COMMENTS about this page: When I have a little extra time I often spend it thinking in a variety of areas. These are my creative times. I don't regularly journal, I simply write my thoughts and observations and number them. If I come across anothers thoughts or sayings that impress me, I write that down preceded by #. Here are some that might make sense.

THOUGHTS AND IDEAS

1. A "Loose Cannon" is an influential individual who assumes his own authority! He is dangerous because he is accountable to no one! He is unpredictable! Wisdom says, distance yourself from a loose cannon or an unpredictable person!

2. I must be consistent with my own interpretation of a scriptural doctrine or I can rightly be called a hypocrite! But I must understand that another is not obligated to be consistent with my interpretation.

3. We have a church full of VNP's ... very nice people when we should by now have a church full of VCP's... very committed people!

4. Christianity will not work in a mans life until he is more interested in "getting under" God's authority than "getting out of" God's authority.

5. The purpose of life is not to find your freedom but, your master. P.T.Forsyth

6. Entering the closed mind! Closed doors: There are many entrances to our mind ... like doors. (front door, side door and back door). Doors can be shut, locked and bolted. The front door is the most common entrance. The formal and expected entrance. According to age and experience ... it is very guarded.

7. The side door of humor: Often as not we accept what we laugh at. Humor is an amazing force. It lowers the guard.

8. Some doors are not only locked on the outside but bolted from the inside. We can get keys for the outside but those that are bolted from the inside are impossible to open from the outside ... the individual must open this door willingly. This becomes a challenge.

9. Most of us forget there is always a back door to a persons mind. The back door is reserved for family and friends ... the trusted/unthreatening few.

10. A ring of keys that open most doors ... love, respect, humility, honesty, friendship, humor, interest, adventure, passion!

11. Closed doors! What will close doors? strangers (hence the need to develop relationships) ... statements, threats, demands, enemies, disinterest, etc.

12. Three resistance's to an open mind. (1) The closed door. (2) The locked door. (3) The bolted door!

13. EXCESS of what I like ... what I like to see, what I like to do, what I like to have ... is sin.

14. May I have the strength and the discipline to implement the wisdom I have.

15. In one sense authority is a paradox ... (1) we respond to it and like it. (2) we need it. (3) it attracts us. BUT ... we also resist it by our very nature. It often closes the door.

16. Political Pull: There are times when it would sure be nice to have a little "Joseph" to lean on while in Egypt!

17. It isn't important for me to leave an impressive epitaph even a wealthy estate ... only to leave a great "legacy."

18. Mutant leaders: There will always be leaders that carry contradicting traits. This combination can cancel out their effective role in leadership.

19. I don't hold that our academic community is Deity and that Education is our salvation. I don't worship "Academy."

20. A follower is just a follower ... he feels happy just to be on the train.

21. NO! Not everybody is "savable." Not everybody can be saved ... If I don't recognize my need to be saved, I can't be saved. More correctly, I "won't" be saved. If I'm not lost I can't be found. If I don't feel I'm lost how can I be found? The Holy Spirit convicts of sin. Can I truly be "saved" without being aware that I am lost? Indeed what am I saved from? Example: Suppose I decided to swim to Hawaii, an impossibility! There would be no way you could save me until I came to the point of realizing the futility of my effort ... and that I were doomed to drown. Then, and then only, would I be a candidate for "saving" ... or "salvation."

22. Baptists are great people for knowing what they "don't want" but find it impossible to agree on what they "do want!"

23. Where there are two Baptists there are three or more opinions.

24. Good question ... In what environment does the leader surface? ... thrive? A leaderless vacuum.

25. There is a lot of difference between a "Loose cannon" and a "Loose Cap-gun!" ... a lot of noise but no power ... No threat!.

26. Not everyone who is leading the pack ... is a leader in the pack or leader of the pack! There are always some people who are sharper than the rest simply because they are industrious and end up far ahead of the rest, however they are not necessarily "leading" anyone. They are smart, industrious and most of all, committed to themselves and their own agenda.

