Jonathots Daily Blog
(4342)
It’s not difficult.
You’ll be surprised—it’s not as painful as it sounds.
You can do it at home, on the job, or anywhere human beings gather.
If it hurts, you can cry. If you’re confident, you can stand steady.
“It was me.”
“My bad.”
“Look no further. ‘Twas I.”
“My doing.”
“I own that.”
“No excuses.”
“Back to the drawing board.”
“Oops.”
“That’s got my fingerprints all over it.”
“Plan B.”
“You got me.”
“I dropped the ball.”
“Not my finest hour.”
“My blame. No shame.”
“I failed.”
“Crash and burn.”
“I ate the apple.”
Pick one.
They’ve been used over the years by many intelligent individuals who wanted to avoid the stupidity of lying, cheating and accusing others.
Here it is:
You aren’t exposed, you don’t have to hide and if you confess, you can be healed.
Jonathots Daily Blog
(4300)
(4165)
1. Can you say yes or no without feeling the need to make excuses?
2. Do you truly know what you actually don’t know?
3. Can you stop comparing yourself to others?
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation for this inspirational opportunity
Jonathots Daily Blog
(3775)
Temperamental.
Yes, I do believe that would be the word that the folks of our culture nowadays would attribute to Jesus if they carefully studied his actions and reactions with the human race.
He wasn’t always sweet.
He wasn’t always kind.
He wasn’t always compassionate.
But in reviewing his lifestyle and his personal moods, you get a good glimpse of what the Gospel is truly about instead of what it’s purported to be.
We take great pains to convince people that they’re sinners, but it doesn’t make any difference–God’s grace covers it all. But if the motivations of Jesus are any indication of the mind of God, I think we’re sorely mistaken. After all, Jesus did say he “came to show us the Father.”
Based on that premise, what do we know about God through Jesus?
When he told the parable of the virgins, he made it clear that they were foolish because they didn’t think ahead and provide enough oil for themselves to last until the bridegroom came.
He also stated that people laugh at anyone who builds a foundation but doesn’t have the time and money to finish it.
And of course, let’s not forget the basic teaching of “counting the cost” before leaping into a project.
When the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, Jesus weighed the value of a human being against the sin of adultery, and determined that the soul was more important than the judgment.
He explained the same principle to James and John, who wanted to hurl fireballs from the sky down on the Samaritans. He challenged them, “You don’t know what spirit you are of.”
When the man at the pool insisted that he was too weak to get into the healing waters–that everybody beat him to it–Jesus later told him, “Be careful how you think and what you do, because something worse could befall you.”
And we must understand that Jesus never visited a leper colony. Those who felt sorry for themselves because of their disease never found the healing touch of the Master.
Christianity would prosper if we would let Jesus be Jesus instead of insisting that he fit into the mold of a Christ who salves the Old Covenant while initiating the new one.
He told them their “house was left desolate,” and that they couldn’t put “new wine into old wineskins.”
Would you call that temperamental?
Maybe not–just impatient with those who make excuses and end up losing the opportunity to be fruitful.
*****
If you like the mind of Jesus without religion, buy the book!
$7.99 plus S&H
*******
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this inspirational opportunity
Jonathots Daily Blog
(3654)
1. Something possible is undone
2. You learn how to make excuses
3. You become critical of people who don’t give up
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this inspirational opportunity
Jonathots Daily Blog
I confess so I can heal.
If I deny, I remain sick.
Mack was gay.
Actually, in 1980, such a term did not exist. The nicest word we had for people who pursued that lifestyle was “homosexual.”
Mack never told me he preferred men. I never asked him.
Mack was my friend but also my benefactor. He believed in my ability to be creative, and thought the things I came up with were worth promoting.
So when I wrote the musical, “Mountain,” Mack got right behind it, insisted we put together a cast to tour across the country, and on his own, raised $10,000 to fund it.
After the tour we parted our ways but not our affection.
A few months after we had finished our business, he called me and told me he had a lead on someone who wanted to sign my musical and publish it.
He only required one thing from me. The publishing company wanted a score of the music. In other words, they wanted all the music written down on staff paper in a fashion that could be read by musicians and performed.
It was at that point that I should have told Mack that even though I was able to compose music, I had no idea how to score it.
I didn’t. I didn’t tell him.
Oh, I had my reasons.
Since I had last seen Mack, I had moved away and was working in a terrible situation. One of my children had been hit and run by a car, and I was in the midst of moving to another community to acquire a new job.
It’s the classic situation–when we transform our circumstances into excuses, which we turn into reasons. But the reasons soon lose their power and have to be fortified by lies.
So at first I just cited my circumstances to Mack. He was understanding, but persistent. So I made promises.
But then when I failed to meet my deadlines, I had to move to excuses and then try to manipulate them into reasons, and ultimately ended up lying.
And of course, the greatest lie was when I sat down and tried to write the score of the music with my limited ability, and ended up with the manuscript equivalent of manure.
I sent it off anyway.
Mack trusted me, so he forwarded my work to the publisher, and ended up humiliated because the material made no sense whatsoever.
Mack forgave me–but we never did business together ever again.
I tried to justify it. I remembered the few occasions that I told him I didn’t know what I was doing instead of recalling how I insisted I would do it anyway.
I owe this fine person a huge apology.
I also need to realize that every time I’m tempted to pretend I’m something I’m not just so everyone in the room will feel that I am “hip” or part of “the gang in the know,” that I do much more damage than I ever thought possible.
The truth is, God has blessed me.
If I don’t think His blessing is enough, my exaggerations and lies will not make it any better.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
$3.99 plus $2.00 S&H
$3.99 plus $2.00 S & H
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
 | Jonathan on 1 Thing You Can Do When Your F… |
| Anonymous on 1 Thing You Can Do When Your F… |
| Anonymous on 1 Thing You Can Do When Your F… |
| Anonymous on 1 Thing You Can Do When Your F… |
 | Nolan on 1 Memory About Jonathan Richar… |
 | Maxine Mantooth on Drawing Attention … Dece… |
| Steve on From the Stacks … Octobe… |
| Maxine Mantooth on Scrambles … October 20th… |
| Maxine Mantooth on From the Stacks … Octobe… |
| Maxine Mantooth on Scrambles … October 13th… |
A voice writing in the wilderness
Jonathots Daily Blog 
