What is it that is holding you back from living your life to its fullest potential? Is it fear of failure? Are you concerned what others might think? Or, are you waiting until you “straighten out” a few of the problem areas in your life before you move forward? Let me share with you that whatever “it” is will become insignificant compared to the growth you will achieve as you begin to maximize your fullest potential as a human being.
First, you must be strong in the faith that whatever you need will be supplied at the precise moment it becomes necessary. You must be strong in the belief that your personal goals are worthy/attainable and that whatever circumstance or situation in which you currently find yourself will soon become your testimony to others. You must be strong in the belief that whatever it is you wish to accomplish will benefit yourself as well as those around you.
Secondly, you must be courageous enough to do whatever it takes to live out your belief in these convictions. Sometimes this belief in your convictions requires that you take a step or two backwards before you can move ahead. Others may not understand what you are doing and why. But you will! You must be courageous enough to START NOW!
Stop looking to others for your success. Plan your work and work your plan. Be strong and courageous!
Can anyone tell me the source of “Be Strong and Courageous”?
Peace…Al
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Dust Thou Art ….. But That’s Not All!
Biblical Beginnings
Do you know experts have said that anywhere from 75% to 90% of all disease in humans is caused by either diet or stress? This statement is easily verifiable by going on the Internet and entering a query into Google. These numbers lead me to believe that we can improve the health of our body by watching what we eat and being careful of what we think. In my previous post I stated that, in future posts, we would examine the connection between the body, mind and spirit. It seems to me that the body is as good a place as any to begin.
The book of Genesis states: “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Gen. 2:7). My interpretation of this text is that God formed the body of man from inert material (i.e. the dust of the ground) and brought him to life with his breath. The above passage should lead us to believe that man is composed of material and nonmaterial parts.
Not until God blew the breath of life into man did man become alive. Therefore without the “breath of life”, the body is just inert material and as dumb as a door nail, i.e. “stuff”. It is unable to function purposefully without some type of guidance. The question becomes “who or what tells the body what to do and what does the health of the body have to do with biblical scripture”?
Health & Wellness
A restatement of the opening sentence of this post would be as follows: “We, as humans, are placing our bodies in a state of “dis-ease” by what we eat and think and how we allow our circumstances to affect us”. If this is true, then something is making our bodies place us in this predicament. I submit to you that that something is our mind.
Our mind is the thinking, reasoning part of ourselves that signals the body into action. We all know that cookies are good, but if we only ate cookies every day, after a while our bodies would become sick. As a result we try to balance what we feed our bodies with nutritious daily helpings from the different food groups. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out.
Additionally, my oldest son made an interesting statement on his Face book page a few weeks ago. He quoted Scipio Africanus (a Roman General) who said:”I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 96% how I react to it.” You see, my friend, much of the stress in our lives comes from how we respond to the circumstances in our lives. It is a well known fact that stress which continues unrelieved over a period of time has a devastating effect upon the health of the body.
As A Man Thinks in His Heart….
Proverbs 23:7 states: "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is."
Change your thoughts and you will change your world!
We will focus on the benefits of controlling/changing our thoughts in my next post.
Peace….Al
Do you know experts have said that anywhere from 75% to 90% of all disease in humans is caused by either diet or stress? This statement is easily verifiable by going on the Internet and entering a query into Google. These numbers lead me to believe that we can improve the health of our body by watching what we eat and being careful of what we think. In my previous post I stated that, in future posts, we would examine the connection between the body, mind and spirit. It seems to me that the body is as good a place as any to begin.
The book of Genesis states: “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (Gen. 2:7). My interpretation of this text is that God formed the body of man from inert material (i.e. the dust of the ground) and brought him to life with his breath. The above passage should lead us to believe that man is composed of material and nonmaterial parts.
Not until God blew the breath of life into man did man become alive. Therefore without the “breath of life”, the body is just inert material and as dumb as a door nail, i.e. “stuff”. It is unable to function purposefully without some type of guidance. The question becomes “who or what tells the body what to do and what does the health of the body have to do with biblical scripture”?
Health & Wellness
A restatement of the opening sentence of this post would be as follows: “We, as humans, are placing our bodies in a state of “dis-ease” by what we eat and think and how we allow our circumstances to affect us”. If this is true, then something is making our bodies place us in this predicament. I submit to you that that something is our mind.
