DO MORE

"Do a little more each day, than you think you possibly can." - Lowell Thomas

Keith Hernandez one of baseball's top players, is a lifetime .300 hitter who has won numerous Golden Glove awards for excellence in fielding. He's won a batting championship for having the highest average, the Most Valuable Player award in his league, and even the World Series. Yet with all his accomplishments, he has missed out on something crucially important to him - his father's acceptance and recognition that what he has accomplished is valuable. Listen to what he had to say in a very candid interview about his relationship with his father: "One day Keith asked his father, 'Dad, I have a lifetime 300 batting average. What more do you want?' His father replied, 'But someday you're going to look back and say, "I could have done more."'"
One of the most erroneous assumption today is that, studying a good course is the guarantee for greatness. It's false because if we consider majority of the fulfilled people around us, we'll

CHRISTIANITY, OR RELIGION?

"Religion is part of the human make-up..." - Christopher Hitchens 

Patrick Morley says, in his book I Surrender, that the church's integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behaviour." He goes on to say that, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance." There's a story about the Devil walking along with one of his cohorts once upon a time. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. "What did he find?" asked the cohort. "A piece of the truth," the Devil replied. "Doesn't it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?" asked the cohort. "No," said the Devil, "I will see to it that he makes a religion

RULES?

"The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is the reason he made so many of them." - Abraham Lincoln

In West Africa - Timbuktu to be exact - it is believed that the larger a women is, the more beautiful she is. In fact, a young missionary who had a small, trim wife was told by the nationals that his wife was a bad reflection of him - he obviously was not providing well enough for her. A proverb in that part of Africa says that, "If your wife is on a camel, and the camel is unable to stand up, then your wife is truly beautiful." It is absolutely amazing, these days to read on the news, about how much people spend on different surgeries costing mind blowing amounts: ladies in particular are so conscious of people's opinions about their looks that most will do 'ANYTHING,' to look like the photos of models they see in magazines.

"One man's meat," they say, "is another man's poison." A friend was told recently that his dress combination, wasn't right - according to fashion rules. Then I asked, to know who

ONE THING

"No one can do everything, but everyone can do something." - Max Lucado

Josh Billings said, "Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there." And, Henry Van Dyke said, on page 16 of Bits & Pieces, March 31, 1994, "Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. Phillips Brooks concludes by saying that, "It is almost as presumptuous to think you can do nothing as to think you can do everything."

Amazing truths, don't you think? Try to picture yourself without a tongue or even imagine your tongue without taste buds. How about a car without the screws that hold the tires in place, or the valve through which air is pumped into the tires. Can you imagine, a house without doors or windows? What about cutlery or a hot mug without a handle? I'm not

STEVE LYONS

"The fact is, society is made more hospitable by every individual who acts as if 'do unto others' really was a rule." - Gary Hamel

Steve Lyons will be remembered as the player who dropped his pants. He could be remembered as an outstanding infielder...as the player who played every position for the Chicago White Sox...as the guy who always dove into first base...as a favorite of the fans who high-fived the guy who caught the foul ball in the bleachers. He could be remembered as an above-average player who made it with an average ability. He'll be remembered as the player who dropped his pants on national television on July 16, 1990.

People diving headfirst into anything, just to defend someone else are seldom seen - that's a person worthy of a pat on the back. You might not be the best,

HOW SURE

"The antiquity and general acceptance of an opinion is not assurance of its truth." - Pierre Bayle 

Have you ever observe the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby, at the airport sometimes? Those with confirmed tickets, read newspapers, chat with friends or sleep. While those on standby hang around the ticket counter, and pace back and forth - the difference between these two, is the confidence factor.

If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would stand before the Holy God, what would your reaction be? After John Wesley had been preaching for some time, someone asked him, "Are you sure, Mr. Wesley, of your salvation?" "Well," he answered, "Jesus Christ died for the whole world." "Yes, we all believe that; but are you sure that you are saved?" Wesley replied that he was sure that provision had been made for his salvation. "But are you sure, Wesley, that you are saved?" That question went like a dart to his heart; he had no rest until it was settled. Latimer wrote Ridley once that when he was settled and steadfast about his own salvation he

ARISE AND SHINE

"There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope." - Bernard Williams 

Marilyn vos Savant says that, "A good idea will keep you awake during the morning, but a great idea will keep you awake during the night." What a remarkable statement that is: don't you agree? However, I like to ask, what you'd do when you can't remember who you are, where you are and why you're where you are every morning you wake up because of dementia or memory loss? When for some reason you can't seem to remember anything: that's an impossible nut to crack right?

