Chris Vonada's Blog, page 16

Book Review And Giveaway: Grace by Max Lucado

Please click the book picture to purchase at Amazon

Grace by Max Lucado. “More than we deserve, greater than we imagine.”

Grace – that unmerited favor we don’t deserve and can’t earn. Our human nature makes us feel guilty in a way just thinking about it. Max writes about grace in his trademark flowing and easy to read style that satisfies the answers about how “Christ in you” works. Why we need to be rescued and restored. How God overwhelms us with love. How He’s after you. And me too. He answers the  question, is that mercy or grace? There is also a very helpful reader’s guide in the back of the book on grace-shaped living. This would be an excellent book to enjoy and study with a small group.

“Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:4-5

An excerpt from the chapter, “Coming Clean With God”:

People are attracted to honesty. Find a congregation that believes in confession. Avoid a fellowship of perfect people (you won’t fit in), but seek one where members confess their sins and show humility, where the price of admission is simply an admission of guilt. Healing happens in a church like this. Followers of Christ have been given authority to hear confession and proclaim grace.

Confessors find freedom that deniers don’t.

“If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.” 1 John 1:8-9

Oh the sweet certainty of these words. “He will cleanse us.”

That sounds about as sweet as orange blossom honey!

Please leave a comment below with your thoughts on grace and I’ll do a random.org drawing this Friday to ID a winner and mail you a copy of this book!

Temperament Theory And Why Some People Naturally Shine Online

Inside Pygmalion’s lovely statue he found a heart of stone.

I’m fascinated by people and personalities. So I borrowed this book, “Please Understand Me, Character & Temperament Types“, written by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates. I discovered, among other things, there’s a reason for my interest in people… I’m hot wired for it! Like the majority of authors, my personality is one of the NFs – types of people who have dominant intuition and feeling characteristics. The book points out that people are fundamentally different, and explains temperament theory and why being different is OK. Keirsey reinforces through his work, “It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.”

Honor, respect and appreciation for our individual differences in personality. That means you can be you and I can be me and we’ll all get along copacetically. Hermann Hesse described what we all attempt to do to the people in our closest relationships, at least to some degree…

“In Greek legend, a brash young sculptor named Pygmalion found the women of Cyprus so impossibly flawed that he resolved to carve a statue of his ideal woman, embodying every feminine grace and virtue. For months he labored with all his prodigious skill (and also with a strange compulsion), rounding here, smoothing there, until he had fashioned the most exquisite figure ever conceived by art. So exquisite indeed was his creation that Pygmalion fell passionately in love with the statue, and could be seen in his studio kissing its marble lips, fingering its marble hands, dressing and grooming the figure as if caring for a doll. But soon, and in spite of the work’s incomparable loveliness, Pygmalion was desperately unhappy, for the lifeless statue could not respond to his desires, the cold stone could not return the warmth of his love. He had set out to shape his perfect woman, but had succeeded only in creating his own frustration and despair.”

As I was reading about my type I found out that we’re odd balls in some respects, that it is very difficult for the other temperament types to really grasp what it is that makes us NFs tick! Keirsey gave an example, please read this passage…

“Becoming a Person means that the individual moves toward being, knowingly and acceptingly, the process which he inwardly and actually is. He moves away from being what he is not, from being a facade. He is not trying to be more than he is, with the attendant feelings of insecurity or bombastic defensiveness. He is not trying to be less than he is, with the attendant feelings of guilt or self-depreciation. He is increasingly listening to the deepest recesses of his psychological and emotional being, and finds himself increasingly willing to be, with greater accuracy and depth, that self which he most truly is.” Carl Rogers.

Would you consider that passage to be convoluted and tortuous rhetoric? Ummm, not for me! However, I can understand now when I rattle on why someone would perceive me to be from another planet, or on drugs. I can assure you that neither would be the case, but that my mind works quite differently than most. According to Kiersey, the NFs make up 12% of the population, however, we have extremely broad influence as we account for the vast majority of novelists, dramatists, television writers, playwrights, journalists, poets and biographers. So we’re an island in the stream, so to speak, but one that rises well above the plains.

I’m using the NF type as an example, and there are plenty of other ideas to learn and share about personalities and how they mix (or don’t!). The work by Kiersey is but one piece of this puzzle to the makeup of extraordinary relationships.

