Daily Mug Shot :: Andy Stanley

PRINCIPLE OF THE PATH ANDY STANLEY

Summary: PRINCIPLE OF THE PATH by Andy Stanley is book about the heart of each person’s path and the principle that operates within a life. Here’s the principle: Direction- not intention- determines destination. The gist of the book can be found in this except taken from page 3 of PRINCIPLE OF THE PATH

…”this is a principle because it isn’t a rule you follow. Truth is, the principle of the path follows you. It’s not a law. You can break a law. But the principle of the path has the power to break you. It is not an idea or concept you choose to apply. As we discover, it is being applied to you every moment of everyday.

Reaction:

PRINCIPLE OF THE PATH by Andy Stanley, should not be read if you do not want to challenge the status quo in your life…or perhaps revisit past decisions in your life…that you never intended to make… rather the path make them for you. Principle was challenging @ best to read as a 40 something who never intended many things that now shape my life. However, it is full of outstanding examples, personal observations from Andy’s life & rich with biblical truth along with a study guide. These examples, observations, and biblical truth offer hope for the future and make the case to “pay attention to the path you intend for your life.

Personal reflections in the margin: (I often write in margin of books as I read here are some of them)

Decisions made with reckless abandon in your youth lead to regret & path you never intended to follow.

Prayer: Lord help me to choose the divine direction to leverage choice as an advantage: a path that leads to the life you died for me to have…

This book is a must read regardless of your age and where you find yourself on the path of life!

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The Summer of C.S. Lewis
Nestled between an interstate move, preparing to start school, and becoming as stay-at-home mom again, I deemed this summer “The Summer of C.S. Lewis.” I dedicated my efforts to read as many works by the twentieth century intellectual giant as possible. I completed one! Yep, one! But it was one more than I had read in the previous 28 summers of my life!
Here are a few of my favorite thoughts from Mere Christianity, the writings based on his radio talks during the war torn 1940s.
“Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It therefore has nothing (as far as I know) to say to people who do not know they have done anything to repent of and who do not feel that they need any forgiveness.”
“One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting everyone else to give it up. That is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons – marriage, or meat, or beer, or the cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he has taken the wrong turning.”
“If our expenditures on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small.”
“A world of nice, people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world – and might even be more difficult to save.”
The radio talks recorded in Mere Christianity were created to explain to non-Christians in Britain the basic beliefs of Christianity. Lewis’s simple, everyday language and examples bring to life his faith and convictions in Christ. I found myself diving deeper into my own beliefs and was challenged to go beyond mere Christianity into a deeper understanding and practice of my own faith.
What books did you read this summer and how have they impacted you?

Daily Mug Shot :: Scott Hodge :: storychicago

Driving. Story Chicago from scotthodge on Vimeo.

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August 17, 2009


You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford
As the mother of young children, I have “enjoyed” many episodes of Curious George, the fun-loving monkey whose adventures broaden his world. Moon Monkey Coffee is a lot like George –exploring unchartered territory, meeting new friends, and enjoying life.
With a curiosity like that, who can keep the Monkey from learning? This fall, that is exactly what the Monkey and I will be doing. We, collectively under my name and my Sallie Mae account, have enrolled at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky. To earn “our” Masters in Biblical Studies.
In exchange for feeding his curiosity, the Monkey has promised to keep me company (and awake) during my late night study sessions and early morning lectures. Together we’ll conquer the deep theological discussions with new friends. In the end, I will use my degree to become a college professor; the Monkey will probably just use his to impress his favorite Shine.FM female artists!
You can join us here every Monday to hear about our latest adventures and what we’ve learned. You can also follow some of those deep (and not so deep) theological discussions at my personal blog. In the process, maybe you will also catch a little of the Monkey’s curiosity!


Links used:
http://www.asburyseminary.edu/
http://abbiemantor.blogspot.com/

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Our Greatest Fear —Marianne Williamson

it is our light not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

—Marianne Williamson


[Often said to have been quoted in a speech by Nelson Mandela. The source is Return to Love by Marianne Williamson, Harper Collins, 1992. —Peter McLaughlin]

Daily Mug Shot Cowboyupgurlz

Sunday, July 12, 2009
It’s Time You Knew...Guest Post by Stephanie Ericsson's


#cowboyupgurlz


There are these women, see? Women who've sent me direct messages on Twitter or emailed me, or posted to my blog. These women, who saw me floundering, make it a point to support me almost every day. You can do it... each of them says, each in their own way. Some send prayers. Some send money. Some send me their stories. Some even send me 'virtual' flowers! Little by little we learn one another's stories... All of them give me strength that I would not have had without them.


