Posts

Showing posts from December, 2012

RESOLUTE PURPOSE

Bruce Springsteen is all but retired now, but in the 80's he was one of the hardest working people in the entertainment business. His concerts typically last 4 hours—and whether he is playing to 20,000 people in an outdoor arena, or just a few hundred people in a small room, he gives 100% of himself to every performance. The encore alone lasts 45 minutes. At one point in every performance the band dramatically stops playing and Springsteen shouts into the microphone, "I'm just a prisoner of rock and roll!" All his life he's been obsessed with playing music. He is, indeed, a prisoner of rock and roll. Nothing could stand in his way. Springsteen pursued his career in music with unbridled enthusiasm, and ultimately became the biggest name in rock music. Only then did he decide to settle down, get married, and start a family. Till that moment, he gave his life to rock and roll. In the very same way, the Apostle Paul gave his life to preaching the gospel. In Romans Pau

Christmas Grows Your Heart Three Sizes

In the classic Christmas tale How the Grinch Stole Christmas, written by Dr. Seuss’, the central figure Mr. Grinch suffers from having a small heart. The fundamental issue of his heart problem is his lack of understanding the meaning of Christmas. As the story unfolds, the Grinch attempts to put a stop to Christmas, however, in the end, he comes to understand what Christmas is all about and his heart grows three sizes! The Grinch’s enlarged heart makes a big difference in his life. The Grinch has the feel of a Christian parable. This may not have been Dr. Seuss’ intentions in 1957 when he wrote this children’s book, but it suggests to me a parallel of the change that takes place in a person’s life when they come to understand the true meaning of Christmas which proclaims the birth of Jesus, God’s Son, who was born to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). When the light of the Gospel according to Christmas dawns upon the heart of a person, God replaces the old heart of st

JUST BE YOU

You are different from every other person on this planet ... and that's exactly what God had in mind all along. God always knew that you would be you, and that was fine with him. In fact, you were exactly what he wanted. As Rick Warren says in Purpose Driven Life, "Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God." In Psalm 139:16 King David put it this way: All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. The Apostle Paul laid it out like this in Acts 17:26: From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.  You may sometimes wonder… "God, why did you put me here? Why this place? Why this family? Why these limitations?" The answer is that God placed you here and now because he has a plan for you — something only you can do.  In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye asks the Lord, "Would it spo

Give The Gift of Forgiveness

When another’s actions hurt you, what is the first thing that crosses your mind: forgiveness, or exacting your pound of flesh? Most of us want the people who have caused us pain to experience a bit of their own discomfort or suffering. For most of us, we understand the idea of forgiveness, but at this point it seems absurd because we’re caught up in our own anger or resentment.  A story is told of a man in Spain who had a teenage son. Like a lot of relationships with teenagers, this one was strained. It finally deteriorated to the point where the son ran away from home. His father, though, moved with deep and passionate love, began a desperate search to find his son. After many months went by, he finally decided to put an ad in the “personals” section of the local newspaper. The ad read, “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office, Tuesday at noon, all is forgiven. I love you. Your Dad.” On Tuesday, the man showed up at the newspaper office to discover that 800 “Pacos” had c

DIG IN!

For just a moment imagine that you have been invited to a special Christmas dinner at a good friend’s home. Your friend has prepared a feast and you are the guest of honor. All of your favorite foods are sitting around the table. All of the food looks great. Everything smells delicious.  Everyone sits down at the table. “Help yourself,” your host says. People begin to pick up bowls and platters and pass them your way. You hold a bowl and say, “Mmmmm, it smells so delicious.” Then you pass the plate without taking any food. Then a platter is passed to you. Again, you comment as you pass the plate on to someone else, “This looks scrumptious!” You keep passing the plates never taking any of the food. Imagine your friend’s response. “What are you doing? Why won’t you take anything? I’ve worked so hard! Don’t you care for it? I thought these dishes were your favorite!” Finally, you reply, “Well yes, they are my favorites foods, but no, I don’t actually eat the food. I just look and breath