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Living The Solution – Online Newsletter |
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FEBRUARY 18, 2004 ISSUE |
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Opening Thoughts:
Greetings everyone, and a warm welcome
to all our new subscribers.
Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day were
both a few days ago. I’m not sure there’s
a connection, but love and leadership do come to mind.
If ever there was a president with good excuses to give
up on both it was probably Abraham Lincoln. I, for one,
am glad he persevered. Be sure to read our “quotable” from
Lincoln at the end of this issue.
Peace,
Tom Gilbert
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IN THIS ISSUE
Feature
Article: Holding Up A Mirror
In The Spotlight: The Passion of the Christ
New & Coming Soon: Transitions
Daily Thoughts: Becoming Oblivious to God
Prayer & Sharing Requests
Quotable: Presidential Policy
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| FEATURED
ARTICLE |
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Holding
Up A Mirror
by Tom Gilbert
Guys, when you look in the mirror
what do you see? I suspect most of us see the physical
face; we check it out for a few obvious blemishes, give
ourselves a quick mental “thumbs up” and
leave without a second thought. We don’t have the
time or inclination for deep probing. We want to know
we are “ok”.
If the eyes truly are the windows to the soul (and they are), then this surface review is insufficient.
It’s hard to get past the surface and probe below, especially into those vulnerable, soft underbelly areas
that we like to keep covered up and safely hidden from view.
Our wives are holding up a mirror to us
They often see us for who we really are, warts and
all. If they really love us they don’t hold back
from reflecting our imperfections. I know. I’ve
been married for over eighteen years and my wife is
good about doing this. The problem is I so rarely pay
attention and so, like the quick check up in the bathroom
mirror, I don’t really see and think everything is just fine.
Most of us struggle with the battle of our self centered
worldview. It’s hard to escape this. The illusion,
delusion, denial and numerous other forms of self-deception
are constantly engaged. Some of this is protective.
We need to project confidence and strength. When that
confidence is sitting on a mass of buried insecurity
we’ll work all the harder, often subconsciously,
to cover up the weakness and believe the lies about ourselves.
The good news
Honest love and trust that sacred unions (marriage)
are built on makes it ok to be our real self around
our spouse. If we fail to get real and pretend to be
something that we aren’t we end up really only
fooling ourselves. Come on, your wife knows you better than you think!
Read the entire article here
Discover more thought provoking articles
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| IN THE SPOTLIGHT |
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 The Passion of the Christ
I watched the ABC “Primetime” special on The
Passion of the Christ. The questions I have
about the movie still remain. Is it going to be just
an emotional rollercoaster ride while we watch in extreme
movie-realism the brutal torture and death of Jesus Christ?
Or will there be enough in the movie to get people to
truly want to know the full story?
I still plan to see the movie, but I hope that each of us that go will evaluate
it without preconceived endorsements or criticisms. In the end the questions
we should take away are “Who is Jesus Christ?”, “Who am I?” and “What
am I going to do as a result?”
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The Passion of the Christ, the new
movie from Mel Gibson about Jesus' suffering, death and
resurrection, opens February 25. This is going to be
an important film to see. Living the Solution continues
to provide news, information and we will do a review
after seeing the film. Be sure to check out our article,
A Really Rugged
Cross.
You can get more information about the movie and how
to purchase advance tickets at The
Passion Tickets.
More on this at our Spotlight
Specials page
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| NEW & COMING SOON |
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Transitions
Have you experienced any transitions in your life lately? It sure seems like
many of the people I’m in contact with are going through some sort of change.
Jobs, schooling, family issues, health problems and other life choices – sooner
or later, it’s inevitable. In March we’ll examine this topic more
closely. Let me know if you have thoughts or experiences to share — visit
our Contact
Us page.
We have many articles on our site on a variety of issues – if you are looking
for practical solutions to life’s challenges you might want to read a few.
See all our articles listed here.
We have many reviews - books, movies, music - currently on site at Reviews.
See the newest review of Dawn-Apocalypse Rising by K.G. Powderly
Jr.
Living the Solution provides many valuable and inspirational
links to other web sites. While we aren’t responsible for their content,
we have visited them and believe they have value for others.
See more at our links page:
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DAILY THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS |
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Becoming Oblivious to God
But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of
all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off,
oblivious to God. (Romans 13:11 - The Message)
There are many things you can do each
day in your job, school, taking care of your family and
serving in your church or home fellowship group. All of
these are good things and most of them involve some form
of ministry and/or service to others, or so it would seem.
Do you go through your day doing and fulfilling your obligations
out of a heart to serve and benefit others or do you use
these activities as a means of self promotion and gain,
all the while thinking and believing that because they
appear to benefit others that you are doing well while
all time you are thinking about how you look and appear
to others?
It is easy to be like Martha. She worked and served
in her home to make things “just right” when
Jesus came to visit her and her sister Mary. But she
became upset when Mary was getting all of the attention
from Jesus. Martha missed the point. Jesus came to have
a personal relationship with her. He wanted to spend
time with her, not just to be served by her but to have
her company and to know what was on her mind and her
heart. Jesus wanted to love her, give her comfort, peace
and to lighten and share the burden of life.
Yes, God calls us to a mission, yes God wants us to serve
others and to serve and live our lives for Him, but
He longs for, desires and aches for a loving personal
relationship with you in which He can let you know how
much He loves you. He wants to spend time with you one-on-one
just getting to know you and you getting to Him heart-to-heart.
Today slow down and take time to dwell and bask in
God's presence. Don’t allow yourself to become
so busy that you become oblivious to the One who loves
and who created you.
Live it Fierce
Pete
Get daily inspiration with a Scripture verse and commentary
at
Daily Thought
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PRAYER REQUESTS & RESULTS |
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Prayer works. It really does. Only those who've never
truly tried it with the proper intentions would say otherwise. We want
to pray for you and your needs. If you have a specific request let us
know at prayer requests.
Of course, we keep you information confidential.
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My thoughts are shared regularly on the pages of
the www.livingthesolution.com web site, especially on the Journal pages.
We welcome and appreciate your feedback. If you would like to submit
an article please see our writer's
guidelines.
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It is our hope that the content of Living The Solution will
stimulate you to deepen your faith. That is certainly a result for us in both
our writing and reading. If you would like to see articles on a particular topic
or you have comments please let us know.
Send an email.
Quotable: Presidential Policy
“I never had a policy; I have just tried
to do my very best each and every day.”
— Abraham Lincoln
Copyright 2004 Living the Solution, all rights reserved.
Tom Gilbert
Editor/Web-servant
Living The Solution
www.livingthesolution.com
P O Box 25584
Albuquerque, NM 87125-5584
Toll free 1-800-399-2564 ext 105 (US only) or 505-892-9600
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Redeemer President:
Abraham
Lincoln
by Allen C. Guelzo
Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President has garnered numerous
accolades, including the prestigious 2000 Lincoln Prize.
Buy it here.
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