One of these women, givelovecoffee, a coffee micro-roaster with her own company, Moon Monkey Coffee, sent me this message one day, after she'd had a particularly hard day herself "...time to live our new mantra, 'cowboy up, girls'... with Tylenol everything will be OK." From there, one of us came up with the Twitter toy #cowboyupgurlz and since then, we've been using it to alert all the other women, living in a man's world, picking ourselves up by our bootstraps and trudging forward in spite of all. Later, she wrote,


"No more apologies take captives under your influence & make a difference in spite of your circumstances. #cowboyupgurlz It's a new day! Your tweet was divine—instead of feeling sorry for myself I felt humbled but not powerless...The act of one-anothering in online spaces, gives a connection to not just pixels but people to share in your circumstances, to offer a kind word, a 140 characters of encouragement to be excellent!


All the best today! Leaning in looking up & whispering our names...


I think that's a great definition of #cowboyupgurlz. "The act of one-anothering..." is apt.


Today, I sit in my old apartment, alone...trying to get the loose ends wrapped up. Trouble is—I get confused when I'm overwhelmed and my attention-deficit takes over and leads me by my nose in circles. Added to this is my pain-level today, which is greater than it's been in months. Ugh. I've worn out my son and his friend, Cain—they have worked really hard for the past week, so I sent them off to their respective dwelling spots to recuperate. Now I have to get the rest of the stuff packed and ready for moving. I am praying someone will be able to help. Can only do what I can.


I sat down and had a good cry. Then I checked my email, and there were notes and tweets of encouragement. Suddenly, what just seemed impossible—seems possible. It will be ok. All of it.


So, to all these women, members of the #cowboyupgurlz club, Yahoo...! I'm going to get it done. I'm going to make a difference, in spite of my circumstances—maybe even because of them...


The angels just told me a secret:


Within the difficulties, the suffering, the hopelessness, there is hidden opportunities for redemption, for connection, for love. If I tackle the problems, I'll find miracles hiding there.
http://stephanieericssonconfessions.blogspot.com/

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this insight that was tweeted last night from Andrew Sullivan says it all:
There are two things to say about him. He was a musical genius; and he was an abused child. By abuse, I do not mean sexual abuse; I mean he was used brutally and callously for money, and clearly imprisoned by a tyrannical father. He had no real childhood and spent much of his later life struggling to get one. He was spiritually and psychologically raped at a very early age - and never recovered. Watching him change his race, his age, and almost his gender, you saw a tortured soul seeking what the rest of us take for granted: a normal life.

But he had no compass to find one; no real friends to support and advise him; and money and fame imprisoned him in the delusions of narcissism and self-indulgence. Of course, he bears responsibility for his bizarre life. But the damage done to him by his own family and then by all those motivated more by money and power than by faith and love was irreparable in the end. He died a while ago. He remained for so long a walking human shell.

I loved his music. His young voice was almost a miracle, his poise in retrospect eery, his joy, tempered by pain, often unbearably uplifting. He made the greatest music video of all time; and he made some of the greatest records of all time. He was everything our culture worships; and yet he was obviously desperately unhappy, tortured, afraid and alone.

I grieve for him; but I also grieve for the culture that created and destroyed him. That culture is ours' and it is a lethal and brutal one: with fame and celebrity as its core values, with money as its sole motive, it chewed this child up and spat him out.

I hope he has the peace now he never had in his life. And I pray that such genius will not be so abused again


Earlier this week I referenced an article by Ben Arment titled " Modern Day Multitude Makers" Here's an excerpt " The spiritual impace of his ministry goes without saying, but there were social forces at work that gathered the crowds. Multitude -making is a social phenomenon, not a spiritual one. And if we overlook tht truth, we do stupid things in the name of faith" page 76 Multitude Makers.
http://www.collidemagazine.com/