- The value of WELCOME which is about being a person who makes other people feel welcomed and valued in your presence. We do this through our greeting, our body language, our tone, but I reckon mostly through our eyes. If you smile at a person with your eyes and mean it, they will know they are valued and loved.
- The value of WORSHIP which is about puttig God as central to our life. It can be as simple as a daily affirmation/prayer like, 'Dear God, today I want to honour you in my life, guide me to know, love and obey you in all I do as I seek to love you, myself and others.
- The value of WONDER which is about consciously noting the good things in and around your life and having a sense of wonder about how lucky we really are. Note for example that the average Australian has an income that places them in the top 3% of income earners in all history.
- The value of the WORD which is about regularly going to the Word of God, the bible, and getting inspiration and guidance for how to live life.
- The value of WORKS which is about living out what you believe so that we make the world a better place for everyone.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Joy Exercise 15: Values
Here are five values that I think help create a joyful life, I call them the 5w's.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Joy Exercise 14: Spend time daily in prayer
When you learn to quieten down and connect with God it brings a centre of peace in amongst the storms of life and you find joy there.
One simple way of developing a time with God is to spend 1 minute on each of the following areas and then over time expanding that time to 2-5 minutes in each area.
One simple way of developing a time with God is to spend 1 minute on each of the following areas and then over time expanding that time to 2-5 minutes in each area.
- Spend time praising God for who he is. (Psalm 63:3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.)
- Spend time in silence. (Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God.)
- Spend time confessing failures. (Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.)
- Read a short bible passage and talk to God about whatever comes to mind. (Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.)
- Talk to God about some of the things that concern you happening in the world. (Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.)
- Pray for the needs of others. (1 Timothy 2:1-2 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.)
- Pray for your personal needs. (Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.)
- Give thanks to God for the circumstances of your life and the things around you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.)
- Sing a song that honours God. (Psalm 100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.)
- Read a verse of the bible and meditate on it for guidance and encouragement. (Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.)
- Spend a moment to listen to what God is saying to you in your heart, through your emotions and with your mind. (Ecclesiastes 5:2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.)
- Finish with some more time in praising God for who he is. (Psalm 52:9 I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.)
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Joy Exercise 13: Add exercise to your life
There is a correlation between exercise and feeling good, so think about how you can add some exercise to your life.
The secret to doing this is to begin small and have a purpose you are aiming towards.
So pick something that you'd like to be able to do in 6 months, e.g. walk 10km, ride a bike for 1 hour, run a race, swim for 20 minutes, do a 1/2 marathon, go for a 2 day hike, etc.
Now pick a really small achieveable step and add it to your routine for 7 days. E.g. walk around the block, run for 10 minutes, do 5 press-ups, etc.
Then every 7 days or so see if you can increase it by 5%. An increase of 5% per week will increase your total amount by 3.5 times in the next 26 weeks.
You can probably increase by 10% a week for a little while, but once you've been going a few months a 5% increase per week will make sure you avoid over stressing the body too much.
Some examples:
Example 1: Imagine you start with run/walking 1km x 3 times per week and increase it by 10% each week for the first 6 weeks, and then 5% from then on. By the end of 26 weeks you will be run/walking 4.5km x 3 times per week.
Example 2: Imagine you start with 15 situps x 3 times per week and increase it by 10% each week for the first 6 weeks, and then 5% from then on. By the end of 26 weeks you will be doing 67 situps x 3 times per week.
From little things big things grow!
The secret to doing this is to begin small and have a purpose you are aiming towards.
So pick something that you'd like to be able to do in 6 months, e.g. walk 10km, ride a bike for 1 hour, run a race, swim for 20 minutes, do a 1/2 marathon, go for a 2 day hike, etc.
Now pick a really small achieveable step and add it to your routine for 7 days. E.g. walk around the block, run for 10 minutes, do 5 press-ups, etc.
Then every 7 days or so see if you can increase it by 5%. An increase of 5% per week will increase your total amount by 3.5 times in the next 26 weeks.
You can probably increase by 10% a week for a little while, but once you've been going a few months a 5% increase per week will make sure you avoid over stressing the body too much.
Some examples:
Example 1: Imagine you start with run/walking 1km x 3 times per week and increase it by 10% each week for the first 6 weeks, and then 5% from then on. By the end of 26 weeks you will be run/walking 4.5km x 3 times per week.
Example 2: Imagine you start with 15 situps x 3 times per week and increase it by 10% each week for the first 6 weeks, and then 5% from then on. By the end of 26 weeks you will be doing 67 situps x 3 times per week.
From little things big things grow!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Joy Exercise 12: Find things to provoke conversations with the ones you love
I recommend going to see the movie 'Couples Retreat' with your partner.
Here are some questions to consider:
Here are some questions to consider:
- Which couple can I most relate to and why?
- Which of the partners do you see yourself as most like?
- What could we do to improve our relationship?
Joy Exercise 11: Happiness is a choice
Recently read the book "THE CHOICE” by Og Mandino. I thought this speech from Pages 142-154 of that book was really worth passing on. Hope you enjoy it to.
I encourage you to read and reflect on the challenges of this speech.
Man or woman . . . wherever these words have found you, turn away from your travail and struggles of the hour and give me your hand. Come with me on a mission of exploration, a journey of the mind that may help you to change your life for the better.
We are not, you and I, searching for gold or silver or oil but for something far more valuable—a key—a simple key that will unlock our prison door and free us from our hell of unhappiness, insecurity, and failure so that we can at least have the opportunity to fulfill our dreams. That same key, if we find it, will unlock the greatest puzzle box of humanity and unveil the answer to a question that has haunted and occupied most of mankind for centuries . . .
Is there a better way to live?
We have been told that man is the only animal that knows nothing, and can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak nor walk nor eat nor do anything at the prompt of nature except weep.
During the rush of centuries we have been taught many things, but our weeping did not diminish as our knowledge increased. Tears of despondency, failure, frustration, self-pity, helplessness and fear are as common today as when Homer cried that among all creatures that breathe on earth and crawl on it there is not anywhere a thing more dismal than man.
Why is this so? Why are we unhappy? Have we not been told that we were created in the image of God, and did we not receive complete dominion over this world? When did we reject our image? How did we abdicate our power? What went wrong? Why do we feel, in our hearts, that we are as unfulfilled today as were our ancestors whose every waking moment was spent in struggles merely to survive?
