Man Enough To Answer

I am here with a challenge to young men.

The following poem by Lena Lathrop, entitled ‘A Woman’s Question,’ speak particularly to men. It chills me every time I read it. Lathrop’s words show me to be the immature boy that I am, stopping me in my tracks and daring me to be man enough to treat a woman right.

Some of the poem’s wording might seem old-fashioned, but the message is timeless.

Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing
Ever made by the Hand above?
A woman’s heart, and a woman’s life -
And a woman’s wonderful love.

Do you know you have asked for this priceless thing
As a child might ask for a toy?
Demanding what others have died to win,
With the reckless dash of a boy.

You have written m lesson of duty out,
Manlike, you have questioned me.
Now stand at the bars of my woman’s soul
Until I shall question thee.
You require your mutton shall always be hot,
Your socks and your shirt be whole;
I require your heart to be true as God’s stars
And as pure as His heaven your soul.

You require a cook for your mutton and beef,
I require a far greater thing;
A seamstress you’re wanting for socks and shirt -
I look for a man and a king.

A king for the beautiful realm called Home,
And a man that his Maker, God,
Shall look upon as He did on the first
And say: “It is very good.”

I am fair and young, but the rose may fade
From this soft young cheek one day;
Will you love me then ‘mid the falling leaves,
As you did ‘mong the blossoms of May?

Is your heart an ocean so strong and true,
I may launch my all on its tide?
A loving woman finds heaven or hell
On the day she is made a bride.

I require all things that are grand and true,
All things that a man should be;
If you give this all, I would stake my life
To be all you demand of me.

If you cannot be this, a laundress and cook
You can hire and little to pay;
But a woman’s heart and a woman’s life
Are not to be won that way.

To girls reading this poem, I pray this poem serves as a reminder to keep your standards high. Require all things that are “grand and true.”

And to the guys, we have our work cut out for us, don’t we? My hope for us is that we would truly grasp the costliness, the pricelessness, of a woman’s love. It is no small thing, no game, to invite a girl to accompany us through life. May we earn the right to make such a request by striving to be men of integrity – men whose hearts are oceans “strong and true”. Then, and only then, should we stand at the bars of a woman’s soul and ask to gain entrance.

For you.

Soon

New song by Hillsong United

SOON

Soon and very soon
My King is coming
Robed in righteousness
And crowned with love
When I see Him
I shall be made like Him
Soon and very soon

Soon and very soon
I’ll be going
To the place
He has prepared for me
There my sin erased
My shame forgotten
Soon and very soon

I will be with the One I love
With unveiled face I’ll see Him
There my soul will be satisfied
Soon and very soon

Soon and very soon
See the procession
The angels and the elders
Round the throne
At His feet I will lay my crown
My worship
Soon and very soon

The power of belief

There is power in belief. Robert Schuller said, “ I am not who I think I am not who you think I am. I am who I think you think I am.” (You might want to read that twice.) Right or wrong, we define ourselves through other people’s eyes. Tell me enough times that I’m stupid, and I’ll believe you. Tell me enough time that I’m bright, and I might agree. Or as the German poet Goethe stated, “Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.”

Robert Rosenthal demostrated this in a famous classroom study. He and an elementary-school principal tested a group of students. They then mentioned to the student’s teachers that some of the kids had done extremely well on the tests. The teachers were led to believe that five or six of the students had exceptional learning ability.

What the teachers did  not know was that the names of the “exceptional” students had been chosen entirely at random. They were no different from the others, but since the teachers thought they were, the teachers treated them differently. By the end of the year the ones the teachers thought were brighter actually were! They scored ahead of their peers and gained as much as fifteen to twenty-seven IQ points. The teachers described the students as happier, more curious, more affectionate than the average, and having a better chance of success later in life. This was all due to the attitude of the teachers! The teachers thought the students were special, and the students lived up to their treatment. Rosenthal wrote:

The explanation probably lies in the subtle interaction between teachers and pupils; tone of voice, facial expressions, touch and posture may be the means of which – often unwittingly – teachers communicate their expectations to their pupils. Such communication may help a child by changing his perception of himself.

