Forwarded Messages

If you're going to spend over $650,000 building a new house, there's one important thing to do before you begin: make sure you are building in the right place. That's the lesson a Missouri couple learned the hard way. While building a luxury home in a beachfront development in Florida, they accidentally constructed on the lot next to the one they owned; they built on land belonging to someone else. The initial survey of the property was wrong, leading to the misplaced construction. Hopefully an acceptable agreement can be reached with the neighbors on whose land the house was built. You may also have heard the news about the Rhode Island developer that mistakenly built a $1.8 million house on public park land. Again, the survey was wrong. The error came to light when prospective buyers had their own survey done of the property. In that case, no settlement could be reached, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court ordered the house removed from public land. Jesus talked a...

"Choose this day..." Joshua, the leader of God's people, was addressing his countrymen. They had conquered the land that God had promised to give them and were ready to settle in their new homes. Now Joshua calls on them to make a choice. "Choose this day whom you will serve..." This was about loyalty. This was about allegiance. Joshua spoke to them about getting rid of the idols that their parents had served and dedicating themselves to the Lord. If that seemed unacceptable, they needed to choose who they would serve: the old idols or possibly the new idols they had found in the land where they were living. "Choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD " (Joshua 24:15). Joshua had already made his choice. He and his family would serve God. To a man, Joshua's people cried out that they wanted to do the same, that they wanted to serve God. Surely that made Joshua happy, right? He had given such a persua...

Many of us are broken at one time or another. We are sometimes broken in spirit, sometimes broken in body, sometimes broken in relationships and sometimes broken by the death of a loved one or even the loss of a job. We often struggle to find a reason for this happening, but we just as often struggle for a reason to go on, to have some purpose in our lives. We want to cry out, "What's the use? Why should I even try? No one cares, no one sees me." It may be that you are hurting, lonely, feeling rejected, useless or abandoned... broken. I understand how hard that is to deal with in your life, but remember that God always has a use for you and always has love for you, even when you feel unlovable and unloved. I recently found a quote from "Heart Held High," that reminds us of some amazing things about God. The author wrote:

Forgiveness is setting the imprisoned bird free, then realizing that you were the imprisoned bird.  "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD"  (Leviticus 19:18). "Your hatred of her is unjustified," the teacher said as a man ranted about his ex-wife. "What do you mean unjustified?" he spit out. "You have no idea how she treated me, the things she's said to me, or the #$#@$@# things she continues to do. It's my God-given right to hate her." I'm taking a class for couples who are divorcing or are recently divorced that have too much conflict. Actually, let me restate that: the judge ordered that we take it. It's like a finishing school of sorts for something that is, well, finished, or at least theoretically should be. The class is divided into 2 sessions: one partner comes to the earlier class and the other comes to the later one. M...

Commencement Speech Given in the Ateneo de Manila University for the Graduates of 2015 You cannot imagine how great an honor it is for me to speak before you today. And that is certainly not a cliché or an exaggeration. Few people would ever guess that despite the many blessings I’ve received in over 30 years as a ballerina, most of my young life was spent pining for something that you all have and I don’t—a diploma from the Ateneo de Manila University. You see, I come from a certified Blue Eagle family. My father, his brother and my siblings all graduated from the Ateneo, with all four men in my family in the Honors Class since their elementary grades. Although I married a magna cum laude from Harvard. (Sorry, my husband made sure that I stuck that in there somewhere.) When I was seventeen, fresh out of high school, I found myself standing at a crossroad in my life: I was accepted in both the Ateneo and UP for college. But I decided to go to Russia instead and pur...

TIP 1: Do Not Talk To Her As If She Is One of The Guys. Listen to guy buddies talk about anything for more than five minutes and you likely will hear one of them let the other know that he is an idiot. When men talk with their male friends, they tend to be direct or even argumentative. They share their opinions freely and bluntly. They jokingly insult each other. They blast anything the other guy says that they do not like or agree with. They rarely stop to think, "Am I being insensitive? Could I possibly be hurting his feelings?" The guy code is to let the chips fall where they may. Women are NOT like that. If a husband talks with his wife in the same manner he talks with his buddies, his directness, bluntness, or argumentativeness may well cause her to feel disrespected or controlled. He thinks he is being honest and forthright. She feels he is being a jerk. If you really want to be a better husband, understand that women speak a different language. Unless you l...

1} Down days are completely normal, and not something you should feel guilty about having.   Happiness is never constant.   2} When you are at your lowest point, you are open to the greatest positive change.   Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the strength to deal with them.  3} There is a huge difference between giving up and moving on.   Moving on doesn’t mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are some things that cannot be.  4} Life rarely turns out exactly the way you want it to, but you still have an opportunity to make it great.   You have to do what you can, with what you have, exactly where you are. 5} Most people ask for happiness on condition, but long-term happiness can only be felt if you don’t set conditions.   Accept life unconditionally. 6} Too often, we carry around things from our past that hurt us  – regrets, shame, anger, pain, etc.  Don’t let these negative points from the past rob your ...

The lead story on our local news this morning was about potholes. After the rough winter we have experienced already, the roads are a mess — with auto-damaging potholes on all the main thoroughfares. It reminds me of the way human life works. Life is a journey. We map our roads to success and happiness. There are curves along the way, and we must not give in to the temptation just to coast. Okay. You've got it. Right? The notion of life as a road to travel has been used in the Bible, by Scott Peck, and in the vocabularies of practically all of us. There are no roads without potholes. So the people who get the most joy out of life are the ones who learn early how to deal with discouragement. Temperament appears to predispose some people to see the dark side of situations and to incline toward pessimism. There are external circumstances over which one does not have control. There are people who can make life harder for you as critics or enemies. But you are not helpl...

