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Monday, June 25, 2012

Memory of an Incredible Father

I love sports so this event is something I really look forward to.
 
And every Olympics there's always BIG moments that will inspire you as human being and will make you believe in yourself and the God who created you.


The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 provided one of track and field's most incredible moments.
 

Britain's Derek Redmond had dreamed all his life of winning a gold medal in the 400-meter race, and his dream was in sight as the gun sounded in the semi-finals at Barcelona.
 

He was running the race of his life and could see the finish line as he rounded the turn into the backstretch.


Suddenly he felt a sharp pain go up the back of his leg. He fell face first onto the track with a torn right hamstring.
 

Sports Illustrated recorded the dramatic events: As the medical attendants were approaching, Redmond fought to his feet. "It was animal instinct," he would say later. He set out hopping, in a crazed attempt to finish the race.
 

When he reached the stretch, a large man in a T-shirt came out of the stands, hurled aside a security guard and ran to Redmond, embracing him.


It was Jim Redmond, Derek's father. "You don't have to do this," he told his weeping son. "Yes, I do," said Derek. "Well, then," said Jim, "we're going to finish this together."


And they did. Fighting off security men, the son's head sometimes buried in his father's shoulder, they stayed in Derek's lane all the way to the end, as the crowd gaped, then rose and howled and wept.


Derek didn't walk away with the gold medal, but he walked away with an incredible memory of a father who, when he saw his son in pain, left his seat in the stands to help him finish the race.


Astonishing, isn't it?

That's what God does for us when we place our trust in Him.


When we are experiencing pain and we're struggling to finish the race, we can be confident that we have a loving Father who won't let us do it alone.


You see, He left His place in heaven to come alongside us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. "I am with you always," says Jesus to His followers, "to the very end of the age."


We just have to keep our eyes, heart, and mind in God's Word.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Frog Story

A boy told his father, "Dad, if three frogs were sitting on a limb that hung over a pool, and one frog decided to jump off into the pool, how many frogs would be left on the limb?"

The dad replied, "Two."

"No," the son replied. "There's three frogs and one decides to jump, how many are left?"

The dad said, "Oh, I get it, if one decides to jump, the others would too. So there are none left."

The boy said, "No dad, the answer is three. The frog only DECIDED to jump."

Does that sound like last year's resolution?

Great inspiration and great resolutions, but often times we only decide, and months later...

...we are still on the same limb of do-nothing.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Natural Order



A very wealthy man asked a Zen master for a text which would always remind him how happy he was with his family.

The Zen master took some parchment and, in beautiful calligraphy, wrote:

– The father dies. The son dies. The grandson dies.

– What? – said the furious rich man. – I asked you for something to inspire me, some teaching which might be respectfully contemplated by future generations, and you give me something as depressing and gloomy as these words?

– You asked me for something which would remind you of the happiness of living together with your family. If your son dies first, everyone will be devastated by the pain. If your grandson dies, it would be an unbearable experience.

“However, if your family disappears in the order which I placed on the paper, this is the natural course of life. Thus, although we all endure moments of pain, the generations will continue, and your legacy will be long-lasting.”

The Cry of the Desert

As soon as he arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco, a missionary decided he would stroll through the desert at the city’s boundary every morning. On his first stroll he noticed a man lying on the sand, caressing the ground with his hands and leaning his ears towards the earth.

“He is mad,” the missionary said to himself. But he saw the man every morning during his walks and after a month, intrigued by that strange behavior, he decided to approach the stranger.

He knelt beside him and asked, in broken Arabic, “What are you doing?”

“I keep the desert company and offer solace for its loneliness and its tears.”

“I didn’t know the desert was capable of crying.”

“It cries every day, because it dreams of being useful to mankind and turning into a huge garden where people could cultivate, flowers and sheep.”

“Well, then, tell the desert it accomplishes its mission very well,” said the missionary. “Every time I walk here, I am able to understand the true dimension of the human being, as its open space allows me to see how small we are before God. When I look at its sands, I imagine the millions of people in the world who were raised alike although the world isn’t always fair towards everyone. Its mountains help me meditate. As I see the sun rising on the horizon, my soul fills with joy and I get closer to the Creator.”

