Category Archives: Growth

Pithy sayings — they may make you think, but are they always right?

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Some of you Twitter. Some of you probably don’t know what that is. (Twitter is a “mini-blog” service that lets you post status updates of 140 characters or less. Each one of these short status updates is called a tweet. Incidentally, the green “retweet” button you see on our posts lets you re-post — “re-tweet” — this post to your own Twitter followers.)

You can pick up some pretty good information on Twitter. Some of these tweets are informational; others just help you set your mood for the day. Take these, for example, that I read this morning:

“Jesus, take my hand, and hold it tight! Give me boldness to accept the risks and childlike joy as I step into your good plans for me.”

If you have ever been reduced to God as your only hope – you’re in a good place!

My heart is breaking 4those in Haiti. I love seeing scores of Americans rushing 2help in so many ways. Proud of this country’s heart & hands

Some tweets are just dumb: “Getting ready to eat an ice cream cone.” As if anyone cared.

What made me think about writing this post though, were tweets like these:

Asking my forgiveness is making me responsible for the consequences of your actions

nothing is completely wrong. Even a broken watch is right twice a day

Oh really?

As Christians, Who is our Authority? (Hint: Matthew 28:18). When we hear or read something that otherwise makes half-sense, but contradicts other things we believe, who’s right? Is there any ultimate truth, or does the real truth lie within each one of us, to interpret however we desire?

Questions

What’s your reaction to the last 2 quotes in the shaded area above? Does asking your forgiveness make you responsible for my actions? Is it really true that “nothing is completely wrong”? I’d love to hear your comments.

41 things married people ought to know

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My longtime friend Jim Martin is a minister of the gospel in Waco TX, and writes what is, according to recent stats, the #9 “Church of Christ blog”. Jim began a series of articles yesterday titled 41 Things Married People Ought to Know. In part 1 he lists the first 10, including these 5:

  1. Married people are called to move away from self-centeredness and toward self-lessness.
  2. Jesus can be disruptive to a marriage and family.
  3. Married people can become very lazy with one another.
  4. Every marriage has some kind of atmosphere.
  5. Something is very wrong when a married couple claims a commitment to Jesus and belongs to a church, but they have never allowed Jesus to have any kind of practical impact on their marriage.

Each of these has some bit of explanation as to why it’s on the list, so I encourage you to read the article on Jim’s blog A Place for the God-Hungry, where you can see what else is in the first 10. You’ll want to check back to see what the other 31 are too!

Consider the work of God

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13Consider the work of God;
For who can make straight what He has made crooked?
14In the day of prosperity be joyful,
But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

I don’t have much to add to that; it pretty well says volumes all by itself. It does seem though, we have no problem with being joyful “in the day of prosperity”. Should we not with just as much ease accept that God has also “appointed” the “day of adversity”? Words of praise seem to flow freely when we’re happy and can see God’s hand in all the good in our life. When things aren’t going so well, God is still God and God is still good. Haven’t you ever learned and grown as a result of adversity?

We know that God does not tempt us (James 1:13), nor is he the cause of evil (Matthew 7:18), so look at adversity as a chance to fulfill the purpose for which you’re placed on earth — to bring glory to God. Consider it an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

It’s your choice.