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Don't be afraid of changeThe most terrifying combination of letters are C-H-A-N-G-E. Change ignites feelings of losing control and sparks fears of an unknown future. In your organization, change can kindle concerns over a loss of your job or the opposite: more work on top of what you are already struggling to complete. Despite the emotions accompanying change, change cannot be avoided. Briefly, then, what are some principles that help navigate change?...
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God's chosen peopleHave you considered how Christians are portrayed in sitcoms? In many TV shows and movies, pastors and priest are viewed as predators or con artists. Sometimes the religious characters are silly and awkward ignoramuses. Consultants are hired and painstaking efforts are taken to accurately portray various professions and fields of study. When it comes to religion or theology, there is little concern for accuracy...
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God knows what we needPsalm 20:4 is a prayer of blessing; "May he (God) grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!" (ESV.) This blessing prayer is from one to another, hoping they will experience a better tomorrow. I've thought a lot about this verse and how it affects me as a husband, a father and a friend. I want to encourage you with some reflections on this psalm...
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Born againWhen I was a child, I would hear the expression, "Born again Christian". It meant someone who was serious about his or her faith. This was a person who was deeply committed to Jesus and someone who would actively try to get others to believe as well. Today, we may prefer the term, "Evangelical Christians"...
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Needing someone to talk toAre you one of those people that says, "I'm a loner, I am with people all day and I want to get away from everyone. I want my privacy?" I have felt that way many times and I still crave alone time--but not all the time. Until we experience loneliness when we aren't needing it or desiring the state, we cannot t pass an accurate judgment...
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The importance of focusI have been reading a book about being "indistractable." According to the author, the ability to focus amongst a sea of distractions is the next superpower distinguishing you from your peers. The ability to pay attention is really worth paying attention to...
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Should you follow your heart?Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to tell if someone was telling the truth or lying? Would it be helpful if you could discern someone's character before entering into a friendship, a business relationship, a dating relationship or even marriage?...
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Working at being happyThe feeder was empty except for some dry seed on the ground, and the weather was crisp but bearable. My morning was brightened by the sight of a bird lingering on the almost empty bird serving tray outside my window. The wren pecked around as he glanced sideways to see if he was going to have to share the meager pickings strewed on the ground and the edges of the feeder. ...
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One more hugI remember walking out of the room of the nursing home with the nagging feeling that I may never see her again. For a moment, I thought I should go back and hug her. Tell her that I love her. But I didn't. The family was leaving, it was getting late, and I was overreacting...
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It is OK to talk about JesusI enjoyed watching the NFL playoffs and am thrilled that Missouri's Kansas City Chiefs are in the hunt for a title for the fourth time in five years. One thing that encourages me is the many professional athletes who openly share their faith in Jesus...
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Learning to be contentI had never given too much thought to the word "content", until I participated in a conversation with a friend, recently. We had both lost spouses and had been forced to make adjustments in our lives. We had to decide whether to give up or forge ahead with life. ...
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Don't quitIn 2019, Strava, a social network for athletes, conducted an extensive research project on New Year's Resolutions, discovering that 80% of those who set new goals quit them by the second Friday in January -- nationaltoday.com/quitters-day/. Designating Jan. 12, 2024, as National Quitters Day...
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Are you on the list?It is usually a good thing to have your name on a list. We may think of an "A" list of Hollywood actors, a top 100 list of professional athletes in sports or maybe the dean's list. There are also lists that no one would desire to see his or her name, such as a sex offender's list. I will say more about that later...
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Finding the wonder in lifeI sat in a chair, leaned back and flung both arms toward the sky. I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with air. Inside, excitement framed my whole being as I exhaled and basked in my appreciative mood. That day was one that could be described as a normal day. ...
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The beautiful stories that flaws can tellThe letters and emails I write follow the format my fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Taylor, taught me. A greeting, a body, a closing, followed by my signature. I had not thought much about how I conclude my correspondence until recently reading the history of the word "sincerely."...
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Should I stay or should I go?When I was a theology student at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, I earned a concentration in Communications. This was like a minor in college. There were courses in television production, repertory drama, playwriting and other classes of this nature. ...
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A New Year and Time to Move OnWhen I consider your heavens, The work of your fingers, The moon and the stars, Which you have set in place, What is humanity, O God, that you are mindful of us, Human beings that you care for us? Psalm 8:3-4/NIV. Two years ago on Christmas Day 2021, NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope...
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Your new year can be a good oneHow was your year during 2023? What happened in your life? To many of us, thoughts of the past year were those of good fortune and happiness -- one filled with happy memories. To others it was a year to be forgotten. Are we now looking forward to another new beginning, or, are we already perceiving that the upcoming new year will the same as the last one? If we're looking for the worst, the self-fulfilling prophesy will probably materialize. So will we look forward, or backward?...
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SimeonOne of the perhaps less popular events in the Christmas story is the blessing of Simeon in Luke 2:22-35. Many of us, even if we rarely darken a church and our Bibles are covered in dust, are vaguely familiar with the Christmas story of the shepherds abiding in their fields, the magi coming from the east, and of Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus lying in a manger. Fewer, however, I contend, are familiar with an older man named Simeon...
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Turning stress into joy at ChristmasHow can the celebration of something so beautiful turn into such a nightmare for many people at Christmas time? Christmas comes only once a year, but we often begin to prepare for the next one as soon as the present celebration is finished. We look for things that would be useful and appropriate as gifts for next year. ...