The missionary left the man and went back to his daily chores. To his surprise, he found him the next morning at the same place, in the same position.

“Did you tell the desert everything I told you?” he asked.

The man nodded.
“And even so it keeps crying?”

“I can hear each of its sobs,” answered the man, his head tilted towards the ground.

“Now it is crying because it spent thousands of years thinking it was completely useless and wasted all this time blaspheming God and its own destiny.”

“Well, then tell the desert that despite having a short lifespan, we human beings spend much of our days thinking we are useless. We rarely find the reason for our destiny and think God has been unfair to us. When a moment finally arrives in which we are shown the reason why we were born, we think it is too late to change and keep on suffering. And as the desert, we blame ourselves for the time we have wasted.”

“I am not sure the desert will bother to hear it,” said the man. “It is used to suffering and it can’t see things differently.”

“So then let us do what I always do when I feel people have lost faith. Let us pray.”

Both of them went down on their knees and prayed; one turned to Mecca as he was a Muslim and the other joined his hands in prayer, as he was Catholic. They prayed, each one to his own God.

The next day when the missionary resumed his daily walk, the man was no longer there. The ground where he used to embrace the sand seemed to be wet as if a small spring had formed. During the following months that spring grew and the city’s residents built a well around it.

The place is now called “The Well of the Desert’s Tears”. It is said that those who drink its water will be able to transform the reason of their suffering into the reason of their joy and will end up finding their true destiny.

Biggest lie of the enemy

He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free quickly and easily.

Always he kept his promise, but one time something went wrong.
Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy, metal doors clanged shut behind him.

He took from his belt a concealed piece of metal, strong and flexible.

He set to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock.

For 30 minutes he worked and got nowhere.

An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door.

By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation, but he still could not pick the lock.

Finally, after laboring for 2 hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock.

But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all!

But in his mind it was locked and that was all it took to keep him from opening the door and walking out of the jail cell.

That's how powerful your God-given mind is.

So if you think you're too old to memorize Bible verses...then you're right.

If you think you have a bad memory and can't memorize scriptures...then again you're right.

And if you think you're too busy to memorize God's Word...you're right too.

Simply stated, you'll believe what you want to believe is true.

I'm sorry but all these are just lies that the enemy are whispering to your ears.

Because the enemy would rather have you meditate on fears, doubts, and impurity than the true and living power of the Word of God.

But I trust you that you'll make a right decision and start your journey to a healthier relationship with God through scripture memorization.

Deep meditation

It's a story of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, who was deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, and he failed to kneel at the appropriate moment.

His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege.

Dante defended himself by saying...

"If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing."

End of story.

How about you?

Are your eyes and mind on God?

You see, we're in the age of distraction.

There more things now that gets our attention and it's harder to stay focused.

With technology, we now have email, Internet, chat, mobile phones, facebook, etc.

All these compete for your attention and eats up some of your time.

The time that you should be spending on activities that will help you grow spiritually.

Memorizing scriptures can take only 5 to 10 minutes of your time.

But what you'll gain spiritually is immeasurable.

Marinating your mind with God's Word and His promises is the fastest way to be closer to God.

God is ALWAYS looking forward to talk to you with all your attention is on Him.

So don't let the busyness of this world control your life.

Instead, let your life be controlled by the scriptures you've memorized.

Bible Reading



It was 1983. I and my two cousins were about to get baptized. As the custom, we were fasting for 3 days. We were challenged by the pastor to read the entire Bible before the baptism. Even though I read small chapters every day, I never ventured to read the entire Bible.


So we started to read the Bible. Frequently we discuss the chapters we are reading and we take stock of the books to be red to complete the task at hand. Some books were very interesting. Some parts were very boring. Still, we continued reading the Bible. It was a summer vacation time. So we were able to read the Bible during the day and night.


A few weeks later, I abandoned the task. But, my cousins completed it. During those days we look at the total page number and the number of pages I left. Very often I reviewed how many pages I read and how many pages left to complete the reading. Later I divided my reading plan into two. New Testament and Old Testament. First I completed New Testament and then I pursed the Old Testament.


