Attitude Adjustment

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Once a cranky grandpa lay down to take a nap. To have a little fun, his grandson put some limburger cheese on his mustache. Grandpa awoke with a snort and charged out of the bedroom saying, “This room stinks.” And through the house he went. He finally was forced outside only to find out that “The whole world stinks!” ( Life is Tremendous, Charlie Tremendous Jones)

Reflecting on that story, Pastor Dale Galloway observed that “the truth is it was grandpa who stunk. The problem was under his nose. Ninety-nine times out of 100, when we begin to feel like things stink, the problem is not with the world or with others, but ourselves. Our own attitudes have become negative. Change negative attitudes to positive ones and you can change your world.” (12 Ways to Develop a Positive Attitude, Dale E. Galloway)

Your attitude can make you or break you, heal you or hurt you, make you friends or make you enemies, put you uptight or put you at ease, make you miserable or make you happy, make you a failure or make you an achiever.

One way to change a bad attitude is to develop the attitude of Jesus:

Philippians 2:5 through Philippians 2:9 (TMNT)
“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling tothe advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave,became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death — andthe worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.”

“Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth — even those long ago dead and buried — will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.”

Do you need to change your attitude? What step will you take today to turn it in a positive direction?

Summer Jump

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Church leaders often talk about summer slumps. Church attendance is often down during summer. Summer holidays, vacations, family reunions, picnics and all the other summer possibilities affect the church during summer.

Several years ago I decided that I would not allow summer to be a time of spiritual “slump” for me. Instead of “slump” I think “Summer Jump.”

Every summer I set several personal, spiritual goals that press me to make major steps forward. One of my first goals this year was to re-read “Enthusiasm! The Action Handbook,” by Norman Vincent Peale. Included in the booklet are Peale’s “Eight Steps to an Enthusiastic Life.” I think they will help you with your summer jump.

First: Stop running yourself down. There’s a lot that’s right in you. Empty your mind of your failures and mistakes and start respecting yourself.

Second: Eliminate self-pity. Start thinking of what you have left, instead of dwelling on what you have lost. List your assets on a piece of paper.

Third: Quit thinking of yourself. Think of helping others. Actually go out and find someone who needs the kind of help you can give and give it. For you will never have a continuing flow of abundance if your thought is only for yourself.

Fourth: Remember Goethe: “He who has a firm will molds the world to himself.” Almighty God put a tough thing into human beings called the will. Use it.

Fifth: Have a goal and put a timetable on it.

Sixth: Stop wasting your mental energy on gripes and post-mortems, and start thinking about what to do now. Amazing things happen when you think constructively.

Seventh: Every morning and every evening of your life articulate these words: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

Eighth: Every day three times say: “This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

What goals do you need to set for your summer jump?

Image: Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Why I Believe God Wrote the Bible Part 2

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During a discussion about Rev. Terry Jones and his stance on burning the Koran, Time Magazine’s editor Bobby Gnosh made some uninformed comments regarding the Christian view of the Bible. It gave me pause that people might actually believe that the church does not view the Bible as God’s Word.

The first two were posted previously. Here are the remaining three.

3. It’s Staying Power

The Bible contains some of the oldest writings in existence. It is a collection of 66 books written of 1,600 years. It’s the best-selling book of all time.

Did you know that there are over 4,000 Greek manuscripts of the Bible in existence? Coming in a distant second among ancient literature is Homer’s Iliad. There are 643 known copies of it. Tacitus wrote 17 books on Roman history. Only 4 ½ of them survive in 2 documents. There are 10 copies of Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars.

Those are interesting facts, but of themselves they do not explain the Bible’s staying power. Nor does the invention of the printing press or translation into other languages reveal a satisfactory answer.

Why has the Bible remained so popular and readily available? I believe it’s because it is a divine book – a God-written book – of great wisdom that has passed the tests of legitimacy with those who practice its teachings.

4. It’s Accuracy

An internet search will quickly reveal that the science of archeology has proven it accuracy in regard to historical things such as names of government officials, kings, cities, festivals, and so forth that are mentioned in the Bible.

You can more about this at the Christian Research Institute.

