“All men seek happiness, this is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end” says Blaise Pascal. Though the phrase “the pursuit of happiness” is often seen as American, in reality the pursuit of happiness is universal and people all over the world seriously pursue happiness almost all of their…
What’s your excuse?
“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses” said George Washington Carver. The word “excuse” literally means a defense or explanation for some failure, it’s often the projected reason why somebody could not do something. But more often than not, an excuse is not the genuine or real…
Making the most of opportunities
“Time has no divisions to mark its passage; there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols” says Thomas Mann. New Year is always a time when…
Kingdom Paradox
“The real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world, nor even that it is a reasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite” writes G. K. Chesterton in his book Orthodoxy. It is always exciting to connect dots, to discover…
Things to FORGET
Jill Price, 42, can remember every part of her life, she baffled doctors with her ability to remember every detail of every day since she was 14. She is the first diagnosed case of a memory condition called “hyperthymestic syndrome” in which a person can continuously and automatically recall all details of each day. Give…
Confident living
“All the persons of faith I know are sinners, doubters, uneven performers. We are secure not because we are sure of ourselves but because we trust that God is sure of us” writes Eugene Peterson in his book “A Long Obedience In the Same Direction”. We live in a world where certainty is often mislabeled…
Gratitude is a Choice
“As individuals and as a nation, we now suffer from social narcissism…We have fallen in love with our own image, with images of our making, which turn out to be images of ourselves” says Daniel J. Boorstin. I have been preaching a series in our church called “Hindrances to Gratitude” and one of the qualities…
Life without God
“Man is the Cosmic Orphan. He is the only creature in the universe who asks, “Why?” Other animals have instincts to guide them, but man has learned to ask questions” writes Loren Eiseley a distinguished scientist. Among all the questions man could ever ask probably the most complex and difficult questions are the questions of…
Disappointed with God?
“Disappointment with God does not come only in dramatic circumstances…it edges unexpectedly into the mundaneness of everyday life…no one is immune to the downward spiral of disappointment. It happens to people like the televangelists and it happens to ordinary Christians: first comes disappointment, then a seed of doubt, then a response of anger or betrayal”…
Four Spiritual Flaws
“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem” says Theodore Rubin. The main problem in life is not that we have problems but that we are constantly seeking for a magical solution that can completely eliminate all kinds of problems in our…