Midweek Motivation 8/31/16Tim Conway Cracks Up Harvey Korman (in the Fireman sketch)

How about a little laughter to get you over the hump?  Are you ready to make a difference as you look to close out your week?  Enjoy!

Monday Morsel #22

MONDAY MORSEL #22

All books hold power,

but only one holds

ULTIMATE POWER.

Cleaning Out the Garage

Cleaning Out the Garage

Yesterday I engaged in one of those tasks that should not be enjoyable, cleaning out my garage.  I know most of you would look at this picture and say what is there to clean up?  No we aren't stuffed to the rafters like many other, but it really was a mess and I spent about two and a half hours working on it yesterday morning.

No it should not have been enjoyable, but it was.  I got rid of several items that had been driving me crazy, swept out the corners, cleared the cobwebs, and reorganized much of what there was remaining.  In the end I came away with several valuable changes and/or thoughts, a sense of satisfaction, and a better organized space to park in, walk through, and utilize for projects or activities.  Unfortunately, I did not make the after pictures to note the difference for you my readers.

Since I was working on this solo, while Angie was at work and Olivia was cleaning 3 rooms on the inside, I needed to think about things that were a little more iffy, so to speak.  So I had the brilliant idea to grab a notebook and jot some notes along the way about questionable items and other things that might need to be done at a later time with a better time window, or more funds available.  It is this act that I found to be a highlight of this endeavor.

You ask how could jotting notes about the mess in your garage be a highlight?  It is a practice that would benefit us across the board as we examine our lives.  Because I got down to a great level of detail, and I sought the counsel of others on things that were not completely clear cut I encouraged myself to be a better communicator.  

"A wise man will hear and increase learning,

and a man of understanding

will attain wise counsel. . . "

Proverbs 1:5 NKJV

Now I can review this with Angie and Olivia (where it is of concern to her) and we can make decisions on priorities as a family.  Then over time using this same procedure we can clear a lot of junk from our lives, free our minds of clutter, and work even better together for a common good. 

This same method can be used in my workplace to better organize my office, my computer desktop and files, and can include my coworkers where these items might intersect with there needs.  Perhaps I could also find a way (I believe I can) to use this in my fitness life as well to clear out the cobwebs of demotivation, lose some bad habits and work with others to a better end.

Importantly this can be looked at as we cleanup our spiritual life as well.  We are all carrying around an immense amount of spiritual clutter that dims our ability to see the light that is Jesus

Then Jesus spoke to them, again, saying,

"I am the light of the world,

He who follows Me shall not walk

in darkness but,

 have the light of life."

John 8:12 NKJV 

I look forward to seeing how this works out as I introduce these concepts across the spectrum of my activities and the settings that make up my life.  I urge you to try this, or use it as a starting point then modify to best work for you so that we may all Do Well!

Midweek Motivation 8/24/16: 10 Ways to Be a Better Human

I ran across this one minute and fourteen second video this morning and thought it was spot on.  We can all be better humans, and in the words sung so well by Louis Armstrong "What a Wonderful World" this could be if we all took these to heart.  Do Well!

Monday Morsel #21

Why do we complicate things?  The simple wonders of our youth are lost with each passing day.  This week reclaim a piece of your losses and experience a moment of clarity that you might otherwise miss out on.

Olympic Recap and Simple Wisdom

Over the past two weeks the world has been captivated by the Games of the 31st Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  With this setting that has such a juxtaposition of the abject poverty of so many with the inherently stunning beauty of the Brazilian landscape these games have brought many dreams into reality.  As an interested observer from my comfortable couch here in the heart of the USA not only have I been entertained, at times inspired, and patriotically proud, but have also been provoked to thoughts of various sorts.  In this short piece I will express a few of those thoughts that have been at the forefront.

National Pride

More than during prior Olympic years I have been inspired by the national pride the games generate.

This is not only the patriotic pride for our American teams representing the red, white, and blue but that of many other nations, most much smaller who gain inspiration from their athletes.  The Jamaicans with their sprinters led by the inimitable Usain Bolt, a nation with great poverty and a history of corruption in politics rallying behind their team with national pride.  The Serbians whose volleyball team knocked our American volleyball team out of gold medal contention in women's volleyball.  Even the hometown Brazilians who also knocked out the American team in women's beach volleyball.  Each of these and so many more that could be brought up stirred something special within their countries that may not otherwise have been stirred.  As much as we have pride in our Olympians I for one am glad to see some national pride in many of these other nations as well.

Excellence

As I have watched these amazing athletes I cannot help but think of this passage from scripture:

"Do you not know that those who run

in a race all run, but one

receives the prize?

