DON’T EXCEED YOUR LIMIT

 “Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.” - Elbert Hubbard

In 1982, "ABC Evening News" reported on an unusual work of modern art--a chair affixed to a shotgun. It was to be viewed by sitting in the chair and looking directly into the gun barrel. The gun was loaded and set on a timer to fire at an undetermined moment within the next hundred years. The amazing thing was that people waited in lines to sit and stare into the shell's path! They all knew the gun could go off at point-blank range at any moment, but they were gambling that the fatal blast wouldn't happen during THEIR minute in the chair. Yes, it was foolhardy, yet many people who wouldn't dream of sitting in that chair live a lifetime gambling that they can get away with sin. Foolishly they ignore the risk until the inevitable self-destruction.

It is foolhardy to be caught sitting on the fence in our Christian walk: we do no one good by being indecisive, it is better we chose now where we want to be, than to be undecided.

BE COURAGEOUS

“An open heart has greater power than a clenched fist.” - Matshona Dhliway

Rod Crowell writes for CBS Affiliate KDKA Channel 3, Philadelphia, reports of an unusual Christmas disturbance. Local resident Alan McCutcheon was busy putting up his Christmas lights on his home, when suddenly his ex-girlfriend, Mary Jo Smith, came barreling through his yard in her car. She made several tours through the yard screaming “Merry Christmas,” all the while Christmas carols blasted from her cranked radio through her open windows. At one point, she even took aim (thankfully, unsuccessfully) to run McCutcheon over. “She proceeded to do a pretty significant amount of damage to the outside of the residence,” Stefani Lucas with Pennsylvania State Police told CBS Pittsburgh.

Live is a combination of many things: decisions, experiences, choices and attitudes. We frequently hear of talks, seminars or even sermons about steps to success,

THINK BACK FOR A MOMENT

“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

Jeff Dixon said “Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!” And Melody Carlson, in Faded Denim: Colour Me Trapped says, ”Instead of thanking God for my two strong legs that are able to run and jump and climb, I whined about my "thunder thighs" and "thick" ankles. Instead of rejoicing that I have two capable arms that can lift and carry and balance my body, I complained about the flab that hung beneath them. I have been totally and unbelievably ungrateful for everything.”

 

God is a mighty God: nothing is impossible with Him. He can move mountains, make the sun stand still and heal the sick. In Joshua, we see how He completed the mighty task of bringing the Israelites into the Promised Land. He led Israel out of slavery into freedom: just as He’d promised. He did not want the Israelites

AGENTS OF HOPE

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” - Helen Keller

From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in school," he admonished, "and I'll help pay the college tuition for every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, "I had something to look forward to something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.

Desmond Tutu said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” As a drink of cold water is to the parched throat of a

KNOW FOR YOURSELF

"I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of ignorance." – Reuben Blades 

There is a frightening rumour about a current investment scheme making the rounds. This rumour is capable of causing serious unrest, and panic. Matter of fact, a young man has been weeping profusely as a result. He sold his family property, and invested the proceeds into the scheme expecting to make some profit before he's expected to release the proceeds to his family at Christmas. This young man is in a dilemma now because he has been told the scheme has crashed.

Out of curiosity, some people went to find out the real situation of things about this scheme. From their investigation, it was revealed that the investment scheme

QUAILS

“If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles.” – Wayne Dyer

If you follow the Israelites’ story closely, you will find many revelations, testimonies and deep messages that we can apply to our lives today as individuals – or as a nation. The Children of Israel were a people in difficult situation in Egypt, they needed a change. Hopes had been lost. Situations looked bleak. But, from nowhere Moses shows up in the scene: he had been sent by God, to set them free. How likely was that to be true? Well, to cut the long story short Moses got them out of Egypt, yet things got worse. There were obstacles – hunger and thirst – everywhere. At some point they even thought they’d die.

Panic, uncertainty, and fear broke out. How were they to survive in the wilderness? They desired a way out of their difficult situation. It got so bad at some point they cried for meat, garlic and onions. The point in all this is, God provided. We’re told that God

Yes, YOU still can!