27. Prayer: Lord if what I'm holding to is as ugly to you as what Achan held and as dangerous to me as what Achan hid ... Help me for your sake and my sake to release it.

28. The secular "Golden Rule" He who has the Gold ... makes the rules! or "Do it unto others before they get a chance to do it to you!"

29. I love the person who tells "WHY" and shows "HOW"!" Now that's teaching!

30. He is great in running the 95 yd. dash! (not the 100 yd dash) I don't want someone who fails in the last 5 yds. Give me a person who is dedicated to winning the 110 yd dash! ... now that's a serious runner!

31. To give ones time doesn't mean giving ones involvement!

32. Opportunity must always be connected to accountability!

33. A follower is content just to "BE" ... a leader wants to "BECOME!"

34. (Observation) Some men have their wealth on them, others have their wealth around them ... some have their wealth IN them!

35. (Observation) You can never corrupt a Nobel cause, but you can exploit it and subvert it! And it doesn't take a noble individual to pursue a noble cause. Men have perverted many a noble cause! It is easy to paint your own agenda with a noble brush.

36. The dilemma of "muted" men. The muted men of mediocrity! Why can't Christian men speak up? Men ... the muted gender!

37. Outreach isn't scriptural ... Christ said GO OUT not REACH OUT! Look at Mk. 16:15 ... Go ye into all the world ... OUTREACH implies that I remain in my comfort zone and try to reach the hurting. An exercise in futility!

38. In the Kingdom and out of the Kingdom ... some interesting thinking. We can serve in the Kingdom and out of the Kingdom. We can serve one another in the Kingdom ... that's where most of us are. Or we can move into the Kingdom of darkness and minister to the blind and needy. We must GO into the dark world! In order to GO to we must LEAVE from. We just need to deal with going!

39. When I'm communicating, I'm sensitive to response on the part of the audience or individual. Often I am trying to elicit a response not always a positive response, but a response never the less. I must keep my audience alive.

40. It might be better to have fewer" speech classes" and more "classes in communicating!

41. MY PHILOSOPHY ON EVANGELISM ... Sow seeds ... Throw seeds or Stow seeds! Most people stow the seeds of the Gospel. Some throw the seeds of the Gospel and call it Evangelism, others plow and then "sow" the seeds of the Gospel. Fruitful investment!

42. Efficient isn't necessarily Effective! There is a point when working with people that EFFICIENCY loses its EFFECTIVENESS! In the Church today we are trying so hard to be "efficient" that we are not "effective!" When it comes to people it is hard to be "efficient."

43. Endangered species! ... The volunteer. The committed. The virgin. The hero, and the prudent.

44. Are we, as Christians, trying to communicate "The Truth" by using the medium of deception? Acting, fiction, comics, etc. Is this going to be eternally effective? Is this what God has in mind?

45. Courage is the willingness to walk into the unknown and meet the unpredictable.

46. Predictable often as not has a narcotic effect.

47. A good speaker is a person hired to tell the audience what they want to hear the way they want to hear it. Why are we looking for a good speaker?

48. Church leadership/Pastor: If you get a pastor with a strong leadership profile the church will be limited only to that mans capacity for growth and direction. He will be the real factor in health and growth. Things will be much simpler. He will not be apt to develop leaders or attract other leaders but there will not be the distention, division or constant fires to put out. Politics will never be much of an issue. The church will be full of loyal followers knowing their place ... A weak Pastor (If he doesn't surround himself with a strong supporting staff) will develop a political environment full of would-be leaders and agendas. His time will be spent "putting out fires!"

49. Perhaps the most significant "teaching time" in a child's life is in bed just before he goes asleep ... unfortunately that's "prime time T.V.!"

50. The secret of a good speaker and a good communicator ... He is always "relevant!" to his audience. He knows his audience and where they are at.