Morning can be a really tough time for many people, not because of pending challenges with no answers, but because they wake up not knowing how to break through the fog of forgetfulness causing them agitation and fear.
"Why am I here?"

RELAX, OR DIE!

"I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any." - Mark Twain

A Brooklyn father came home to find that a house fire had killed seven of his eight children, and critically burned his wife and surviving child. The house, itself, was a total loss. The cause of the fire was a malfunctioning hot plate that sparked a fire, that rapidly spread, trapping the children in their bedrooms. The hot plate was left on for the Sabbath, which lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Many religious Jews use a hot plate to keep food warm, obeying the traditional prohibition the use of fire on the holy day as well as work in all forms, including turning on appliances.

The law on lighting a fire on the Sabbath leaves us with a decision - we either obey the law, or be put to death. Not physical death anymore as was the case, but eternal death. And being put to death isn't a punishment for lighting a fire but neglecting the finished work of Christ

ASSURANCE, NOT DREAD!

"I've come to seek, and to save the lost..." - Jesus Christ 

It is said that many children are terrified of the Easter Bunny: there are varying sizes though - some are cute, little, and furry in their Easter Baskets - those giant, six-foot-tall variety with the giant ears and even gianter eyes, the ones who roam the malls terrorizing innocent children, posing for a picture are the ones these children are scared of. The Easter Bunny can strike fear and dread in the hearts of little ones.

There's an experience of a parent's toddler son, who upon taking one look at the humongous, harrowing hare, let out a blood-curdling scream: he cried himself to sleep, and then slept with one eye open for days until he was sure all threat was gone. Only recently, someone else witnessed a slightly older boy take several quick steps backward, upon sighting one of these bunnies. "Come closer," said the

THEY NEED HELP TOO

"All of us, at certain moments of our lives, need to take advice and to receive help from other people." - Alexis Carrel 

The normal and most logical thing to do when there's an ailment to deal with or injury to cure, is visiting a doctor or medical personnel. And the logical thing is, to visit a teacher when there's a difficult Algebra calculation to unravel. When there's chaos in a marriage, or there's a lawsuit somewhere, we quickly book an appointment with the counselor or call our lawyers. Interesting.

A building on Chicago's Southwest Side that contains a fire extinguisher manufacturing

BEAUTIFUL, OR AVERAGE?

"Real beauty is to be true to oneself. That's what makes me feel good." - Laetitia Casta

The makers of Dove soap set up signs at the entrances of buildings around the globe. At each location, one door was marked "Average" and the other was marked "Beautiful."
Across board, more women chose to walk through the door marked "Average." In fact, a mind shattering 96%. While only a paltry 4% chose the "Beautiful" door. Some women genuinely believed they were unqualified to walk through the "Beautiful" door. In fact, one woman from China said, "Beautiful, to me, is too far out of reach."

Isn't this heart wrenching? Most of us are unaware, how our opinion of ourselves tarnish or boosts our self esteem. The truth is, no matter how beautiful you are - physically or in attitude - if you don't acknowledge yourself no one else will. One woman nailed it, "I choose beautiful because if I don’t think it myself, no

I WISH MY...KNEW

"The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others." - Albert Schweitzer

Here are a few heart wrenching notes Kyle Schwartz, a 3rd grade teacher at Doull Elementary School in Denver, CO, received from her students. The notes were in response to an assignment she designed in order to better know her students and their needs. The assignment was simple:
Complete this thought--I wish my teacher knew...
"I wish my teacher knew I don’t have a friend to play with me."
"I wish my teach knew I don’t have pencils at home to do my homework.
"I wish my teacher knew sometimes my reading log is not signed because my mom is not around a lot."

