Heaven Help US…

November 4, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 11/4/24 – Originally sent October 17, 2016.
“Do not be afraid…for the Lord will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) Are you one who fears what will happen after Election Day? I ask you to reread the quote from Joshua. A new book by David Gushee has the sub-title, From Fear To Faith In Unsettled Times. Its purpose is to help the believer think through the societal changes of today and move from fear to faith. All sorts of fears can consume us. “Be not afraid…The Lord will be there after Election Day.” 😉 Jack

There is a large dose of irony to be found in the repost of the words that Jack wrote in 2016 on the eve of that year’s election. We find ourselves once again is the situation where Donald Trump is running against a female opponent, who would be the first woman to ever be elected to the Presidency. This year the first would also include that she would be the first female of color to be elected.

The world did not end after that election, but it certainly changed quite a bit. Your political preferences will dictate whether you view those changes as good or bad. The world will not end this year when the election results are in; however, it is likely to change significantly once again. What will not change is that God will still be there, no matter who wins. Perhaps times like this and the change like that which is to come that make the constant presence of God in our lives all the more important.

So, don’t panic this week if your candidate doesn’t win. Instead put your faith in God and remember that He is with you always. Turning to your faith is times like this helps put things into perspective. In Mark 12:17 Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Caesar represented the government back then. The political parties and the candidates make up government today. Just keep in mind that the things that are important –faith, love and family – come from God, not the government.

So, get out and vote; but remember “Do not be afraid…for the Lord will be with you wherever you go.”

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Posted by Norm Werner

Don’t stress out, get stronger instead…

October 1, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 9/30/24 – Originally sent September 24, 2021.
“It is how people respond to stress that determines whether they will profit from misfortune or be miserable.” (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi) Cardiologists use stress tests to warn people if they need to “slow down” before the heart reaches the breaking point. Many things, besides a treadmill, can put the heart under stress. Maybe it’s the job, listening to the news, or a relationship that’s not going well. Stress can cause misery, but it can also make us stronger. Athletes stress their bodies when training to be stronger when it matters. If you’re dealing with stress, try to build strength from it. It isn’t easy, but it can work. 😉  Jack

Let’s begin by admitting that much, if not most, of the stress in our lives is what might be called a self-inflicted wound. It is us reacting badly to what are largely imagined things. I’ve commented here many times about how wonderful the human mind is at imagining all of the possible bad outcomes to almost any situation. Imagination is a powerful human thing that has led to all sorts of useful inventions and discoveries; however, it has also led to many cases of psychosis and even to depression. Stress feeds our imagination and then feeds on what our imagination has conjured up. That is a powerful loop which is sometimes hard to break.

Stress is a fellow traveler with fear, anger, remorse, regret and other negative reactions that we have to life’s twists and turns, whether they are expected or not. Since stress is mainly self-imposed, it is usually up to us to deal with it ourselves. I have danced around this issue before. On August 8, 2015 posted “Dealing with Life’s Problems” and on August 3, 2022, penned the post “Dump Your Ego and Find Peace”. In both cases I was discussing how to deal with things that would cause stress in your life.

One of the keys to dealing with life and stress is to be able to Forgive Yourself. Which I posted about this on August 12, 2021. Since you may being stressed because you are beating yourself up about something that you did or maybe that you did not do; you need to forgive yourself before you can move on. Sometimes it helps to realize that God forgives you, whatever it is. And if God can forgive you, who are you to go against God’s will and continue to beat yourself up? Surrender to Gods will byu using the little prayer that I use in my posts quite often – “Not my will, but Thy will be done.”

If you can get top that point and honestly use that prayer, you will be surprised how quickly the stress fades away. You might also be surprised how much stronger you feel after that. Why? Because you have taken control of yourself by trusting God with your life.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Embrace your journey…

September 24, 2024

Today’s graphic, as applied to life, would seem to say that there are times or circumstances in our lives that we can accurately foresee.

Life is a journey, and it is not really possible to see a clear path forward. Some spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about the future and what might happen. Others waste time looking back at what was in regret or in fear the past repeating itself.

The truth of this graphic is that we must embrace the present – the journey – and live in the moment. We cannot stop the twists and turns and surprises of life from happening, but we can be better prepared to deal with them.