Catherine Lawes’s Tested Love

Who is Catherine Lawe? You may ask.
Why did I mention her name here? You may think.

Let tune our mind further as we look at her story back in 1921. 

Catherine Lawes felt for the inmates of Sing Sing prison (one of the prison in the States with the hardest criminals of all). When her husband, Lewis, became the warden in 1921, she was a young mother of three daughters. Everybody warned her never to step foot inside the walls. But she didn’t listen to them. When the first prison basketball game was held, in she went, three girls in tow, and took a seats in the bleachers with the inmates.

She once said, “My husband and I are going to take care of these men, and I believe they will take care of me! I don’t have to worry!”

When she heard that one convicted murderer was blind, she taught him Braille so he could read. Upon learning of inmates who were hearing impaired, she studied sign language so they could communicate. For sixteen years Catherine Lawes softened the hard hearts of the men of Sing Sing. In 1937 the world saw the difference real love makes.

The prisoners knew something was wrong when Lewis Laws didn’t report to work. Quickly the word spread that Catherine had been killed in a car accident. The following day her body was placed in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison. As the acting warden took his early morning walk, he noticed a large gathering at the main gate. Every prisoner pressed against the fence. Eyes awash with tears. Faces solemn. No one spoke or moved. They’d come to stand as close as they could to the woman who’d given them love.

They warden made a remarkable decision. “All right, men, you can go. Just be sure to check in tonight.” These were America’s hardest criminals. Murderers. Robbers. These were men the nation had locked away for life. But the warden unlocked the gate for them, and they walked without escort or guard to the home of Catherine Lawes to pay their last respects. And to a man, each one returned.

Real love changes people.

No more “Pelicano”

A research on Pelicano moved my heart greatly.

The Pelicano is the world’s most unwanted ship. Since 1986 she has been the hobo of the high seas. No one wants her. Sri Lanka doesn’t. Bermuda doesn’t. The Dominican Republic turned her away. So do I. 

The problem is not the boat. Though rusty and barnacled, the 466-foot freighter is seaworthy. 

The problem is not the ownership. The owners have kept the license and taxes paid.

The problem is not the crew. They may feel unwanted, but they aren’t inefficient. 

Then what is the problem? What is the reason for years of rejection? Waved in Sri Lanka. Turned away in Indonesia. Why is the Pelicano the most unwanted ship in the world? 

Simple. She is full of trash. Fifteen thousand tons of trash. Orange peelings. Beer bottles. Newspaper. Half-eaten hotdog. Trash.

That’s when the Pelicano entered the picture. The owners thought they would turn a quick penny by transporting the rubbish. The trash was burned, and the ashes were dumped into the belly of the boat. But no one would take it. Initially it was too much. Eventually it was too old. Who wants potentially toxic trash?

I wonder if you can relate to the Pelicano. Are you unwanted at the dock? Drifting farther from friends and family? If so, you might check your heart for garbage Who wants to offer dock space to a smelly heart?

Life has a way of unloading her rubbish on our decks. Your boss expects too much. Your friends whine too much. Your parents gripes too much. The result? Trash. Load after load of anger. Guilt. Pessimism. Bitterness. Bigotry. Anxiety. Deceit. Impatience. It all piles up. 

Trash affects us. It contaminates our relationship. It did Cain’s. He had anger in his mind before he had blood on his hands. And Martha? Martha was meddlesome in her attitude before she was quarrelsome with her tongue. And what about the Pharisees? They killed Christ in their hearts before they killed him on the cross. 

Remember, just because there is trash on the dock, that doesn’t mean there must be trash on your ship. You are not a victim of your thoughts. You have a vote. You have a voice. You can exercise thought prevention. You can also exercise thought permission. 

How could you change the plight of the Pelicano? Change her cargo. Load the decks with flowers instead of trash, presents instead of ash, and no one would turn the ship away. Change the cargo, and you change the ship.