We all can help out, in our own little way. Kyle says, "After one student shared that she had no one to play with at recess, the rest of the class chimed in and said, 'we got your back.' The next day during recess, I noticed she was playing with a group of girls. Not only can I support my

A CHANCE TO HELP

"If you can't pull me out of the mud, don't plunge me deeper in." - Unknown 

Don and Moya Ritchie live on a plot best described as something out of a bad dream. It's the most notorious suicide spots in Australia. Every morning Mr. Ritchie looks out the window to see if anyone is "standing alone too close to the precipice." If he senses someone may be contemplating suicide, he approaches them and asks if they'd like to talk over a cup of tea. "I'm offering them an alternative," he says. The Ritchies have saved an estimated 160 people from taking the leap. Ritchie has been able to save more people than he's lost in fifty years. "If you couldn't have talked him out of it," one teenager's mum told him, "no one could."

The most important thing we get get out of life after salvation, is the peace that you helped someone who couldn't repay you. We're ambassadors for Christ. Are you representing Him

FIND YOUR GOLDEN POND

"Nothing can be better than being your child's hero." - Unknown

In 1982, Golden Pond - the story of a father and his daughter who spend dedicated time on the waters of Golden Pond, forcing them to work through their strained, relationship - was up for a bunch of awards including; Best Picture, Best Actor, and best Supporting Actress for Henry’s daughter, Jane. Henry won, and Jane bounded to the stage to accept the award for her absent father. "Oh, Dad," she said, overwhelmed, "I’m so happy, and so proud for you."...There was quite a back story behind those 10 words.

Fathers, are important figures in the life of any child, and family anywhere in the world. Irrespective of how wealthy or poor a father is, his presence in the family gives so much

THE FAMILY LOVE BUILT

"An act of love, a voluntary taking on oneself of some of the pain of the world, increases the courage and love and hope of all." - Dorothy Day

Chris Singleton’s mom, was one of the victims at a Bible study church shooting. Chris delivered a powerful message to the world: "No matter how much hate there is in the world, it’s no match for love," Singleton is a 2nd year baseball player at Charleston Southern University. Flanked by his coach and teammates, addressed reporters hours after learning of his mother’s murder. "Love is stronger than hate," he said "So, if we just love the way my mom would, then the hate won’t be anywhere close to where the love is." Young Singleton later added, "We already forgive him for what he’s done, there’s nothing but love from our side of the family."

Family members of the other victims shared similar expressions of forgiveness. Bethane Brown, who lost a sister said, "I acknowledge that I am very angry," said Bethane but my sister would have urged love. "She taught me that we are the family that love built," she said.

REMY MARTIN XO

"Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open." - Corrie ten Boom

The flight to destiny is already being boarded, and is about to take off. It doesn't wait for anyone irrespective of race, age, class or clout. To board you must have to ensure you only have the required luggage size. You must let go of certain things that were in your past, that shouldn't have a place in your future.
 

A Chinese woman, surnamed Zhao, while making a connection at the Beijing airport, was told by security that she could not take an expensive bottle of cognac in her carry-on. Since it was too late to access her checked-in luggage, it appeared she had no choice but to leave it behind. But Zhao was determined not to let a $200 dollar bottle of Remy Martin XO go to waste, so she drank the entire bottle! Now she f

I DECIDE, DO YOU?

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." - Joseph Campbell 

We have been looking through the pain of a man, Brian Boyle and his determination - in the face of destroyed hope, and how he rose from the ashes of his pain - to become a STAR, in his own rights that he is today. Surviving the kind of accident he suffered, takes God, but much more a determination on his part. Determination to kick, even when all strength was gone.

Many times, people die out of lost hope, not necessarily from their pain. The will to do anything is a strong one, that even God doesn't seem to have control over. Else, he would've stopped Adam and Eve from eating the fruit, or the people from building the tower of Babel, during Nimrod's

BRIAN BOYLE: BUILT TOUGH!

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." - Jackie Robinson 

Continued:
Brian Boyle says, "My story is about the recovery and the comeback, but I want to make it much more than that, I want to make a positive impact on the world. I am just trying to live each day to the fullest and motivate and hopefully inspire other people through my endeavors to never give up on their dreams, and to never stop believing in their faith in God no matter how bad a situation is because everything happens for a reason."

