Monthly Archives: January 2012

January 9, 2012 · 4:36 pm

Encourage One Another

How long can you stand barefooted in a bucket of ice water?  Hadn’t thought about it, had you?  Well, believe it or not, a psychological group conducted an experiment several years ago using that very technique to measure people’s capacity to endure pain. They discovered one factor that caused people to stand in the ice water twice as long as others.  Can you guess what it was? Encouragement.  When another person was present during the experiment to lend support and give encouragement, the sufferers were able to endure pain much longer than those who had to suffer alone.

 Encouragement is Important Continue reading →

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January 9, 2012 · 5:28 am

How’s Your 2012 Resolutions Going?

How many of your New Year’s Resolutions have survived the first week of 2012?  Are you still on your diet?  Exercise program?  Texting less?  Controlling spending? Listening more?  Reading the Bible and praying daily? Continue reading →

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January 8, 2012 · 7:19 am

Worship: A Time to Recharge Our Batteries

  A few years ago when pagers were more popular than they are today, I read about a man who worked in a customer service call center for a national pager operation.  He dealt with the usual complaints regarding poor pager operations.  Among the “unusual calls”, the best came from a man who complained that he kept being paged by someone named “Lucille.”  Continue reading →

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January 7, 2012 · 10:03 am

He Lived Life in all its Fullness: My Eulogy for Gary Baughn

I will never forget when Gary stood before the church family to give a Wednesday night invitation talk. His message was about influence based on Matthew 5:14-16 where Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” To make his point, he had someone turn out all the lights in the building. It was dark. Pitch dark. You couldn’t see Gary. Or anyone around you. Then he lighted a candle. And that single little flame provided so much light. You could see Gary and those around you. He made his point in dramatic fashion. Continue reading →

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January 6, 2012 · 7:35 am

Real Freedom

Seventy-one years ago today on January 6, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the State of the Union Address where he articulated “The Four Freedoms” that he saw as a goal not only for the United States, but the world.  The four fundamental freedoms “that people everywhere ought to enjoy”, according to Roosevelt, are freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Continue reading →

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January 5, 2012 · 5:08 am

Discipline

“The most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.  It is the first lesson that ought to be learned and however early a person’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson a person learns thoroughly.”  –Thomas L. Huxley

I  know Huxley was right.   My parents tried to  teach me self-discipline, and I’m still learning it. Success requires self-discipline.  The student, the athlete, and the business person must all cultivate the habit of self-discipline.  It is true spiritually. Continue reading →

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January 4, 2012 · 8:17 am

Character

 

Hedi Tomassi was a server on her first day of her new job at Applebee’s in Olathe, Kansas.  She sure needed the work.  Hedi and her husband, Joe, were a 20something couple with a pile of medical bills.  Their son, Griffin, was born in July was a heart defect that required surgery one day after he was born. Two weeks later there was another operation.  But the defect was not repaired.  And the baby only had a few weeks to live. To make matters worse, Joe was fired from his job when he asked for some time off.  Continue reading →

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January 3, 2012 · 5:51 am

Blessing One Another

In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change the TV channel.  “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?  asks Linus  “These five fingers,” says Lucy.  “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single fist they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” Continue reading →

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January 2, 2012 · 2:11 pm

Attitude is Everything

Your success, failure or mediocrity for the coming year is largely dependent on your attitude. Your happiness or unhappiness has to do with your attitude.  Your ability to cope with problems, challenges and set backs will be in direct proportion to the attitude you have toward those challenges. I know these are strong statements, but I believe they are true. Continue reading →

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January 1, 2012 · 12:11 pm

Beginning Again

Well, here we are. Again!  Another new year.  It’s time for the well worn clichés. “I can’t believe it.”  “Time flies.”  And the ever popular,  “Where has the year gone?” Continue reading →

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