New Life'n

How to be like this

"Our Father often encourages the weak in faith by giving speedy answers to prayer; but the strong in faith will be further developed by God's delays. Delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, but opportunities of honoring God by our steadfast confidence in Him." -- from Hungry Heart #1-19

Passion, commitment, and the death of dreams

From the morning show this morning--here's the Tom Sorenson quote from the Observer about Jake Delhomme taking chances with passes:

Every Panthers fan older than 12 has ripped Jake for trying to fling the ball down field through an opening the size of a Dixie cup.

Yet, don't we love it when it works? Don't we admire the gall that's required? Most of us lead safe lives. Do we insist that our athletes lead them out on the field?

Jake waited five years on the sidelines for his chance to not lead a safe life.  Think he felt like his dream was slowly dying?  Which led to the next thing that many of you called and emailed about--it's from Roy Williams' Monday Morning Memo:

Your life's purpose will be chosen by you. It's a decision you will make. If you're waiting for your purpose to drop mysteriously from the sky, you're wasting what could have been a wonderful life.

Passion comes from having a focus.
Focus comes from having a purpose.
Purpose comes from having made a commitment.

To whom or what will you choose to commit?

...The world stands knee-deep in unrewarded talent because most people are unable to survive the death of their dream.

Every dream of the future is a seed. But until your dream falls into the ground and dies, it cannot burst from the ground and deliver the harvest you seek.

Is your commitment strong enough to survive the death of your dream? Will you be found still hanging on when hope has fled, the room is dark and everyone believes you a fool?

Believe it or not, this is usually the key to the miracles that follow.
 

   

Radical cure for conflict

World Magazine tells the story of the making of The End of the Spear.

Mart Green, an Oklahoma City businessman whose family owns the Hobby Lobby craft chain...founded the new company, Every Tribe Entertainment, in 1998. He told WORLD, "I was raised never to go to movies," and at age 35 "had never been in a theater."...

Then, one day in his car, Mr. Green heard a tape of Steve Saint, the son of Nate Saint, one of the five murdered missionaries, telling his story. Mr. Green pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot weeping and decided to make the movie himself.

What's so incredible about this story that grown businessmen pull into Wal-Mart parking lots to cry?  World also sees in the movie what forgiveness can do...

The Waodani would seem to be the worst-case scenario for a morally depraved culture. They were totally lawless, refusing to submit even to a tribal government. They killed outsiders. They killed each other. They even killed their own children. They were so hostile to Christianity that they killed the missionaries who sought to help them. How could a culture like that ever be transformed?

The bereaved family members, Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint, moved into the village. They made their home with the very individuals who murdered their loved ones. Their sheer audacity and most of all their spirit of forgiveness sent shockwaves throughout the culture. The Waodani started listening to their message of a God who sent His Son to be speared for their sake, to bring not retribution but forgiveness. The Waodani put down their spears, and the culture was utterly transformed.

This suggests a tactic Christians embroiled in other culture wars might employ: radical, self-sacrificial demonstrations of the love of Christ.

Empty toaster. Keeping score.

 

Breakfast.  Couldn't find the bread.  Looked in the cabinet, the 'fridge, the box thing on the counter.  Didn't wanna say anything 'cuz she's told me before that I should know where the bread is.  Left the toaster empty. 

There isn't any, she said.  I'm so sorry, I've been meaning to go to the store... 

She sighed; it'd been a busy week.  Then she said, If I was graded on how I take care of things, I'd get a 67...

Whoa.  How'd we get from no bread to I'm-a-bad-wife?  Can't just let that go.  What has she always done for me?  Do it.  Quick. 

Listen, you can't grade yourself, so I'm the one who has to give the grade and I give you a 100.  I don't care if we have any bread, you take great care of me, you take care of everything wonderfully and I've never had a single thought of complaint about what you do or how you do it.  You're talking about how you take care of me so I'm the one to give the grade and you get 100...

She sighed again (a different kind)...You just gave me grace.

Brenda: 7,680
Gary:          1

I don't think I could say this

Could you?

This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet.

He did.

True rest

Whenever I read the Hungry Heart devotional, it calms me down and gives me confidence; I think, ohhh, so that's what's going on... (from HH #1-10):

The turning point in our Christian life comes when we begin to "let God be God," the day we throw all caution (fear) to the winds and look to Him to carry out His purpose for us in His own time and way.

"Our Father never does a thing suddenly: He has always prepared long, long before. So there is nothing to murmur about, nothing to be proud of, in the calling of God. There is also no one of whom to be jealous, for other people's advantages have nothing to do with us.  It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy (Romans 9:16). Our heritage, our birth, our natural equipment: these are things already determined by God. We may pick up other things in the way, for we are always learning; but the way is His way. When we look back over our life, we bow and acknowledge that all was prepared of God. To have such an attitude of heart, that is true rest." -Watchman Nee

Cough syrup doesn't work? Might hurt kids?

That's what WebMD says:

Consumers spend billions each year on nonprescription cough syrups, drops, and so-called cough and cold medications. But an expert panel concluded that these products rarely help a cough.

"Cough and cold medicines are not useful in children and can actually be harmful," says Irwin, who is chief of the division of pulmonary, allergy, and critical care medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

"In most cases, a cough that is unrelated to chronic lung conditions, environmental influences, or other specific factors, will resolve on its own."

They say for adults, what could help is over-the-counter antihistamines with a decongestant.  They don't name any products, but basically, if it says "non-drowsy" (like Claritan), it won't help a cough.

Just a slight 3.97 billion year adjustment

If Brenda asked me to paint the house, and I told her last time it took me 11 years! and then I thought about it and said, oh, wait it actually took me a month, I expect she'd wonder how I could be so far off.  She might also be suspicious of any future answers I gave about painting!  That's how I feel about the adjustments scientists have made about how long it took the earth's mantle to form--they've changed it from 4 billion years down to 30 million years.  That's like going from 11 years down to one month--and it only took one study to change their mind!  So, if you ask them about evolution, do you give them the same look Brenda would give me next time she asked me about painting?