By the same token, change the thoughts, and you change the person. If today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions, what happens when we fill our minds with thoughts of God’s love. Will standing beneath the downpour of his grace change the way we feel about others?

Paul says absolutely! It’s not enough to keep the bad stuff out. We’ve got to let the good stuff in. It’s not enough to keep no list of wrongs. We have to cultivate a list of blessings.

Rather than store up the sour, store up the sweet.

No Pecking Zone

That’s what love does. It puts the beloved before itself.
Your soul was more important than His blood.
Your eternal life was more important than His Earthly life.
Your place in Heaven was more important to Him
than His place in Heaven.
So He gave up His so you could have yours.

Philippians 2:5-8 (New International Version)

 ⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
 ⁶Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 ⁷but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 ⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!

Would you do what Jesus do? He swapped a spotless castle for a grimy
stable. He exchanged the worship of angels for the company of killers. He
could hold the universe in His palm but gave it up to float in the womb of
a maiden.

If you were God, would you sleep on straw, nurse from a breasts, and be
clothed in a diaper? I wouldn’t, but Christ did.

If you knew that only a few would care that you came, would you still
come? If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would
you still care? If you knew that the tongues you made would mock you, the
mouths you made would spit at you, the hands you made would crucify
you, would you still make them? Christ did. Would you regard the immobile
and invalid more important than yourself? Jesus did.

He humbled himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the
straw. From holding stars to clutching Mary’s finger. The palm that held
the universe took the nail of a soldier.

Why? Because that’s what love does. That’s what love does. It puts the
beloved before itself. Your soul was more important than His blood.
Your eternal life was more important than His Earthly life. Your place
in Heaven was more important to Him than His place in Heaven.
So He gave up His so you could have yours.

He loves you that much, and because He loves you, you are of prime
importance to Him

A Love Worth Giving

God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately. 
Others have promised and failed.
But God has promised and succeeded.
He loves you with an unfailing love.
And His love – if you will let it – can fill you
And leave you with a love worth giving.

Many people tell us to love. Only God gives us the power to do so.
We know what God wants us to do. ²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. (1 John 3:23) But how can we? How can we be kind to the vow breakers? To those who are unkind to us? How can we be patient with people who have the warmth of a vulture and the tenderness of a porcupine? How can we forgive the moneygrubbers and backstabbers we meet, love, and marry? How can we love as God loves? We want to. We long to. But how can we? 

By living loved. By following the 7:47 Principle: Receive first, love second. More than one person has hailed 1 Corinthians 13 as the finest chapter in the bible. No words get to the heart of loving people like these verses. And no verses get to the heart of the chapter like verses 4 through 8. 

 ⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

I suddenly have this thought of replacing the word love in this passage with my name. I will become a liar. “Paul is patient, Paul is kind. Paul does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud….” That’s enough!! Stop right there! Those words are false. Paul is not patient. Paul is not kind. Ask my mom. Paul can be an out-and-out clod! 

It set a standard I could not meet. No one can meet it. No one, that is, except Christ. Does this passage not describe the measureless love of God? Let’s inset Christ’s name in the place of the word love, and see if it rings true.

⁴  Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. ⁵Jesus is not rude, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, he keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Jesus does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Jesus always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸ Jesus never fails.

Rather then let this scripture remind us of a love we cannot produce, let it remind us of a love we cannot resist – God’s love.

Some of you are so thirsty for this type of love. Those who should have loved you didn’t. Those who could have loved you didn’t. You were left at the hospital. Left at the alter. Left with an empty bed. Left with a broken heart. Left with your question “Does anybody love me?”

Please listen to heaven’s answer at the start of this post. 

God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately. 
Others have promised and failed.
But God has promised and succeeded.
He loves you with an unfailing love.
And His love – if you will let it – can fill you
And leave you with a love worth giving.

Excellence (+Excellence)

Excellence has to be surrounded by excellence, or it will compromise. In other words, if you’re not continually associating with other people of excellence, mediocre people will continually try to pull you back to the mediocre level where you lived in the past.