Our mind is the thinking, reasoning part of ourselves that signals the body into action. We all know that cookies are good, but if we only ate cookies every day, after a while our bodies would become sick. As a result we try to balance what we feed our bodies with nutritious daily helpings from the different food groups. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out.
Additionally, my oldest son made an interesting statement on his Face book page a few weeks ago. He quoted Scipio Africanus (a Roman General) who said:”I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 96% how I react to it.” You see, my friend, much of the stress in our lives comes from how we respond to the circumstances in our lives. It is a well known fact that stress which continues unrelieved over a period of time has a devastating effect upon the health of the body.
As A Man Thinks in His Heart….
Proverbs 23:7 states: "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is."
Change your thoughts and you will change your world!
We will focus on the benefits of controlling/changing our thoughts in my next post.
Peace….Al
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Staying Connected in 2011
Distractions
I am aware that a number of followers of this blog have commented that they wish I would've continued with my blog over the last year. However (in addition to trying to maintain a happy family life) I wrote a book and had it published, taught weekly classes on spiritual growth and began working with juveniles on probation. I found that I got so busy going from one task to the next that I unwittingly put God on the back burner. Even preparing and getting ready to go to church became a weekly task to get done. Does anyone, other than me, become so caught up in their daily affairs that they fail to recognize God's presence?
The Presence of God
In the Lord's prayer it says: "give us this day our daily bread". In this statement, Jesus is simply reminding us to look to God for our daily sustenance and support. We, on the other hand, have a habit of looking to ourselves and others to provide for our daily needs. For instance we look to our bank accounts to pay our bills. We may look to our boss to provide us with a promotion so we will be able to purchase that house we have had our eye on. We may also rely on our looks, intelligence or personal determination in order to accomplish a goal.
There is nothing wrong with any of the above statements, but we should recognize that it is God who gives us these abilities and places these people in our lives. If we take the time on a daily basis to count our blessings and thank God, then we would not have very much time left over for worry. More importantly, we will become aware of the minute to minute miracle worknig power of God in our daily lives.
The Problem With Worry
I know that it is hard for us not to worry about the future because we are so used to doing it. Maybe this worry is what is keeping us from being connected with God on a daily basis. Our minds are either always focused somewhere in the future or regretting something we have done in the past. Both of these activities keep us from being focused in the present, as well as upon the presence and power of God in our daily lives and activities.
A Plan and a Promise
This year I plan on providing at least one blog each week that will help us stay connected with the power and presence of God on a daily basis. I will suggest to you that the body is nothing but a slave to the mind and the mind will adhere to whatever spirit that feeds it. We will focus upon how to properly feed the mind and how to live our daily lives in a manner that keeps us connected to God and gives Him glory.
Your Feedback Requested
I am interested in your feedback. If there is any subject connected to body, mind and spirit which you would like to discuss or have discussed please let me know and I will attempt to incorporate them into future blogs.
Peace...Al
I am aware that a number of followers of this blog have commented that they wish I would've continued with my blog over the last year. However (in addition to trying to maintain a happy family life) I wrote a book and had it published, taught weekly classes on spiritual growth and began working with juveniles on probation. I found that I got so busy going from one task to the next that I unwittingly put God on the back burner. Even preparing and getting ready to go to church became a weekly task to get done. Does anyone, other than me, become so caught up in their daily affairs that they fail to recognize God's presence?
The Presence of God
In the Lord's prayer it says: "give us this day our daily bread". In this statement, Jesus is simply reminding us to look to God for our daily sustenance and support. We, on the other hand, have a habit of looking to ourselves and others to provide for our daily needs. For instance we look to our bank accounts to pay our bills. We may look to our boss to provide us with a promotion so we will be able to purchase that house we have had our eye on. We may also rely on our looks, intelligence or personal determination in order to accomplish a goal.
There is nothing wrong with any of the above statements, but we should recognize that it is God who gives us these abilities and places these people in our lives. If we take the time on a daily basis to count our blessings and thank God, then we would not have very much time left over for worry. More importantly, we will become aware of the minute to minute miracle worknig power of God in our daily lives.