This world would've been chaotic, had God made everyone to be alike. Because, life would've had only one variety of everything. Here's the point. Everyone doesn't go through the same challenge: our challenges are different as our faces. This is why some suffer more than others, because God knows our frame. Like Brian Boyle, God intends for our lives to be testimonies, from which others will draw strength - to millions of others going through varying degrees of pain. Why? Because there's nothing new in this life, but you.

BRIAN BOYLE: LAZARUS

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." - Joseph Campbell 

All that thinking and pondering on the what-if scenario’s only stirred up another question – why was I saved? Then, it hit me. I didn’t have anymore questions. I knew then on, what my purpose in life finally was. I am trying to live each day to the fullest and motivate and hopefully inspire other people. I have been labeled "Lazarus-like" because God brought me back to life. To inspire even more, I successfully completed the Steelhead 70.3 half-ironman race in Michigan a while ago. And, I was given the inspirational athlete media slot to compete in the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship where my race footage was broadcasted in the Ironman show premiere as the main feature.

When God wants to restore a man, He doesn't restore to status quo. No. He restores up to seven times more. For instance, Job got double for everything - wealth, children, position, possession - he lost. For a lost baby, God gave David a king: the wisest,

BRIAN BOYLE: WHY?

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." - Friedrich Nietzsche
 

 Continued:

After a few months of swimming a few laps here and there with my training partner, I decided that my injuries wouldn't stop me from living my dream. Six months later , I began my freshman year at St. Mary’s College of Maryland: I was one of the swimmers to watch on the team. The pain and the agony was real and it existed all the way through. It was not an easy situation: laying in a bed, staring at the ceiling, knowing that your life is over. I thought to myself repeatedly, why this situation had to happen to me. I was a good kid, received good grades in school, and went to church. Why would something as horrific as this happen to me? Why would God allow this? I went on and on for days asking why?

It is usually very easy for people to blame you for the pain God allows you to go through. Like Job, some will even ask you to curse God and die. These people - friends, family, colleagues etc. - are unaware that, there is an invisible hand working in your life. To their

BRIAN BOYLE: GOALS

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." - Confucius

Continued:
After spending two months in a coma, 14 operations, 36 blood transfusions, 13 plasma treatments, I lost a total of 100 pounds and had to go to a rehabilitation center in Baltimore. I had to learn how to talk, eat, walk, shower, and live again. After that agonizing experience, I had to go to outpatient therapy in Waldorf, MD. After a few months in a wheelchair, I took baby steps to walk on my own. It was a miracle that I could walk again, but I wanted to prove the doctors wrong and not only walk, but run. After I accomplished that, I wanted to get back in the pool again. After a few lung tests, I was able to go in the pool a little bit each week. Before the accident I had three goals: to go to college, swim on the team, and compete in an iron-man triathlon one day.

When, for some inexplicable reason your goals - as you planned them - aren't reachable, you've got to makes changes. Boyle had three goals, now shattered like Humpty Dumpty. But, unlike, Humpty

BRIAN BOYLE: III

"Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it." - Ernest Holmes 

Continued:
This was just the beginning of my suffering.
I died eight times while I was in the intensive care unit, and even when I woke up from my coma, I couldn’t talk or communicate. The day that they knew that I would leave, was the day that I either left my room in a wheelchair or a body bag. As for the future, it didn’t exist. I was never going to walk: my pelvis was shattered. Swimming again, was just a thought: like my body, my dreams were shattered. But, I didn’t give up - I knew God had a plan for me.

When you experience something frequently, you get used to it, and so it doesn't surprise you much, as it would someone experiencing it for the first time. When you see your dreams. All of it. Falling down, like a chandelier of glass from the ceiling and smashing into tiny little

BRIAN BOYLE: UNSAVOURY

"Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it." - Ernest Holmes 

Continued:

In this tube was a boy to my left, and many others on my right - I use the term "boys and girls" because they appeared to be my age - I didn’t know why I was there, or how I even got there. The more I sat there, the more I was able to visualize my surroundings. The boy to my left had a cell phone. He asked me if I needed him to call anyone for me. I told him "yes, can you call my parents and tell them that I love them." The next thing I remember, is waking up in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines. Buzzes and beeps going off from the medical equipment, that was