Run in such a way that you 

may obtain it."

I Corinthians 9:25 NKJV

Each one enters their event with a mindset of excellence.  They are striving for a prize that will mark them as a champion.  Though we are not competing in the Olympics and being watched by millions on television or streamed on the internet, we still should be striving for excellence in our work, our education, and most importantly in our faith.  Diligence has its rewards in satisfaction, pride of accomplishment, ability to share with others, and sometimes financial gain as well.

At What Cost?
All the wonderful things that happened in the competition were somewhat tainted by a scandal that arose surrounding the behavior of 4 of our Team USA Olympic swimmers, most notably Ryan Lochte.  Unless you were completely oblivious to the news this past week Lochte and 3 other US swimmers left a party intoxicated and as they returned to their accommodations made a "pit stop" at a convenience store and while there initiated an international incident.  Video evidence clearly indicates this group destroying property and then being detained at that location at gunpoint.  The issue relates to the nature of the detainment and whether or not it was an armed robbery or simply a case where locals were attempting to hold the swimmers until police could arrive to sort out the facts.

In my analysis of the situation it all boils down to several simple truths that many of us were taught from an early age.  The first of these is, "nothing good ever happens after midnight."  If this seemingly simple bit of wisdom were to have been followed, it is highly likely that none of this would have ever occurred.  The second simple truth is  "don't get drunk."  This flies in the face of a U.S. alcoholic beverage industry that in 2014 generated revenue of $211.56 billion, and is a major player in the advertising game.  The final simple truth that was bypassed to create this situation is the Golden Rule of the Bible:

"and just as you want men 

to do to you,

you do them likewise."

Luke 6:31

We can take even some deeper thoughts here and ask about priorities.  Have we set fame, glory, and sport as idols in our lives?  Do we value these more than the development of our children's character and faith.  The answers to these questions are tricky and cannot be painted with a broad brush.  I saw evidence of people of faith having prayers, deferring to their competitors, and showing great respect.  On the other hand there was a great deal of showmanship, arrogance, and self promotion occurring as well.  While sports can teach us great lessons, and on the whole I am a proponent of sports, it can go too far, and we see it in our own communities with the growth of the travel teams in several sports moving emphasis away from family time, or church and community activities, to a more hectic  life that revolves around the team.  This obsession gobbles up resources and can also lead to injury of the youths involved due to repetitive stresses.  So I ask at what cost to we build our Olympians?  

Further, it is not hard to understand that we would get behaviors like this when we as a culture have absolved ourselves of personal responsibility at every turn.  In our world today we have moral relativism, humanism, and a lack of absolutes.  Where these things flourish we lose the ability to control ourselves which is leading us down the road to anarchy and a survival of the fittest mentality where essentially no one wins.  We also have seen the failings of our government operations to assign responsibility to a major political figure who jeopardized national security, when in the very announcement of their decision not to file charges said that this figure had violated the law.  We must take a hard look at ourselves individually, by community, and as a nation and determine what we will be in the future.   

May we all seek God and thereby Do Well with the lives that we are given.

Midweek Motivation 8/16/16 It's Possible - Motivational Video Never Give up

Very positive video clip.  Narrated primarily by Nick Vujicic a motivational speaker who was born with no arms or legs.  Despite his physical challenges he has overcome, and we can learn from his positive attitude.

Monday Morsel #20

"Enter His gates with Thanksgiving,  and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.  For the Lord is good, His loving-kindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations."
Psalm 100:3-4

Yes He is good, even when we question, ignore, or reject.  May we all exude thanksgiving, it is the JOY of the Lord.

F T P > Failure To Prepare

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden is quoted as having said, "failing to prepare is preparing to fail."  It is hard to argue this point with a man who won as many collegiate basketball championships as Coach Wooden.  Not only did he prepare his teams to win on the court but off the floor as well, in the more important arena of life.  The chaos in the world around is today is the result of so many, each of us included, not adequately preparing for the decisions we have made, and continue to make.  Let's learn from this and improve our preparation.

Similarly we each need to prepare ourselves for the things we are looking to do in our future.  This requires a level of thought that recognizes where we are currently, what assets and liabilities we bring to the table, and a destination (where we want to go).

Nowhere is this more important than in our spiritual lives.  There is a saying around Christian circles that says, "Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people."  This preparation is spoken of in John 14:1-3:

"Let not your heart be troubled;

you believe in God,

believe also in Me.

In my Father's house are 

many mansions;

if it were not so,

I would have told you.

I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go to prepare 

a place for you ,

I will come again

and receive you to myself;

that where I am ,

there you may be also.