The Problem With Worry
I know that it is hard for us not to worry about the future because we are so used to doing it. Maybe this worry is what is keeping us from being connected with God on a daily basis. Our minds are either always focused somewhere in the future or regretting something we have done in the past. Both of these activities keep us from being focused in the present, as well as upon the presence and power of God in our daily lives and activities.
A Plan and a Promise
This year I plan on providing at least one blog each week that will help us stay connected with the power and presence of God on a daily basis. I will suggest to you that the body is nothing but a slave to the mind and the mind will adhere to whatever spirit that feeds it. We will focus upon how to properly feed the mind and how to live our daily lives in a manner that keeps us connected to God and gives Him glory.
Your Feedback Requested
I am interested in your feedback. If there is any subject connected to body, mind and spirit which you would like to discuss or have discussed please let me know and I will attempt to incorporate them into future blogs.
Peace...Al
Saturday, December 19, 2009
It's an ill wind that blows no good
Maybe the tragedy with Tiger will prevent someone from making similar mistakes. Is the transgression that Tiger made any worse than the transgression King David made in his relationship with Bathsheba?
Doesn't the Bible say that David is a man after God's own heart? Can good come from bad?
What do you think?
Doesn't the Bible say that David is a man after God's own heart? Can good come from bad?
What do you think?
Monday, September 22, 2008
Hurricane Ike
I have seen pictures of how large Hurricane Ike appeared in the Gulf of Mexico. It is no wonder that it did some much damage and had such a large storm surge pushed out in front of it.
However, thanks to my sister-in-law, I would like to remind everyone How Big Our God Is. I know that Ike caused the entire spectrum of loss in the lives of those affected by him. There was loss of life as well as loss of property and possessions. No matter the circumstance or situation Our God is bigger than any storm. As a matter of fact, He is the peace found in the eye of the Storm.
I ask the readers of this blog to take a moment to say a prayer for the restoration of mind, body and spirit of those affected by Ike or any other storm in their lives. Ask God to help them to deal with their situations by seeking first His guidance and direction prior to jumping out on their own in dealing with things.
Remember to allow our relationship with God to influence how we respond to the storms in our lives. All to often we allow the storms in our lives to influence all of our other relationships, including our relationship with God.
Let's stay centered in the love, peace & patience of God.
Peace...
Al
However, thanks to my sister-in-law, I would like to remind everyone How Big Our God Is. I know that Ike caused the entire spectrum of loss in the lives of those affected by him. There was loss of life as well as loss of property and possessions. No matter the circumstance or situation Our God is bigger than any storm. As a matter of fact, He is the peace found in the eye of the Storm.
I ask the readers of this blog to take a moment to say a prayer for the restoration of mind, body and spirit of those affected by Ike or any other storm in their lives. Ask God to help them to deal with their situations by seeking first His guidance and direction prior to jumping out on their own in dealing with things.
Remember to allow our relationship with God to influence how we respond to the storms in our lives. All to often we allow the storms in our lives to influence all of our other relationships, including our relationship with God.
Let's stay centered in the love, peace & patience of God.
Peace...
Al
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Prayer Warriors
Calling all prayer warriors. I hope that everyone will be safe during the expected storms. Let's just take a moment to pray for those in the path of Hurricane Gustav as well as for anyone that we know who needs and/or desires prayer.
The Bible says: "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16b)
Let us pray for those that may be in the midst of a storm (either physically or emotionally). Please take a minute to pray for those that are in any type of distress or need.
Please pray for my friend Steve and his wife as she tends to the health of her mom. I also pray for my friend Tom who is regaining his health and strength after an illness. Luckily Tom has a strong wife. May God bless you all my friends.
I also solicit your prayers for me and my family because there are some tough decisions that will have to be made. I ask you to pray that the choices that we make will be pleasing in the eyes of God and bring Him glory.
My prayer is as follows:
"I pray God that you show mercy to those that are either physically or emotionally in danger or harms way. That you provide a hedge between them and that danger as well as provide whatever is needed for their healing and protection. I know that all things are possible with you Lord. I praise you Lord and am thanking you in advance. I ask this in the name of your son Jesus who said in John 15:7 :
"If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. Amen""
If there are any additional prayer requests for family or friends, please add them by way of comments. "You pray for me, I pray for you!" Actually I will pray for you whether you pray for me or not. Let the "Prayer Warriors" know your requests. You do not have to use first or last names. Initials will be fine.
