Many ministers begin their sermons with the 14th verse of Psalm 19, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."
Of course we want all that we do to be acceptable in the sight of God. You could even say that some people desire to go beyond simply pleasing God. Our whole purpose for being the church is to be pleasing to God with our worship, prayer, service, stewardship, and in reaching out to others with the Gospel. I know of no one who follows Jesus who would want to displease God in any way.
How will we please God? Will everything we say and do to be acceptable to God? How will we do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God? As stewards of the Christian faith our actions in every field of ministry is open to reconsideration of these questions. Both as church and as individual Christians our actions in the love of Christ expresses our commitment to please God in every part of our living.
I invite you to pray the prayer of Psalm 19:14 as you are contemplating your living out God's word in your life today. Will every word you say today please God? Will every action you take today please God?
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Can You Avoid Future Regret
I usually mute TV ads because they are too loud and annoying. Last night I was distracted and left the sound on so an ad caught my attention. You may have watched this ad for a gold coin.
It starts off showing a US government fifty dollar gold coin using the form of a buffalo nickel as the form. The announcer stress in loud tone that the coin is minted in .9999 percent pure gold, and limited number because the mint ran out of the special gold blanks. In truth the coin had a limited production because it was struck for the collectors market.
The announcer then switches coins. He is selling what amounts to a counterfeit coin. In softer voice he says that it is a non-monetary gold clad replica. Clad means that there is a very thin 14 mm gold layer of unknown purity. It is being sold for $9.95 so it can not be the .9999 percent like the real coin. Again in a louder voice he stresses that this offer is for a limited time and you can purchase up to five coins per order.
At the end he invites you to avoid disappointment and future regret so buy right now call the number. Well I always want to avoid future regret and experience tells me that most of the time if I purchase a too good to be true item I will regret spending the money on it.
So I am avoiding future regret by NOT buying the coins.
How often in life do we fall victim to the falsh of a con artist? They are everywhere and often tell us we would be a fool to pass up the limited time offer. I do not like being called a fool so I end the conversation. Once I reached retirement age the special too good to be true offers have been pouring in with greater frequency. We have to be alert all the time.
It starts off showing a US government fifty dollar gold coin using the form of a buffalo nickel as the form. The announcer stress in loud tone that the coin is minted in .9999 percent pure gold, and limited number because the mint ran out of the special gold blanks. In truth the coin had a limited production because it was struck for the collectors market.
The announcer then switches coins. He is selling what amounts to a counterfeit coin. In softer voice he says that it is a non-monetary gold clad replica. Clad means that there is a very thin 14 mm gold layer of unknown purity. It is being sold for $9.95 so it can not be the .9999 percent like the real coin. Again in a louder voice he stresses that this offer is for a limited time and you can purchase up to five coins per order.
At the end he invites you to avoid disappointment and future regret so buy right now call the number. Well I always want to avoid future regret and experience tells me that most of the time if I purchase a too good to be true item I will regret spending the money on it.
So I am avoiding future regret by NOT buying the coins.
How often in life do we fall victim to the falsh of a con artist? They are everywhere and often tell us we would be a fool to pass up the limited time offer. I do not like being called a fool so I end the conversation. Once I reached retirement age the special too good to be true offers have been pouring in with greater frequency. We have to be alert all the time.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Reading Is Fundamental
From a very early age I taught our daughters to love reading. I did this by reading to them before they could understand so they would know that reading a book was an important thing to do. We have a large family library at home so they grew up with books all around them. They also observed Melanie and I reading all the time, which set the example for them to follow. I still remember the day our youngest stated that she was tired of being the only one in the family who could not read and she set out with determination to learn that day.
I was very please that both daughters graduated from collage and now my youngest daughter is working on a masters degree in "Information Technology" at the University of Michigan. That makes me a very proud daddy. The education of our children starts at home by our reading to them and teaching them to read before they go to school. Reading at an early age is fundamental for their ability to be successful in this world.
Teaching our girls to read encourages them to teach their children to read at an early age. The educational level of the world is raised when we as parents take the time to give our children the real value of an education both formal and informal. I learned much of what I know from my own personal reading all my life and I still do. We should all work to enhance the reading ability of all children all over the world. That would make the world a better place.
I was very please that both daughters graduated from collage and now my youngest daughter is working on a masters degree in "Information Technology" at the University of Michigan. That makes me a very proud daddy. The education of our children starts at home by our reading to them and teaching them to read before they go to school. Reading at an early age is fundamental for their ability to be successful in this world.
Teaching our girls to read encourages them to teach their children to read at an early age. The educational level of the world is raised when we as parents take the time to give our children the real value of an education both formal and informal. I learned much of what I know from my own personal reading all my life and I still do. We should all work to enhance the reading ability of all children all over the world. That would make the world a better place.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Our Assumptions
All of us assume things from our own point of view. It is a natural process that can get us into trouble. A man told me he was in the army and was working base security. I wrongly assumed that he was Military Police and said so to another man who checked it out. I was most embarrassed to discover that I was wrong.
We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are. Often we assume that this is the way they should be. Many of our attitudes and behaviors grow out of these assumptions. A Republican experiencing a health funding issue might assume that the “Obama Care” affordable health care law is the problem and will state it that way. A Democrat having the same issue is the problem of insurance companies getting every last cent out of the consumer.
On facebook both the left leaning and right leaning posters produce some of the most outlandish lies about the other party. Because those who agree with the post assume it is correct and repost it on their own time line. Often a simple check of the facts reveals the misrepresentation. There are some extreme true believers who simply don't care if it is a lie as long as it supports their point of view.
Our theory for how things should be is only as good as our assumptions. If the premises are false, our theories have no real scientific status. The only fair criterion for judging the validity of our theory is with the examination of the facts not assumptions. Our ability to confront our own assumptions is not an easy thing to develop and it takes time, effort and dedication to the truth.
Have you checked the facts about your assumptions lately?
We simply assume that the way we see things is the way they really are. Often we assume that this is the way they should be. Many of our attitudes and behaviors grow out of these assumptions. A Republican experiencing a health funding issue might assume that the “Obama Care” affordable health care law is the problem and will state it that way. A Democrat having the same issue is the problem of insurance companies getting every last cent out of the consumer.
On facebook both the left leaning and right leaning posters produce some of the most outlandish lies about the other party. Because those who agree with the post assume it is correct and repost it on their own time line. Often a simple check of the facts reveals the misrepresentation. There are some extreme true believers who simply don't care if it is a lie as long as it supports their point of view.
Our theory for how things should be is only as good as our assumptions. If the premises are false, our theories have no real scientific status. The only fair criterion for judging the validity of our theory is with the examination of the facts not assumptions. Our ability to confront our own assumptions is not an easy thing to develop and it takes time, effort and dedication to the truth.
Have you checked the facts about your assumptions lately?
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