My satisfaction came when I closed the book on the last page.


Throughout my teens, whatever I read, I always checked the page number/chapter I read and compared it to the total number of pages.  Anxious to be done with the task - whether reading for pleasure or for homework. I gauged my progress by how close I was to the end. My satisfaction came when I closed the book on the last page.


Thirty years later, enthralled with a good story, I never look at the page number. I enjoy the story. The end is no longer a sigh of relieve. It's a sad moment when I have to leave the world in the pages and return to the real one. I savor every moment of the life I am taken to between the pages.


It was those same teenage years when I longed for the time to fly so I could be on my own - to live the life I wanted. I didn't savor the pages as they turned.


Today, my final page is hopefully not too close. I want to savor the story of my life pages have to offer. I've learned to enjoy the story. Carefully reading each pages and loved the new information and twist it brings.


What I did yesterday teaching me. I turn the page of tomorrow. What new mysteries it reveal? What excitement will unfold?


I no longer rush through life; I enjoy the read.

Story of King Amaziah

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan; she was from Jerusalem.  He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly.   After the kingdom was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king.   Yet he did not put their children to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor children be put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.”

Amaziah called the people of Judah together and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He then mustered those twenty years old or more and found that there were three hundred thousand men fit for military service, able to handle the spear and shield.  He also hired a hundred thousand fighting men from Israel for a hundred talents of silver.

But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the LORD is not with Israel—not with any of the people of Ephraim.  Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”

Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?”

The man of God replied, “The LORD can give you much more than that.”

So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage.

Amaziah then marshaled his strength and led his army to the Valley of Salt, where he killed ten thousand men of Seir.  The army of Judah also captured ten thousand men alive, took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.

Meanwhile the troops that Amaziah had sent back and had not allowed to take part in the war raided towns belonging to Judah from Samaria to Beth Horon. They killed three thousand people and carried off great quantities of plunder.

When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them.  The anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?”

While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?”

So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

After Amaziah king of Judah consulted his advisers, he sent this challenge to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel: “Come, let us face each other in battle.”

But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle underfoot.  You say to yourself that you have defeated Edom, and now you are arrogant and proud. But stay at home! Why ask for trouble and cause your own downfall and that of Judah also?”

Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might deliver them into the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the gods of Edom.  So Jehoash king of Israel attacked. He and Amaziah king of Judah faced each other at Beth Shemesh in Judah.  Judah was routed by Israel, and every man fled to his home.  Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section about four hundred cubits long.  He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-Edom, together with the palace treasures and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.

The Man With The One Track Mind


Eddie Arcaro dreamed of becoming the world's greatest jockey but after watching him ride a horse for five minutes, reality reflected a harsh contradiction. He was awkward and clumsy, and in his early years in the saddle he couldn't do one thing right. He was left behind at the post, he got trapped in traffic jams, he got bumped and boxed in. In his first 100 races he never even came close to winning. Still, he got right back on and tried again.

Even as a schoolboy, Arcaro had set his own track in life. Because he was only a little over five feet tall and weighed barely 80 pounds, the other students shunned him. So he played hooky instead, hanging out at the local race track where a trainer let him gallop the horses. His father reluctantly agreed to let him pursue a career as a jockey, even though he knew it was a long shot. The trainer had told him so. "Send him back to school," he said. "He'll never be a rider."

No one was betting on little Eddie Arcaro, no one that is except Arcaro. He was determined not just to ride, but to become the world's greatest jockey. But first someone would have to give him a chance. He pleaded and persisted until he finally got to ride in a real race. Before it was over, he'd lost his whip and his cap and had almost fallen off the saddle. By the time he finished the race, the other horses were on their way back to the stables. He'd come in dead last.

After that, Arcaro went from track to track, looking for any opportunity to ride. Finally, an owner who felt pity took him in and gave him his next chance. One hundred trophy-less races later, he was still giving him a chance. The trainers saw something in this unlucky jockey, something they couldn't define. Perhaps it was potential, perhaps it was resilience, perhaps it was sheer obstinacy, but no one was willing to send him home. And Arcaro was certainly not going to quit.