There are a few keys to being prepared to deal with life’s surprises. Probably the most important is having a solid foundation upon which to base your life. Some call this a moral compass. It is the set of core beliefs upon which you base your decision making before taking actions. For many this foundation is rooted in faith. Having a strong faith in God provides a foundation “rock” upon which to build the rest of your beliefs.

Once you have a good understanding of right and wrong, of good and evil and of love, compassion and understanding, you are ready to develop your own process for decision-making that will allow you to deal with the twists and turns of life’s journey. A good decision process usually starts with thought, with patience and with perseverance.

Taking time to think before acting allows us to measure the situation against our beliefs of right and wrong. Stopping to think also allows us to put the situation into the perspective of time and to apply the patience and perseverance that may be needed. Thinking about the situation also allows us to overcome initial reactions such as fear or anger.

The British phrase “Keep Calm and Carry On” seems applicable here. One keeps calm but thinking about things, instead of just reacting to them and that allows one to carry on with the journey. Perhaps it might help to start each day by resetting your moral GPS with a simple prayer. The one I use is, “Not my will but thy will be done.”

Where will your journey take you today? What twists and turns will you face? Are you ready for them? Have you reset your moral compass? Remember to Keep Calm and Carry On. Embrace the journey.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Accept and move on…

September 5, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 9/3/24 – Originally sent August 30, 2021.

Everything is going to work out; there’s no other option.” Kari Miller) Kari is amazing! She lost her legs in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, and took a bad situation and made it better by joining the American Paralympics Sitting Volleyball Team. Try playing volleyball while sitting! I have a hard time while standing. But when you have no other option, you do what you can do. All of the Paralympians give us encouragement that things will work out for those who don’t give up…like Kari. 😉 Jack

I’ve posted here recently about patience and perseverance. Today’s quote from the Jack’s Winning Words blog really depends on those two qualities. Life does have a way of rewarding those who are patient and persistent. In the end, things turn out to be OK.

When life throws us a curve ball, such as that which Kari experienced; too many spend too long (sometimes the rest of their lives) in denial, refusing to accept what happened and move on with life. Acceptance is the first step to recovery and moving on. It happened. It’s done. What’s next?

Some things, like what happened to Kari, require major changes in the direction in which our lives were headed. It may require starting a new career. It may require forming new relationships. It will most certainly require a reevaluation of the things that are important to us.

So when stuff happens to change the course of our lives, you might say, “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.” but you must accept it and go on to say, “What’s next?” You must move past it by moving on. Just remember – Everything is going to work out; there’s no other option.

Perhaps you will find the little prayer that I use to be helpful for you – “Not my will, but thy will be done.” This little prayer let you release yourself from the trap of self-pity and remorse by surrendering to God’s will. It let’s you accept and move on. Try it and move on.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Serve and be joyful…

August 27, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 8/26/24 – Originally sent December 30, 2011.
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”  (Tagore – Sent by Dana.) Tagore was well known as an Indian thinker and poet. I remember being introduced to his work in my college Oriental Philosophy class. He’s worth reading. Our world is a better place when filled with joy. Do your part to help create more of it! 😉  Jack

It is all too easy to become focused upon one’s own needs and ignore the world around you. Yet, we are told in Philippians 2:5-7: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant”.

The term “servant” has taken on a meaning in our modern society that makes it seem less than attractive, even demeaning. Yet, Jesus would have us become servants. What are we to make of that?

I have posted here many times about helping others and about serving the needs of others. There are many examples of the opportunities that exist in any neighborhood to be of service to others. Most of those opportunities require little other than your time. And before you think it, just throwing some of your money at it is not being of service. It is the commitment of your time and effort that will make the real difference and bring you real joy.

While reveling in one’s own successes may bring some small and temporary joy, that pales in comparison to the joy that one feels when they have successfully been of service to others or even to other living things. Even being there to meet the needs of the members of your own family is a selfless act of service and makesd you feel better than just meeting your own needs.

So, act on those needs of others that you see around you, be of service to them, and behold the joy of service.

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Posted by Norm Werner

How to be successful in life…

August 21, 2024

Today’s graphic contains a powerful message about life and success…

Now, I’m sure that most readers would probably take the immediate leap into thinking about the word success in material terms – money or promotions or achievement of some goal. That is not the point of the saying in the picture, at least not as I see it.