51. Prayer! Lord give the man a "Heavenly Goose!" ... get him up and going! Give the man a goose, Lord!

52. Can a Christian afford to be a realist? Can God change reality! Can a man be really "converted?" Do we have to accept "the way people are today?" ... our culture? And work around it or despite it?

53. Two contrasting life principles ... 1. Paul: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain!"(Phil 1:21) and 2. Demas: "For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus." (Phil 2:21) and for Demas (II Tim 4:10)

54. Easier to share the light and preach & teach the light than to BE the light! (Matt 5:16) In Matthew we are told to BE light and BE salt ... not simply share, teach and preach it! It's much harder to live it than to share it.

55. We are into consumerism even when it comes to the body of Christ! That's how we look at a Church, as a "consumer." As if the Church has something to sell. Pay & receive! Look at the "Church hopping" ... and "Church shopping." When we "shop for a Church." (and we do!) What is it we really look for? The best bargain! What we can get ... never what we can give! We certainly don't look for ministry opportunities! What are we saying here?

56. Orienting is very important! This is done in the beginning of life! Up, down ... right & wrong ... good and bad! just like you orient yourself to your compass at the beginning of your flight ... or you will be off all during your flight ... life!

57. Good quote: Power can't be given. It must be taken!

58. Moses was an activist in his early years. He was an young idealist! He was anti-establishment! He did all the wrong things for all the right reasons. But like so many young activists he lost his zeal and idealism in later years. He was "burned out" on God! God had to deal with him when he was no longer an activist ... but an old tired realist! Look what God can do with "His" man!

59. God can do anything with his man ... that's what makes the difference. He has to have "His" man ... The question I must ask if God is ever to use me ... am I His man? Have I given my life over to Him? He will only use what He possesses! The key, then, is to give myself to God and become "oriented" to Him. His will. His pleasure, etc. The Word and my meditation on the Word is my "orientation." I have then an orientation to purpose.

60. The premise of "consumerism" is that you can buy anything! Christian "consumers" feel they can buy their services from God. Today we even shop around for a Church. Everything in the Church (but Christ) supports the "consumer approach"! Pastor, Church leadership even the seminary ... all want to see the "consumer Christian" developed.

61. Church hopping and Church shopping have the same basis. "Consumerism." Looking for the Church that gives the most for the least amount of money, commitment and time.

62. Jesus Christ had a way of teaching commitment. It was called "follow me!" He taught that there were no options! When you followed Him, you followed Him! You don't teach commitment as a subject in a school.

63. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin! He uses the Word, but as I use the Word I must not try and be the Holy Spirit ... or try to do His work. He knows the end from the beginning, and will do it in His time and in His way! His work will always come out good.

64. It seems in congress there is a dead heat race between corruption and incompetence!

65. The Church needs its "Activists." It needs to develop the environment in which activists thrive. A true disciple must be an activist! He must call for action and be part of the action. The Church must be a supporter of ministry & mission.

66. What has been taught can rarely be separated from who taught it. That's why it is essential to have a good teacher! One who is consistent with his teaching.

67. A "high maintenance person" doesn't end up in the ministry. He ends up being ministered to. He becomes a "ministry" ... He wants and/or needs to be ministered to.

68. As far as fasting goes I have very little to lose ... some of my brothers have more to lose than they have to gain!

69. You can tell a lot about a leader by looking at the people who elect to follow him.

70. Trials, problems and pressures even tragedies don't necessarily make a man or even break a man, but reveals a man for who he really is.

71. Activists: There are noisy activists and working activists. There is a lot of difference between those who call for action and those who work for action and change.

72. Only God can make a tree, every time we cut down a tree we take a stroke at God and take another step in the "progress" of man!

73. Endangered species: The volunteer, The virgin, The truly pious. The wise. The sage. The true pastor.

74. God can do anything but he elects to use something or someone. He is just apt to use what He possesses.