The Church’s Impact on the Family

“Let us not give up meeting together [in church], as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another….”¹

A study conducted some time ago by sociologist Steven Nock of the University of Virginia showed that couples who regularly attend church are 42% more likely to be married for the first time. And those in the church who were committed to its beliefs had a 23% better chance of having a “very happy” marriage than those who don’t attend church.

Furthermore, according to a report by Warren Mueller, where both parents attend church regularly, 72% of their children continue in the faith. Where only the father attends, that percentage drops to 55%, but where only the mother attends, just 15% of the children remain involved in the church.

Daily Encounter … The Church’s Impact on the Family [Wednesday, May 21, 2008]

 

Six Rules About Trust

By Michael Josephson of Character Counts (590.4)

I’ve talked about it lots of times before: The high cost of lying and deception by politicians, police, corporate executives, clergy, journalists, accountants, and educators has weakened every major social institution.

As each of these domains wages its separate battle to remove the cloud of suspicion and cynicism that hovers over it, there are six truths about trust that must be understood and dealt with.

First, there is no shortcut to building trust. Rebuilding it on the rubble of lost credibility is much harder. The antidote is nothing less than scrupulous and consistent honesty—especially when the truth is costly.

Second, where trust is important, there are no small lies. Falsehoods, however small they seem, are like germs. Without the antibody of trust, they cause infections that can kill credibility.

Third, the lethal quality of lies lasts long after they’re told. Lies told years ago have an immediate poisonous effect on trust when they’re discovered. Think of all the prominent people who’ve been undone by the discovery of trumped-up old resumes.

Fourth, while honesty and forthrightness don’t always pay, dishonesty and concealment always cost. It’s true that in some settings nothing good may come of admitting wrongdoing, but it gets a lot worse when you don’t.

Fifth, lies breed other lies. It’s harder to tell just one lie than to have just one potato chip. Once you start deceiving, it takes more and more bodyguards of new lies to protect the old ones.

Finally, don’t be seduced by the “I’m just fighting fire with fire” excuse or all you’ll end up with is the ashes of your integrity. Self-justifications aside, you can’t lie to a liar or cheat a cheater without becoming a liar or a cheater.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

© 2009 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation’s leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit www.charactercounts.org

Source: http://www.actsweb.org/weekend_encounter.php#2

 

7 Ways to Discover Joy

Find More Joy in Life

Many of us reach a point when our lives become routine, dull, and thankless. We lose our sense of meaning and direction. There seems to be a lack of purpose and feelings of hopelessness permeate our very being. We do reach a time when we are tired of being emotionally constipated and seek out ways to break this numbing cycle. The time has come to venture into something new.

Listen to Music

Select songs that will make you happy or if you haven’t cried for a long time, select songs that will induce sadness. The release of tears will help you let go of what ever is keeping you stuck.

Follow Your Dream

If you have had a long term dream of writing a book, opening a store, moving to the country or running for political office, now is the time to pursue that dream instead of merely fantasizing about it.

Let Go of Grief

You may have been deeply hurt during your childhood. One of your parents may have died abruptly or you may have been abused. If you are having difficulty forming and keeping relationships and if you have had a loss or traumatic event years ago and it seems like it happened yesterday, you may be suffering from stuck grief. Seeking out a psychotherapist or an appropriate self-help group may be very helpful.

Change Your Job

If you have been working at the same job for a long time, perhaps it is time for a change. It is difficult sometimes to know when you have outgrown your current position and you stay because it is familiar and secure. However, the lack of new challenges is deadly for your personal growth and creativity. It may be time to move on.

Celebrate Your Positive Changes

We tend to focus on the negative aspects of our being and the positive parts of us tend to be overlooked or ignored. Tune in to the positive changes you may have recently made such as: “I used to be so reactive and now I am able to stop and think before I blurt out something that will be hurtful.” “I can now walk for three miles without getting exhausted.”

Give to Your Community

Volunteering to help those less fortunate than you will not only be appreciated by many, it will also reward you spiritually and allow you to connect with others who are helping and receiving assistance. This activity will move you out of the intellectual realm and into your emotional world.