I believe that we are successful when we are at peace with ourselves. That peace may come from having done (or having tried to do) the right things. Our peace may come from being happy with who and what we are. Our peace may come from being satisfied and thankful for what we have and not envious of what we don’t have.  Our peace most certainly comes from learning to love oneself and thus allowing us to love others.

Perhaps the cornerstone of being at peace with ourselves is being at peace with God. Every Sunday at church we “pass the peace”, which  is a way to share what Jesus shared with us. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

I also believe that one is successful when they have given birth, raised, and sent out into the world, the next generation. Our children are one big measure of our success. There is perhaps no greater responsibility given to us than to raise our children. There is a special happiness in seeing your children go off on their own and succeed, too.

I believe that we are successful when we help others. There is a very different and much more fulfilling feeling that one gets from having helped others. We do not get that same feeling when we have accomplished something just for ourselves.

Finally, I believe that we are successful when we are remembered by others not for what we owned or how much money we had, but what kind of a person we were. I suspect that among the words like kind and caring and gentle that people might use to describe a successful person will be the word happy.

So, be happy today and being successful will just follow along.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Be generous and change a life…

August 12, 2024
The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 8/12/24 –  Originally sent June 2, 2008.
“Sometimes when we are generous in small, barely detectable ways, it can change someone else’s life forever.” (Margaret Cho) I thought that Margaret was just a joke teller. Now, I see that she has a serious side, too. I guess it’s the same for all of us. We are more than what shows on the outside. Having said that, don’t overlook the point that Margaret is making. Try to do something generous for someone today. It might change their life. 😉  Jack  
 

In Mark 12 Jesus says to “Love thy neighbor as you love yourself”. I think today’s quote in the Jack’s Winning Words blog repost refers to a way to love thy neighbor. Being kind to someone or being generous to someone are both ways to love thy neighbor. It is being kind or generous to stop and open a door for someone. That is a small gesture for sure but one that can change the mood of the person for whom you opened the door. That change of mood forever changes the life of that person, whether you or they know it or not.

Of course, there are bigger and more obvious ways to be kind or generous to others. There are always opportunities to give money to some cause; but, perhaps, the biggest way is to give your time. There are hundreds of volunteer opportunities in every community most of which involve activities that will change people’s lives. Whether it is working in a local food pantry, driving for Meals on Wheels or just volunteering at a local school, hospital or church; the generous gift of you time will make a difference in someone’s life. Perhaps as important, it will make a difference in your life.

If you approach life with the attitude that you are going to do what you can, when you can to help others, you will be fulfilling Jesus’s command to love thy neighbor as you love yourself and you will be changing their life and yours in the act. Be the difference today. Do something generous, no matter how small; and change a life forever.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Where will you spend the rest of your life?

July 29, 2024
The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 7/29/24 – Originally sent March 14, 2018.
“My interest is in the future, because I’m going to be spending the rest of my life there.” (Charles Kettering) This quote was often used in Kettering speeches until he died in 1958. He was one of America’s great inventors, particularly in the auto industry. With his inventor’s mind he foresaw the future as a wonderful place to live. If he was alive today, would he agree? Although there can be fear about the future, we can live a more satisfying life by enjoying today and looking forward to tomorrow. 😉  Jack  

Sadly, too many people get caught up in looking back at their past, usually with regrets. One can easily get sucked into the abyss of “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” and waste the future away by becoming fixated on what might have been. Instead, focus on what is and what is yet to come. Live in the moment and anticipate the future.

An interesting phenomenon that I associate with getting old is the foreshortening of the future. When one is in their youth or even the early years of adult life, thinking about what one might be doing when they hit 95 seems so far away as to be ridiculous to even consider. Now, at age 80, thinking about being 95 seems close at hand and worthy of some planning.  Being 95 years old is not something that is too far off in the distance to waste time on. It is just around the corner. What do I want to be doing by then does not seem as ridiculous to contemplate and helps to encourage goal setting.

walking man

As for me. I was happy to wake up this morning with a whole day ahead of me. I have things that I need (or want) to get done. I’m also in the midst of things that will take a while and have thoughts about things that I haven’t started yet , but would like to do. I can see the age 95 from here and look forward to experiencing that birthday, but there’s lots to do between now and then.

For me it helps to have a faith that I can tap into from time to time – a faith that says there is life after death. That makes what lies beyond 95 seem a lot less scary. Fear is often the biggest thing that holds us back from living life to the fullest. Once you can overcome the fear of death through faith you can live each day to it’s fullest no matter how many you have.