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Christmas kryptoniteIf asked for my favorite superhero, Superman would come to mind first for me. Each time our personal vehicle crosses into Metropolis, Illinois, we visit Superman Square and are again reminded of the mythical figure whose strength and otherworldly abilities far exceeded even the most impressive human...
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A great time of year, except when it isn'tChristmas is the most wonderful time of year, except when it isn't. Stress, family tension and especially grief can all steal away the joy of the holiday season. Many then will feel guilty that they are not enjoying what is supposed to be the most joyous time of year. How can you navigate the Christmas season when you are also in a season of grief?...
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Do not be a Grinch this ChristmasFor many people, Christmas is their favorite time of year, but for others, it is a time of frustration and depression. How about you? Do you love Christmas, or do you tolerate it as you focus on other things? When you celebrate the holidays, do you think about the reason we set apart those days, or are you more focused on a day off work, parties, and presents?...
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Getting it in writingClose Cape Girardeau friends of ours have recently returned from a weeklong trip to France, visiting Paris, Caudebec-En-Caux, Rouen, Les Andelys, Honfluer and the D-Day remembrance sites in Normandy. Trip of a lifetime, no doubt. If the funds to afford such a journey were available -- an unlikely prospect to be sure at my stage of life -- I'd enjoy visiting Rheims, sometimes spelled "Reims"...
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Love still prevails"People do not show love, like they did in the old days," I hear people lament. "Life is too busy and people only care about themselves." Do those opinions sound familiar? Believing such statements is depressing and can lead to feelings of hopelessness. Although love is shown now, in different settings, if we stand back and look around, our minds will recognize that love remains...
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Jesus is blamelessAn important Christian doctrine is that Jesus was sinless. His virgin birth and the incarnation teach that Jesus was fully man, born of Mary, but also fully God, that God supernaturally placed Jesus in his mother's womb without her ever having had relations with a man...
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Thankfulness leads to happinessOff and on this past year, I have taken on the study of happiness. If that sounds particularly strange, concerning or even narcissistic, I hope to set you at ease. Studying happiness in no way implies that I am, nor was I unhappy. Examining happiness has been a personal and pastoral exercise, delving into theology, neurology and social science and observing common themes and practices that develop and foster happiness. ...
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What is God looking for when He looks at us?As I listened to a Christian minister's homily recently, the reverend made a statement that struck a chord inside me. "God doesn't look at our face." As I sat listening, his words seemed like a contradiction to me, and I was puzzled for a moment or two, while my thoughts took on a world all their own. ...
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In late life, a job to improve the spirit for Dr. RuthLoneliness was tough, the toughest role you ever played. -- "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John & Bernie Taupin, 1973, a song written in memory of Marilyn Monroe. When you think you may have heard or seen it all, it's instructive occasionally to realize you haven't...
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What are your priorities?The leaves have changed colors, the trick-or-treaters have collected as much candy as possible, and most of the Midwest has just been reminded that winter is coming. The busiest time of year has officially begun! Instead, though, of being the busiest season, it could be bountiful. Instead of a schedule stuffed like the Thanksgiving turkey, you could have time for what matters to you...
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Pray for IsraelHave you ever wondered why people are divided over the right of Israel to exist as a nation? Can you think of any other country where it is acceptable to hope for its inhabitants to be obliterated? On college campuses, anti-semitism is openly practiced by many who claim to be liberal or tolerant. Do they not know that anti-semitism is racism?...
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From Gaffigan to Luther: Welcome Reformation DayComedian Jim Gaffigan may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I like him. He's a clean observational comic and his standup act often mentions his wife, Jeannie, and their five children who all live in a New York City apartment. Gaffigan, 57, talks frequently about his Catholic faith but sometimes references his Protestant roots in the Midwest...
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Going on retreatDo you want to just get away from it all, for a while? Does the daily hubbub of life get you down, worn out and out of sorts? Do you wonder how to accomplish your dream of a calm, peaceful and stress free life, at least sometimes? Those questions are fairly common among most people. ...
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Inserting love into the lives of othersJenney sat forlornly on the front doorsteps feeling neglected and unloved. No one had taken the time to take note of and to celebrate Jenny's birthday. Her family, if they remembered, verbally told her, "Happy birthday" and possibly would make an effort, later on, to make a meager effort to celebrate it. ...
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Seeking a better rote response? Consider the Jesus exampleMy wife and I have been fortunate enough to travel -- to the British Isles, continental Europe and the Middle East. I've noticed at least one rhetorical difference between the U.S. and these far-flung locales. In our country, we don't like to pass one another in a hallway, in the street or in a marketplace without saying something...
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Change is all around usIn the New Testament letter Titus, the namesake is charged to be a change agent in the church and the place he serves. The instructions he is given lend us a model of how to bring change in our lives and the places we live. Two of the several critical components of change are impact and culture...
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Finding joy in the fallRecently, I noticed something different in the air. It was a gradual slowing down of life. The restlessness of a forever summer had settled into reality, and I was looking for a change. It seemed that changes and daunting mystery was all around. I was looking for a new path now, one that would take me in a different direction. ...
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Who I hope to be when I grow upWe all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us -- at least in a figurative way. My late mother-in-law, for example. Found among her papers following her death a dozen years ago is a letter she wrote to God. Her children have deemed her undated missive her personal psalm of praise, thanksgiving and faith...
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Who are your priorities?Some new phones are coming out. At one point in time, I would have been excited. Not anymore. Unlike their predecessors, these new phones boast that they are faster, stronger and have better features than their previous designs and competitors. No matter their differences, they all have one common trait: they compete for my time and attention. Time and attention are two priceless commodities that are far too easily given away...