There were long years when he was broke, homesick, and almost without friends. There were also many brushes with death and several broken bones. Every time his delicate 63 inch body was trammeled by hoofs he would get patched up and return to the saddle.

Then it happened. Arcaro began to win...and win...and win...Now, instead of leaving a path of destruction, he was leaving a path of devastated opponents. In thirty years of riding, he won 4,779 races, becoming the only jockey in history to win the Kentucky Derby five times. By the time he retired in 1962 he was a millionaire and a legend in his own lifetime.

From the moment he walked out of school and onto a track, Eddie Arcaro had his mind on a finish line. And although the race took thirty years, he never quit until that line was crossed.

Cynthia Kersey

Cynthia Kersey is the author of Unstoppable and Unstoppable Women
Copyright 1998 by Cynthia Kersey
Visit Cynthia's web site at:
www.unstoppable.net

Building faith

The other day my 4-year old son and I were sitting in the couch and watching TV his favorite cartoon show.

For some reason I was reminded of the scriptures that talks about Child-like faith.

My curiosity leads me to ask my unsuspecting boy..."Son, if we build our own house, how many swimming pools do you wanna have?"

Without hesitation, he said "Dad, I want 3 swimming pools. One for you, one for mom and one for me."

Interesting answer huh?

If you ask an adult the same question you'll probably hear...

"What are you talking about? You can't even afford to have a bath tub."

Funny but true.

Children are like fearless creature. They trust so much their parents that all things will work together.

Adults on the other hand have fears, reservations, and with very little faith.

No wonder why Christ wants us to have a child like faith to enter the kingdom of heavens.

And Jesus is offering us is a bargain.

He's only asking for a mustard size faith to move a mountain size problem.

Isn't that a great deal?

So how do we increase our faith?

Romans 10:17 says..."faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Fact is, there's no other way to increase our faith but by continuously memorizing and meditating God's Word.

Once we have Bible verses in our memory, it's much easier for us to meditate on it wherever we go.

Scripture memorization is not just an activity but a lifestyle. Make it part of your life and your life will never be the same again.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

What's Important


I talk to people all the time who want to invest and earn money. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact it's a wonderful pursuit to reach your financial goals and give your family as many options as possible in how they live their lives. But I frequently encounter individuals who haven't thought beyond "I want to earn a lot of money." Money itself isn't a goal; it just gives you the opportunity to choose. 

In order to really understand yourself as an investor, you must understand what is truly important for you. For me - it's family. The first time I traveled to Croatia was in 1979; I was 7 years old. I saw firsthand where my parents lived as children and got a taste for how they grew up. My mom's home was in a small village in the mountains. Her parents were farmers and their entire home was just one room, maybe 20' x 20' in size. There was no running water or electricity. 

I remember first thing in the morning, we would walk the donkey with a big water jug on its back to a stream four miles away. We would fill it up and head another four miles back to the house. That was our water supply for the day. The life they lived was very hard compared to what I knew, yet they did what they had to do without complaint. My parents were surrounded by unconditional love - something they passed on to me - and they always had a roof over their heads and something to eat. They were always happy as children and never knew about all the luxuries and excess in the Western World. My mom had to walk miles to school, as a child, trying to imagine that was very hard. That summer, we celebrated my brother Mike's, 6th birthday. I remember my Grandma putting on a pot of boiling water on the wood stove while my Grandpa went out to the chicken coup to find his biggest chicken. That was the first time I ever saw a chicken run with its head cut off! This was his prized possession and the best gift he had to give us all to celebrate my brother's birthday. We had a wonderful family feast. 

The trip really taught me to appreciate how easy my life is and that you really don't need a lot of 'stuff' to be content. I think back on the experience and the life I lead today. I help people reach their dreams of financial freedom and peace. Not so they can be the richest person in the cemetery, but so they can choose how they and their families live. That is what is important and it's why I do what I do - to help them accomplish those goals through well thought out financial plans and advice. While I was writing my new book, Set for Life: Financial Peace of Mind Made Easy, I once again had the opportunity to visit Croatia and much has changed, but the people haven't. Their dreams are just as strong as is their love of life. It's proof to me that happiness is still found in the simplest pleasures, and true peace has little to do with the amount in your bank account.