Decide to Break Your Addiction

Whether you are addicted to substances, another person, video games or anything else, getting assistance and eventually breaking your addiction will eventually make you a happier, more productive person.

Source: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2008/10/7-Ways-to-Discover-Joy.aspx?source=NEWSLETTER

 

The Danger of [Some] Curiosity

Rob Chaffart wrote, “My dad learned at an early age that curiosity kills the cat. Or, more literally, the monkey! Monkey hunters in Africa will take a coconut and cut it in half. They will carve a hole in one end, just big enough for a monkey to put his paw through (Or do monkeys have hands? I’m confused!), then they will put a delicious smelling orange in the other half. Next, they fasten the two halves together and hang the “bait” from a tree. All they have to do next is wait!

Soon an innocent monkey will come swinging by, and when it smells the orange, it stops in its tracks. Curiosity will then take over, and it won’t be long before the monkey sticks its paw/hand in the coconut. Once it has its prized possession in its grasp, however, the monkey can no longer withdraw its hand/paw! As it hangs there, struggling to remove the orange, the monkey hunters will throw out a net and catch it red-handed. Literally.

Curiosity [can lead] you into a trap that can be deadly! The worst kind is the one that leads to a life of addiction. Was it worth it to give into your curiosity?

“But I just wanted to try it out!”

Remember: The monkey also wanted to try it out, and now he’s no longer around to tell us about it.

“The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust” (James 1:14 The Message).

Rob Chaffart add@sermonillustrator.org
Source: http://www.answers2prayer.org

 

Fiber for the Soul—Fellow Servants

As a youngster I didn’t really like following orders from my father, perhaps because I didn’t like his tone of voice; or the fact that I just wanted to do my own thing.  Taking out the garbage was not my thing; I enjoyed playing more than obeying Dad.

Eventually I even enjoyed taking out garbage, much to the relief of a sore bottom when I didn’t obey.

There was a time in my teen years when I encountered that same tone of voice, especially when the local sheriff’s deputy took me home from a store where I had just shoplifted some Mars candy bars.  A lesson learned wasn’t from embarrassment, but from a butch style haircut.  It seemed that my father equated long hair as a sign of rebellion, and the hair cut was supposed to have squelched my thievery. It’s fortunate that I was younger than the age at which a run-in with law enforcement sometimes resulted in enlistment in the military.   Later, when I finished college, I was drafted into the Army, where servant hood as a draftee was learned early on.

It was also in the Army that I was paired off with another soldier, and it was there I learned the valuable lesson that two people serving together are better than one.  One example is when you’re on the rifle range with a machine gun.  One does the firing, while his buddy feeds the magazine with the bandolier of bullets.

These are lessons that have carried over through the years.

– By Gary Kallio, KallioG@aol.com

http://www.actsweb.org/weekend_encounter.php#2

 

If Jesus Came to Your House

“If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two / If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do. / Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honored Guest, / And all the food you’d serve to Him would be the very best, / And you’d keep assuring Him you’re glad to have Him there / That serving Him in your own home is joy beyond compare.

“But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door / With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor? / Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in? / Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been? / Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard? / And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, hasty word?

“Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out? / Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about? / And I wonder if the Savior spent a day or two with you, / Would you go right on doing the things you always do? / Would you go right on saying the things you always say? / Would life for you continue as it does from day to day? / Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace? / And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace? / Would you sing the songs you always sing, / and read the books you read, / And let him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed? / Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d planned to go? / Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?

“Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends? / Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends? / Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on? / Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone? / It might be interesting to know the things that you would do? / If Jesus Christ in person came to spend some time with you.”