Did God abandon us somewhere along the way? Did He grow weary of our failure to take full advantage of the minds and the talents He breathed into us, and the paradise He willed us, and move on to other worlds, other galaxies, leaving us to fend for ourselves? Would He, in his infinite knowledge, do such a thing after building so many contradictions into each of us that He certainly must have forseen that trouble was inevitable?
Man is the only animal that blushes and laughs, and yet this same creature, who can be so tender and loving, -is the only living thing that constantly preys on its own species. Why? Why does he kill, steal, rape, pillage, lie and cheat if he is, in truth, the pinnacle of creation? Why does he, through his foolish actions, condemn himself to a life of servitude, misery, failure, and frustration if he is the center of the cosmos and the recipient of so many blessings from God? And—if we have been living in this sorry state for so many millenia, is there any reason to believe that we can change now, that we can discover a better way to live?
That is what our quest is all about, yours and mine, so hear me out and hear me well. What we can accomplish together may well determine how you will spend the rest of your days.
Let us embark on this journey, as all journeys should begin, with a clear understanding of where we are when we start out. Your response to five questions should accurately fix your position, your present location on life's winding road:
Are you in control of your life?Are you at peace with yourself and those around you?Are you proud of your life's accomplishments?Are you and your family enjoying the fruits of your work?Are you happy and contented?
Simple questions, yes.. But difficult to answer. Painful. Painful because those who can reply to all five in the affirmative, truthfully, are as rare as a twenty-carat flawless diamond. Gather these fortunate people together, from the four corners of our earth, and you would see that they are only a minute percentage of our six billion inhabitants.
Why? Why can we not live in peace and tranquility and pride and contentment and happiness on a bountiful sphere that was willed to us with love?
Are we merely puppets—actors and actresses on a stage—following scripts of prophecies made by anguished wise men of the past? Was Job correct when he cried, "Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble"? Was Sophocles bemoaning our true fate when he asked, "What trouble is beyond the range of man? What heavy burden will he not endure?" or Lucretius when he dipped his reed in ink and wrote, "0 miserable minds of men! 0 blinded beasts! In what darkness of life and in how great dangers is passed this term of life whatever its duration?"
It is an easy game to mock man's efforts to live a better life since he was banished from Eden. Huge followings have been attracted by those who scornfully declare that all mortals are fools and that we are all born with halters around our neck. Their words, echoing through our history and literature, provide an easy refuge and excuse for us when we fail, when we finally grow weary of trying to improve our conditions, when we have been struck down by forces beyond our control, when a succession of setbacks has drained our resources. Defeat, somehow, seems easier to bear knowing that this was the fate prophesied for us by so many men of genius. Thus we allow ourselves to drown in a sea of mediocrity after little struggle, or we allow our true potential to rust because of disuse, or we wander through what could have been the best years of our lives filled with bitterness and self-pity and catch only an occasional fleeting glimpse of what might have been. Prophecy fulfilled.
Why have we allowed this tragedy, this plague of failure and unhappiness, to infect us? Why are we able to conquer dreaded diseases, circle distant planets, view events thousands of miles away from the comfort of our homes, design machines that can tend to our every wish, transplant our own organs, even create life in a test tube and yet make so little progress in elevating man's opinion of himself and his many talents?
Are the prophets of doom, both past and present, correct? Are we here far no purpose? Is this world, this spinning ball that we inhabit, not much other than an anthill, where some ants carry corn, and some carry their young, and some go empty, and all go to and fro on a little heap of dust? Is our life, our most valuable possession, no more than a little gleam of time between two eternities with no second chance for us, ever?
Why is it that in the most prosperous and vital nation that ever existed, more than three hundred thousand individuals attempt to end their lives each -year7? Why is it that we are so unable to cope with the realities of our days that more than fifty million prescriptions for Valium were dispensed in this country last year? Why are we forced to treat more than four thousand new mental cases every twenty-four hours and stand by helplessly while the number of heroin addicts and cocaine addicts and alcoholics rise to epidemic proportions? Is this how we must live, dreading the failures and horrors of each day with so much passion that we are willing to escape even if our flight destroys us?
There must be a better way to live. There is a better way to live!
When we were given dominion over the world, we were also given dominion over ourselves. God is not our navigator. It was never His intention to chart a course for each of us and place us all under His bondage. Instead, He bestowed each of us with intellect and talent and vision to map our own way, to write our own Book of Life in any manner that we choose.
Choice! The key is choice. You have options. You need not spend your life wallowing in failure, ignorance, grief, poverty, shame, and self-pity. But, hold on! If this is true, then why have so many among us apparently elected to live in that manner? Who would be foolish enough to choose failure over success, ignorance over knowledge, poverty over wealth? No one! So how do we explain the vast multitude of humanity that continue to exist in hopeless mediocrity, unbilled, frustrated, envious, drained of confidence and self-esteem, unable to meet even their daily obligations? It’s so sad that each new day produces no fresh seedling of hope but only more weeds of despair from showers of tears?
The answer is simple and obvious. Those who live in unhappy failure have never exercised their options for the better things of life because they have never been aware that they had any choices! Life to them has never been a game of skill where study and hard work and courage and perseverance can be brought into play to turn failure into success, misery into happiness. Instead, these vast legions of losers look upon life as a war where they are always on the defensive, struggling with their own inferior talents against superior forces—a war they are always doomed to lose because they have come to believe that the only choice they have is to survive, or perish. How sad!
If you know what it is to eat the crumbs of failure, to labor drudgingly with only unhappiness as your constant companion, to sleep with tears of despair and hopelessness, let the dark curtain be pulled back for you. Look closely. Consider the choices still available to you, choices that you can elect immediately, no matter what your present condition may be, so that you can live the remainder of your life as your creator intended for you to live—in glory, not in shame.
Adopt the words that follow as your words. Clutch them to your heart and let these old principles, these forgotten rules, these sacred canons of the past, all become a public declaration of your intention to live a better life. This is your personal manifesto . . .
So many of us awake each morning with dread in our hearts. To face the monotony of another day with its ceaseless toil and pressures for so little reward is agony. We bathe, we put on our costume and reluctantly force ourselves to crawl from our cocoon to confront a world we imagine is ready to devour us or trample us underfoot. Each day repeats the drudgery of the lost, except that the hours seem to grow painfully longer as the years pass. The body is weary. The mind is numb. The obligations increase. The future is dim. Finally, the day ends. Blessed steep. Oblivion. And then the sun rises again.
I choose a better way to live!
