WorldWidePastor

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Fuggedaboutit!

The Discovery Channel in the USA is running a fascinating show about "The Ten Commandments of the Mafia." The TV special features Michael Franzese, a former capo in the Colombo crime family who left the mob life behind to become a Christ follower and a motivational speaker.

Franzese also wrote a book called "I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse: Insider Business Tips from a Former Mob Boss." Do you think that you could never learn anything of value from a former mobster? Fuggedaboutit! In the book, Franzese tells you how to get a plan, work it hard, work it smart, lead with your brain (not your mouth), and learn from your failures. He quotes Solomon a lot. You might never have thought that you could receive Godly wisdom from a former mob boss, but Michael Franzese proves to us all that you can.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Teresa of Avila

An observation by Teresa of Avila:

"Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world."

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Shots

Wayne Gretzky - nicknamed "The Great One", and for obvious reasons to any hockey fan - scored 894 regular season goals in his unmatched National Hockey League career. That is an NHL record.

Gretzky once was asked by a reporter about why he took so many shots on goal. "The Great One" thought for a moment, and then looked at the reporter and responded:

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Life, just like hockey, is the same.

In life, just like in hockey, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

What shots do you need to take today?

Remember that you always need to take shots before you score goals.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Bread

Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

"I don't preach a social gospel. I preach the gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned with the whole person. When people were hungry, Jesus didn't say, 'Now is that political or social?' He said, 'I'll feed you.' Because the good news to a hungry person is bread."

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Vince Lombardi

The late, great coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, once observed:

"Winners never quit and quitters never win."

The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:24, wrote:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

As well, in Philippians 3:14, Paul writes:

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Ministry, just like life itself, is not for quitters.

I think that Paul would have liked Vince Lombardi.

I think that Paul would have been a Green Bay Packers fan.

Maybe Paul even would have been a cheesehead.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Contemporary Church

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.:

"The contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch defender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and even vocal sanction of things as they are."