Thoughts for the Journey – Who Reigns?

I talked with my brother yesterday and he told me he took a job as a taxi driver.  I asked if he ever got nervous driving in the middle of the night.  He said no.  I sure hope he doesn’t run into this problem over the Thanksgiving holiday. (See cartoon below)

I couldn’t pass this one up either.  Apparently, this has been a crime from the beginning.  Maybe evolution holds true

Here is our Tuesday edition of Thoughts For The Journey

Reality some times smacks you in the face.  This week my age seems to be catching up with me.  #1-I threw my back out.  I pulled something the wrong way and I tweaked my back good.  Sonya says I look like I am walking crooked.  #2-Josh is going this week for his driver’s license test.  He is growing up so fast and I look back and wonder where the time is gone.  My baby boy is ready to drive.

I am feeling older, in body and in emotions.  Yet, growing older has its benefits too.  It is not something to be dreaded even though more aches and pains come your way.  Growing older is exciting.  It affords us greater opportunities to share what we have learned in life.  The older you get the more seriously people take you.  They feel like you have something that they need. 

When I started pastoring I was 24.  The people in our town called me the fifteen year old preacher because that is all I looked.  There were many challenges because I was so young.  I faced things that most older pastors do not face because my age seemed more like a handicap.  As I grow older, almost 15 years of pastoring now, people seem to take more seriously our ministry and our judgment.

As I look back on my life, I reflect on what we have accomplished with God’s help.  Are the ministries I have been in better off because I have been there?  Have I impacted people’s lives in a positive way?  Have I been instrumental in the growth of others?

For me growing older means bearing more fruit.  The older I get, the more fruit I should bear and I should be more mature spiritually as I age.  What about you?  Are you growing older and maturing as well?

Here is Sunday’s message: LIVING PRAISE – Seeking God.

“You don’t determine a man’s greatness by his talent or wealth as the world does but rather by what it takes to discourage him”  Jerry Falwell

HT: Mike Linch

I read this great article this morning on Brian Dodd’s blog.  It is a great lesson on leadership that can be learned from our former President George W. Bush.  I see a sermon in nearly every line.

“How are you going to remember former President George W. Bush?  I think as time goes on history will be very kind to him.

With the release of his new book Decision Points, President Bush appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show this week.  The following are the amazing quotes from the man who will be known as the President that kept our country safe.

• “The peaceful transfer of power makes America a special place.”
• “I was honored to serve our country for eight years.”
• “I view politics as a chapter of my life.  Not my life.”
• “One of the sacrifices you make is loss of anonymity.”
• “I want our President to succeed.  I love our country.”
• “It was much harder to be the son of the President and watch my dad get criticized than to be President.”
• “If I would have allowed the critics to affect me during the presidency, I would not have done my job as a leader.”
• “Alcohol was crowding out my affections for my wife and my daughters.”
• “Alcohol at times made me a fool.”
• “My job was to protect the people.”
• “During a crisis the leader must project calm.”
• “I’m the Commander and Chief.  I want to be in Washington.”
• “I would not give the enemy the satisfaction of seeing the President of the United States holed up in a bunker underground.”
• “We had to find them and bring them to justice before they hurt us again.”
• “Everybody thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
   
• “Often times history judges you on the decisions you make but a lot times they don’t judge you on the decisions you don’t make.”
• “My decision (to go to combat) would weigh more heavily on me if I cared more about my political standing than completing the mission.”
• “I made a mistake.  I should have landed (in New Orleans).”
• “Katrina is an interesting case study of emergency management.”
• “I want to treat my successor the way I would want to have been treated.  There will be plenty of critics and he doesn’t need me criticizing him.  I don’t think it’s good for the presidency.”
• “I saw a problem with the mortgage market.”
• “If you make a bad decision in the marketplace you ought to fail.”
• “Serving as President is the honor of a lifetime.”
• “Don’t sell your soul for the sake of politics.  Have a set of principles.  Defend those principles no matter what it might cost you in the polls.”
• “One of my proudest accomplishments is that I didn’t sell my principles for the sake of popularity.”
• “If you chase popularity you’re chasing something for a fleeting moment.  Principles last forever.”

Do you agree with President Bush’s comments?  Let me know your thoughts.”

HT: Brian Dodd on Leadership

Another edition of Thoughts For The Journey. A 2-3 minute devotional that gives you things to ponder along the way. Today’s episode discusses accomplishing the impossible.