Henceforth, each morning, I will awake and fall to my knees and give thanks to God for the gift that only He can bestow—a new day. This is my most priceless possession. If ever I should feel ungrateful and treat this miracle lightly, I need only open my morning newspaper to the obituary page and scan the long list of names there—names of people who would be most pleased to change places with me despite my problems. There are no problems in a cemetery. I would rather be here than there. I am grateful for this fresh opportunity. I will show my gratitude in everything I do, this day. A sundial counts only the hours of sunshine, but I will count them all. I will treasure each minute. I am immortal until my work is done and I have only begun. Thank you for these new hours, God. I needed this day to prove that your faith in my ability was not misplaced. I depart from home smiling. The birds—when did I last hear them singing? How fortunate I am to be here.
So many of us spend our lives searching far happiness. Like children hunting Easter eggs, we dash hither and yon hoping to discover some mystical bluebird. Life would be so different, we sigh, if only we were happy. And so, one hurries home to be happy and another flees home to be happy. One is getting married to be happy and another is getting divorced to be happy. One takes expensive cruises to be happy and another labors overtime to be happy. Endless search. Wasted years. Madness. Always the moon is out of reach, the fruit not quite ripe, the wine too dry. Shadows. Tears. Our pillow knows the truth.
I choose a better way to live!
Henceforth, my pursuit of happiness has ended. How blind I have been.' Now I know that happiness hides not in that new house, that new career, that new friend. And it is never for sale. When I cannot find contentment in myself, it is useless to seek it elsewhere. Whenever I depend on things outside myself to supply me with joy I am doomed to disappointment. Happiness, I see now, has nothing to do with getting. It consists of being satisfied with what I've got and what I haven't got. Few things are necessary to make the wise man happy while no amount of material wealth would satisfy a fool. I am not a fool. I have drawn a circle around me. Whenever I reach across it I will be giving, not taking. My needs are few. So long as I have something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for, I shall be happy. Now I know that the only source of happiness is within me, and I will begin to share it. Like a perfume, I know that I cannot pour it on others without getting a few drops on myself.
So many of us count the hours of our work as slavery. We limp through each day as if there were irons on our legs, our hands reluctantly on the task at hand, our eyes always on the clock. Let this day pass, we pray, so that i we can escape from this abominable place into the darkness. We flinch at the voice of authority, despising the power that decrees how we should act, how we must think on the job. We feel so helpless. Like a child. Disobey and we will be punished. Our food, our shelter, our very existence ordains that we must labor. Is this our total fate? Are these tools, this sales talk, this lifeless computer, my entire future until death frees me? Is this all there is?
I choose a better way to live!Henceforth, I will deal with any chore that confronts me, no matter how menial, no matter how arduous, no matter how boring, as if my entrance into heaven depended on it being completed to the best of my ability. Now I know the most certain secret of success ever shared with man. Now if I know I always do more than is expected of me, in all I'm asked to do, I cannot help but take long strides toward a better and more fulfilling career. My task of the moment is not a life sentence. I have the key to free myself. All I need do is throw myself into my work with enthusiasm, with initiative, and with love, and the shackles will fall from my legs. I am not a cog. I am the wheel and I must prove it. How? By demonstrating with action that I am far more valuable than the coins I now receive. This job of the moment is only a way station. God has bigger plans for me, but they will never be achieved by accident. I must earn the privilege of dealing with greater challenges, I can grow, right here, right now with whatever is at hand to do. My reward will come. I have faith.
So many of us think ourselves into smallness, into inferiority, by thinking downward. We are held back by too much caution. We are timid about venturing. We are not bold enough. And so we die before we reach middle age, although we will not be lowered into the ground until we pass three score and ten. What happened to the grand dreams of your youth? Suicide. Struck down by our own caution, our own lack of faith in ourselves and our abilities. Opportunities? There are many. But always there was risk. Do we dare? We vacillate. Time hurries by. Opportunities gone. We anguish. The years roll on. Finally, we convince ourselves that it’s too late and settle for cheap imitations of life. We envy the achievers. How lucky they are.
I choose a better way to live!
Henceforth, I will take every risk and embrace every opportunity that may provide a better way of life for me and my family. I no linger believe that a rolling stone gathers no moss. Better to be in motion than to be buried forever in a shady plot. That will come soon enough. I will despise myself later if I look back on my life and realize that I had the talent and the ability to do great things but could not find the courage to try. I know what I can do, and I know how little I have done. I have frittered away my opportunities like children at the seashore who fill thir hands with sand and let the grains of sand fall through their open fists. It is not too late for me. I can still fill my hands. I can still shape a future of success and happiness. I am capable of great wonders, and now I know that my achievements will never rise higher than my faith in myself. I have new faith. I was made in the image of God. I was not created to fail. Defeat? Possible. Quit! Never again.
These four positive life choices, available to all at no cost, are merely a small sampling of the myriad of options that are available to you every day. Now that you understand the thought process involved, now that you see how easy it is to separate the wheat from the chaff in your life, now that you have been alerted to the truth that you do have choices all along the way, this listing of our common faults and their cures need go no farther. The world is already too filled with rule books, with “how-to” guides, with seminars and cassettes dispensing secrets of success that are not secrets at all. The last thing you need is another set of principles or exhortations on how to make it big, how to accumulate wealth, how to restore your wandering self-esteem. And if the truth were known, we humans seldom pay much attention to columns of instructions, regulations, laws, and canons, no matter how important or beneficial they may seem. Consider the most important guides for living we have ever received, the Ten Commandments. Even those sacred laws are frequently ignored since less than half of all those who piously profess to believe in them can recite more than five! And what about happiness, peace of mind, contentment, serenity? If you now choose to raise your sights and reach for success, if you choose to pursue fame and glory, must these all-important qualities of a good life be sacrificed? Are they the terrible price you and your family must always pay, as have so many others, to reach your new goals? The choice is up to you. Do you want it all-success plus happiness and peace of mind and contentment and serenity? Isn't that too much to expect? No! Open your heart and you will find that it is not difficult. Just choose to live each day as two others of long ago prayed they might live, two others who surely were special messengers of God. Take the time to memorize their humble pleas, combined here only because they seem to have sprung from the same loving heart: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy. I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. Now you are free! At last you can unlock your cell door and walk with head high toward the future you deserve, knowing that God does not require you to live on credit; He pays us what we earn as we earn it, good or evil, heaven or hell, according to our choice. There is a better way to live…and you have discovered the missing key! Choose to use it!
I encourage you to read and reflect on the challenges of this speech.
