Today is Thanksgiving Day in the USA, a national holiday set aside to thank God for all of His bountiful provision and blessings bestowed upon us in the past year.
While Thanksgiving is primarily an American and Canadian holiday, the purpose behind the special day is something that we all should embrace today, no matter our nationality and no matter where in the world we are doing church or ministry.
Psalm 100:4 (NIV) - "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name."
What can you be thankful for today?
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Thursday, November 26, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Christmas Traditions
Today is November 24, and in Peru that means that people are putting up their Christmas trees and lights today and tomorrow.
In Peru, you see, the tradition is to put up the Christmas tree and lights exactly one month before Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve is actually a bigger holiday in Peru than Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, families gather together and have a large dinner and open gifts at midnight. Turkey and "paneton" - which is Peruvian fruitcake - are two of the staples of any Peruvian Christmas Eve feast.
Peruvian fruitcake ("paneton"), by the way, is very popular and is happily received by everyone as a great Christmas gift. This is the exact opposite of the way it is in the USA, where fruitcake is generally received quite unenthusiastically as a gift, and then frequently is re-gifted or used as a doorstop.
In Peru, you can find pens of live turkeys on street corners in the days leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You go up to the pen, pick out a bird, it gets slaughtered, and - voila! - there's your Christmas Eve dinner! The street corner pens are like a Death Row for turkeys at Christmastime in Peru.
What are the local Christmas traditions wherever in the world that you are doing church or ministry?
How can you embrace them and celebrate them as a means to lead others to know the real meaning of Christmas?
In Peru, you see, the tradition is to put up the Christmas tree and lights exactly one month before Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve is actually a bigger holiday in Peru than Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, families gather together and have a large dinner and open gifts at midnight. Turkey and "paneton" - which is Peruvian fruitcake - are two of the staples of any Peruvian Christmas Eve feast.
Peruvian fruitcake ("paneton"), by the way, is very popular and is happily received by everyone as a great Christmas gift. This is the exact opposite of the way it is in the USA, where fruitcake is generally received quite unenthusiastically as a gift, and then frequently is re-gifted or used as a doorstop.
In Peru, you can find pens of live turkeys on street corners in the days leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You go up to the pen, pick out a bird, it gets slaughtered, and - voila! - there's your Christmas Eve dinner! The street corner pens are like a Death Row for turkeys at Christmastime in Peru.
What are the local Christmas traditions wherever in the world that you are doing church or ministry?
How can you embrace them and celebrate them as a means to lead others to know the real meaning of Christmas?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Preaching Without Words
St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words."
James 2:26 (NIV) says, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
Do others know you as a Christ follower just because of your words, or also because of your deeds?
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words.
So is a single deed.
Learn to preach the Gospel without using any words.
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
James 2:26 (NIV) says, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
Do others know you as a Christ follower just because of your words, or also because of your deeds?
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words.
So is a single deed.
Learn to preach the Gospel without using any words.
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
He Shoots, He Scores!
National Hockey League legend Wayne Gretzky - also known as "The Great Gretzky" - once said, "You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
A hockey player said this, not a pastor or a ministry leader, but Wayne Gretzky might just as well have been in a pulpit, instead of on ice, when he made this "Great" commentary.
What shots do you need to take in your church or ministry? Are you afraid to do so? Why?
No shots on net means no goals, and no goals means no victories.
Start shooting, start scoring, and start winning.
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
A hockey player said this, not a pastor or a ministry leader, but Wayne Gretzky might just as well have been in a pulpit, instead of on ice, when he made this "Great" commentary.
What shots do you need to take in your church or ministry? Are you afraid to do so? Why?
No shots on net means no goals, and no goals means no victories.
Start shooting, start scoring, and start winning.
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
Monday, November 16, 2009
Critics
The next time someone criticizes you, or dumps all over your church or your ministry or your efforts to bear much fruit and to lead multitudes to the feet of Christ, remember this quote from former US President Theodore Roosevelt:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again (but) ... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again (but) ... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Talking & Doing
Walt Disney once said, "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."
Solomon once said, "All hard work brings profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."
Where is your focus these days - on talking or doing?
Are you in the game, or only offering commentary on the sidelines?
Get off of the sidelines.
Get into the game.
Begin doing!
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
Solomon once said, "All hard work brings profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."
Where is your focus these days - on talking or doing?
Are you in the game, or only offering commentary on the sidelines?
Get off of the sidelines.
Get into the game.
Begin doing!
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Impossible
Walt Disney once said, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible."
I don't know that Disney necessarily intended a spiritual underpinning to his statement, but indeed he was on to something.
In Genesis 18:14 (NIV), when God tells Abraham and Sarah that she will become pregnant soon, despite the fact that she's about 90 years old, and they laugh at the notion, God replies, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
In Luke 1:37 (NIV), when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would be the mother of the savior of the world, Gabriel also remarked, "For nothing is impossible with God."
In Luke 18:27 (NIV), Jesus says, "Nothing is impossible with God."
What impossibilities are you up against today in your church or ministry?
By adopting the positivity of Walt Disney, and with a faith that can move mountains, you will see the impossible become possible.
Because nothing is impossible with God.
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
I don't know that Disney necessarily intended a spiritual underpinning to his statement, but indeed he was on to something.
In Genesis 18:14 (NIV), when God tells Abraham and Sarah that she will become pregnant soon, despite the fact that she's about 90 years old, and they laugh at the notion, God replies, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
In Luke 1:37 (NIV), when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would be the mother of the savior of the world, Gabriel also remarked, "For nothing is impossible with God."
In Luke 18:27 (NIV), Jesus says, "Nothing is impossible with God."
What impossibilities are you up against today in your church or ministry?
By adopting the positivity of Walt Disney, and with a faith that can move mountains, you will see the impossible become possible.
Because nothing is impossible with God.
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Church
A church is not a museum for saints.
A church is a hospital for sinners.
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
A church is a hospital for sinners.
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Crisis
In the Chinese language, the word "crisis" is spelled by using two very different characters.
The first Chinese character that is used is for the word "danger."
The second Chinese character that is used is for the word "opportunity."
Crisis = Danger + Opportunity.
Do you see it the same way?
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
The first Chinese character that is used is for the word "danger."
The second Chinese character that is used is for the word "opportunity."
Crisis = Danger + Opportunity.
Do you see it the same way?
www.twitter.com/StephenGuschov
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