How should Christians think about work, success and wealth?  The Parable of the Talents in MATTHEW 25:14:30 provides a helpful framework for this question.  1. First, this parable teaches us that success is a product of our work.   In the book of Genesis we see that God placed Adam in the garden to work it and take care of it. We were made to work. As Christians we have a mission that our Lord expects us to accomplish in the here and now. Far too many evangelical Christians today see their salvation as simply a “bus ticket to heaven.” They believe it doesn’t matter what they do while they “wait for the bus.” The Parable of the Talents teaches us what we are supposed to do while we await the return of our King. We are to work, using our talents to glorify God, serve the common good, and further God’s kingdom. Biblical success is working diligently in the here and now using all the talents God has given us to produce the return expected...

01. Lifts your mood 02. Improve learning abilities 03. Builds self-esteem 04. Keeps your brain fit 05. Keeps your body fit and able 06. Boost mental health 07. Boost your immune system 08. Reduces stress 09. Makes you feel happier 10. Has anti-ageing effect 11. Improves skin tone and color 12. Improves sleeping patterns 13. Helps prevent stroke 14. Improves joint function 15. Improves muscle strength 16. Alleviates anxiety 17. Sharpens memory 18. Helps to control addiction 19. Boosts productivity 20. Boosts creative thinking 21. Improves body image 22. Gives you confidence 23. Helps you keep focused in life 24. Improves eating habits 25. Increase longevity 26. Strengthens your bones 27. Strengthens your heart 28. Improves posture 29. Prevents colds 30. Improves appetite 31. Maintain good cholesterol level 32. Lowers risk of cancer 33. Prevents high blood pressure 34. Lower risk of diabetes 35. Fights dimentia...

One of our dogs is a tattletale. She is small, cute, and has a very loud excitable bark when something sets her off. And nothing sets her off like when our Golden Retriever does something he should not. If he sticks his nose in the trash, she gets about six inches from his face and starts barking as loud as she can. If he puts one paw on the couch, same thing. If he does anything he is not supposed to do, then she lets him, us, and everyone in earshot know about it. You have known people like that. They want to be sure everyone knows about every mistake you have ever made. It is as if their greatest joy in life is to see someone get in trouble. Tattletales want to get people in trouble, see people "get what is coming to them," and make sure everyone knows about it. You see them among children on the playground, and among employees in the workplace. There is even a tattletale who wants to be sure God gives you what you deserve for all the wrong choices in your life. A...

Who am I? What was I created to be and to do? Why am I here? Do I have a purpose? Does God have a plan for my life? These are all questions we struggle with from time to time questions some struggle with all the time.

Our culture loves to rank things. Just take a look at all the top ten lists that are published. There are lists ranking the best — or worst — songs, movies, jobs, places to live, and things to see. We rank people too. There are lists covering looks, bodies, popularity, effectiveness, and abilities. High school athletes are rated by recruiting services as one star up to five stars. The only thing worse than a low rating is no rating. People even rank themselves. Just listen to conversations that include phrases like "... at least I am better than so and so." Or, "... at least I look better than she does."

There was an old country doctor who would take his dog along with him  when visiting patients. The dog would remain outside while the doctor  went in for the house call. On one occasion, the physician went to the home of a man with a  terminal disease who didn't seem to have much time to live. The man  confessed to the doctor his fears about death and said, "What's it like  when you die?" The doctor thought for a moment, then got up and opened the front door.  His loyal canine friend, who had been waiting patiently on the porch,  gleefully bounded in to join his master.

For a believer, life is a growing collection of God stories...  See beyond your vision.

Death asked Life: Why does everyone love you and hate me. Life replied: Because I am a beautiful Lie and you are a painful Truth

Sometimes we say ...   "Lord, I am tired because there is too much ..."     * Too much stress.     * Too much stress over money.     * Too much stress over balancing, or trying to balance accounts.     * Too much stress over things that we cannot change.     * Too much stress due to talking about having a simpler life.     * Too much discontent.     * Too much time wasted on trivial and useless endeavours.     * Too much stuff.     * Too much stuff happening.

A farmer's daughter duty was to carry fresh milk to customers in various villages had, one of whom was a priest. To reach his house, the milkmaid had to cross a good-sized stream. People crossed it by a sort of ferry raft, for a small fee. One day the priest, who performed worship daily with the offering to God of fresh milk, finding it arrived very late, scolded the poor woman. "What can I do?" she said, "I start out early from my house, but I have to wait a long time for the boatman to come."

"I speak without exaggeration," Thomas Edison once said, "when I say that I have constructed three thousand different theories in connection with electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently likely to be true. Yet in two cases only did my experiments prove the truth of my theory." That means Edison developed 2,998 failed theories along with his two successful experiments! The entire story of the light bulb is a long, tedious tale of repeated trial and failure. Yet, through it all, Edison was watching attentively -- and learning.

Friends, success in this life isn’t necessarily about how popular, influential or educated someone is. Success is about living a life of excellence in obedience to God’s Word. When we step out to do what God has called us to do, scripture says that His favor surrounds us like a shield. When we have His favor, we have everything, and we have an advantage for success!