Hi everyone,
I know it has been a while since I have written. I have just made it through our first full day of classes of our new school year. My classes today went very well, it is fun to see the life and excitement in the eyes of the students.
I wonder if we should from time to time think back to something fresh and new. Think back to your first day of university or your first day on a new job. What did it feel like? Visualize how you acted during this time. Chances are you had some nerves, but mostly you were excited to get started. You wanted to see how things would turn out. This excitement likely gave you a lot of extra energy. I know that at our students many students in the dorms have stayed up way too late for many days as they have so much energy from the start of their new adventure.
Can you capture some of this energy? Imagine you are new at your business. Try to capture some of that energy and use it today. Use that new energy to propel your business forward. Combine the knowledge and the experience you have gained plus recapture the energy of being new. You will see great things happen.
Danny Gamache
Monday, September 12, 2005
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
A Quote To Pondor
Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a quote with you. It is actually a few seperate passage from a book I am reading, called "Renovation of the Heart" by Dallas Willard. I think it is important as we think about the role of the church today.
"A fundamental mistake of the conservative side of the American church today, and much of the Western church, is that it takes as its basic goal to get as many people as possible ready to die and go to heaven. It aims to get people into heaven rather than to get heaven into people.....
It implodes upon itself because it creates groups of people who may be ready to die, but clearly are not ready to live. They rarely can get along with one another, much less those 'outside.'.....
As a result they actually fall short of getting as many people as possible ready to die, because the lives of the 'converted' testify against the relaity......
The way to get as amny people into heaven as you can is to get heaven into as many people as you can - that is, to follow the path of genuine spiritual transformation or full-throttle discipleship of Jesus Christ. When we are counting up results we also need to keep in mind the multitudes of people (surrounded by churches) who will not be in heaven because they have never , to their knowledge, seen the reality of Christ in a living human being." P. 238-239
I think there are some good points here. It teaches us that the church needs to focus on true spiritual development of its people. This will naturally lead to evangelism, and much more effective evangelism. It moves us a way from a focus on NUMBERS and turns us to a focus on QUALITY. This increase in QUALITY then naturally leads to more NUMBERS.
- Danny
I wanted to share a quote with you. It is actually a few seperate passage from a book I am reading, called "Renovation of the Heart" by Dallas Willard. I think it is important as we think about the role of the church today.
"A fundamental mistake of the conservative side of the American church today, and much of the Western church, is that it takes as its basic goal to get as many people as possible ready to die and go to heaven. It aims to get people into heaven rather than to get heaven into people.....
It implodes upon itself because it creates groups of people who may be ready to die, but clearly are not ready to live. They rarely can get along with one another, much less those 'outside.'.....
As a result they actually fall short of getting as many people as possible ready to die, because the lives of the 'converted' testify against the relaity......
The way to get as amny people into heaven as you can is to get heaven into as many people as you can - that is, to follow the path of genuine spiritual transformation or full-throttle discipleship of Jesus Christ. When we are counting up results we also need to keep in mind the multitudes of people (surrounded by churches) who will not be in heaven because they have never , to their knowledge, seen the reality of Christ in a living human being." P. 238-239
I think there are some good points here. It teaches us that the church needs to focus on true spiritual development of its people. This will naturally lead to evangelism, and much more effective evangelism. It moves us a way from a focus on NUMBERS and turns us to a focus on QUALITY. This increase in QUALITY then naturally leads to more NUMBERS.
- Danny
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Real Stewardship
Here is another powerful quote from "Mustard Seed versus McWorld" by Tom Sine:
“Understanding the Old Testament origins of the tithe, a growing number of New Testament scholars tell us that there is no basis for ten-percent stewardship in the New Testament. The call to follow Christ in the New Testament is a whole-life proposition.
Dualistic Christianity typically teaches that after you bring your tithe (or some part of your tithe) into the storehouse, you can pretty much do what you want with the rest. You can buy whatever toys you want and live as lavishly as you want, as long as you don’t get a materialistic hang-up with all of your things. It is amazing how many American Christians seem to be able to live palatially without ever getting hung up with materialism. Too often our Christian leaders in the United States are the pacesetters for this upscaling…..