5. It’s Proven Promises

For brevity’s sake I simply say, “I’ve tried its promises and find them true.”

Here’s a favorite: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

What do you believe about the Bible?

Why I Believe God Wrote the Bible

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During a recent interview on MSNBS’s Hardball, reporter Bobby Ghosh made an extremely uninformed statement about Christianity and the Bible. Ghosh, Time Magazine’s World Editor, said, “The thing to keep in mind that`s very important here is that the Koran to Muslims, it is not — it is not the same as the Bible to Christians. The Bible is a book written by men. It is acknowledged by Christians that it is written by men. It`s the story of Jesus.”

Christians do believe that God used men to record his Word. We know them by name: Moses, King David, Solomon, Isaiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and many others. But, while God chose to use human persons to record his Word, Christians have always believed that the Bible is God’s Word.

There are 5 reasons why I believe the Bible is the Word of God. Here are the first 2. I’ll give you the others in my next post.

1. It’s Claims About Itself

Those who wrote the texts included in the Bible recognized that their writing was more than just human wisdom. They believed that it was given to them by God. Paul and Peter expressed it this way:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God‑breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Peter 1:21 “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

2. It’s Acceptance Throughout Church History

The church has always considered the Bible to be God’s word. It was because of this belief that they went to great lengths to determine which books should be included in the final canon of scripture. Canon is defined as the “definitive list of inspired, authoritative books which constitute the recognized and accepted body of sacred scripture.”

The Westminster Confession of Faith claims that the Bible is the Word of God:

The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.”

What do you believe about the Bible?

Brain Training

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Doug Bench is one of my favorite teachers. I was his student in 8th grade (or was it 7th? or both?) science at Ankeney Junior High (now Ankeney Middle School) in Beavercreek, Ohio. Doug is still teaching me.

Check out his brain training ideas.

2Word Story

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What is the story of your relationship with God? The power of your witness is in that story. This spring a movement of God will be released in the Detroit Metro area to give everyone a chance to hear the gospel. Its potential is unimaginable. I can’t wait.

Starting Wednesday, February 16 at Dodge Park Church we will be training believers to tell their story. Join us at 7:00 PM.

This video will help you get a head start.

New Year’s Post

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I love this article my friend Bob Moss wrote. Bob is the pastor of Salem Church of God in Clayton, Ohio. It is the church my family attended for decades.

“This year, think first of someone else. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.

Share some treasure. Make a child happy. Welcome a stranger.

Thank God for what you are and what you have, whether it be great or small.

Give a soft answer.

Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust. Keep a promise. Find the time to volunteer. Forgive a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize if you were wrong.

Listen. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Appreciate. Be kind; be gentle. Laugh a little. Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence.

Express your gratitude to others. Pray for peace. Attend church every week. Love completely. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still once again.

These are just a few suggestions, a mere scratching of the surface. They are simple things; you have heard them all before; but their influence has never been measured. This year, they can change your life.”

A Prayer to Pray

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I think this prayer from the National Day of Prayer Task Force focuses on an important need. We should pray it often:

God’s Word for you this week
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42

Prayer for this week
Father, I lift the Church before You today, asking for that same spirit of devotion that was seen in the first believers in Jerusalem. Would You restore that devotion to the Word, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to prayer? Forgive us Lord for misplacing our priorities. I ask personally, that You would give me a renewed zeal for each of these elements of our shared faith.

Thanksgiving

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I love this thought from Seth Godin:

A modern thanksgiving

Wherever you are, you could celebrate Thanksgiving today.

Not the Thanksgiving of a bountiful harvest before the long winter, the holiday of pilgrims and pie. That’s a holiday of scarcity averted. I’m imagining something else…

A modern Thanksgiving would celebrate two things:

The people in our lives who give us the support and love we need to make a difference, and…

The opportunity to build something bigger than ourselves, something worth contributing. The ability to make connections, to lend a hand, to invent and create.

There are more of both now than there have ever been before. For me, for you, for just about all of us.

Thanks for joining me every day, thanks for your support, but most of all, by a longshot, thanks for doing the work, work that matters.