That’s why it’s so important to network with individuals who are of the same heart and have the same inner drive for excellence as you do. The people you choose to network with largely determine how well you continue to grow and become successful in your life. 

Yes, there are many types of people who hold different positions in your life. But you must never lost sight of this fact: The people with whom you presently have close relationships with either take you up or take you down in life. Therefore, God wants you to spend the bulk of your time with those whose lives you are moving toward as you follow His will for your life — not those you are coming from.

So surround yourself with people of your future, not with people of your past. In other words, make sure you always choose to associate closely with the people who are a part of your tomorrows, not the people who might draw you back in yesterday. 

AN EXCELLENT MINISTER SEEKS TO NETWORK WITH OTHERS OF THE SAME SPIRIT.

 

Love Must Be Sincere

Singapore Prime Minister said this during a Singapore Medical Association 50th Anniversary Night yesterday. 
“I have learnt the importance of good bedside manners and found that even when I cannot solve my residents’ problems, lending a patient listening ear will often help them unburden themselves and feel better. For MPs (Members of Parliment), like doctors, must not only try to cure – and in fact not all cases can be cured – but must always care”

Care must be sincere, so is love.  

As we seek to love according to God’s design, we must pursue sincerity: “Love must be sincere”. The love God wants His children to live by has no room for deceit and hypocrisy – it has to be genuine and earnest. 

Unfortunately, much of what takes places between guys and girls today is insincere. There is nearly always an angle, a hidden agenda: What can you do for me? What can I get from you?

I’ll never forget a conversation I sat through with a group of guys. Girls, you would have been appalled if you had overheard it. These guys were discussing things a guy could do on a date to get a girl to fall for him. They recited lines for stirring the heart and lines for getting a kiss. One guy explained his technique of alternating warmth with disinterest and coolness – he claimed that this approach kept a girl guessing and try her best to please him. Another guy shared ways to put a girl in a romantic mood. He’d take a date to a furniture store, and as he and the girl walked through the displays, he would talk about families and ask which tables and couches she would want for her home someday. “Girls go nuts for this!” he told us. He explained that with marriage and future plans on her mind, the girl would more likely be romantic and affectionate during the day. 

This conversation was a study in manipulation. All of it was completely fake, completely insincere. These guys weren’t seeking ways to bless girls. They merely wanted to push emotional buttons to get something for themselves.

I’m sure many girls would admit to having their own set of tricks. But no matter how commonplace or ingrained in our culture these practices may be, we all face judgement by the four simple words given by God: “Love must be sincere”.

We need to embrace the incredible responsibility we bear as representatives of Christ’s love here on earth. The world will know we are different and get a glimpse of God’s divine, saving love by the way we love. Will others see the sincerity of Christ’s love in our relationship? Or will they see the same brand of self-centered love practiced by the world and turn away in disappointment?

I’ll be untiringly embracing / the Love that I have found to be sincere  
 

All you need is a sincere
 

Personal Discipline #3 Body (Health)

The very last window to our character can’t never be less than our own personal body (health).

We should not fault a person because of things he or she cannot control ~ height, features, and in some cases, weight. Neither should we be overly concerned with the external. However, the way a person cares for his or her body tells us something about that person’s character.

First, how does this person dress? A girl who dresses immodestly may catch guy’s attention, but what does her clothing say about her heart? A guy who spends his money on the latest style of clothing may have the appearance of “togetherness”, but his infatuation with fashion could mean he’s too preoccupied with what people think of him (and that he may make poor decision with his money).

Next, how does this person care for his or her body? Does he or she have disciplined eating habits? Does he or she have a reasonable and consistent program of staying fit? God wants us to maintain the health and condition of our bodies so that we can more effectively serve Him. This does not mean, however, that we should become obsessed with exercise. A person who is too concerned about weight lifting is just as out of balance as the person who doesn’t exercise at all. 

How would you stand up to evaluation in this category? Is the room for improvement in your life?

How would you take care of your body now?