Man or woman . . . wherever these words have found you, turn away from your travail and struggles of the hour and give me your hand. Come with me on a mission of exploration, a journey of the mind that may help you to change your life for the better.
We are not, you and I, searching for gold or silver or oil but for something far more valuable—a key—a simple key that will unlock our prison door and free us from our hell of unhappiness, insecurity, and failure so that we can at least have the opportunity to fulfill our dreams. That same key, if we find it, will unlock the greatest puzzle box of humanity and unveil the answer to a question that has haunted and occupied most of mankind for centuries . . .
Is there a better way to live?
We have been told that man is the only animal that knows nothing, and can learn nothing without being taught. He can neither speak nor walk nor eat nor do anything at the prompt of nature except weep.
During the rush of centuries we have been taught many things, but our weeping did not diminish as our knowledge increased. Tears of despondency, failure, frustration, self-pity, helplessness and fear are as common today as when Homer cried that among all creatures that breathe on earth and crawl on it there is not anywhere a thing more dismal than man.
Why is this so? Why are we unhappy? Have we not been told that we were created in the image of God, and did we not receive complete dominion over this world? When did we reject our image? How did we abdicate our power? What went wrong? Why do we feel, in our hearts, that we are as unfulfilled today as were our ancestors whose every waking moment was spent in struggles merely to survive?
Did God abandon us somewhere along the way? Did He grow weary of our failure to take full advantage of the minds and the talents He breathed into us, and the paradise He willed us, and move on to other worlds, other galaxies, leaving us to fend for ourselves? Would He, in his infinite knowledge, do such a thing after building so many contradictions into each of us that He certainly must have forseen that trouble was inevitable?
Man is the only animal that blushes and laughs, and yet this same creature, who can be so tender and loving, -is the only living thing that constantly preys on its own species. Why? Why does he kill, steal, rape, pillage, lie and cheat if he is, in truth, the pinnacle of creation? Why does he, through his foolish actions, condemn himself to a life of servitude, misery, failure, and frustration if he is the center of the cosmos and the recipient of so many blessings from God? And—if we have been living in this sorry state for so many millenia, is there any reason to believe that we can change now, that we can discover a better way to live?
That is what our quest is all about, yours and mine, so hear me out and hear me well. What we can accomplish together may well determine how you will spend the rest of your days.
Let us embark on this journey, as all journeys should begin, with a clear understanding of where we are when we start out. Your response to five questions should accurately fix your position, your present location on life's winding road:
Are you in control of your life?Are you at peace with yourself and those around you?Are you proud of your life's accomplishments?Are you and your family enjoying the fruits of your work?Are you happy and contented?
Simple questions, yes.. But difficult to answer. Painful. Painful because those who can reply to all five in the affirmative, truthfully, are as rare as a twenty-carat flawless diamond. Gather these fortunate people together, from the four corners of our earth, and you would see that they are only a minute percentage of our six billion inhabitants.
Why? Why can we not live in peace and tranquility and pride and contentment and happiness on a bountiful sphere that was willed to us with love?
Are we merely puppets—actors and actresses on a stage—following scripts of prophecies made by anguished wise men of the past? Was Job correct when he cried, "Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble"? Was Sophocles bemoaning our true fate when he asked, "What trouble is beyond the range of man? What heavy burden will he not endure?" or Lucretius when he dipped his reed in ink and wrote, "0 miserable minds of men! 0 blinded beasts! In what darkness of life and in how great dangers is passed this term of life whatever its duration?"
It is an easy game to mock man's efforts to live a better life since he was banished from Eden. Huge followings have been attracted by those who scornfully declare that all mortals are fools and that we are all born with halters around our neck. Their words, echoing through our history and literature, provide an easy refuge and excuse for us when we fail, when we finally grow weary of trying to improve our conditions, when we have been struck down by forces beyond our control, when a succession of setbacks has drained our resources. Defeat, somehow, seems easier to bear knowing that this was the fate prophesied for us by so many men of genius. Thus we allow ourselves to drown in a sea of mediocrity after little struggle, or we allow our true potential to rust because of disuse, or we wander through what could have been the best years of our lives filled with bitterness and self-pity and catch only an occasional fleeting glimpse of what might have been. Prophecy fulfilled.
Why have we allowed this tragedy, this plague of failure and unhappiness, to infect us? Why are we able to conquer dreaded diseases, circle distant planets, view events thousands of miles away from the comfort of our homes, design machines that can tend to our every wish, transplant our own organs, even create life in a test tube and yet make so little progress in elevating man's opinion of himself and his many talents?
Are the prophets of doom, both past and present, correct? Are we here far no purpose? Is this world, this spinning ball that we inhabit, not much other than an anthill, where some ants carry corn, and some carry their young, and some go empty, and all go to and fro on a little heap of dust? Is our life, our most valuable possession, no more than a little gleam of time between two eternities with no second chance for us, ever?
Why is it that in the most prosperous and vital nation that ever existed, more than three hundred thousand individuals attempt to end their lives each -year7? Why is it that we are so unable to cope with the realities of our days that more than fifty million prescriptions for Valium were dispensed in this country last year? Why are we forced to treat more than four thousand new mental cases every twenty-four hours and stand by helplessly while the number of heroin addicts and cocaine addicts and alcoholics rise to epidemic proportions? Is this how we must live, dreading the failures and horrors of each day with so much passion that we are willing to escape even if our flight destroys us?
There must be a better way to live. There is a better way to live!
When we were given dominion over the world, we were also given dominion over ourselves. God is not our navigator. It was never His intention to chart a course for each of us and place us all under His bondage. Instead, He bestowed each of us with intellect and talent and vision to map our own way, to write our own Book of Life in any manner that we choose.
Choice! The key is choice. You have options. You need not spend your life wallowing in failure, ignorance, grief, poverty, shame, and self-pity. But, hold on! If this is true, then why have so many among us apparently elected to live in that manner? Who would be foolish enough to choose failure over success, ignorance over knowledge, poverty over wealth? No one! So how do we explain the vast multitude of humanity that continue to exist in hopeless mediocrity, unbilled, frustrated, envious, drained of confidence and self-esteem, unable to meet even their daily obligations? It’s so sad that each new day produces no fresh seedling of hope but only more weeds of despair from showers of tears?
The answer is simple and obvious. Those who live in unhappy failure have never exercised their options for the better things of life because they have never been aware that they had any choices! Life to them has never been a game of skill where study and hard work and courage and perseverance can be brought into play to turn failure into success, misery into happiness. Instead, these vast legions of losers look upon life as a war where they are always on the defensive, struggling with their own inferior talents against superior forces—a war they are always doomed to lose because they have come to believe that the only choice they have is to survive, or perish. How sad!