FBI AGENTS

"Don't give up! It's not over. The universe is balanced. Every set-back bears with it the seeds of a come-back." - Steve Maraboli

Whew! It was just like yesterday when we all screamed in joy, hugged each other and danced to celebrate the New Year, 2016. Well, that year isn't so new anymore: matter of fact it's rounding off anytime soon. With the begining of 2016 came plans, desires, goals, dreams and aspirations. Soon after January 1st, that's where the rubber hit the road, and everyone soon became busy...all trying and aspiring to have their dreams fulfilled.

Well this is the end of the year, how many of those aspirations you had at the begining of the year, have you been able to achieve? Have you prayed, fasted, sown seeds, sacrificed all you know how, and even go out of your way to do

FIX IT

“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” - Mary Engelbreit

A couple married for 15 years began having more than the usual marriage disagreements. They wanted to make their marriage work and agreed on an idea the wife had. For one month, they planned to drop a slip in a "Fault" box. The boxes would provide a place to let the other know about daily irritations. The wife was diligent in her efforts and approach: "leaving the jelly top off the jar," "wet towels on the shower floor," "dirty socks not in hamper," on and on until the end of the month. After dinner, at the end of the month, they exchanged boxes. The husband reflected on what he had done wrong. Then the wife opened her box and began reading. They were all the same, the message on each slip was, “I love you!"

Henry James said “Sorrow comes in great waves…but rolls over us, and though it may almost smother us, it leaves us. And we know that if it is strong, we are stronger, inasmuch as it passes and we remain.” When it’s right, marriage can be a beautiful

YOU CARRY GREATNESS

“When people complain of your complexity, they fail to remember that they made fun of your simplicity.” - Michael Bassey Johnson

“Although most cockroaches don’t actually produce milk, Diploptera punctate, which is the only known cockroach to give birth to live young, has been shown to pump out a type of ‘milk’ containing protein crystals to feed its babies…what is more fascinating to researchers is the fact that a single one of these protein crystals contain more than three times the amount of energy found in an equivalent amount of buffalo milk (which is also higher in calories than dairy milk)…If you look into the protein sequences, they have all the essential amino acids," said Sanchari Banerjee, one of the team…Not only is the milk a dense source of calories and nutrients, it’s also time released. As the protein in the milk is digested, the crystal releases more protein at an equivalent rate to continue the digestion. "If you need food that is calorically high, that is time released and food that is complete. This is it," said Subramanian Ramaswamy, who led the project.” Jacinta Bowler with SCIENCE ALERT wrote.

Now the researchers have the sequence, they are hoping to get yeast to produce the crystal in much larger quantities - making it slightly more efficient than extracting

LOOSE CABLE

"The greatness of the man's power is the measure of his surrender." - William Booth

Every time we take out some time to really study about the enormous potentials embedded in the human race - with God's Spirit in us - the revelations are mind bogging.

In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years. Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his

"Sex In The City" with Christie Bature Ogbeifun

IT'S WORK TIME!

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." - Tim Notke

Martin Luther, quoted in What Luther Says In Knowledge of the Holy: "If God did not bless, not one hair, not a solitary wisp of straw, would grow; but there would be an end of everything. At the same time God wants me to take this stance: I would have nothing whatever if I did not plow and sow. God does not want to have success come without work, and yet I am not to achieve it by my work. He does not want me to sit at home, to loaf, to commit matters to God, and to wait till a fried chicken flies into my mouth. That would be tempting God."

Looking around in this century, it is grievous to see how many of us Christians have become lazy. Leaving everything else to God, but praying. The Church have become so disillusioned, that we attribute every failure to the devil, and delegate our

WE'VE ALL GOT A SMIRK

"Don't go on discussing what a good person should be. Just be one." - Marcus Aurelius

David Moye, with The Huffington Post, writes: If North Carolina ever gets tired of being called the "Tar Heel State," there’s another nickname just waiting for them: "Home of the happiest mug shots"...Mugshots from all over the country were simply put through Microsoft Cognitive Services, a web-based tool that can detect emotions, in order to determine the moods of each suspect. The facial recognition software sorted the various booking photos into...happy, sad or most surprised...North Carolina came out on top for smiling suspects...