There is something profoundly wrong when some of us live lavishly and other Christians in our world can’t keep their kids fed.” P. 202
What are some things we can do to keep this kind of whole-life giving?
Danny
“Understanding the Old Testament origins of the tithe, a growing number of New Testament scholars tell us that there is no basis for ten-percent stewardship in the New Testament. The call to follow Christ in the New Testament is a whole-life proposition.
Dualistic Christianity typically teaches that after you bring your tithe (or some part of your tithe) into the storehouse, you can pretty much do what you want with the rest. You can buy whatever toys you want and live as lavishly as you want, as long as you don’t get a materialistic hang-up with all of your things. It is amazing how many American Christians seem to be able to live palatially without ever getting hung up with materialism. Too often our Christian leaders in the United States are the pacesetters for this upscaling…..
There is something profoundly wrong when some of us live lavishly and other Christians in our world can’t keep their kids fed.” P. 202
What are some things we can do to keep this kind of whole-life giving?
Danny
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
What is Most Important?
In life today, economic growth (both individual and national) is considered as the most important thing. It is how we measure the success of our country and the success of us as individuals. This impact doesn't fit with a Christian world view. As Tom Sine writes in his book "Mustard Seed versus McWorld", “from a Christian perspective, I will never be able to define what’s best or what’s ultimate in terms of economic growth or efficiency. ” P. 50
What do you think? Should we measure success by economic growth? If not, what else?
Danny
What do you think? Should we measure success by economic growth? If not, what else?
Danny
Friday, June 24, 2005
Mustard Seed versus McWorld
So, I haven't been so good at updating this for June. So I'll through in a new quote for everyone.
“The architects of McWorld define the ultimate in terms of economic growth and economic efficiency and would have us believe that ultimate satisfaction will come form our increasing consumption of things. The mustard seed movement defines the ultimate in terms of God’s kingdom breaking into the world to redeem a new global community from every tongue, tribe, and nation. And Jesus tells us that we will find our ultimate satisfaction not in seeking life but in losing it in service to others.” P. 22 - from Tom Sine in "Mustard Seed versus McWorld."
I don't really think I need to add anything to this quote. It tells the whole story. God's plan is ultimate joy and satisfaction based on what we give and how we serve, not on what we have.
Danny
“The architects of McWorld define the ultimate in terms of economic growth and economic efficiency and would have us believe that ultimate satisfaction will come form our increasing consumption of things. The mustard seed movement defines the ultimate in terms of God’s kingdom breaking into the world to redeem a new global community from every tongue, tribe, and nation. And Jesus tells us that we will find our ultimate satisfaction not in seeking life but in losing it in service to others.” P. 22 - from Tom Sine in "Mustard Seed versus McWorld."
I don't really think I need to add anything to this quote. It tells the whole story. God's plan is ultimate joy and satisfaction based on what we give and how we serve, not on what we have.
Danny
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Thoughts About The News
You probably know about the importance of attitude. In any home business, or in life in general, a positive attitude can bring you a long way. One of the major drags on our attitudes today is watching the news. Now, I believe it is valuable to pay attention to what is happening in the world around us, the news is just too negative.
"Between 1990 and 1998, when the nation's murder rate declined by 20%, the number of murder stories on the network newcasts increased by 600%" - Kevin Miller - Surviving Information Overload.
It is just not healthy to your mental imaging and attitude. A more effective way of keeping up with the news is picking one or two websites that you visit once a day. That way you can quickly see all the headlines, and choose to read only the headlines that are important to you.
Besides your attitude, this method will save you lots of time. In fact, the weather and the commercials take up 1/2 of the news cast (Miller, Surviving Information Overload).
Danny
"Between 1990 and 1998, when the nation's murder rate declined by 20%, the number of murder stories on the network newcasts increased by 600%" - Kevin Miller - Surviving Information Overload.
It is just not healthy to your mental imaging and attitude. A more effective way of keeping up with the news is picking one or two websites that you visit once a day. That way you can quickly see all the headlines, and choose to read only the headlines that are important to you.
Besides your attitude, this method will save you lots of time. In fact, the weather and the commercials take up 1/2 of the news cast (Miller, Surviving Information Overload).
Danny
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