Tag Archives: happiness

Mar 13 2013

this went thru my mind

 

Contentment, happiness & work: 5 Ways to Find Joy in a Job You Don’t Love

“… what do you do when you get stuck in a job you don’t love? … Is it possible to keep getting up day after day and actually have joy in your work?”

Kingdom: Video: James K.A. Smith on Imagining the Kingdom

“To see all six videos from James K.A. Smith, click on the links at the end of each video.”

Learning & teaching: Briefly Noted: “Is the Lecture Dead?”

“The lecture remains one of our most precious educational resources, and it ought not be sent to the pedagogical morgue on account of its most boring and tedious practitioners. May teachers everywhere, and especially professors of theology, lecture as if their hair were on fire. May they tell the Great Story passionately, personally, and reflectively, and in so doing inform, energize, and inspire their students.”

Parenting & prayer: Seven Things to Pray for Your Children

“1. That Jesus will call them and no one will hinder them from coming. … 2. That they will respond in faith to Jesus’s faithful, persistent call. … 3. That they will experience sanctification through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit and will increasingly desire to fulfill the greatest commandments. … 4. That they will not be unequally yoked in intimate relationships, especially marriage. … 5. That their thoughts will be pure. … 6. That their hearts will be stirred to give generously to the Lord’s work. … 7. That when the time is right, they will GO!”

Time management: Beware: 10 Time Management Rules That You Are Breaking

“Break these 10 time management rules at your own risk.”

Wind: Wind Map [a live, interactive map of wind across the lower 48 states of the U.S.]

“Surface wind data comes from the National Digital Forecast Database. These are near-term forecasts, revised once per hour. So what you’re seeing is a living portrait.”

Feb 20 2013

this went thru my mind

 

Children & parenting: Why Most Parenting Advice is Worthless by Dan Bouchelle

“… there are a few things we learned about parenting along the way.”

Happiness & unhappiness: Where is the Happiest City in the USA? [required notice]

“How happy is the city you live in?”

[In the words of Mr. Spock: "Fascinating!" This study attempted to determine the overall state of happiness (or the lack thereof) in 373 U.S. cities (in the lower 48 states). Remember that number: 373. The study concluded that right at the bottom of the heap (i.e. - where most of the unhappy people are found) are the cities in the region in which I live. Example? Dead last is Beaumont, TX (#373), located one hour east of me. Texas City, TX - forty-five minutes south of me - comes in at #371. Port Arthur, TX - situated an hour east of me - is ranked #361. And Houston, TX - and live I on its outskirts! - is #352. Take a good, long look at this map and you'll notice that it's the Old South/Bible Belt that has by far the highest concentration of unhappy folks. This map makes for an interesting comparison with a red state/blue state map, too.
http://bit.ly/KXuxsJ
 Hmmm. Me not surprised.]

Happiness, idolatry & self: Are You Worshiping the Idol of ‘Open Options’? by Barry Cooper

“The irony … is that this apparently limitless choice doesn’t actually make us happy. The number of choices available to us becomes overwhelming, and actually makes it difficult for us to ever have the joy of fully committing to anything or anyone. Even if we do commit, our culture then makes us feel dissatisfied with the choice we’ve made.”

Happiness, productivity & time: How to Become a Morning Person by Michael Hyatt

“‘Morning people’ tend to make more money, be more productive, be healthier and live longer, and be more happy and satisfied in their lives. But how do you actually become a morning person if you aren’t one now? Here are nine steps you can take starting today.”

Houston: America’s Most Literate Cities

The America’s Most Literate Cities study ranks the largest cities (population 250,000 and above) in the United States. Houston ranked #53 in 2005 and now ranks #60.5 (2012). To put that in perspective, New Orleans and Detroit are ranked much higher (#25 & #46 respectively).

Preaching: Preachers Should Be Like Naughty Kids by Tullian Tchividjian [required reading]

“I think good preachers should be like bad kids. They ought to be naughty enough to tiptoe up on dozing congregations, steal their bottles of religion pills…and flush them all down the drain. The church, by and large, has drugged itself into thinking that proper human behavior is the key to its relationship with God. What preachers need to do is force it to go cold turkey with nothing but the word of the cross–and then be brave enough to stick around while [the congregation] goes through the inevitable withdrawal symptoms. But preachers can’t be that naughty or brave unless they’re free from their own need for the dope of acceptance. And they wont be free of their need until they can trust the God who has already accepted them, in advance and dead as door-nails, in Jesus. Ergo, the absolute indispensability of trust in Jesus’ passion. Unless the faith of preachers is in that alone–and not in any other person, ecclesiastical institution, theological system, moral prescription, or master recipe for human loveliness–they will be of very little use in the pulpit.” (quoting Robert Capon)