John Svalina

John is Vice President and Portfolio Manager for TD Waterhouse Private Client Services in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He has just released his latest book: Set for Life: Financial Peace of Mind Made Easy

Monday, June 4, 2012

Bob Proctor Shares His Secrets


If I had to pick one thing that allowed me to go from pumping gas in a service station to spending 50 years founding, formulating and being chairman of a number of companies that operate globally in over 100 different countries I would have to attribute it to the coaching I received from the six great coaches and mentors in my life. I want to share with you the lessons I learned from them because I believe you will benefit greatly by them.

Focus on all the Reasons You Can Get What You Want


Ray Stanford entered my life when I was working in the fire hall in Toronto at age 26, exactly 50 years ago. I was earning $4,000 and I owed $6,000 and it never even entered my mind that I could get out of debt. He encouraged me to take an honest look at the results I was getting. He said "Bob, you keep talking about not having a formal education and using it as an excuse for getting poor results." He then said, "Those are only reasons why you're not getting what you want. Set those aside and start to focus on all the reasons you can get what you what." Then he gave me Napoleon Hill's book, Think and Grow Rich.

He said, "Bob, if you will make the commitment to do exactly what this book says and exactly what I suggest, I'll help you change your life." I didn't really believe I could, but I believed he believed I could. And it was his belief in me that inspired me to begin to study. One year later, I was earning $175,000 a year and, from there, I took it to over a million a year. I didn't know what was happening to me, but I was beginning to realize a lot of the things that I had been thinking weren't true. I thought some people were lucky but others weren't. I was to find out that you and I have exactly the same potential.

Study, Study, Study


I then got a hold of Earl Nightingale's condensed narration of the Napoleon Hill book, Think And Grow Rich on a record. I began listening to that record every day. It was listening to Earl's voice and the information he was sharing that caused me to want to go to work with him. I moved my Family from Toronto to Chicago and joined the Nightingale-Conant Corporation. It was only after I got there that I realized I had a double win. I wasn't only going to work with Earl Nightingale - I would also work with Lloyd Conant. Earl and Lloyd became my 2 coaches. I loved working for them and I got an education that you couldn't buy. They literally originated the self help business in recorded fashion that we know today. In time, the Nightingale-Conant Corporation became the largest distributer of self help programs in the world, and I was working there with the people that originated it. Earl Nightingale taught me how to study. He said, "Don't just read the book, study i t. Attempt to understand the idea the author is attempting to communicate in each paragraph. To do that you might need to study that paragraph for a month."

Take the Lid Off Your Mind and Let it Soar


Lloyd Conant taught me to take the lid off my mind and let it soar. He said, "Bob, nothing is big or small, except our thinking makes it so. No one alive knows what we're capable of doing. Go after something big. Even if you miss, it can be exhilarating."

Know You Have a Magnificent Mind


It was there that I was introduced to Val Van De Wall. Val and I became great friends and he shared one idea with me that literally changed my life. It was a diagram of the mind. He explained we think in pictures but no one has ever seen the mind so when we think of it, we become confused. There is no order in the mind. A doctor friend of his came up with the original drawing. I refer to it as the Stick Person and I've shared it with people all over the world. If I were to be coaching you, I'd teach it to you.

Val introduced me to his coach, Dr. Harry Roder. Harry knew more about the mind than anyone I'd ever met. I'd spent countless hours with him and I began to understand exactly how the mind functions. In fact, Dr. John Mike from Florida said I taught him more about the mind in 1 year than he had learned in 4 years of medical school and 5 years of psychiatric training. I found that interesting because I had merely taught him what Dr. Roder had taught me.