The crimes these smiling suspects were most likely accused weren’t anything to grin about. They included contributing to the delinquency of a minor, cruelty to animals,

THE PRESENT NOW!

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present." - Bil Keane

We do not rest satisfied with the present. We anticipate that future as too slow in coming, as if in order to hasten its course; or we recall the past, to stop its too rapid flight. So imprudent are we that we dream of those times which are no more, and thoughtlessly overlook that which alone exists.

Margaret Storm Jameson, the English author, once expressed the view that we all spend too much time living in the past, feeling regret for lost joys or shame for things badly done. Even when our minds turn to the future, she said, we spend an inordinate amount of time longing for it or dreading it. "The only way to live," she said, "is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle...Work at your work. Play at your play. Shed your tears. Enjoy your laughter. Now is the time of your life."

Life isn't about to begin, it has begun stop waiting. Mother Teresa said, "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

HOTR's National Transsformation Conference, NTC 2016

The BIGGEST event in the City is due in just 9 Days!

It's "House on The Rock, The Word House, National Transformation Conference 2016" #TWHNTC2016 tagged "SHIFT"

Featuring:
Chukwuagozie Ethelbert,
Niyi Adesanya,
George Izunwa,
Olakunke Soriyan,
Barnabas Arastus.

VENUE:
HOTR Auditorium,
MSP Bus Stop,
Nkponkiti,
Enugu

DON'T BE TOLD!!!

YOU'RE ENOUGH

"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." - Winston Churchill

There were 10,000 prostitutes plying their trade on the streets of London. Binge drinking, gambling all sorts of morally wrong acts were widespread, in the eighteenth century. The UK had descended into decadence and immorality. Church congregations had declined sharply (just as they have in recent times). Parts of the church had virtually descended into paganism. Yet, the nation was changed. How?

The preaching of Wesley mostly, and Whitefield began to take effect. Their work saw thousands of people respond to the message they preached, and as a result encountered Jesus. Robert Raikes started his first Sunday school in 1780. The growth from this one idea touched 300,000 unchurched children within five years. By 1910, there were 5,668,760 children in Sunday school. God raised up Wilberforce, Shaftesbury and others. Not only were individual hearts

NAYSAYERS

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein

Frequently, people are going to be offended by your ideas, plans and deeds. Remember Joseph? His heartless brothers fake his death, sold him to human traffickers. Things go from bad to worse, and Joseph ends up in an Egyptian dungeon. Do you remember why Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in the first place? For his dreams. Have you ever been called a 'dreamer'? Every true dreamer has to deal with naysayers, everyone has had more than their fair share and usually they aren't distant acquaintances.

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are too small. If they can scare you, how much more others? Your dreams will inspire many people, no doubt. But those dreams will also attract fierce opposition: they will cause a wide variety of reactions, including jealousy, rejection and anger. Some people might even want to kill you for your dreams. Simply because you're daring to disrupt the status quo.

You’re going to offend someone, but you’ve got to decide who it will be God, or the naysayers. The best revenge against your naysayers, is massive success.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE SHUT DOORS?

"When God gives you a new beginning, it starts with an ending. Be thankful for closed doors they often guide us to the right one." - Unknown

For thirteen years, one church National Community Church met in the movie theaters at DC’s Union Station, there about a hundred thousand people pass through daily. This not only put the church in the middle of the marketplace, it put them on the map because there weren't many churches around that had their own metro stop, train station, or taxi stands dropping off at their front door. That golden opportunity started with a phone call informing their pastor that Giddings School, the public school where they met, was closing its doors because of fire code violations. His immediate reaction was fear because it put them on the verge of becoming a homeless church. However, he soon realized that some of God’s best pre-moves are closed doors.

Right off the bat, no one likes closed doors. I still remember when we lost our church building some years ago. It felt like it was the end of the world, because how else can you explain being kicked out of your church building, on a Saturday afternoon? No way.

