember the Golden Rule", she did not say "remember the Golden Rule, if those people are being nice to you".
Too many times we allow the actions of others to shape our reactions. So the next time you are feeling a little vindictive, vengeful, maliscious and just plain mean, remember the Golden Rule and be a better person for it.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Just thinkin...


If you have seen "Night at the Museum II" you will know the clip I will try to explain. Larry is needing some advice and information from the exhibits that come to life after dark at the museum he is in. Yeah I know, its a movie so let it rest. Anyway, he is looking for someone wise, someone smart, someone who knows the answers to all the questions. So who does he go to? The statue of "The Thinker". So he asked his question and Larry finds out that the thinker is not that bright, he actually is the stereotypical jock who is more worried about his biceps than binary codes. It was a pretty cute way to see that things are not always exactly what we think that they may be.

Too many times we go to someone who we "think" is smart and ask their advice on life. We go to someone who we "think" knows the answers to our questions and can give us good direction. Sometimes we just seek out those that will tell us what we want to hear, those that "think" the way we want them to so we can justify our decisions.
So next time you are "thinking" that you need some help with a decision in your life, "think" who you are entrusting to help you with that decision, make sure they are more interested in your well being than in their own being well.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Are you under the influence?

No not that kind of under the influence!!
What I mean are you under the influence of someone? You see just like drugs and alcohol can make you behave totally against your normal nature. Yeah we have all seen them, the ones with a light shade on their head...the ones that "think" they can dance... the "here watch this" that ends in disastor. When we find ourselves influenced by the wrong things we operate outside our normal nature and if we do it often enough we find that the new nature becomes the normal.
So who is influencing you?
I have a great bunch of fellow pastors that I get to influence often. Sometimes it is not for the good, but most times I hope I am having a good influence on them. It might mean giving encouragement when they need it, it might also mean giving them a kick in the pants if they need it. But what I have learned is our nature is affected by the things that influence us.
So if you are not under the influence of something or someone that is helping you change to a better person, you need to find that something or someone that will help "influence" you to the good.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Revelation churches...

We are finishing a series on the Revelation churches. I truely believe that there is a little bit of each of those churches in the American church today, but I have decided if I have to be one, then I want to be Philadelphia. They were the only church that was not rebuked but were encouraged.
They were not the biggest, the wealthiest, the most secure, the influential, the most famous. They were not made up of Apostles or from what I can find were ever visited by Paul, Peter or any of the Apostles. They were not leaders of the world, their town was not even a destination city (unless you were looking for wine, and there they had you), a center of commerce or wealth.
They were pretty ordinary. But they were faithful. Though they were small, they were faithful, though they had little monies they were faithful, though they were being wrongly attacked by the other church (it called it the Synagouge of Satan, what a name!) they were still faithful.
And because they were faithfull, GOD to them was changed from I AM to I WILL. Multiple times he promised "I will" to the people of Philadelphia.
When GOD says that he will, it is not of matter of if it will happen, but a matter of when it will happen. I wish to be faithful so that GOD will be a GOD of "I will" in my life.

Friday, August 21, 2009

One Year later...

It has snuck up on me. It came so fast, it doesn't seem possible.
I have been employed with the new company for one full year!
So what have I learned?
Here is my top ten list.
10) you need to be a really good verbal communicator when you work remotely and don't have face to face time with your co-workers. What is it, 80% of all communication is non verbal, I believe that now.
9) E-mail will kill you if you allow it to become your datebook. I know, I am in the middle of a project, and "you've got mail" chimes and I go and click it and now I am buried under the work I "was" working on and now the new work I "have" to do.
8) You can't drive 300 miles in 3 hours. Well not legally you can't. I have learned once again that we need to make a plan, and then we need to work the plan.
7) Airlines have the option to totally mess you over, not buy you dinner and take advantage of you. Don't you dare be one minute late for a flight, even if they are the ones that made you late. But don't think that they are going to leave on time to get you where you need to be either. They are in charge, you are cattle.
6) Rental cars places don't always have cars. Even if they say they do. And if you reserve a car, it doesn't mean you have one there waiting on you when you get to a strange city in the middle of the night needing to get to a hotel and you only have $5 cash on you. See the airlines, rental car people are two spots behind them.
5) Fill out all those perk things the hotels, car rentals, airlines and other people give you. First they will know you are a "serious" traveler and secondly you "might" get some free stuff. I emphasize "might".
4) Phone chargers, laptop chargers and any other kind of charger is not an "optional" item even when you think you are only flying in and flying back out the same day and you really won't be using your equipment that much and they will last at least 12 hours. See number 7.
3) Know the laws of the land that you are visiting. I will explain, if you are visiting Dallas, the speed limit signs are not a limit but a suggested speed to keep you from getting killed. Drive under it and you will be shot on sight. If you are visiting Washington DC, keep you hand on your wallet and take out those two weeks of receipts you have been saving for your expense report. You don't want those people thinking that your wallet is buldging because they think it is money. If you are visiting Chicago in the middle of winter, dress accordingly, polyester slacks at 14 below with a thirty mile an hour wind will lead to frostbite on your lower extremities. I could go on and on... and don't talk to me about LA! Where things are not always what they seem, or people either!
2) Everyone does not want to be your friend. Your happiness is not affecting other people. In fact if you are too happy, you will make grouchy people even more grouchy. Case in point the airline, rental car and hotel desk. Happy people get bumped from flights because of overbooking, grouchy people get upgrades.
1) Change is hard, but change is usually for the good. Everywhere you look there is change. The seasons, the position of the sun and the moon in the sky, your midriff and your hairline. Change is everywhere all the time. So don't be afraid to change, you might just find out that you like it.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Handcuffed!!


My son was playing with his cousin whose Father happened to be in law enforcement for a time. They apparently found Dad's handcuffs and decided to do a little play acting. Well my son was apparently the "robber" in this game and his cousin slapped the cuffs on him. Well they found out that Dad did not know where the keys were. They had to go to the police station to get un-cuffed.


Now this picture has been altered to stay with a "G" rating as they were playing shirts off, and not to impress anyone with my son's physque I added a computer generated T shirt. But the look on his face is what kills me.

That is a look of hopelessness as he realizes that he is handcuffed and there is no getting out.
Many people live their life this way, handcuffed by the things of life they walk around with this look on their face as if there is no hope!
Don't be handcuffed by life, look in the mirror, take off those shackles that bound you up and be free!!