water... falls... due to gravity.

“Down to Earth” … a catchy adage about someone who is simple… unobtrusive… tasteful… LITE (heehee)… or maybe just downright humble…

If someone told me that I’m down to earth I would take that to be a huge compliment. Earth tones are tony. Clean. I am drawn to that appearance… but being down to earth is more than just an appearance. Appearances are meaningful but generally quite shallow… and down to earth, to me, says something a little more deeply rooted…

Cool? Right on dude!

From my experience, there are 2 forces that bring us down to earth:

•  Gravity. Wikipedia defines gravity as “a natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract with a force proportional to their mass.” Gravity is just a fact of life here on earth. Since the earth is larger than us… Gravity is and we are sucked into the surface of the 3rd rock from the sun. Waterfalls… raindrops… the water in a hurry… we can thank God… and gravity.

and

•  Failure. Afraid to take a risk due to the fear of failure? Then you may end up regretting it. If you are living the life that God intended you may as well face this one certainty: There will be failure. This can be quite embarrassing when it happens. When we fail, we learn a lot. Maybe even more than when we succeed. While failure bites, it runs deep. We lick our wounds and learn from it. We learn about ourselves. Life. We learn about the people around us too. And, most importantly, when we fail we learn humility and we grow. That’s huge!

Gravity and Failure… thankful for both.

Can you recall a meaningful event that brought you down to earth?

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The post The 2 Forces That Bring Us Down To Earth appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

in a nutshell... is the whole fleet on the same course?

“Morality, then, seems to be concerned with three things. Firstly, with fair play and harmony between individuals. Secondly, with what might be called tidying up or harmonising the things inside each individual. Thirdly, with the general purpose of human life as a whole: what man was made for: what course the whole fleet ought to be on: what tune the conductor of the band wants it to play.” C.S. Lewis, from Mere Christianity.

Can we have both Morality and Harmony?

Absolutely, it’s possible if we keep in mind there is an important connection…

Here’s an example from my life…

I have debt and have chosen to repay it. I need to step up to the plate and be responsible about it. I probably have enough debt that some would think I’m foolish to repay it… that I should just throw in the cards and start over. Many do and I do not fault them for taking that option. However, I am being led by God to stand firm and to repay my debts. Important: Whenever He is letting me know something I really need to listen! So I’m repaying my debts and I’m comfortable with that decision.

Applying this life situation to C.S. Lewis’ Harmony, Morality and defining the connection…

Part 1: Fair play and harmony between individuals. This is the do unto others as you would have others do unto you part. I need to do the right thing. Repaying my debt should bring harmony. Ok, so here’s the connection between Harmony and Morality… it’s Humility. I need to humble myself and put my brotherfellow first in this situation. Very important.

Part 2: What we might call tidying up or harmonizing the things inside each individual. I really need to get the log out of my eye on this one. In doing what is right, I’m hopeful to restore harmony, but I have to be humble and continue to do the right thing (i.e., taking extra care to learn from the experience and not let it happen again).

Part 3: The third part boils down to “…what course the whole fleet ought to be on.” There’s a whole lot that could be said to this one… but keeping Morality and Harmony in the context of my example, I’m heading for admonishment. Admonishment – that’s a fancy church word… Merriam-Webster says it means “to give friendly earnest advice or encouragement to” … that’s great, I need that. I would encourage you to read the blog post by Adam Flynt about Admonishing One Another . He pretty much nailed it. The last thing we would want to do when we really want to “help somebody out” is to make it a witch hunt, with an end result that displays something other than the loving kindness that Jesus gave us as an example. The bottom line here: work to keep our Morality, Harmony and Humility in the same sentence. Are you with me? Great, because we all need help and encouragement from time to time, and, as Flynt states, “The purpose of admonishment is to help someone know, love, and trust Jesus more.” If we are (1) in a position to admonish, and (2) are doing it correctly, we are, in a nutshell, talking about the whole fleet working together.

Morality, Harmony and Humility all in the same sentence… sounds pretty sweet.

Is there an example of Morality, Harmony and Humility in your world today?