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” Thomas Merton

Are you fascinated by people who have different personalities? Do you find yourself trying to change people to match your character?

Image courtesy of Alex Bakharev and Wikipedia

The Low Down On Living Water

Just lending a hand with the living water

I don’t find water to be especially tasty. I know I need water to survive, but I wouldn’t include drinking a glass of water as “bucket list” material. This all changes for me if I am very thirsty, like when I’m out for a long run. While I might opt for a refreshing frosty glass of iced tea when I’m chilling or just hanging out, after my run I am ready for water. Preferably cold, but I will drink it however it comes when I’m parched. After a long, hot run, when I’m drenched in sweat and ready to flop, please just give me the water. Think of it this way: In my time of need, I am most satisfied by that which I need the most. (Click To Tweet)

In the book of John, Jesus mentions the living water twice, and we learn that it has a connected, dual meaning:

As Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well, He reveals where we find satisfaction for our thirsty souls.

“whoever drinks the water that I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13

Quenching the thirst. Not just for one, but for everyone. The woman that Jesus was speaking to at the well was a Samaritan, the mixed race that was hated by the Jews. This is an excellent verse related to unity… that the good news of the gospel is for everybody. Thirsting after God is like a hunger deep down inside, from the soul. If we yearn for satisfaction, eternally speaking, this is the only place to find it. Deep inside our core it lives and breathes, when we accept it. All of it. We humans need this, to be fulfilled, the same as our physical bodies need water to survive. The parallel isn’t just a coincidence, it’s a vital part of the lesson. Scratch that… it is the lesson.

And, the second instance of Jesus teaching about the living water…

Maybe think of this as the babbling brook, or the real prosperity message.

Jesus said… “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:37

You know, I sort of doubt that it’s pure coincidence that certain parts of the Bible just got stuck together. This second part of the living water is also profound in regards to unity.

Jesus spoke these words at a time just prior to his arrest and persecution. I think that’s relevant for the obvious reason that He wanted the thought to be fresh, so when the Holy Spirit showed up the people would be able to grasp the connection. My Bible highlights the second meaning of living water, the presence of the Holy Spirit in all who believe. That’s the low down, part II. As the living water satisfies our soul, it’s like a breath of fresh air… we exhale with the presence of the Holy Spirit to replenish others. So the Holy Spirit lives within us when we believe, and we have the opportunity to live eternally through the same living water. Getting thirsty?

Looking closely, again, to the place this verse shows up in scripture, and how it relates to unity: people were asking questions, and there were those looking for opportunity to trip Jesus up in their own self-righteous and narrow-minded pursuit. For me, the most troubling part of this living water passage and its place in the Bible is that the people who were persecuting Jesus were religious people.

Pause here and think about oneword… “living” … in both of these passages, living rings to the tune of eternity. Our soul yearns for this, and we’re depriving a thirsty need whenever we resist quenching it. This serves as a parchment to us individually, where we most need a direct, personal relationship with Jesus… and where we may try to substitute a network of defiance to togetherness. This is, I believe, maybe the most resounding fact related to truth and parallel to our need for unity in our world today:

“Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.” C.S. Lewis (Click To Tweet)

The vibrant message here is one of submission. That’s the low down on the living water, that we get there by submitting to Him, wholeheartedly and obediently. That’s the thing about Jesus… when it comes down to the living water, it’s pretty black or white, all or nothing. There’s just no way around it. If you’re thirsty, there is fulfillment. Just head for the well, where He’s waiting. He won’t disappoint you.

Are you feeling thirsty?

Shakespeare : Saving The Best For Last… The Last Act

Act 1 of The Tempest
Image courtesy of George Romney / Wikipedia

“All the world’s a stage” - Shakespeare and The Plays…

As a little kid I did a lot more playing than reading. I seldom read anything, being way more interested in most anything outdoors… climbing trees, riding my bike, playing GI Joe, acting goofy…

I’m a fascinated newbie when it comes to Shakespeare. I started writing about his work last fall. From what I have gathered, he gained influence from several other writers, including those who scribed God’s inspired word that makes up the Bible. Shakespeare also had a profound love of nature. Yep, Shakespeare was FOR the birds!

Just rattling on with The Bard…

How do we get there from here? An expression of hope, right?