HOW MUCH DO YOU CARE?

"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have." - Margaret Mead

What does the word "care" mean to you? Have you ever taken time to evaluate your actions, to truly judge them so you'll know if you had shown real care when you should? It is common for us to say we care, but in truth our caring is valid, ONLY if, the recipient agrees we cared.

A young boy, on an errand for his mother, had just bought a dozen eggs. Walking out of the store, he tripped and dropped the sack. All the eggs broke, and the sidewalk was a mess. The boy tried not to cry. A few people gathered to see if he was okay,

NISHIOKA'S GENEROUSITY

"Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do." - Khalil Gibran

Mr. Nishioka, aged seventy, was a local businessman. He was seriously ill with
kidney disease and had been told by doctors that he needed a transplant urgently. He had almost given up hope of finding a matching organ until the waiter, Jose Rocasa, fifty-two, volunteered one of his own. Nishioka said, 'I didn't have long to survive and the doctors said that it was unlikely that they could find a match in time. But with a good man here and a lot of help from above, now I am alive and well.'

In the twenty-two years that Mr Nishioka had frequented the hotel, Mr Rocasa had been his waiter, and recalled that he had always been kind and affable - and had tipped generously. 'I just wanted to help him,' he said. 'For years, we have this friendship in which he comes to lunch and I do my best to make him very happy, and he is always good to me in return. So of course I say, "Don't worry - I can give you a kidney."'

Mr Nishioka sowed generousity and he reaped generousity! The Bible shows that: "We reap WHAT we sow. We reap LATER than we sow, and We reap MUCH MORE than we sow." There's no way Mr.

DIVINE PROTECTION

"How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!" - Alexander Pope

It's almost every day in the news, we hear outrageous news that boggles the mind. News mostly about how unsafe life has become: as almost everything can kill or harm us. As a matter of fact, in some sense, I believe medical science has become confused about what we should, or should not do.

 
Bill Bryson narrates in, "Life's Little Gambles." Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh recently reported that showers release toxic chemicals into the air. So while we merrily lather away and sing our hearts out, these chemicals in the water are quietly turning into vapors, exposing us to chemical concentrations up to 10 times greater than we would receive by drinking the water.

TODAY, IT IS!

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." - H. P. Lovecraft

As Christians, we gradually forget what God's Word is there for, especially in trial. The Bible, is actually the solution to whatever our challenge is.

Dr. F.W. Boreham tells about his stay in a quaint old cottage in England occupied by a minister's widow. She had given him her bedroom and in the morning when he pulled up the blind, he saw that into the glass of the windowpane had been cut the words: "This is the day." He asked the elderly lady about it at breakfast. She explained that she had had a lot of trouble in her time and was always afraid of what was going to happen tomorrow. One day she read the words of the above text. It occurred to her that it meant any day, this day. "Why should I be afraid of the days if He makes them?" So the widow scratched the words as well as she could in the windowpane, so that every time she drew

THERE'S A SOLUTION!

"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism." - Carl Jung

Solution

Like blind Bartimaeus, many of us wake up to life and find that life has happened to us. We come to notice that our circumstances are the way they are, not because we chose for them to be so, but because it just happened and we had no choice, but God is on your path today.

Nicky Gumbel narrates this story in Bible in one year 2016. Pippa and I (Nicky Gumbel) met Ah Yin when we visited Jackie Pullinger's work in Hong Kong. He had become a drug addict as a teenager. His father was an addict. He was brought up in the notorious Walled City. He joined a gang at the age of eleven. They ate, stole and fought together. They took heroin together. At the age of fourteen,

CHANGE AGENTS!

"Example is leadership." - Albert Schweitzer

Martin Luther King Jr was a follower of Jesus. His agenda was the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not just about the conversion of individuals - important though that is - but about the transformation of society.

Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) lived and died to see society get transformed. In 1964, he became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end social segregation and discrimination. In one of the greatest and most quoted speeches of all time he spoke of his dream of one day living in a nation where his children would be judged by the content of their character, and not by the colour of their skin. He spoke of his 'dream that one day (that) even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of

YOU'RE ROYALTY

"We were descended from royalty." - Natalie Wood

Wood's statement couldn't have been any truer than it already is, for those who realize in actual fact that they have been called indeed into royalty, to dine with the King, of all other kings.

Nicky Gumbel narrates this experience. One day, I received a message that the Queen of England had invited me to lunch. At first I thought it was a practical joke. But it wasn't. I turned up at Buckingham Palace on my bicycle, which an amused policeman looked after for me. I sat next to the Queen as we ate some amazing food. Then she turned and
began to talk to me as the 'Parfait de Rhubarbe et Chocolat Blanc' arrived. It looked delicious. But I did not want to talk with my mouth full - nor did I want to seem rude by cutting into it while the Queen was speaking to me. Eventually she asked me whether I did not like the food. 'No, no, no', I said, 'I love it' (as I quickly began to eat). I did not say it to her, but the real reason I had not eaten

REAL MAN, OR CHOCOLATE SOLDIER?

"It takes a real man to make a true confession - a Chocolate Soldier will excuse or cloak his sin." - Charles Studd

Are you a real man, or chocolate soldier? There are certain questions that usually don't require an answer, but be fed as food for our thought. The above is one of such questions, for us to ponder.

In 1884 Grover Cleveland was running against James G. Blaine for the presidency of the U.S. Blaine supporters discovered that Cleveland, who was a bachelor at the time, had fathered a son by Mrs. Maria Crofts Halpin, an attractive widow who had been on friendly terms with several politicians. Subsequently, Republicans tried to pin an immorality tag on Democrat Cleveland by distributing handbills showing an infant labeled "One more vote for Cleveland" and by having paraders chant, "Ma, Ma, where's my pa? Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!" The move, however, backfired badly. Rather than deny the story, Cleveland decided to tell the truth and admit the intimacy. This candor helped

KEEP SEEKING!

"Most people give up not knowing how close they were to success." - Unknown

‘Can you see anything?’ his assistant asked as Carter’s eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness. Carter could see well enough, but he had difficulty speaking because of the dazzling array of treasure spread out before him. For more than two thousand years, tourists, grave robbers and archaeologists had searched for the burial places of Egypt’s Pharaohs. Armed with only a few scraps of evidence, British archaeologist Howard Carter began his own explorations.

After many years, Carter’s search seemed doomed to failure. Finally, Carter unlocked an ancient Egyptian tomb. No one in the modern world had ever seen anything like it.

WHAT LOVE?

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Having watched scores of Hollywood movies it is difficult to consider this topic, forgiveness. Actually it isn't only about the other person, but also about our own growth. We have been taught to, pay people back in their own coin, because it feels good - expected even - to revenge after being hurt.

Four bullets hit Pope John Paul II - two of them lodging in his lower intestine, the others hitting his left hand and right arm. This assassination attempt on the Pope in May 1981 left him severely wounded and with considerable blood loss - his health was never the same again. In July 1981 the perpetrator, Ali Ağca, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Pope John Paul II asked people to pray 'for my brother Agua, whom I have sincerely forgiven'. Two years later, he was to take

RAY BLANKENSHIP

"Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall." - Ray Bradbury

Muhammad Ali, who once said of himself, "I am the greatest" no doubt had his own fears. He said, "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window, and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared into. He dashed out, and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the foundering child. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Ray surfaced and was able to grab the child's arm. They tumbled end over end. Within about three feet of the yawning culvert, Ray's free hand felt something--possibly a rock-- protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away.

JUST WASH!

"Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world." - George Bernard Shaw

In 1818, Ignaz Phillip Semesters was born into a world of dying women. The finest hospitals lost one out of six young mothers to the scourge of "childbed fever." A doctor's daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there he made his way to the hospital to examine expectant mothers without ever pausing to wash his hands. Dr. Semmelweis was the first man in history to associate such examinations with the resultant infection and death. His own practice was to wash with a chlorine solution, and after eleven years and the delivery of 8,537 babies, he lost only 184 mothers--about one in fifty.