It really doesn’t matter how old you are. You need to answer the question posed by the title to this post. Where do you want to spent the rest of your life? Will you get stuck in the past or will you continue to look ahead to the future? Your answer to that question will dictate the quality of life that you will have in that future.

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Posted by Norm Werner

How are you looking at things?

April 8, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 4/8/24 – reprises from the blog of the late Pastor Jack Freed – Originally sent February 12, 2008

–
“Weather is a great bluffer. It’s the same with life. Things can look dark, then a break shows in the sky, and all is changed.” (Unknown) Even though we talk a lot about the weather, there are things more important than the forecast. Darkness can come into our lives unexpectedly, but it’s a bluff. Eventually the sun breaks through, and all will be right and bright again. Keep looking up. 😉 Jack
 
Jack wasn’t really talking about the weather. His posts were always guides to a better life. As luck would have it I also received the graphic below today and tis just fits perfectly with Jack’s post.

Jack always wrote his posts with a positive outlook on life and encouraged his readers to change how they looked at things in life. Many of us, including me, need to consider how we look at things in life and perhaps reconsider that view.

Life is full of ups and downs, things that we like or don’t like and decisions which may have  pleasant or unpleasant outcomes. The glass half-empty person always sees the downside of things and wastes a lot of time worrying about them; whereas the glass half-full person see an opportunity to learn in the face of a setback. The optimists is trying to do better next time, while the pessimist may not even think that there will be a next time. Which way do you think?

Perhaps it is time to change the way that you look at things. No matter no bad the situation may be, if you are still alive there will be a next time and the hope to do better next time. There is an old saying that, “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” It also makes you smarter. It may not be necessary to give up your dream, but it might be time to give up on the approach that you have been using to achieve that dream. Change the way you look at that dream and see if you can figure out a better way to achieve it. Sometimes just doing that also allows you to re-examine the dream itself to see if it needs some changes, too.

Qualities like persistence, perseverance and conviction are great if that are not being applied to the wrong goals or the wrong methods. The point is that you should always be open to change – change in the goals that you are striving to achieve and change in the approaches that you are currently using to achieve those goals.

So, today look at things differently and see if that doesn’t change what you see.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Are you having a bad day?

March 19, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 3/18/24 – reprises of posts to the blog of the late Pastor Jack Freed  – Originally sent May 17, 2016.

“Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something.” (H. Jackson Brown Jr) Someone I know was treated rudely by a bank teller. She asked the person, “Are you having a bad day, or are you always like this?” It was done in a caring way and not meant to be sarcastic. Everyone we meet is probably carrying some kind of burden, so we need to give them some slack and go easy with the voice…or horn. 😉  Jack

One of the harder things to consistently do is to be able step back from your own thoughts, issues and priorities to consider the state of mind or point of view of another person that you have encountered. Everyone has their own story and has arrived at this moment on a path that is different from yours.

If you cannot be empathetic or sympathetic, at least don’t be rude or mad. Perhaps your best retort to something down or rude that they may have said is to ask, “What’s causing you to feel that way (or to say that)?”

Sometimes the person that you need to say that to is the person that you are looking at in the mirror. If you are having a bad day, an important step to turning things around is trying to understand why. What is it that you are afraid of? What or who have you lost? What don’t you understand? What is causing you to be fearful, anxious, or angry?

One of the lessons that I am still learning as I get older is how really unimportant many things are (were) that used to drive my life and my behavior. It is all too easy, especially when one is younger, to become so focused and driven by what seems at the time to be important that one becomes rude or worse to those around them.

Divorces and family breakups are often caused by the intensity that a job may demand and the inability to let that go or “switch gears” when one is at home. The fact that many Gen Zers have resisted that work-mode intensity irks those in older generations when it should actually be showing us the way to a more fulfilling life.

So, if you are having a bad day that is work-oriented, stop and ask yourself is what you are concerned about really all that important? Will anybody die if you don’t get this task done right now? Will you die if you don’t get this task done right now? Asking those questions will help you to put things in perspective.

If all else fails, try the little prayer that I’ve posted here a few times – “Not my will, but Thy will be done.” Nothing frees you more to leave behind life’s burdens and get on with life than turning over your life to the will of God. Try it.

 Are you having a bad day? Ask yourself about it, then ask for God’s help.

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Posted by Norm Werner

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