If you know what it is to eat the crumbs of failure, to labor drudgingly with only unhappiness as your constant companion, to sleep with tears of despair and hopelessness, let the dark curtain be pulled back for you. Look closely. Consider the choices still available to you, choices that you can elect immediately, no matter what your present condition may be, so that you can live the remainder of your life as your creator intended for you to live—in glory, not in shame.
Adopt the words that follow as your words. Clutch them to your heart and let these old principles, these forgotten rules, these sacred canons of the past, all become a public declaration of your intention to live a better life. This is your personal manifesto . . .
So many of us awake each morning with dread in our hearts. To face the monotony of another day with its ceaseless toil and pressures for so little reward is agony. We bathe, we put on our costume and reluctantly force ourselves to crawl from our cocoon to confront a world we imagine is ready to devour us or trample us underfoot. Each day repeats the drudgery of the lost, except that the hours seem to grow painfully longer as the years pass. The body is weary. The mind is numb. The obligations increase. The future is dim. Finally, the day ends. Blessed steep. Oblivion. And then the sun rises again.
I choose a better way to live!
Henceforth, each morning, I will awake and fall to my knees and give thanks to God for the gift that only He can bestow—a new day. This is my most priceless possession. If ever I should feel ungrateful and treat this miracle lightly, I need only open my morning newspaper to the obituary page and scan the long list of names there—names of people who would be most pleased to change places with me despite my problems. There are no problems in a cemetery. I would rather be here than there. I am grateful for this fresh opportunity. I will show my gratitude in everything I do, this day. A sundial counts only the hours of sunshine, but I will count them all. I will treasure each minute. I am immortal until my work is done and I have only begun. Thank you for these new hours, God. I needed this day to prove that your faith in my ability was not misplaced. I depart from home smiling. The birds—when did I last hear them singing? How fortunate I am to be here.
So many of us spend our lives searching far happiness. Like children hunting Easter eggs, we dash hither and yon hoping to discover some mystical bluebird. Life would be so different, we sigh, if only we were happy. And so, one hurries home to be happy and another flees home to be happy. One is getting married to be happy and another is getting divorced to be happy. One takes expensive cruises to be happy and another labors overtime to be happy. Endless search. Wasted years. Madness. Always the moon is out of reach, the fruit not quite ripe, the wine too dry. Shadows. Tears. Our pillow knows the truth.
I choose a better way to live!
Henceforth, my pursuit of happiness has ended. How blind I have been.' Now I know that happiness hides not in that new house, that new career, that new friend. And it is never for sale. When I cannot find contentment in myself, it is useless to seek it elsewhere. Whenever I depend on things outside myself to supply me with joy I am doomed to disappointment. Happiness, I see now, has nothing to do with getting. It consists of being satisfied with what I've got and what I haven't got. Few things are necessary to make the wise man happy while no amount of material wealth would satisfy a fool. I am not a fool. I have drawn a circle around me. Whenever I reach across it I will be giving, not taking. My needs are few. So long as I have something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for, I shall be happy. Now I know that the only source of happiness is within me, and I will begin to share it. Like a perfume, I know that I cannot pour it on others without getting a few drops on myself.
So many of us count the hours of our work as slavery. We limp through each day as if there were irons on our legs, our hands reluctantly on the task at hand, our eyes always on the clock. Let this day pass, we pray, so that i we can escape from this abominable place into the darkness. We flinch at the voice of authority, despising the power that decrees how we should act, how we must think on the job. We feel so helpless. Like a child. Disobey and we will be punished. Our food, our shelter, our very existence ordains that we must labor. Is this our total fate? Are these tools, this sales talk, this lifeless computer, my entire future until death frees me? Is this all there is?
I choose a better way to live!Henceforth, I will deal with any chore that confronts me, no matter how menial, no matter how arduous, no matter how boring, as if my entrance into heaven depended on it being completed to the best of my ability. Now I know the most certain secret of success ever shared with man. Now if I know I always do more than is expected of me, in all I'm asked to do, I cannot help but take long strides toward a better and more fulfilling career. My task of the moment is not a life sentence. I have the key to free myself. All I need do is throw myself into my work with enthusiasm, with initiative, and with love, and the shackles will fall from my legs. I am not a cog. I am the wheel and I must prove it. How? By demonstrating with action that I am far more valuable than the coins I now receive. This job of the moment is only a way station. God has bigger plans for me, but they will never be achieved by accident. I must earn the privilege of dealing with greater challenges, I can grow, right here, right now with whatever is at hand to do. My reward will come. I have faith.
So many of us think ourselves into smallness, into inferiority, by thinking downward. We are held back by too much caution. We are timid about venturing. We are not bold enough. And so we die before we reach middle age, although we will not be lowered into the ground until we pass three score and ten. What happened to the grand dreams of your youth? Suicide. Struck down by our own caution, our own lack of faith in ourselves and our abilities. Opportunities? There are many. But always there was risk. Do we dare? We vacillate. Time hurries by. Opportunities gone. We anguish. The years roll on. Finally, we convince ourselves that it’s too late and settle for cheap imitations of life. We envy the achievers. How lucky they are.
I choose a better way to live!
Henceforth, I will take every risk and embrace every opportunity that may provide a better way of life for me and my family. I no linger believe that a rolling stone gathers no moss. Better to be in motion than to be buried forever in a shady plot. That will come soon enough. I will despise myself later if I look back on my life and realize that I had the talent and the ability to do great things but could not find the courage to try. I know what I can do, and I know how little I have done. I have frittered away my opportunities like children at the seashore who fill thir hands with sand and let the grains of sand fall through their open fists. It is not too late for me. I can still fill my hands. I can still shape a future of success and happiness. I am capable of great wonders, and now I know that my achievements will never rise higher than my faith in myself. I have new faith. I was made in the image of God. I was not created to fail. Defeat? Possible. Quit! Never again.