You can’t get there from here. A roundabout way of saying it’s just not going to work.

Saving the best for last. The last act, and the curtain call.

The better I do at planning for the future, the less I have to be concerned with cleaning up from the past. (Click to Tweet)

What’s that got to do with it? Saving the best for last…

Indeed, Shakespeare was a playwright. With that said, perhaps the most profound element of his writing that makes it stand out is that it utterly opposed the neoclassical theory of style.

Shakespeare’s plays followed a very interesting pattern, or life cycle, that, upon reflection, tell a story in itself. Here’s why… as a generalization, Shakespeare’s plays followed a profound theatrical pattern…

- The early works were comedies and histories.

- Then, it was on to the tragedies.

- Ummm, you guessed it… the last hoorah… “The Late Romances”… well, some would say that romance is for the birds… and, yes, Shakespeare knew the exultation of joy that comes from our friends who go #tweet.

Whether you believe that the romances are a separate group of plays or not, the distinction is noteworthy… and it will stick in my book.

So, I’m guessing that you must be thinking I’m going to go off on an eloquent, harmonic spiel on Romeo and Juliet, “throwing off the name” and sacrificially giving in to the heartfelt romance that one would associated with the “love month” of February… particularly since, on the day after Valentine’s, my heart just throbs with each beat to the tune of a sonnet… weeping like a well-tuned violin that is being stroked by a rosined bow… and filled with a crescendo of the perfect love that God envisions for the multitude… a cappella… ahhhh yes, the oneword… dolce!

Well, I’m not thinkin’ that, so back to the storyline…

The rains fell and overcame the fire. Steam rose from the burning embers. Eventually, the steam subsided, leaving just ash. (Click To Tweet)

So, as I mentioned, I was reading more about this fellow and found out there was incredible symmetry with the Bible. After banging around with Macbeth, which is a sort of twisted tale, I settled in with The Tempest to ramble on about…

The Tempest. It seems dark. Well, to be honest, my church seems dark inside, but it’s really not “dark” – in terms of a reflection of the light of God. Yes, when you walk inside this and many other contemporary churches today they seem dark inside…

“There came a man who was sent from God, his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” John 1:6-8

So I’m thinking that people aren’t really light or dark… they may be a reflection of one or the other… just like the character Prospero. It’s postulated that Prospero represents God in The Tempest.

The Tempest seems sort of dark, too. It’s filled with illusion, manipulation and magic… there’s a storm and an island…

Here’s a wonderful summary of this work and it’s parallel to the Bible, written by Hannibal Hamlin, associate professor of English at The Ohio State University, he is co-curator of the Manifold Greatness exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

“Shakespeare’s interest in this plot has to do partly with exploring humanity in isolation from civilization. What happens when people are forced to fend for themselves, without the aid of law or civic institutions? Seventeenth-century explorers to the New World were asking similar questions as they encountered native people living seemingly in a state of nature. Were such people brutal savages, in need of civilizing, or were they noble innocents, free from the corruptions of European society? The Tempest explores such questions, often in biblical terms.

Shakespeare’s island is a kind of Eden, presided over by the God-like figure of Prospero, with Ferdinand and Miranda as a version of Adam and Eve, and Ariel and Caliban and angel and devil. As in the Genesis story, temptation and obedience are crucial: Prospero charges Ferdinand and Miranda not to have sex before they are properly married, anxious about the temptation they offer each other alone on the island. Prospero and his brother Antonio may also have a biblical model in Cain and Abel, the first brothers and the first murderer and death. For Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the Bible was the place to go for puzzling out life’s big questions: can siblings really get along? can anyone? are humans inherently wicked or just corrupted by society? are forgiveness and redemption possible in this world?”

“All the world’s a stage…” – to me, that says it’s more about the journey than the destination. The journey, and discovery… living in the light…

Oh to know the voice of thy Shepherd and to achieve unity within our church, and to be held in the bosom of God… only then may we take a bow and the curtain call…

What do you think about life’s big questions?

Book Review & Giveaway: “Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart” by J.D. Greear

Purchase this title by clicking the image to head over to Amazon

Salvation… how do we know for sure we are saved? Some denominations over simplify this topic. Others don’t seem to make answering it a priority. “Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart” takes us on a journey through the Bible investigating this topic. Greear assures us that God wants us to know the answer, helps us understand the critical elements of believe and repent, how we CAN loose our salvation, and answers many questions about how repentance is belief in action. A Theologian and Pastor, Greear’s work is a treasure to anyone truly interested in Christianity and, most importantly, the salvation we find through Jesus.