These 5 men helped me answer a huge question . how and why did my life change? Without any formal education, without any business experience, in less than 5 years, I built a company that operated in 7 cities and 3 different countries and I really didn't understand how I had done it. They taught me what I had changed and how I had accomplished what I had accomplished. It was this magnificent knowledge that triggered the enormous desire in me to teach this information to as many people as I could. But I had one big problem . I was quiet and shy.

Believe You Can Do What You Believe Others Can Accomplish

I was afraid to stand up and ask a question let alone stand up and teach. It was at that point in the late sixties at the Hyatt Hotel in Chicago that a man named Bill Gove walked out on a stage and literally captivated an audience of 500 people. Merely by sharing information with them, he had that audience in the palm of his hand. I stood there thinking, "If only I could do that, then I could teach what I've learned." But the thought of it scared the daylights out of me.

At that point, I flashed back in my mind to a recording of Earl Nightingale's that I had listened to a thousand times. He said, "Now right here we come to a rather strange fact. We tend to minimize the things we can do, the goals we can accomplish, and for some equally strange reason we think other people can accomplish things that we cannot. I want you to understand that that is not true. You have deep reservoirs of talent and ability within you that you can bring to the surface and achieve all that you desire."

If you had asked me if I'd understood it, I probably would've said, "Of course!" But here I was watching Bill Gove do something I thought I couldn't. It was at that point that I started hearing the recording in my head and I realized if Bill can do it, I can do it. I switched my thinking to, "If I could do that, I could help people all over the world change their life." And it suddenly dawned on me that we are capable of doing anything. I'm not going to just do that, I'm going to get the man on the stage, Bill Gove, to teach me. and he did. Today I'm able to do what he did and get on the stage and share this valuable information. Bill Gove and I remained friends for over 35 years until he passed away a few years ago.

Pass It Along


All of these men are gone but their legacy lives on, through me and all of the other people they helped. That's how my life changed. These people taught me to earn millions of dollars and invest it back into a business that has helped millions of people. These lessons have allowed me to help people who were in financial trouble become prosperous and companies that were struggling grow into viable organizations. Any way a person can be helped, I've seen it happen because the answers are within us. And, because of what these great men taught me, I was able to pass it along.
Bob Proctor

If you would like to get more information on Bob Proctor's coaching, or facilitator programs send him an email to: bobproctor@bobproctor.com

Sunday, June 3, 2012

My Father Is the Engineer

I heard a story about a train traveling through the night in a very violent rainstorm.

The lightning flashes were almost blinding, the rain hitting the windows was deafening and the strong gust winds rocked the train from side to side.

When the lightening flashed and lighted up the darkness, the passengers could see the rising water along the tracks.

This created terror in the minds of the passengers.

Several passengers noted that through all the noise, lightening and wind, one of the passengers, a little girl, seemed to be at perfect peace.

The adult passengers couldn't figure out why the little girl was so calm during all this excitement.

Finally, one passenger asked her, "How is that you can be so calm when all the rest of us are so worried about what might or could happen?"

The little passenger smiled and said, "My father is the engineer."

End of story.

That's the beauty of knowing that our God is in control everything.

Like the little girl in our story, she's at peace and calm despite people around her are panicking because her father is in control.

Trouble is,...the world is full of sins that feeds our mind unconsciously or subconsciously.

That's why we should be more active and aggressive in meditating God's Word whenever and wherever.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Born to Lose

I recently read a powerful story of Norman Peale from Christianity Today.

The story goes like this...

Once walking through the twisted little streets of Kowloon in Hong Kong, I came upon a tattoo studio.

In the window were displayed samples of the tattoos available. 

On the chest or arms you could have tattooed an anchor or flag or mermaid or whatever.

But what struck me with force was the three words that could be tattooed on one's flesh, Born to lose.

I entered the shop in astonishment and, pointing to those words, asked the Chinese tattoo artist, "Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, Born to lose, tattooed on his body?"

He replied, "Yes, sometimes."

"But," I said, "I just can't believe that anyone in his right mind would do that."

The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and said in broken English, "Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind."

Simply stated, if your mind is corrupted with fears, doubts, anger, bitterness and all the negativity in this world...your actions will also be corrupted.