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.
Rules of Influence
- 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
Happiness Through (what you can) Control
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
Found in Translation
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%
Black Gap Timelapse
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
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Reading in the Ekklésia
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
Beautiful Teachings of Jesus
If I had seen a Christian living what Christ taught, then I myself may have foillowed and become a believer in the beautiful teachings of Jesus. Mahatma Gandhi
The Lost Art of Backward Planning
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.
- Determine the finish point
- List all tasks that must be done in order
- Estimate the length of each task
- Subtract each length from the finish point
Running Faster for the Camera
I was nearing the end of my semi-routine run along Lady Bird Lake in Austin Texas when on the trail in front of me was a yellow sign announcing the filming of the movie “When Angels Sing” and warned that traveling beyond the sign “constitutes your consent to be recorded.” Naturally I did what most American men would do; I pepped up my step, fixed my posture, and ran on through hoping for a split-second opportunity to tell my daughters “THERE I AM” in a movie theater. In the small (microscopic) chance I make it onto the big screen my daughters will see an image of an athlete but miss the reality of their father gasping for air just off screen. What they see was temporary, the unseen is real.
I’m reminded of Paul’s message to the church in Corinth who must have been going through spiritual battles causing them to lose sight of greater rewards. The church had been focusing on an image they thought was real and losing heart in the process. Paul is telling them to look just off screen at the eternal glory that is unseen but oh so real.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)