These four positive life choices, available to all at no cost, are merely a small sampling of the myriad of options that are available to you every day. Now that you understand the thought process involved, now that you see how easy it is to separate the wheat from the chaff in your life, now that you have been alerted to the truth that you do have choices all along the way, this listing of our common faults and their cures need go no farther. The world is already too filled with rule books, with “how-to” guides, with seminars and cassettes dispensing secrets of success that are not secrets at all. The last thing you need is another set of principles or exhortations on how to make it big, how to accumulate wealth, how to restore your wandering self-esteem. And if the truth were known, we humans seldom pay much attention to columns of instructions, regulations, laws, and canons, no matter how important or beneficial they may seem. Consider the most important guides for living we have ever received, the Ten Commandments. Even those sacred laws are frequently ignored since less than half of all those who piously profess to believe in them can recite more than five! And what about happiness, peace of mind, contentment, serenity? If you now choose to raise your sights and reach for success, if you choose to pursue fame and glory, must these all-important qualities of a good life be sacrificed? Are they the terrible price you and your family must always pay, as have so many others, to reach your new goals? The choice is up to you. Do you want it all-success plus happiness and peace of mind and contentment and serenity? Isn't that too much to expect? No! Open your heart and you will find that it is not difficult. Just choose to live each day as two others of long ago prayed they might live, two others who surely were special messengers of God. Take the time to memorize their humble pleas, combined here only because they seem to have sprung from the same loving heart: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy. I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. Now you are free! At last you can unlock your cell door and walk with head high toward the future you deserve, knowing that God does not require you to live on credit; He pays us what we earn as we earn it, good or evil, heaven or hell, according to our choice. There is a better way to live…and you have discovered the missing key! Choose to use it!
Monday, November 02, 2009
Joy Exercise 10: Know where you are going
Happy people tend to decide to be happy and are proactive about the things that make them happy rather than passively expecting happiness to descend in the midst of a unfocused life.
I know that getting focused and being goal orientated can go too far, but I suspect for most people it hasn't even started. Amazingly only 3% of the population will have any written goals and this correlates with the 3% of people who seem to achieve much more than the rest of the population.
A helpful book to start to reflect on this idea is 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen Covey. You will find it in virtually any library or bookshop. There's a summary of the book at the link I've provided.
Or you might simply begin by reflecting on this question: What am I wanting to achieve (be specific) and what could I do today to move me one step closer?
I know that getting focused and being goal orientated can go too far, but I suspect for most people it hasn't even started. Amazingly only 3% of the population will have any written goals and this correlates with the 3% of people who seem to achieve much more than the rest of the population.
A helpful book to start to reflect on this idea is 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen Covey. You will find it in virtually any library or bookshop. There's a summary of the book at the link I've provided.
Or you might simply begin by reflecting on this question: What am I wanting to achieve (be specific) and what could I do today to move me one step closer?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Joy Exercise 9: Connect, Active , Notice, Learn, Give
I like this, thanks Jennifer for letting me know about it.
Research by The Foresight Project outlines five ways you can support your own wellbeing and that of the world around you, including your family, friends, colleagues and the wider community.- CONNECT Develop your relationships with friends, family, colleagues, and neighbours as these connections support you and enrich your life.
- BE ACTIVE Physical activity helps you to feel good so find something that you enjoy and suits your ability.
- TAKE NOTICE Be aware of the world around you and see the beauty in everyday and unusual things - reflecting on them helps you appreciate what matters to you.
- LEARN Try something new or rediscover an old interest, or take on a new responsibility or challenge - learning makes you more confident and can be fun.
- GIVE Do something for a friend or stranger and see yourself and your happiness as linked to the wider community.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Joy Exercise 8: Think 5
My goal is to come up with 365 simple practical exercises anybody can do to increase the level of joy in their life.
Happy people are thoughtful and other focused people. Now the reality is most of the time we are focused on ourselves, our feelings, our needs, our wants. If you don't believe me take notice of your thoughts throughout the day, how often is it self-focused?
Make a habit of once a day, maybe as part of your daily walk/exercise/work commute, to bring to mind 5 different people and think a positive thought about them and/or pray for them.
It might go like this: 'Thank you for Sally because ...' or 'Dear God, I pray for Bob, I ask that you help him with ...'
Happy people are thoughtful and other focused people. Now the reality is most of the time we are focused on ourselves, our feelings, our needs, our wants. If you don't believe me take notice of your thoughts throughout the day, how often is it self-focused?
Make a habit of once a day, maybe as part of your daily walk/exercise/work commute, to bring to mind 5 different people and think a positive thought about them and/or pray for them.
It might go like this: 'Thank you for Sally because ...' or 'Dear God, I pray for Bob, I ask that you help him with ...'
Joy Exercise 7: The $5 exercise
My goal is to come up with 365 simple practical exercises anybody can do to increase the level of joy in their life.
Decide that you're going to give away x dollars per week. Then as part of that make it a habit to collect some $5 notes in your wallet, then whenever anyone asks you for some change give then the $5. It's easy to give away what you've already decided to give away, and you'll feel better for having done it.
Even better, if a street person asks you for change for food, take them into the nearest fast-food place and buy them a generous meal, the time it takes is as important as the money it costs because you're valuing them as a person and you're be more confident the money has been used well.
Decide that you're going to give away x dollars per week. Then as part of that make it a habit to collect some $5 notes in your wallet, then whenever anyone asks you for some change give then the $5. It's easy to give away what you've already decided to give away, and you'll feel better for having done it.
Even better, if a street person asks you for change for food, take them into the nearest fast-food place and buy them a generous meal, the time it takes is as important as the money it costs because you're valuing them as a person and you're be more confident the money has been used well.
Joy Exercise 6: Community
My goal is to come up with 365 simple practical exercises anybody can do to increase the level of joy in their life.
Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, I am contrary to most peoples opinion actually on the introvert side, we all need to feel like we are part of a community.
Evidence suggests that in Australia most people are happiest in groupings of up to around 7 people, that is in a group of around 7 we get the right mixture of attention and privacy.
So join a club, church, community group of some kind where on a weekly basis you get to hang out in a groups of about 3-9 people. To be honest, a church with good small group opportunites is one of the best places to find the kind of people who will accept, love and encourage you for who you are.
Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, I am contrary to most peoples opinion actually on the introvert side, we all need to feel like we are part of a community.
Evidence suggests that in Australia most people are happiest in groupings of up to around 7 people, that is in a group of around 7 we get the right mixture of attention and privacy.
So join a club, church, community group of some kind where on a weekly basis you get to hang out in a groups of about 3-9 people. To be honest, a church with good small group opportunites is one of the best places to find the kind of people who will accept, love and encourage you for who you are.
Joy Exercise 5: Know thyself
My goal is to come up with 365 simple practical exercises anybody can do to increase the level of joy in their life.
Self understanding can be a great way of increasing the joy in your life by discovering who you were made to be. The reality is that there are some things we can change about ourselves, and there are some things we need to accept and work with.
