Be Joyful!

I KNOW, I KNOW . . . THIS IS A ROTTEN WORLD. And some people just can’t be trusted. And con men (and women) and phonies and charlatans are out there, ready to rip us off. Even Jesus counseled His men before their solo flights into ministry to be “shrewd as snakes” (Matthew 10:16). Good, sound advice, since there are a lot of hungry wolves out there. I’ve learned over the years, however, that cynicism can quickly set in, bringing only heartache and bitterness.

Disorientation

DISORIENTATION IS THE PITS. When you travel a lot (like airline personnel) you must deal with it. When you fight deadlines as days run into nights (like tax consultants and publishing editors and pastors) you must work out ways to cope with it. When you are confined to tight places or inescapable spaces (like astronauts or prisoners or victims of confining illnesses)—again, that old bugaboo is there ready to bite, leaving you in the wake of depression or one of its emotional relatives. It happens frequently after people retire.

Staying Young

I‘d like to offer several tips on how to stay young. Number one: Your mind isn’t old, keep developing it. Watch less television and read more. Spend time with people who talk about events and ideas rather than sitting around a shop talking about people.

For Bible Teachers

Do you teach the Bible? If so, that’s great. No other calling is more needed or carries with it greater responsibility. My advice? Study hard. Pray for insight. Be accurate with facts. Be clear in your delivery.

Change Your Routine

Following the sixth day of creation, the Lord God deliberately stopped working. He rested. It wasn’t that there was nothing else He could have done. It certainly wasn’t because He was exhausted. Omnipotence never gets tired!

Trust, Part One

Those folks who used to put together Campus Life magazine got my vote. With an incredible regularity they would put the cookies on the lower shelf so that any high schooler in America could thumb through the thing without getting turned off. One of their secrets was frequent humor, lots of jokes. You know, all kinds of stuff to laugh at . . . some a little gross, but all designed to scratch a teenager where he was itching.

“Won’t Someone Please Stop Me?” Part One

I laughed my way through Judith Viorst’s How Did I Get to Be Forty and Other Atrocities. I’ve long since passed the half-century mark, so it seemed reasonable that I should at least face the music of being forty. Even though I must admit I feel more like thirty . . . until I think about my schedule of involvements. Then I wish I were older and had an excuse for hiding away in a cabin, writing my memoirs . . . as if anybody would ever care to read them.

Vision

It’s a cartoon I’ve smiled at again and again. There are two Eskimos sitting on chairs, fishing through holes in the ice. The fella on the right has draped his line through your typical disk-like opening . . . about the size of a small manhole. The Eskimo on the left has his line in the water too. He also waits calmly for a nibble. His hole, however, is more like a crater, a Rose Bowl-sized opening that reaches to the horizon—in the shape of a whale.

Being What Ya’ Are, Part One

In my more zany moments, I have been known to do some crazy things. I’m relieved that most of them are not known by most of you. If they were, I sincerely doubt that what little bit of dignified respect I may have earned over the years would remain intact. Maybe that explains why I had such a struggle with the whole idea of entering the ministry in the first place.

Criticism

Looking for a role model on how to handle criticism? It would be worth your while to check out the book of Nehemiah. On several occasions this great-hearted statesman was openly criticized, falsely accused, and grossly misunderstood. Each time he kept his cool . . . he rolled with the punch . . . he considered the source . . . he refused to get discouraged . . . he went to God in prayer . . . he kept building the wall (Nehemiah 2:19–20; 4:1–5).

Category Archives: Humour