“Repentance is belief in action.” J.D. Greear

I’m not sure why this book hasn’t been written before. It seems like it must answer a question that would be on everyone’s mind: How to know for sure you are saved. After reading it I am also wondering why the material isn’t covered in churches today. I would think this would be a no-brainer… something we would want everyone to know. Maybe replace the Membership 101 class with a study of this book. It’s relevant to everyone who in their heart wants to be a follower of Jesus. If you really want to know how to walk in assurance this is the book that will show you clearly. Not knowing may not get you to heaven. That seems important to me.

Paige Patterson, the President of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes the forward to the book: “This book is a profound reflection of the nature of salvation. Salvation is the most complicated subject in Holy Scripture. The longer I study it, the more convinced I am that no one has a total grasp of its meaning since in the end it is an act of God that we cannot fully fathom. But for all of its difficulties salvation is also wonderfully simple. Salvation is simple in terms of how people obtain it.”

The publisher, B&H Publishing Group, has graciously offered to support a book giveaway, so I’m going to take them up on it! You can get in on the deal by leaving a comment to this post. I’ll do a random.com drawing on Friday, 2/15 and announce the winner by posting in the comments section.

Here’s the Q: Has your Pastor thoroughly covered the connection between repentance and belief?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The 10 + 1 Building Blocks Of Relationships: Security

The 10 building blocks are delivered in alphabetical order (with the exception of “+1″, it is last for a reason, more on that later…). Today’s post is #9 in the series… Security.

Generally, when we think of security in a relationship it can be represented by one of two factors, emotional or financial security. While we find both of these as factors in any successful relationship, their relevance is accentuated in our closest relationships. We find both of these in our closest relationship, the one we share with God. Unfortunately, when we look to other people to satisfy a need that can only be achieved by having a close, personal relationship with God we set ourselves and our relationships up for difficulty and even failure.

Feeling safe and secure in our relationships is a key factor to leading a fulfilling life. (Click To Tweet)

Today I’m honored to be continuing this series as a guest at Carol Peterson’s blog, I hope you’ll follow the link here to Carol’s blog and to the ninth post in the series, The 10 + 1 Building Blocks Of Relationships – Security

I’ve created a page compiling the links to the previous months’ building blocks too, you can catch up over here.

Carol Peterson is a writer with a heart for encouragement, sharing parables of faith on her blog From Carol’s Quill and making learning fun in Fun with Finance and other teacher resource books.

Zig Ziglar And The Daily Inspiration Of Salvation (My Guest Post)

Image courtesy of Ziglar.com

Today I have the honor and opportunity to guest post at Tor Constantino’s blog, The Daily Retort. Tor is someone who I truly admire, he writes about his daily walk, including family, faith, fitness, finance, fusion, and funny stuff too! He is an ex-journalist and best-selling author.

If you follow my writing you know that I feed off inspirational material. Zig Ziglar has a persona that I truly love and enjoy. Since he passed away recently, I thought I would write somewhat of a tribute to him, and to how he might compare in his influence to that of Jesus. I think he made a pretty good disciple. Please follow this link to read the whole shebang…

 

Carol’s Gems: Amethyst, Purple Is The Color Of Jesus

Today’s post, “Carol’s Gems: Amethyst, Purple Is The Color Of Jesus,” is a monthly series on birthstones from one of my favorite blogger friends, Carol Peterson. Carol is a writer with a heart for encouragement, sharing parables of faith on her blog From Carol’s Quill and making learning exciting in Fun with Finance and other teacher resource books.

Every month has a birthstone. The birthstone for the month of February is the amethyst.

Amethyst

And it reminds me of Jesus.

Amethyst is one of my very favorite minerals. This photograph shows the gigantic pile of amethyst sitting in my kitchen window, catching the morning sunlight and casting sparkles about the room.

Amethyst is just quartz—like what you find most everywhere. But as quartz goes, amethyst is the most precious of the varieties of quartz. And the loveliest.