I've found the following useful to discovering more about who I am and how I operate, and am learning to design my life in such a way as to maximise the time I'm able to be who I've been made to be versus having to operate in ways that are contrary to my 'natural' way of working.
Self understanding can be a great way of increasing the joy in your life by discovering who you were made to be. The reality is that there are some things we can change about ourselves, and there are some things we need to accept and work with.
I've found the following useful to discovering more about who I am and how I operate, and am learning to design my life in such a way as to maximise the time I'm able to be who I've been made to be versus having to operate in ways that are contrary to my 'natural' way of working.
- Myers-Brigg: Some people love this, not really my thing, but if you get the opportunity to do a Myers-Briggs assessment it should give you some self-understanding and help you understand why other people operate the way they do.
- Strenths Finder (strengthsfinder.com): I reckon this is one of the best self understanding concepts out there, well worth buying the book and doing the assessement.
- Kolbe A (kolbe.com): This is my absolute favourite, I reckon its simple but very powerful, has really changed the way I understand myself and how I do things.
- DISC: Not really my thing but some people find it helpful
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Joy Exercise 4: Music
My goal is to come up with 365 simple practical exercises anybody can do to increase the level of joy in their life.
This one is really simple. Have you ever noticed that some music can have an effect on your emotions. There are certain songs that make me a bit reflective and some that get me going.
Think about songs that have good memories for you, or a beat that revs you up, and when feeling a bit down put that good feeling music on.
Make a list of some musicians or songs that lift you up. Let me know some of your picks and we can make a list of recommended songs.
This one is really simple. Have you ever noticed that some music can have an effect on your emotions. There are certain songs that make me a bit reflective and some that get me going.
Think about songs that have good memories for you, or a beat that revs you up, and when feeling a bit down put that good feeling music on.
Make a list of some musicians or songs that lift you up. Let me know some of your picks and we can make a list of recommended songs.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Joy Exercise 3: Control
My goal is to come up with 365 simple practical exercises anybody can do to increase the level of joy in their life.
We're told that a sense of control is correlated with joy in life. Now the reality is that we can't control all of our life, and in reality much of what happens is uncontrollable and we have to learn to roll with the punches, BUT, why not find some aspect you can get a sense of control over.
My life has been very stressful and challenging over the last few years with a feeling that have I had no control over many of the outcomes in my life, and so I took up exercise.
Exercise gave me one area of my life where I have a degree of control. It's up to me if I exercise, and the results that follow are pretty predictable.
Over the last 2 years I've gone from about 95kg and barely being able to run around the block to 80kg and running marathons.
What is one area of your life that you could take control of?
Write down a one month, three month, and 12 month goal.
Begin today by taking one simple step toward your goal.
Here's how I did it, it might inspire you.
Overall goal: Run a marathon before I turned 40 in memory of my brother who was a big runner and who died at 40.
Mini Goal 1: Put the running gear on.
Mini Goal 2: Get out the front door and around the block. (In the dark so nobody could see me.)
Mini Goal 3: Get around the block faster than a walk.
Mini Goal 4: Increase my distance by 5-10% per week until I got to 5km.
You get the idea.
I did my first marathon in Canberra in March, I'm ready for my second this weekend in Sydney. I can now swim over 2kms and recently did a 185k bike ride in 8.5 hours.
I've got a 500k bike ride planned for October over the Southern Alps in New Zealand and am booked into my first half-ironman in December.
We're told that a sense of control is correlated with joy in life. Now the reality is that we can't control all of our life, and in reality much of what happens is uncontrollable and we have to learn to roll with the punches, BUT, why not find some aspect you can get a sense of control over.
My life has been very stressful and challenging over the last few years with a feeling that have I had no control over many of the outcomes in my life, and so I took up exercise.
Exercise gave me one area of my life where I have a degree of control. It's up to me if I exercise, and the results that follow are pretty predictable.
Over the last 2 years I've gone from about 95kg and barely being able to run around the block to 80kg and running marathons.
What is one area of your life that you could take control of?
Write down a one month, three month, and 12 month goal.
Begin today by taking one simple step toward your goal.
Here's how I did it, it might inspire you.
Overall goal: Run a marathon before I turned 40 in memory of my brother who was a big runner and who died at 40.
Mini Goal 1: Put the running gear on.
Mini Goal 2: Get out the front door and around the block. (In the dark so nobody could see me.)
Mini Goal 3: Get around the block faster than a walk.
Mini Goal 4: Increase my distance by 5-10% per week until I got to 5km.
You get the idea.
I did my first marathon in Canberra in March, I'm ready for my second this weekend in Sydney. I can now swim over 2kms and recently did a 185k bike ride in 8.5 hours.
I've got a 500k bike ride planned for October over the Southern Alps in New Zealand and am booked into my first half-ironman in December.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Joy Exercise 2: Joy v Happiness
My goal is to come up with 365 simple practical exercises anybody can do to increase the level of joy in their life.
Exercise 2: Joy v Happiness
Before reading the rest of this blog take a minute to write down your definition of 'Joy' and your definition of 'Happiness'.
Someone has defined the difference between the two as this:
Exercise 2: Joy v Happiness
Before reading the rest of this blog take a minute to write down your definition of 'Joy' and your definition of 'Happiness'.
Someone has defined the difference between the two as this:
- Happiness comes outside of us, that is we feel good because of the circumstances around us make us feel good.
- Joy comes from inside of us, that is we feel good because we have an internal sense of well being irrespective of what is happening outside and around us.
Now take some time to think about or write down a time when you felt joyful, calm and peaceful despite the fact that things were going badly around you.
Try and identify what you were thinking, believing, feeling, experiencing that enabled you to feel joy when the circumstances were seeking to make you unhappy.
Ask yourself these questions: Am I seeking joy or happiness? Is what I am doing with my life focused around getting externals (eg happiness factors) or the internals (joy factors) in place?
Joy Exercise 1: Reflecting on Happiness
My goal is to come up with 365 simple practical exercises anybody can do to increase the level of joy in their life.
Exercise 1: Reflecting on happiness.
Set aside 5-10 minutes where you will be uninterrupted and in relative quiet - sit on the loo if you need to. Close your eyes and bring to mind a recent time when you were really happy. Get right into the details of what that moment was like. Where was it, what was happening, who were you with, what were you feeling?
I believe happy people bring back to memory and re-live those happy moments bringing the past happiness into the present reality and then use that happy memory to spur them back into life.