– Credited to Lois Blanchard Eades.

http://www.actsweb.org/weekend_encounter.php#2

 

Hiding in the Shadows

“For in the day of trouble He [God] will keep me safe in his dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.”¹

“In the movie, ‘The Bear,’ a bear cub whose mother died took up with a male bear. They traveled together. One of my favorite parts happened when they got separated and the little bear came upon a mountain lion. When the mountain lion came at the cub he stood up trying to scare it away. The mountain lion all of a sudden started backing away. The little bear cub thought he had scared him away but what had really happened was that the big bear came up behind the little bear. It wasn’t the cub but the big bear that frightened the lion away. We may not look very frightening [to our enemy, the devil] but we have a Father that is all powerful [standing behind us]“²

For example: in the following poem, “Hide-and-Seek,” I have written:

“Sometimes it seems that life / makes little or no sense / as we wander blind searching for a ray of light / to lead us to the truth / or to a God who isn’t there. / But if we will stand still and / listen with our heart we will / hear a rustling in the leaves, feel the brush of angel’s wings, / and sense the presence of a loving / Father playing hide-and-seek, waiting patiently / wanting us to find him.”³

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that when I commit and trust my life and way to you on a daily basis, you are always present to be my guide and help—regardless of whether I feel your presence or not. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus name, amen.”

Note: Hide-and-Seek poem available (framed or non-framed) at: http://tinyurl.com/33g35b

1. Psalm 27:5 (NIV).
2. Sharon Stonestreet on www.SermonCentral.com.
3. Dick Innes © Copyright.

<:))))><

Daily Encounter … Hiding in the Shadows [Wednesday, April 9, 2008]

 

Seven Pillars of Character

The first of these six pillars of character are from Michael Josephson of Character counts to which I have added a seventh:

• Trustworthiness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Caring
• Citizenship
• Personal Honesty

 

Uncommon Decency

By Michael Josephson of Character Counts

Uncommon Decency 565.2 Last week, Sara Tucholsky, a 5-foot-2-inch softball player in her senior year for Western Oregon University, was playing in a big game with Central Washington University. Both teams were vying for the Division II NCAA playoffs. Sara, who was batting less than .200 all season, hit the ball over the fence with two runners on.

She had never hit a ball out of the park before, even in practice. She was so excited, she missed first base. Realizing this, she turned to go back but collapsed in agony as her knee gave out. Her first-base coach yelled that she had to crawl back to first base because if anyone on Sara’s team touched her, she’d be out and her home run would be nullified. Her coach encouraged her to try to crawl around the other bases to preserve her home run, but it was out of the question.

That’s when the star player on the other team, Mallory Holtman, asked the umpire if she and a teammate could carry Sara around the bases. It was an unprecedented request from an opponent fighting for a playoff berth, but the rules allowed it. Without hesitation, Mallory and shortstop Liz Wallace lifted Sara and carried her, lowering her to touch each base with her good leg.

To Mallory it was simple: “In the end, it’s not about winning and losing so much; it was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain and deserved a home run.”

Mallory was right. It’s just common decency.

Sadly, such kindness isn’t common at all in sports, and that’s why all the coaches, players, and spectators who were stunned by this spontaneous act of sportsmanship wept. And that’s how Mallory became a national hero.

By the way, her team lost 4-2, but in my eyes, everyone won.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

© 2008 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation’s leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit www.charactercounts.org

 

Listening: A Vital Dimension of Respect

By Michael Josephson of Character Counts (564.3)

The virtue of respect is demonstrated by being courteous and civil and treating everyone in a manner that acknowledges and honors their essential human dignity.

An important but often neglected aspect of respect is listening to what others have to say.

Respectful listening is more than hearing. It requires us to actually consider what’s being said. That’s hard when we’ve heard it before, aren’t interested, or don’t think much of the person talking. It’s even worse when we act like we’re listening but are really waiting for our turn to speak.

The fact is, most of us don’t listen very well, certainly not all the time, and especially with people closest to us. Kids are especially adept at tuning out their parents, but parents are equally skilled at ignoring or dismissing as foolish or irrelevant what their kids have to say.

Disrespect is most apparent when others ignore or patronize us. Like when they roll their eyes or betray fake interest by vacantly staring or letting their gaze wander.

We all want to know that what we say and think matters. But if we want others to care about what we say, we need to care about what they say. Like all the important virtues, we teach respect best by demonstrating it.

So listen up! It’ll make people feel better, and you may even learn something.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

© 2008 Josephson Institute of Ethics; reprinted with permission. Michael Josephson, one of the nation’s leading ethicists, is the founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics and the premier youth character education program, CHARACTER COUNTS! For further information visit www.charactercounts.org