Symbolism of the Amethyst Stone

Amethyst symbolizes heavenly understanding, spiritual contentment, and the unity between mind, body and spirit. Can you say Holy Spirit? God, through the Spirit lives in us—our bodies, its temple.

One of the 12 foundations of heaven is amethyst. Heaven—founded on lovely amethyst—is gonna be amazing in its heavenly beauty!

The Color Purple

Lydia, one of the New Testament women mentioned in Acts had a business selling purple cloth to rich people. Most people couldn’t afford to wear purple, because the die used came from one specific type of clam, found in the Middle East—a costly process to achieve the beautiful purple color.

One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. (Acts 16:14)

Purple cloth eventually became so expensive that in medieval times, no one but royalty wore purple. To this day, purple is considered to be the color of nobility. Jesus, the King of Kings, is most worthy of all to wear the purple color of royalty.

And in fact, he did.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him in the face. (John 19:1-3)

The Science of Purple

Purple is a combination of the colors red and blue. In color symbolism, red is associated with war, blood and judgment. Blue is associated with law and commandment.

Jesus—as God incarnate—represents both judgment and the commandments, made new and made possible through his blood sacrifice.

Purple is the color of Jesus.

Happy birthday to everyone born in February!

PRAYER: Jesus, as the King of Glory, you have the ultimate right to wear the purple robes of majesty. Please remind us that in your creation of the beautiful amethyst, you have hidden a tiny glimpse of the glory waiting for us with you in heaven. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Know anyone who needs to hear about the amethyst?

The HA!! : The Season Of Muddy Battle And Opportunity

I remember back in the day… (jk) – Photo Courtesy of Wheaton College

I’m writing today as a contributor to the Christian Writers Blog Chain. Our theme for this month is Opportunity. Christianwriters.com is an excellent place to network if you’re a Christian writer or author.

Time for “The HA!!” – This is my mini-series on life lessons I’ve gained through my humbling sports endeavors… I LOVE sports but genuinely suck at most of them, and, therefore, I’m a “HA = Humbled Athlete.” Please check out the other posts in this series at THE HA!! page.

Having influence could come with a certain amount of responsibility… why didn’t God make it that way? Maybe He did, and we changed everything and decided to do things our way. Here’s a new opportunity…

A cornerstone of influence in our culture comes to a pinnacle on one day in the dead of winter… one day we all tune in to watch the arena, our heroes and the hoopla that makes the Super Bowl the icon it has become in our culture today.

This draw of our attention is nothing new… organized sports and its’ heroes date back to Ancient Egyptian times, and the 12 Olympian gods or heroes, including Zeus, Apollo and Hermes. If you see the statues of these barely clothed athletic studs you’ll find the origin of our connective attraction of athleticism with heroism… and part of the reason we idolize these figures. It’s all deeply rooted in history.

Fast forward to this past week and the Super Bowl and we’ll visit with the modern romance to chiseled athletes, adding a layer of cutting edge media and provocative commercialism that we’ve enamored in the most recent past, and take a glimpse to what the future may look like…

Seth Godin describes the marriage between the “epic muddy battle” and TV perfectly:

“… football, more than any other sport, is made for television. It’s better on TV than it is live. The combination of the play clock, the angles, the repetition and the opportunity for analysis all make it perfect to watch on TV. And perfect to run commercials on. TV and football grew up together, side by side. Instant replay and the thirty-second commercial, supporting each other. 

It’s not an accident that the commercials are as much a part of the Super Bowl as the game. The commercials represent both the cash component of football as well as the cultural souvenirs that go with our consumption of the game.”

As media changes from TV to Twitter, how we move forward is changing. Maybe think of this transition as a season of opportunity…

I don’t think this shift is a chasm from building corporate wealth so much as hopefully redefining corporate culture. A Chick-Fil-A has a whole lot of potential to generate positive influence in our world today for the glory of God. Indeed, capitalism works because of our ability to choose right from wrong. In its purest form, capitalism aligns very well with Christianity (I am making a bold assumption that you align with both of these thoughts also. If not, please hear me out…). Now, since I’ve mentioned “eat more chicken” let me enlighten you to my image of this entity we know as The Chicken Sandwich: They’re appearing to be good Christians as well as successful at marketing their product broadly in a competitive market (btw, you’re completely missing the message here if you don’t click the link and head over to see Dan Cathy doing football with Shane L. Windmeyer).

