March 2011 – Greg Chaney

Herbert Hoover on Prayer and Fishing

1 Min read

“Next to prayer, fishing is the most personal relationship of man.”

“To go fishing is the chance to wash one’s soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week. And it is discipline in the equality of men – for all men are equal before fish.”

“There are only two occasions when Americans respect privacy, especially in Presidents. Those are prayer and fishing.”

Read later

Baby Talk

1 Min read

This is posted for my daughters to see…

I think I work with these two, I’ve heard this conversation in the meetings I have to attend.

Read later

Rules of Influence

1 Min read

Live a life of undivided integrity
Always demonstrate a positive attitude
Consider other people’s interest as more important that your own
Don’t settle for anything less than excellence

from Chris Widner: The Art of Influence: Persuading Others Begins With You

Read later

Happiness Through (what you can) Control

1 Min read

Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within your control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental role and learned to distinguish between what you can and can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible. Epictetus

Read later

Found in Translation

1 Min read

In a random survey by The Christian Chronicle, more than 1,100 readers responded to this question: “What Bible version do you prefer to read?”

New International Version: 41.5%
New American Standard Version: 17.1%
New King James Version: 10.3%
English Standard Version: 9.5%
King James Version: 5.8 %
Revised Standard/New Revised Standard Version: 4.8 %
New Living Translation: 3.6%
Today’s New International Version: 2.3%
‘The Message’: 2.2%
Other: 2.2%
Holman Christian Standard Bible: 0.5%
Contemporary English Version: 0.4%
Common English Bible: 0.1%
New American Bible: 0.1%

Read later

Black Gap Timelapse

1 Min read

The video below is a time lapse experiment from a trip to Big Bend country. The settings were off and the camera battery died before the sun set, but the scenery was beautiful enough to post incomplete

I

Read later

Reading in the Ekklésia

2 Min read

NOTE: This post was originally published as a bulletin article and on the merkelchurchofchrist.org blog

“ [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.” Luke 4:16-17 (NIV)

The congregational reading of scriptures in synagogues was a foundational part of Jewish life when Jesus was growing up, a custom carried on in the early church of Christ. There were practical reasons for public reading the scriptures; because each copy was hand written (that’s what manuscript means), communities of believers had to share limited manuscripts or in some cases, like letters from Apostles, share with other communities.

The invention of the printing press and subsequent printing of the first Bible in the 1450s led to many positive advances in Christianity like the reformation movement and personal Bible study. However, the printed Bible did not change Paul’s instructions concerning the conduct of Timothy and the early church:

“…devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.” 1 Timothy 4:13(NIV)

Beginning this Sunday we will incorporate scripture reading into our morning worship assembly (ekklésia). Like the early church we will hear the Word of God as one body and one heart. I encourage you to bring your Bibles and follow along as we begin reading the Gospel of John. We will be using New International Version which, according to a recent survey, is the translation most used in churches of Christ.

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” Revelation 1:3 (NIV)

Shalom

Read later

Beautiful Teachings of Jesus

1 Min read

If I had seen a Christian living what Christ taught, then I myself may have followed and become a believer in the beautiful teachings of Jesus. Mahatma Gandhi

Read later

The Lost Art of Backward Planning

3 Min read

Jesus had a plan…and he executed it right on time.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Luke 9:51 (NIV)

Short of the divine knowledge Jesus possessed, few of us would be able to deliver exactly on time with as far to travel and as many things to do. Along the way he taught parables, eased Martha to the better choice, confronted demons, expressed woes to the pharisees, healed people, dined with his disciples, and prayed all night before being arrested…right on time.

Granted, the things we do day-to-day don’t have eternal consequences for all of humanity, but why do we seem to always miss deadlines, cram all night to study or finish a project, or flat out miss deadlines? We’ve lost the art of backward planning.

Backward planning is the process of determining the right time to start something by subtracting from the finish point the time required to complete it .

Here’s a simple example: It takes 2 hours to drive to your mothers and you need to be there by 7:00pm. Subtract 2 hours from 7pm and you need to leave at five. WAIT, WAIT…don’t stop reading, it gets better.

What we fail to do is apply this simple concept to more complex projects like the yearly report, your masters degree thesis, or even family panning. Here’s some simple steps to backward plan your next project.