An interesting note to his event is that they purchased a
former Presbyterian church building and converted it into a Hindu Temple .
They were happy with the fact that the building had been built for religious
uses and consider holy ground. Some years ago two small Presbyterian
congregations merged and sold one building to a developer who in turn sold it
to the Hindu sect.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Religious Diversity in Louisville
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Past Present Future
Past, present and future: this is not about grammar but more
about where we are. We always live in this state of being and how we view it is
important to our success in life.
PAST: The past is history and we can not change it but how we
view the past can change us. Many of us ignore the past and are doomed to
repeat the mistakes made there. Some of us are stymied by our remembrances’ of
the “Good Old Days” and live there
rather than the present. The successful person will learn from both the
mistakes and successes of the past and use that knowledge to press on to
greater success in our present.
PRESENT: Here we are
in the present. This is where we live all the time so what are we going to do
with it? Is our present filled with thoughts of what could have been or day
dreams about what might be if only?
Living in the reality of the moment can be a key stone for living
successfully. What you do with your now determines everything else, make it
count.
FUTURE: One way or another, this is where we are all going.
Each one of us has a place in the future and the possibilities are wide open.
What goals do we set for ourselves and what is our step by step plan for
reaching our goals? Our day dreams can be important for success if the dream becomes
a goal and a path is laid out for reaching it. Planning early and taking action
is the key to success.
Remember your past, live in your present and plan for your
future. Success is all up to you.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Hobson’s Choice
We often believe that we Americans have a great freedom of
choice but truth be told we are not always free to make the choices we might
like, because there are often restrictions that are out of our control. Success
is usually a case of knowing when you can make a choice and when you can not.
I am reminded of a figure of speech that is called “Hobson’s
Choice” that describes any situation for which there are no alternatives. T his comes from an eccentric livery stable owner named Hobson who lived in
seventeenth-century England .
Hobson insisted, as and unbreakable rule, that his customers seeking to rent a
saddle horse from him must either take the animal who happened to be tethered
nearest the door or take none at all. There is your choice take what is offered
or walk. Sometimes it is better to walk than to take a runaway horse.
As Christians we will face many choices. Some of them will
be wonderful and some will be difficult but the virtue of the Christian life is
to find the goodness of God in whatever choice we are called on to make. What
do we choose to let dominate our lives? We are ready to face our choices only
when we are ready to look for the will of God in each decision. To pray over
each choice to discover the goodness of God in all we do in His name.
Monday, September 2, 2013
The WWW Questions
When I traveled to Jordan I was stopped by customs
agents coming and going. Both the Jordanian and American customs agents asked
me three questions before letting me pass.
Who
are you?
Where are you
going?
What do you have
to declare?
These are good questions for Christians to ask of ourselves
as we look to the future. These are good focus questions to help us with the
challenge of being Christians in our fast changing world. We can restate them
as:
Who are we?,
Where are we
going?,
What do we have
to declare?
Who are we? As
Christians, what is our role in our community and the world? How do we define
our relationships with God, the Christian Church, other Christians and most
importantly non-Christians?
Where are we going?
More to the point what is God calling us to do and be as a part of God’s
mission? Are we just sitting here doing nothing? Are we going in the right
direction? Are we going fast enough?
What do we have to
declare? What is our witness to a world in need of God’s love about the
Gospel of Jesus the Christ? In deed do we bother to declare the Gospel to non-Christians?
The answers to these questions are significant for marking
the difference between a healthy growing church and a social club that has
religious overtones. My goal is that my answers will reflect a life dedicated
and faithful to Jesus Christ and his mission.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Who were the other people?
A girl asked her mother, “Mommy, who were the other people?” "What other people?" "You know Adam and Eve were the first people, so who did
their children marry?"
Now here is a great question. First the Bible does not tell us
who they were or where they came from only that they were there. This is one of
those many missing details the bible does not tell us about. There are a lot of
theories but no proofs.
A Few Theories:
1.
On the eighth day after creation – remember God rested on the
seventh day – God got back to work creating and made more people in various
parts of the earth.
2.
Adam and Eve had more children than we are told and there was
necessary incest going on.
3.
They just showed up and no one knows from where.
I like number one best ---- Remember how many thousands
of years that story was passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the
next so some confusion is bound to slip in.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Ancient Witness
The forty-plus writers of the Bible give us their witness of
their growing relationship with God. Their life stories were a lot like ours.
Life was a hard struggle then as it is now. Even with advanced technology, our
basic struggles are the same. We face the same temptations to sin against God
and against other people, just as they did. Some of them obeyed God and were
blessed, and some of them turned away from God and paid the price of their
folly. We can learn from their successes and mistakes that God is quick to
forgive those who repent and love. If you find that life is just too much, turn
to your Bible, and you will find that someone before you has faced the same
problem and has given you a witness for overcoming that problem with power and
faith.
It is ironic that in the age of super fast computers, when
our access to knowledge and information exceeds any previous age, that
confusion is rampant. It is not the new and improved that we need to seek but
the oldest source of wisdom and strength, God’s Word. The words and witness of
the prophets of the Old Testament and the saints of the New Testament tell us
that faith is more powerful than doubt, that hope is more potent than despair,
and that only God’s love can conquer those forces within us.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
The ways we spend money
Milton Friedman describes four ways we spend money.
1. Spend
your own money on yourself.
2. Spend
your own money on someone else.
3. Spend
somebody else’s money on yourself.
4. Spend
somebody else’s money on someone else.
One way or another, this is the way money gets spent. When
you are in control of your own money you have a high incentive to pay attention
to price and value. When you spend somebody else’s money you have less
incentive to pay attention to price and value.
We often see government money as someone else’s money but
that is an illusion. Government money is our money and we best start paying
attention to price and value.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)