Then along comes our hero. I personally have many sports heroes. Check out my Pinterest page and you will find a special place for them. I chose this chapter of The HA!! to highlight football because it’s unique in popularity in American culture, and I never played this sport competitively. Yep, I’m a spectator when it comes to football.

As a Florida Gator, I participated in the college-level extravaganza on many occasions. It started as a student and continued as an alumni. My second employer after graduating from UF was a Gainesville-based firm that invested heavily in college football. Our marketing agenda included dozens of season tickets that were allotted to clients attending pre and post-game gatherings, used to develop close relationships with the key people from both public and private entities throughout the southeastern U.S.

Somewhere in the mix of College Game Day, team spirit, and heroic moments our hearts warm up to the image and feeling of a hero. We let them in like they’re well-known… but in reality we often learn that they were complete strangers living in our own home. The whole spectacle is upsetting to us when we find out the truth about our hero… that sometimes he just wasn’t quite the person that we thought he was. Please don’t take me wrong, I’m not knocking the system here. Athletic scholarships are made possible by the investment of marketing dollars by major corporations. For the most part, the system works and we can and should enjoy our heroes. Moreover, an education is provided to many that never would have the opportunity.

The only real problem that I see with our fascination with the athletes is this:

We don’t really know them,
They’re people just like you and me, and therefore, we can expect that they’re not perfect,
We tend to get upset when we find out they make mistakes and that they’re real people as well.

People who appear in the public eye are typically there for a relatively short period of time. Some of them show up by virtue of a specific talent or gift, while others may arrive with an opportunity. Sports heroes come and go. The truly great leaders and heroes stand the test of time and become icons. Our culture feeds off this entire process. Therefore, we define the process, or opportunity, to invite our heroes to perform on the stage of life. In many ways we define their egos. This is all a matter of perspective. Since we made them the heroes they are, aren’t we “driving the Bronco…“, so to speak, when we follow… love… and promote the system that produces “The Juice”?? While this football season has ended you can be certain that a new one is just beginning. Somewhere, it’s happening. That’s all cool, I just don’t want to hop behind the wheel when OJ pulls up and asks me to do him a favor. (Remember, OJ was acquitted, now didn’t that feel just like a puntrooskie?)

So instead of getting upset with the fallen heroes next time take the opportunity to help shift the paradigm to one that is realistic. That would entail justly accepting responsibility for our own attraction to the TV commercials and athletes, changing our perspective from saying there’s something wrong with culture in general to taking the opportunity to focus inward to our heart, and to God. An inward focus toward change will have more outward influence than you can possibly imagine. (Click To Tweet)

The Q: What opportunity do you see to test-drive a new approach toward having a lasting influence on our culture today?

Christian Writers Blog Chain

The When Of Class And Style

Topped off with class, style and a smile

When Jesus gave us mercy and grace He gave us an over the top example of how to do something with class and style. He didn’t have to do it this way… but he did. Time and again he showed us turn the other cheek…

I don’t know about you but the class and style of mercy and grace doesn’t always come naturally easy to me. There comes a time and place when it’s important to say enough is enough when faced with adversity. There’s usually also a time to handle matters with class and style. The when? That’s often the challenge… effectively handling the situation to bring closure, and doing so in a way that models Jesus as the example. Jesus’ way is going to be better than my way every day. (Click To Tweet)

We can’t earn God’s grace, and we certainly don’t deserve it. God giving us grace doesn’t mean we didn’t do something wrong. We should strive to offer grace to others in the same way that God gave it to us… that should be all the motivation we need.

In Matthew Chapter 11, Jesus proclaimed this is what we should hear and see… the blind received sight, the lame walked, those with leprosy were cleansed, the deaf heard, he raised the dead and the good news was proclaimed to the poor.

Remember, Jesus said… “wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” Matthew 11:19

The when of class and style… and doing it with dignity, honor and respect…

Living fully between the dash… today and everyday.

Does it really matter in the end? Here’s what the Bible says…

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing seek glory, honor and immorality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. Romans 2:1-11

The when of class and style is simply taking the higher road to a better place, and that’s always comforting to know deep within our soul. It’s all about living right between the dashes.

The when of class and style?

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34

Doing our best to be matchy matchy with it, one today at a time!

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Click To Tweet)

Happy Monday