Peace...
Al
The Bible says: "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16b)
Let us pray for those that may be in the midst of a storm (either physically or emotionally). Please take a minute to pray for those that are in any type of distress or need.
Please pray for my friend Steve and his wife as she tends to the health of her mom. I also pray for my friend Tom who is regaining his health and strength after an illness. Luckily Tom has a strong wife. May God bless you all my friends.
I also solicit your prayers for me and my family because there are some tough decisions that will have to be made. I ask you to pray that the choices that we make will be pleasing in the eyes of God and bring Him glory.
My prayer is as follows:
"I pray God that you show mercy to those that are either physically or emotionally in danger or harms way. That you provide a hedge between them and that danger as well as provide whatever is needed for their healing and protection. I know that all things are possible with you Lord. I praise you Lord and am thanking you in advance. I ask this in the name of your son Jesus who said in John 15:7 :
"If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. Amen""
If there are any additional prayer requests for family or friends, please add them by way of comments. "You pray for me, I pray for you!" Actually I will pray for you whether you pray for me or not. Let the "Prayer Warriors" know your requests. You do not have to use first or last names. Initials will be fine.
Peace...
Al
Sunday, August 17, 2008
A Little Help From Our Friends
When I was a Naval Aviator in the USMC, believe it or not, I had approximately 80 takeoffs and landings aboard US Navy aircraft carriers. I am going to use one of my missions aboard the USS Midway in order to illustrate a point. Two hours prior to each mission the pilot and I would always brief together and talk about the requirements of the mission, the expected weather during takeoff and landing as well as coordinating the tasks in the cockpit prior to our catapult shot and prior to our arrested landing back aboard the carrier.
Because the EA-6A was a two crewmember aircraft where the crew members sat side-by-side (Pilot on the left of the centerline of the aircraft and myself right of center), we always had a tendency to drift to the left during approach. Additionally the layout of the instrumentation was not particularly conducive to the pilots’ instrument scan and control of the aircraft during a fast paced carrier approach. As a result I would always provide a pilot with line-up and airspeed information during our approaches back aboard ship.
During this particular mission that was in the middle of the Indian Ocean and hundreds of miles from the nearest land, the pilot decided that he was so good that he did not need any information from me during the approach. In my estimation he was making a mistake but I played it off and went down to maintenance in order to check the status of the aircraft we were scheduled to fly. The aircraft that we were scheduled to fly was in excellent working condition. I then went and got the latest weather update during takeoff, along our route and during the time of our approach and landing back aboard the ship. We were scheduled to launch at approximately 12 p.m. and scheduled to recover back aboard ship at approximately 2 p.m. The weather was expected to be CAVU (Clear and the Visibility Unlimited).
Since the aircraft was in good condition and the weather was expected to be perfect I decided to play along with homeboys’ display of arrogance. Understand that I had flown with more experienced and highly seasoned pilots than the one I was crewed with on that day and they always asked for line-up and airspeed information during our descent and approach back aboard the carrier.
After we had completed our mission and prior to starting our descent and approach back aboard the carrier I asked homeboy one more time if he needed my help during the approach. He said “no” and since the aircraft was in good condition, the weather was perfect and we had enough fuel for two approaches, I kept my mouth shut. I was not surprised when the Landing Safety Officer (LSO) said "bolter, bolter, bolter" over the radio, which indicated that we made a missed approach in our attempt to land aboard the carrier and had to work our way back into the pattern of other landing aircraft and try to land aboard the carrier again.
Since pilots are graded on each approach that they make aboard the carrier, I knew that homeboy was unhappy because a “bolter” is not a good grade. This next time just prior to beginning our descent and approach to the carrier homeboy said “Al, can you give me airspeed and line-up during the approach?"
Since he was no longer "Stuck on Stupid" and my rear end was on the line as well as his since we had enough fuel for this approach only without having to go find an airborne tanker (if we made another missed approach), I gladly provided the necessary information. We made a normal arrested landing and during our debrief homeboy was as red as a beet and said nothing about his missed approach.
I brought up this illustration in order to make a point. The point is that even when things are going well in our lives we always need "A Little Help from Our Friends."