He spent the vigor of his life lecturing and debating with his colleagues. Once he argued, "Puerperal fever is caused by decomposed material, conveyed to a wound...I have shown how it can be prevented. I have proved all that I have said. But while we talk ,talk,

MOTIVATE YOURSELF

"I'd rather attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed." - Robert H. Schuller

Pliny the Elder, was a Roman writer who lived - we are told - during the same time period as Jesus. He told a story of the setting of an obelisk, which when erect would stand 99 feet tall. Twenty thousand workers where chosen to pull on the ropes and activate the hoisting apparatus. There was great responsibility and risk in the operation. Just one error could cause the obelisk to fall, ruining years of work. The King demanded one act which insured the complete attention and best direction of the engineer. He ordered the engineer's own son to be strapped to the apex of the obelisk, so that his heart as well as his head would be given to the task.

To achieve any level of success one must of all necessity apply his heart into it. One must, as it were fix his eyes on the goal, with an understanding that something vital is at stake if one fails.

VICTORIA ACETA!

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Philo

I do not know, to whom I'm writing this morning, but I like you to know that "The battles of your life. The ones you're facing now - in your relationship against your marital destiny, or career, whatever - need not intimidate you. Life, is one huge battlefield. All through history God's people have faced obstacles and challenges. The key to winning these battles, according to David, is not to rely on your own strength, but to put your trust in God ALONE.

You need to put your trust in God, because it gets to a point in your life's battles, where best friends turn their backs on you: abandon, and leave you helpless. Why? This is because at the end of the day, human strength and power is not enough: the arm of flesh ALWAYS does fail. Understand that "No king succeeds with a big army alone, no warrior wins by brute

ARE YOU A FUTUROLOGIST?

"People who look down on other people don't end up being looked up to." - Robert Half

Futurologists are people who predict what will happen in the future: some of their predictions may come true, while others may not. For example, its been predicted that some babies born today will live to the age of 150. Check this out. In 1962 Decca Recording Company rejected the Beatles. They said, "We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." In 1977 Ken Olson, Chairman of Digital Equipment Co., said, "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."

Anyone who has been around for any length of time - no matter how recent - must have heard of the Beatles massive success after it was predicted they'd fail. Ken Olson's prediction about the "non-need" of computers in the home is so wrong. Almost everyone today in the world, has a

MEMBER, OR BELIEVER?

"An entrepreneur assumes the risk and is dedicated and committed to the success of whatever he or she undertakes." - Victor Kiam

 

 

It is very common - lately I've discovered - to find people everywhere, who will only want to identify with the good, or benefits ONLY in any venture, but not with the consequences. As a result we are faced with a situation where we only have 'members' those who just belong, instead of 'believers,' people who are down with the full package.

A number of years ago Norman Cousins wrote an editorial in Saturday Review in which he reported a conversation he had on a trip in India. He was talking with a Hindu priest named Satis Prasad. The man said he wanted to come to our country to work as a missionary among the Americans. Cousins assumed that he meant that he wanted to convert Americans to the Hindu religion, but when asked, Satis Prasad said, "Oh no, I would like to convert them to the Christian religion. Christianity cannot survive in the abstract. It needs not membership, but believers. The people of your country may claim they believe in

DECIDE. COMMIT. SUCCEED.

"Commitment is an act, not a word." - Jean-Paul Sartre

When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to march to the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat. Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing left for them to do but to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did.

People are usually ecstatic on the stands during football matches involving their teams,

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

"A true friend encourages us, comforts us, supports us like a big easy chair, offering us a safe refuge from the world." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

True Friendship

Bits & Pieces, of January 9, 1992 has the story. When Jan Paderewski was to leave his native Poland to play his first recital in London, he asked an influential compatriot to give him a letter of introduction to a leading figure in Britain's musical world, who might be of assistance should anything go amiss. The letter was handed to him in a sealed envelope. He hoped that everything would proceed smoothly and he would not have to use it. He did not; his debut was a success and no snags developed. Some years later, while going through his papers, Paderewski came upon the letter and opened it. It read: "This will introduce Jan Paderewski, who plays the piano, for which he demonstrates no conspicuous talent."

