NowTHINK!AboutIt

Sermon on the Mount – Happiness

September 1, 2009 by EnnisP 1 Comment

Happiness Is Relevant In Every Era
Possibly In Every Situation

Jesus spoke to us as individuals but He spoke about issues common to us all. We are all different in some ways but very much alike in others and Jesus addressed Himself to the areas we have in common.

For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke to an issue that is universal…happiness. In most translations, the word used for “happy” is “Blessed” but the two words are synonymous and Jesus used the word nine times in the first nine verses of His sermon. Obviously, “Happy” is healthy and He was telling us that He is for it. Everyone wants to be happy and Jesus wants us to be so.

Show me the person who does not want to be happy and I will show you someone who is dead. People take drugs, drink too much, and attempt suicide because they are tired of being unhappy not because they wish to avoid being happy. They know that addictive, destructive behavior doesn’t make them happy but it can at least numb the pain of unhappiness.

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Jesus was not telling us how to avoid unhappiness, He was telling us how to achieve genuinely lasting happiness in spite of the unhappy things we experience. He wasn’t suggesting that we would not have moments of unhappiness. He was encouraging us to believe that the unhappy moments will never prevent us from being genuinely blessed.

Pedaling For The Less Privileged

August 27, 2009 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Amashova 08 - My First

On 18 Oct 2009, just a couple months away, I will be riding in a bicycle race, Amashova National Classic Durban, but I am riding for more than just the exercise.

I need the exercise, to be sure, but it seems a little self-centered to ride only for my physical well being, especially since I live in the presence of hundreds of thousands who have so little and need so much. Therefore, I am adding another dimension to this event, orphans. I decided to use the occasion to raise awareness of the problem in general and to promote one project in particular: The South African Children’s Resiliency Project.

The SACRP (locally known as CRP) is spear headed by a good friend and colleague, Dr. Bob Graham. I first met Bob in 1990 and since that time he has made numerous trips to South Africa and worked with us on many short term projects. Bob, however, doesn’t do things in a small way. His vision and dream involved helping the underprivileged on a long term basis and, therefore, the CRP was born. Bob is now living in South Africa developing orphan homes for those affected by AIDS.

The Grace of Giving

August 26, 2009 by EnnisP 1 Comment

The Most Appropriate Response
To Grace
Is Sacrifice

“Grace” is a popular topic. Christians and non-Christians alike love it. The hymn, Amazing Grace, is still one of the best-known songs around and is sung regularly in all kinds of settings, in and out of church, even in bars. Once the tune is struck, everyone sings along, some with tears but all with joy. Very few need to be reminded of the words and we all identify with the hope this song and the word it features brings.

But, like all words in the English language, it is subject to shifts in meaning. The word gets used in many different contexts and with each new setting comes a new connotation. It has now become the catchword for all Christian ideas. A “shibboleth” of sorts, identifying the user with a certain class, region, attitude, or era, and the real meaning is lost.

There are endless applications and nuances: grace period, amazing grace, effectual grace, social grace, falling from or into grace, resistible and irresistible grace, the grace of God, grace note, law and grace, grace spurned, and, of course, grace-giving.

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Most of these phrases are not found in the Bible. Some have no immediate connection to the Bible. Some suggest ideas that are mostly imagined and some misuse the word completely.

“Grace” has also become the response to every question not easily answered. When an issue gets confusing, grace it. It won’t clear the confusion but it will settle the argument. Grace is now the accepted curtain behind which all rational questions are chucked.

Take, for example, the phrase “grace giving.” [Read more…] about The Grace of Giving

When Children Leave Home

August 20, 2009 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

If Children Never Leave
They Cease To Grow

A while back we put our second son, Timothy, on the plane to the USA from South Africa. We had done this before but this time it was different. Previously there had always been a date he would return “home” and the time away wouldn’t be that long, six weeks at the most. This time, however, he was returning to the States for at least six months and if all went well he would settle there for good. At the time, these were not easy thoughts to entertain. [Read more…] about When Children Leave Home

7 Facts About Personal Change

August 14, 2009 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Everyone changes: they get better or they get worse.

There’s Nothing Subtle
About A Change of Mind

Change is one of the most remarkable qualities of human nature. From the time we are conceived until the time we die, “change” is our constant companion. As infants, we grow physically, pick up knowledge rapidly and our senses are exercised every waking moment.

In the preteen years we begin to manifest abilities which, if developed, give definition to the changes we make in the future. People change into all kinds of things: doctors, lawyers, managers, technicians, entrepreneurs, etc. and develop all kinds of skills and qualities in the process of getting there.

The interesting thing about change is we never arrive. We continue to change throughout life in response to our experiences. That is, people become better, more experienced doctors or lawyers or technicians because they continue to gain new insights and learn from mistakes made in the past. Engineers today build better damns and bridges because they have learned from the experiences of previous generations.

Our ability to change gives us what I call “become-ability.” A dog will never be anything other than a dog and the same can be said for every other life form except humans. Animals become nothing other than what their inborn nature and instincts allow. Their most dominant quality is their predictability. Real change is the domain of humans only.

Not even God can change.

Sadly, however, some people never intentionally become anything. [Read more…] about 7 Facts About Personal Change