I know that there are times that we think that we have everything under control and have attained our present position as a result of our intellect, education or strength. In my opinion, we need to focus our worship on God and thank Him for providing us the intellect, education or strength necessary to attain our current position.
We may think that the money we have in the bank or stock market is enough to protect us and provide us income during our retirement years. In my opinion, we need to realize that we are placing our faith in pieces of paper with numbers on them and as a result we are worshiping the creation and not the Creator.
Now do not get me wrong, God gave us Dominion over the earth and everything that is in it. Sometimes however we have a tendency to walk right past God and worship a new home, a new auto, a new pair of shoes when Matthew 6:33 states "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
My goal in today's Post is for us to focus on seeking God's help even in the midst of good times. We should ask him for his input and guidance even in the midst of our most mundane affairs. I believe that if we'd make this a constant habit then we will have very few missed approaches in life.
Peace…..
Al
Because the EA-6A was a two crewmember aircraft where the crew members sat side-by-side (Pilot on the left of the centerline of the aircraft and myself right of center), we always had a tendency to drift to the left during approach. Additionally the layout of the instrumentation was not particularly conducive to the pilots’ instrument scan and control of the aircraft during a fast paced carrier approach. As a result I would always provide a pilot with line-up and airspeed information during our approaches back aboard ship.
During this particular mission that was in the middle of the Indian Ocean and hundreds of miles from the nearest land, the pilot decided that he was so good that he did not need any information from me during the approach. In my estimation he was making a mistake but I played it off and went down to maintenance in order to check the status of the aircraft we were scheduled to fly. The aircraft that we were scheduled to fly was in excellent working condition. I then went and got the latest weather update during takeoff, along our route and during the time of our approach and landing back aboard the ship. We were scheduled to launch at approximately 12 p.m. and scheduled to recover back aboard ship at approximately 2 p.m. The weather was expected to be CAVU (Clear and the Visibility Unlimited).
Since the aircraft was in good condition and the weather was expected to be perfect I decided to play along with homeboys’ display of arrogance. Understand that I had flown with more experienced and highly seasoned pilots than the one I was crewed with on that day and they always asked for line-up and airspeed information during our descent and approach back aboard the carrier.
After we had completed our mission and prior to starting our descent and approach back aboard the carrier I asked homeboy one more time if he needed my help during the approach. He said “no” and since the aircraft was in good condition, the weather was perfect and we had enough fuel for two approaches, I kept my mouth shut. I was not surprised when the Landing Safety Officer (LSO) said "bolter, bolter, bolter" over the radio, which indicated that we made a missed approach in our attempt to land aboard the carrier and had to work our way back into the pattern of other landing aircraft and try to land aboard the carrier again.
Since pilots are graded on each approach that they make aboard the carrier, I knew that homeboy was unhappy because a “bolter” is not a good grade. This next time just prior to beginning our descent and approach to the carrier homeboy said “Al, can you give me airspeed and line-up during the approach?"
Since he was no longer "Stuck on Stupid" and my rear end was on the line as well as his since we had enough fuel for this approach only without having to go find an airborne tanker (if we made another missed approach), I gladly provided the necessary information. We made a normal arrested landing and during our debrief homeboy was as red as a beet and said nothing about his missed approach.
I brought up this illustration in order to make a point. The point is that even when things are going well in our lives we always need "A Little Help from Our Friends."
I know that there are times that we think that we have everything under control and have attained our present position as a result of our intellect, education or strength. In my opinion, we need to focus our worship on God and thank Him for providing us the intellect, education or strength necessary to attain our current position.
We may think that the money we have in the bank or stock market is enough to protect us and provide us income during our retirement years. In my opinion, we need to realize that we are placing our faith in pieces of paper with numbers on them and as a result we are worshiping the creation and not the Creator.
Now do not get me wrong, God gave us Dominion over the earth and everything that is in it. Sometimes however we have a tendency to walk right past God and worship a new home, a new auto, a new pair of shoes when Matthew 6:33 states "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
My goal in today's Post is for us to focus on seeking God's help even in the midst of good times. We should ask him for his input and guidance even in the midst of our most mundane affairs. I believe that if we'd make this a constant habit then we will have very few missed approaches in life.
Peace…..
Al
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