Women: Women on the Family Tree: What Does the Bible Say Women DID? by Bobby Valentine

“It seems the moment one offers any opinion on the subject of women in the church that some one will brand you as a heretic and as an unbeliever in the Bible and its authority. Those who hold what might be called a ‘traditional’ view accuse those who harbor a non-Traditional view as loose postmodern deconstructionists. Those who hold a non-Traditional view accuse those cherish the Traditional view as canonizing not Scripture but culture and highly selective reading. It is getting to the point where these groups cannot even talk to each other.

“Is it possible to go to the Scriptures and just see what women did there? Can one be ‘un’ biblical if he or she says women can do exactly what God let them do in the ‘Bible days?’ So what if we simply ask this question: ‘What do we see women actually doing in the Scripture?’ Isn’t this the place to start? Is this what a Bible believer should do?”

Jan 26 2013

golden nuggets from Sirach (5)

 

Every few days I’m posting five passages that have jumped out at me as I read through Sirach (aka: Ecclesiasticus).

Run away from sin like you would from a snake: If you go near it, it will bite you. Its teeth are lion’s teeth, destroying a person’s life. (Sirach 21.2)

People who are afraid to act are like clumps of cow manure; those who pick it up will shake off their hand. (Sirach 22.2)

Don’t grow accustomed to saying coarse things because to do so is to engage in sinful speech. (Sirach 23.13)

How beautiful is sound judgment in gray-haired women and finding good advice in elderly men! (Sirach 25.4)

The husband of a good wife is favored, and the length of his life will be doubled. A courageous wife will make her husband happy, and he will complete his years in peace. … A loudmouthed and talkative wife is like a battle trumpet sounding an attack. The spirit of the man who lives under such conditions lives perpetually in the chaos of the battlefield. (Sirach 26.1-2,27)

Dec 12 2012

this went thru my mind

 

Anger: Why are You So Angry? by Jim Martin

“James Houston … suggests that three kinds of anger are often seen in people. People who are angry with a controllable anger. … Pleasers who are angry. … Givers who are angry.”

Bible interpretation: Looping Arguments in Romans by Brian LePort

” I think Romans is best understood if interpreted in a series of loops.”

Critics & criticism: Seven Characteristics of an Effective Critic by Thom Rainer

“A few days ago I had a long conversation with a critic of me. Actually, it would be better to say that he is a critic of a decision I made. He would not want to describe himself as a critic of me in the general sense. Rare is the person who actually enjoys criticisms. I certainly would not be among that unique group. But this man made the criticism tolerable. And he certainly gained my respect by the way he handled it. Immediately after the conversation, I began to think through how he had approached me. I thought about his words, his body language, and even his preparation for criticizing me. I realized I had a case study on effective criticism. I also was able to note seven of the characteristics of this conversation where he criticized me.”

Emotions, music, singing & worship: Music, Singing, and Emotions: Exploring the Connections by Rob Smith

“Music, singing and emotions: what are the connections?”

Facebook: How Can I Block Facebook Game Invitations?

“Drives me crazy, every time I log in to Facebook I have a bunch of invites to join FB games from different friends. But I don’t want to play games on Facebook and I can’t figure out how to block the invitations. I mean, if I click on the “X” to get rid of the invite, I see a new one the very next day. Help!”

Happiness & joy: A Simple Way to Increase Your Joy by Tony Schwartz

“… the deceptively simple notion is that small choices we make can deliver big consequences.”

Health: The 2,000-Year-Old Wonder Drug

“In 2011, British researchers, analyzing data from some 25,000 patients in eight long-term studies, found that a small, 75-milligram dose of aspirin taken daily for at least five years reduced the risk of dying from common cancers by 21 percent.”

Just for fun: Pigeon Interruptus — A Fish That Hunts Pigeons On Land

“We are in southwestern France, along the river Tarn, where there’s a small hunk of gravel at the river’s edge where pigeons like to gather. What the pigeons don’t know is that right next to them, hiding in the water, is a European catfish. At extraordinary risk to themselves, these catfish will leap onto the beach, snatch a moving pigeon, and then, bearing the struggling bird, they roll or push themselves back into the water.”

Stress: 12 Ways to Thrive Under Stress by Dan Rockwell

“Over 50% of the workforce feels: Overwhelmed by workload. Too many tasks prevent them from completing tasks. There’s no time for self-reflection.”