J.R. Lee

Here is a great quote from a book I am reading entitled Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance by Tony Dungy..

The above sentence is a little misleading as the quote is actually from Mark Twain but nonetheless:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover.

I know so many people that are contemplating their next move in life.  Don’t sit back and see what life throws you.  God created you for so much more than that!  Follow hard after the heart of God and He will lead you on the greatest and most exciting journey of your life!

USA Today published a poll that asked people to finish the line “I’d give more, but…”

Here are the results:

• 84% said they doubted their donation would be put to good use.
• 80% said job demands left them no time to participate.
• 79% said they had no excess income to give.
• 70% said family commitments consumed their extra time.

The poll definitely shows the importance of institutional financial integrity, keeping things simple in order to maximize a persons time, and teaching people how to get and stay out of debt.

The Bible is filled with incredible stories of faith, hope, and life-change.  Acts 4 is no different.

Peter and John are seemingly larger-than-life champions of the faith.   They saw miracle after miracle occur right before their eyes.  Theirs was a world full of wonder and amazement at the magnificence of God.  People were intrigued by their lives – even those who were in direct opposition.  We can learn a lot from their perception of these men:

Acts 4:13 – Now as they (their enemies) observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

Their lives were distinguishably different because of the calling of God on their lives and their obedience to answer that call.  They didn’t have extraordinary talent, education, or ability.  What they did have was an unwavering commitment to speak about what they had seen and heard

Acts 4:20 – “For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

All of us are talking about something.  What dominates our discussion?  We speak of that which is important.  That being said, what’s most important in our lives?  Our constant conversations will reveal the answer.

“You have so much potential!”  Hopefully, we have all heard that, but what does it really mean?  I read something about potential that pumped me up.  Here it is…

Potential is everything you can be but haven’t become yet.  It is everything you can do but haven’t done yet.  it’s everywhere you can go but haven’t gone yet.  Potential is the books you can write that you haven’t written yet.  It is the life you’ve wanted to live but haven’t lived yet.  It is like a huge engine-running idle.  It is energy still underutilized, power yet unleashed, and strength yet unused.

I believe that there is so much untapped potential lying dormant in the lives of people.  One of my goals is to help bring that out of myself and others!

I read an interesting blog post that I thought was encouraging on one hand and an indictment on the other.

America’s poor donate more, in percentage terms, than higher-income groups do, surveys of charitable giving show. What’s more, their generosity declines less in hard times than the generosity of richer givers does. “The lowest-income fifth (of the population) always give at more than their capacity,” said Virginia Hodgkinson, former vice president for research at Independent Sector, a Washington-based association of major nonprofit agencies. “The next two-fifths give at capacity, and those above that are capable of giving two or three times more than they give.”

Since giving is an issue of trust – I wonder how trustful and trustworthy you and I really are?