I like what Nancy Etcoff says at http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_etcoff_on_happiness_and_why_we_want_it.html "Because when you think about it, people are happiest when in flow, when they're absorbed in something out in the world, when they're with other people, when they're active, engaged in sports, focusing on a loved one, learning, having sex, whatever. They're not sitting in front of the mirror trying to figure themselves out, or thinking about themselves. These are not the periods when you feel happiest."
Exercise 1: Reflecting on happiness.
Set aside 5-10 minutes where you will be uninterrupted and in relative quiet - sit on the loo if you need to. Close your eyes and bring to mind a recent time when you were really happy. Get right into the details of what that moment was like. Where was it, what was happening, who were you with, what were you feeling?
I believe happy people bring back to memory and re-live those happy moments bringing the past happiness into the present reality and then use that happy memory to spur them back into life.
I like what Nancy Etcoff says at http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_etcoff_on_happiness_and_why_we_want_it.html "Because when you think about it, people are happiest when in flow, when they're absorbed in something out in the world, when they're with other people, when they're active, engaged in sports, focusing on a loved one, learning, having sex, whatever. They're not sitting in front of the mirror trying to figure themselves out, or thinking about themselves. These are not the periods when you feel happiest."
Friday, September 04, 2009
Motivation
I love this talk on ted.com at http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html which talks about what actually motivates people. These quotes are a taster:
"In eight of the nine tasks we examined across three experiments, higher incentives led to worse performance."
"And the good news about all of this is that the scientists who've been studying motivation have given us this new approach. It's an approach built much more around intrinsic motivation. Around the desire to do things because they matter, because we like it, because they're interesting, because they are part of something important. And to my mind, that new operating system for our businesses revolves around three elements: autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy, the urge to direct our own lives. Mastery, the desire to get better and better at something that matters. Purpose, the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves. These are the building blocks of an entirely new operating system for our businesses."
"In eight of the nine tasks we examined across three experiments, higher incentives led to worse performance."
"And the good news about all of this is that the scientists who've been studying motivation have given us this new approach. It's an approach built much more around intrinsic motivation. Around the desire to do things because they matter, because we like it, because they're interesting, because they are part of something important. And to my mind, that new operating system for our businesses revolves around three elements: autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy, the urge to direct our own lives. Mastery, the desire to get better and better at something that matters. Purpose, the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves. These are the building blocks of an entirely new operating system for our businesses."
Monday, August 10, 2009
Things are finishing up.
10 August 2009: Here's what is happening up to the end of August.
- Evening Service: The Sunday evening experimental service called 'The Gathering' has its last event this Sunday the 16th, it'll be a shared meal and some worship. This 12 week experiment has been great fun and brought out some amazing gifts.
- Sunday Morning Services: Normal services at 9am & 10.30am until the 30th when there with be a combined service celebration to conclude the ministry of Pastor Peter Watson. (There will be no 9am service on the 30th but a lunch will follow the 10.30 service.)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
What's happening at CMP
22 July 2009: We are back to normal services of 9am, 10.30am and 6pm. The 6pm Sunday night event called ‘The Gathering’ is a twelve week experimental worship space which is due to conclude on the 16th August. Come and check it out. It is a free flowing, highly participative, charismatic form of worship and teaching based around the verses Ephesians 5:19-20 which say, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”You can come as you are or with something to share such as a song, a poem, a dance, a word of prophecy, a testimony, or anything else that helps us give thanks and worship to our awesome God.
19 July 2009: Pastor Pete announced that he will be concluding his ministry at CMP later this year and will be returning to his roots in Church Planting by starting a new congregation in 2010. Pastor Pete has been with CMP since 2000 and has held various positions. He has been the Senior Pastor since 2005.
19 July 2009: Pastor Pete announced that he will be concluding his ministry at CMP later this year and will be returning to his roots in Church Planting by starting a new congregation in 2010. Pastor Pete has been with CMP since 2000 and has held various positions. He has been the Senior Pastor since 2005.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
What's happening at CMP
Special Note about Worship Services over the next few weeks.
Note: The Sunday 6pm service is call The Gathering: it is a 12 week experimental worship space at CMPA group of us would like to experiment with a free flowing, highly participative, charismatic form of worship and teaching based around the verses Ephesians 5:19-20 which say, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”We invite you to come and join with us at any time during this 12 week experiment to see what the Lord does in us and through us.You can come as you are or with something to share such as a song, a poem, a dance, a word of prophecy, a testimony, or anything else that helps us give thanks and worship to our awesome God.We will be meeting every Sunday evening until the 16th August in the Chapel from 6pm to 7.15pm.
Sunday 5th & 12th July: 9am, 1030am and 6pm Services
Sunday 19th July: Combined Services and AGM
- 9am Combined Breakfast. Come and catch up over a relaxed breakfast.
- 9.45 Annual AGM with the presentation of the budget.
- 10.30am Combined Worship Service
Note: The Sunday 6pm service is call The Gathering: it is a 12 week experimental worship space at CMPA group of us would like to experiment with a free flowing, highly participative, charismatic form of worship and teaching based around the verses Ephesians 5:19-20 which say, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”We invite you to come and join with us at any time during this 12 week experiment to see what the Lord does in us and through us.You can come as you are or with something to share such as a song, a poem, a dance, a word of prophecy, a testimony, or anything else that helps us give thanks and worship to our awesome God.We will be meeting every Sunday evening until the 16th August in the Chapel from 6pm to 7.15pm.
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Gathering
The Gathering: a 12 week experimental worship space at CMP
A group of us would like to experiment with a free flowing, highly participative, charismatic form of worship and teaching based around the verses Ephesians 5:19-20 which say, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We invite you to come and join with us at any time during this 12 week experiment to see what the Lord does in us and through us.
You can come as you are or with something to share such as a song, a poem, a dance, a word of prophecy, a testimony, or anything else that helps us give thanks and worship to our awesome God.
We will be meeting every Sunday evening from 31 May to 16 August in the Chapel from 6pm to 7.15pm.
A group of us would like to experiment with a free flowing, highly participative, charismatic form of worship and teaching based around the verses Ephesians 5:19-20 which say, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We invite you to come and join with us at any time during this 12 week experiment to see what the Lord does in us and through us.
You can come as you are or with something to share such as a song, a poem, a dance, a word of prophecy, a testimony, or anything else that helps us give thanks and worship to our awesome God.
We will be meeting every Sunday evening from 31 May to 16 August in the Chapel from 6pm to 7.15pm.
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