Mark's Views, Perhaps — from behind my eyeballs
Hold good in your heart.
Treasure that which is good.
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).
Let me tell you how to save 5 minutes…for someone else.
On an earlier occasion, I arranged to meet a friend. I arrived 5 minutes after the set time.
On each occasion, I took 5 minutes that weren’t mine.
When I am late to an appointment or when I’m overtime in a presentation, is that…
How could it not be at least one of those?
So…how do you explain being late or over time?
Actually, never mind that. I’m far more interested in how to overcome habitual time theft from another. Read it all
Our daughter Michayla launched her own web site.
Here are the opening paragraphs of her first blog post on December 3:
Moments.
Life is made up of them. Some of them are exhilarating, others depressing. Quite a few of them are actually downright boring. There’s no way of knowing when one moment will end and when the next will begin or if a moment that began in joy will end in pain, and vice versa. But one thing is true about all of them: they are fleeting.
That’s part of the beauty of life. No moment lasts forever. They come and go, and though we cannot hold them, we know that more will follow, and who is to say that those will not be more lovely than the ones we cling to now? Through all the changeableness of life, through the moments we hold tightly and the ones we wish would end, there is one constant, and that is the One Who created us.
God’s goodness to His people never changes. His plan of redemption never changes. And His promise of life unending will never change either. Someday, if we cling tightly to His hand and follow Him through fire and bliss alike, we will find life that has no end. We will no longer see in moments but in eternity, and all that we called beautiful in this life will be as pale glass and fallen ash in comparison.
This life is just a dressing room for that one, and moment by moment, our chances to make this life something worthwhile are slipping away.
I don’t despise the moments of my life, but too often I treat them despicably.
As I commented on her blog… Read it all
Generally, by Fall we’re done with gardening here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. And we certainly don’t plant our vegetables and tomatoes now.
But my boxed quote above isn’t about autumn crops. Read it all
Facts do not flex and will not stretch. Not for your preferences or your convenience. Not for your interpretation, your slant, or your opinion. Not even for your feelings. And certainly not for your agenda.
If you “adjust” facts with any of those, you no longer have facts.
If you want facts to remain facts, you have to stick to the facts.
I get very exercised when people present their interpretations, surmisings, and opinions as facts. So the following really clicked for me:
Facts first, then opinions. With God, facts and opinion are one and the same. There’s no slippage between the two in His marvelous, omniscient mind.
But with us mortals, there’s a whole spectrum ranging from what the Bible tells us is true, to what we think may or may not be the case, to what we know we don’t know. There’s nothing wrong with speculations along the middle of that spectrum. But things get dangerous when folks can no longer discern which category they’re thinking in—when they start treating facts and opinions as if they were interchangeable. If we want people to pay attention to our opinions, we should start by being careful with our facts. If you’re sloppy with your facts, why should anybody trust your opinions?
Sloppy with the facts — that’s just such a great way to put it.
So is this: “treating facts and opinions as if they were interchangeable.”
And I am so blessed at this realization: in the mind of God there is no slippage between facts and opinion. That is so amazing!
When anyone reports to me what happened or what was said, I want him to be faithful to the facts. I want to trust the accuracy of his report. I hate mistrusting others.
For myself, I hereby renew my commitment to truth, accuracy, and faithfulness. I throw my lot with the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. I reject the ways of the deceiver and father of lies whose seduction of Eve went so “well.”