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The post The connection between Harmony and Morality appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

Been thinking a lot about this one…

how to stay humble…

and came up with the following 3 Keys To Being Humble:

• I need to think of myself only in comparison to Jesus… and continually strive to be more and more like Him.
• I need to focus on serving others, seeing the good in everyone else and showing respect for others, regardless of how I am treated (again, Jesus is the model here). Serving others… that’s Being Great!
• I have to remember to measure my value and self-worth in accordance with the skills and gifts that He gave me… which are unique to me… and just try to be me.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

Please comment and share your thoughts on humility and how we can be more humble.

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The post The 3 Keys To Being Humble appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

This seems to be one of the biggest deals we face: As time goes by we naturally, as humans, get more set in our ways. We stop asking questions and start making assumptions, and we can loose our child-like virtues of faith, trust, love and forgiveness found in a humble and sincere heart. These virtues are completely different from the self-centered childish tendencies that we at times can tend toward. So I’ve been thinkin’, reading and writing material related to spiritual growth and maturity. And the more I learn I start to realize the less I know. Remember, I’m just an average Joe, not a theologian but some regular old dude that God put the passion to write into his heart.

Along the way while writing this He throws this one into the mix: “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every support ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:11-16.

So here’s what I’m learning: There’s not a conflict between the childlike virtues and qualities God wants us to retain and the he-man nature that our Heavenly Father hopes that we mature and grow into. Sometimes we Christians give our own lot a bad name: we grow older but don’t mature spiritually, and, like the lessons from the scribes and Pharisees in the Bible, knowledge of religion is important, but even more so is getting to know and growing to become more like Jesus. Jesus emphasized repeatedly in the Bible these very knowledgeable people didn’t really know him, that they were just judgmental hypocrites. And that’s my reminder of why I want to be like a little kid… to have faith and trust in Him, and to forgive and love like Him.

Rick Warren says “Thinking of others is the heart of Christ-likeness and the best evidence of spiritual growth.”

How can you continue to grow to be more like a child today?

The post The More I Learn The Less I Know first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post The More I Learn The Less I Know appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

Is it still fun? Yep, very much so. It’s flowing from God and it is fun and still effortless. Think of me as just a messenger, trying to carry out His work and help build up His community.

Trying to keep it upbeat, positive and inspiring: Everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle… hoping this place is helpful… for all of us!

There are lots of ideas running through my head that I don’t write about, trying my best to stick to the subject matter, or categories, and follow the wisdom of other bloggers that lead in how it’s done, like Michael Hyatt, one of my personal favorites.

I do glance at the statistics on the visitors and can see there are a lot of folks reading it, not a bunch of comments, but folks from all over the world are reading and coming back for more – very humbling to know that!

To my friends that have encouraged me to do it: I’m very thankful. On with the blogging…

The post Humble Pie first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post Humble Pie appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

Forrest knew how to run: He could run all day long. He ran like the wind blows. When he went for the long run, he ran for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, 16 hours before turning around and heading for home. I WISH I could do this too. I load up on Glucosamine daily, with the occasional Motrin and ice packs to nurse my tender knees. They’re still good, but only at about 30-35 miles a week. My knees are the equivalent of Freddy the Golfer’s fragile back.

Forrest was a man of faith: He was kind and compassionate and a loving, Godly man. He knew what he stood for and wasn’t afraid of anything here on Earth.

Forrest had a heart of gold: His heart was the size of Texas! Always giving, loving and caring. A true friend, and faithful companion.

Forrest knew what true love was all about: Real, unconditional love. Nothing fancy, or fake. He was always protective, trusting, hopeful… and he persevered.

Forrest was humble: He recognized his shortcomings and wasn’t afraid to admit them. He enjoyed simple pleasures, even after making a mint on that fruit stock (Apple, Inc.) that Lieutenant Dan helped him invest in. He gave a lot of the money away… to a Church, a charity, and to Bubba’s mom.

Forrest’s optimism and strong faith ran through him in a way that I truly admire… through some of life’s most painful experiences… loosing his best friend Bubba during the Vietnam war, the trials and tribulations of laying down the nets fishing for shrimp and repeatedly coming up empty handed (that is, until God showed up), “chasing” after Jenny until our fallen world finally did her in, and loosing his mom to cancer. He was a real man.

Forrest – “That’s all I have to say about that”

Please share with us about your hero too 🙂

The post All Things Gump first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

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