Step 1

If we are Christians we must determine that we will follow through on our commitment to Christ.  This is a reckoning of sorts where we evaluate where we are in our lives.  In the beginning our faith feels strong as we are "on fire for the Lord," while in reality that faith is actually weak and in need of nurture.  We do hold assets that we can use to not only strengthen our faith but that of others we encounter.  This could be our personality, our ability to speak, write, otherwise communicate, or a multitude of other positive traits.  It is our duty to turn these talents over to God so that He may use them fully in further developing us in order to bless others.

Step 2

As we begin our journey we bring baggage with us that we must let go of in order to move forward.  Guilt, shame, and feelings of inadequacy are some of the stains from the sin in our lives.  As Christians those sins have been washed clean and forgotten by God, yet we hold onto them and continue to 

let them limit our faith.  The sooner we recognize the power that was unleashed from the cross, directly into our lives, the sooner we can enjoy the fullness of our release from sin's captivity.  In a simple phrase, look back and let it go!

Step 3

Finally lets look to the destination.  We want to see that prepared place that is Heaven.  We want to better understand how John in his vision or Revelation was at a loss to fully describe what he was seeing.  The Bible teaches that Heaven is a place where there will be no suffering, where we will be in the very presence of God.  How great would that be?  I look forward to that day and the magnificence of it, as each of us should.

The beautiful thing about this simple 3 step approach to our Christianity is that it can be overlaid onto other areas of our lives as well such as a our career, our finances, our education, our fitness, or our families.  It is always (I rarely use this word) worthwhile to recognize our strengths or assets, which are gifts from God, our liabilities or weaknesses, which are often self-inflicted wounds from poor choices we have made, and our destination.

If we know these three things, and add to them prayer, study, worship, and service we can make a difference not only in our lives but the lives of others.  I pray that you and I will each take a closer look at these three simple aspects of our lives and determine to Do Well with all that God has provided for us.  

Midweek Motivation #9 with Kid President

Kid President is a wonderful, positive force.  If we would all return to the simplicity he shows us the world would be a far better place.  The world is changed daily by people who step out in some way.  Where is the edge of your comfort zone?  The change starts by crossing that line.

Monday Morsel #19

ChristQuest

In a world that is overrun by depressing and scary news stories that never seem to end we need something positive to move us forward.  That sort of impetus would have to come from God, and this weekend I have been witness to just sort of an event.

In the scenic Ozarks of Arkansas an event known as ChristQuest has been going on for several years early each August.  This event brings together hundreds of youth and their parents, supporters, and ministers from a wide area that includes 3 states (Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma).  The attendees are attempting to build their spiritual muscle in order to better serve the risen savior Jesus Christ, in a world that is challenging them at every turn.  This muscle building is accomplished by singing, studying, and fellowshipping with one another.

Among the most powerful elements of this particular event is a group singing that is done where each of the four vocal parts are placed together by sections facing one another.  The result as you can see from the video excerpt above is amazing!  I am someone who loves music, but has little musical ability of my own, and this type of performance makes the hair on my arms stand straight up.  If you are in attendance and are not moved by the beautiful blending of these voices in acapella singing you may need to do some soul searching.

In addition to the singing there are challenging messages delivered and classes that initiate thought.

These kids are doing what the very title of this blog site is all about; Working out Their Faith.  If you are a Christian and are concerned about the direction the world is taking, there is hope.  Christquest is actually only one such event occuring on any given weekend among the churches of Christ, each with its own unique traditions and method for building the faith of the young.  For many, especially those from small churches with few youth this is an opportunity to be around others of a similar mindset and to gain encouragement for the days ahead.

Vocationally I work with geriatric medical patients and their families, and have told many people that "there is nothing easy about getting old."  Similar to that there is not a lot that is easy about growing up either.  Events like this presented by caring adults who desire to see the remnant carry on into the future can only strengthen the youth.  We cannot just sit back and allow our children to find their way with little or no direction.  We are seeing the devastating results of this type of laissez-faire parenting throughout our society today.

We must follow the Godly pattern of scripture, and as my favorite author, Andy Andrews, has stated in his writings, "it is not our goal to raise good kids, our goal is to raise good, God-fearing adults."  I am so thankful to have participated in Christquest this weekend and in several other similar events throughout the year.  My spirit has been filled, now I must take that momentum and Do Well.  Will you seek Him and Do Well as well?

Midweek Motivation 8: The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews

Midweek Motivation 8


A classic video from my favorite author and storyteller.

We never know how far the ripples we create will carry.

Enjoy and share with others.

Monday Morsel #18

Monday Morsel #18

Positive Perspectives to Power Your Potential