I’ve had to do public speaking as a part of my work for many years. While I’m not the most polished presenter out there, I have had the opportunity to go through a couple public speaking training programs such as Dale Carnegie and Fusion that have taught me some valuable speaking skills and techniques.
Category: Live
Categories
Eating Everything on Your Plate
“If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.” Proverbs 25:16
We have a tendency to overindulge. It’s systemic in our culture. Consider the portion size at your favorite restaurant. We call it value – ironic, isn’t that? – and eat (or drink, or spend, or wear, or use) it all because it’s there. And besides, to not do it would be wasteful, wouldn’t it? After all I paid for it.
Categories
An Eye For An Eye?
Proverbs 24:29 challenges us: “Do not say, ‘I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.'”
It ought to be common sense, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we often want an eye for an eye.
Categories
Governor or Guide
Late last summer I was cutting the grass and getting more than a little frustrated that my mower didn’t seem to have much power. A neighbor knowledgeable about engines quickly diagnosed the problem. It was the governor. Not the one who sits in the state capitol, but the one that limits the power of my motor and keeps it from revving so high that it explodes.
The thing is, people are a lot different from combustion engines.
Categories
Kindness and Blindness
It’s easy to confuse the two.
Our natural antennae are hyper-sensitive to the perceived wrongs around us and to us. When I see someone who exhibits a kind demeanor, although I don’t particularly like to admit it, I’m prone to the passing thought that perhaps they’re a bit naive; something of a pushover. Rarely do I associate kindness with power, at least not naturally. But I should.
Categories
What’s the Good Word?
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. (Proverbs 12:25) I’m struggling to memorize this bible verse. I’ve got the first half down, but I get hung up on the last part. Ironic, isn’t it?
Categories
Good Grief
What’s so good about it anyway? It seems like more often than not I’m struggling to pray with any degree of faith and an overabundance of grief. Anxiety gets the better part of me. Mental distress and a hundred scenarios of bad and worse distract from the exercise of seeking peace and trusting in God’s mercy, provision and compassion. My train of thought looks something like this:
Categories
Money Talks, but What Does it Say?
If it’s true that money talks, it’s worth considering what it’s saying. The implicit assumption, of course, is that it gets the owner what they want. That is to say, money talks about the person who’s got it. How powerful they are, how generous they are, how wealthy they are, etc.
Consider Christian giving. What is your money saying when you give it. Is it talking about you or is it talking about God?
If giving money an expression of worship and devotion to the God who provides all things then is there any room for a plaque, or building, or ministry, or scholarship with your name on it?
I’m writing this post on a pad of notebook paper. I haven’t done that in a long time, but there’s a reason for it. Recently I was waxing eloquently on my WordPress dashboard. I was in the zone and it was pure genius. The poetry of prose flowed and my mind glowed. And then, in an instant (you of course guessed it), it was gone. I hadn’t saved a draft periodically. An amateur mistake. And I know you know the feeling; like a deflated balloon.
Tell me something I don’t know. That’s what we like to hear about.
But the problem with this is that we’re already pretty smart people. And we’re awash with information. The answer to this often results in some pretty cray stuff often accompanied by a cheap stock photo. How often have you seen truth compromised for traffic. Or placid prose which at best is lukewarm.
How about this: Remind me of something I know but haven’t thought much about lately.