This is a true story. Some years ago, a young man was shocked to discover that he was passed for a promotion, for which everyone knew

A SINGLE NAIL

"Give anyone an inch, and they'll take a mile..." - Anonymous

On page 35 of Dale A. Hays, Leadership, Vol. X, No. 3 is the following illustration. In a recent trip to Haiti, I heard a Haitian pastor illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ. His parable: A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn't afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door. After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became un-live-able, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

You know it is funny how that very many people, wish to serve God,

CUT IT OFF!

"if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.'" - Luciano's Father

In life, where we are today is a result of past decisions and choices. Where we will be tomorrow, or what our lives will eventually become will be determined by the choices we choose to make now, or cut off altogether. The point is, making one choice automatically changes 'what could've been.' The question now is, "How do we know what to cut off, or allow?"

Kenneth Langley relates about Film maker Walt Disney. Walt was ruthless in cutting anything that got in the way of a story's pacing. Ward Kimball, one of the animators for Snow White, recalls working 240 days on a 4 1/2 minute sequence in which the dwarfs made soup for Snow White and almost destroyed the kitchen in the process. Disney thought it was funny, but he decided the scene stopped the flow of the picture, so out it went. When the film of our lives is shown, will it be as great as it

A CHILD

"Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression." - Doug Larson

Train Them

Harry S. Truman says, "I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it." Anne Frank had this to say, "Parents can only give good advice or put them - children - on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."

Celeste Sibley, one-time columnist for the Atlanta (GA) Constitution, took her three children to a diner for breakfast one morning. It was crowded and they had to take separate seats at the counter. Eight-year-old Mary was seated at the far end of the counter and when her food was served she called down to her mother in a loud voice, "Mother, don't people say grace in this place?" A hush came over the entire diner and before Mrs. Sibley could figure out what to say, the counterman said, "Yes, we do, sister. You say it." All the people at the counter bowed their heads. Mary bowed her head and in a clear voice said, "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food."

What you don't create time to teach your child now, you might spend the rest of your life trying to "un-teach" him. The kind of training you give your child today, will determine the principles that will help him form his character tomorrow. Training isn't a one-night-sitting-down business: it spans the child's growing years. The parent has failed - in my opinion - who sit their child down to advice him, on the right way to live, just a day to their departure from home to college. Would that be you?

Let us pray: Father, help me with grace to train my children rightly, in Jesus name.

WISDOM NUGGET: Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go..." - KJV

REMARKABLE, OR WASTED?

"The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege." - Charles Kuralt

Family

Barbara Bush says, "I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life." If you ask me, I'll say 'togetherness' is the only ingredient. Do we really understand that, "Family is not an important thing. It's everything," according to Michael J. Fox? Read the story below.

Charles Francis Adams, 19th century political figure and diplomat, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted." His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!" The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is to

CHILDLIKE, OR CHILDISH?

"It is the childlike mind that finds the kingdom." - Charles Fillmore

Robert Fulghum wrote in the Kansas City Times, "Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.
"These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody...When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together." This captures was Jesus was saying, "Unless you become like little children, you won't enter the kingdom of heaven."

Coleridge tells us that "the truest genius is the man of childlike disposition." Being Childish means being silly or immature - it generally points to unfavourable qualities.

ARE YOU?

"Beauty without chastity is like a mandrake apple, comely in show, but poisonous in taste." - Thomas Blount

In October 1989, a beautiful blond senior shares: "When we date, we start giving gifts, like flowers or candy. When a couple becomes engaged, they give special things--a diamond and very personal things. The most personal gift that I can ever give is myself. I have nothing more precious to give. When I marry, I want to give my husband the best that I have--my whole self as completely as I can."

Chastity in this 21st Century has been trampled deep into the mud, that it's almost irrelevant as a topic for public, and even private discussion. However, that