Good News and Better News … September 19th, 2016

Jonathots Daily Blog

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It is utterly amazing how many potholes on the highway of progress can be gloriously filled in with the marvelous cement of enthusiasm and repentance.

Although many people tout the power of thinking and prayer, our thoughts are often stuck in the past, and our prayers can be pious.

When I arrived in Marlette, Michigan, to meet up with Pastor Dave and the human beings who inhabit that region, I was looking for enthusiasm and repentance. Nothing of any significance is going to happen without this pair of miracle-workers.

Enthusiasm has a simple message: “I want to be happy.”

And repentance comes along cleansing the process by offering, “And I realize I may have to change to get it.”

Without enthusiasm. we eventually regress to complaining. And absent repentance, we always become “makers of great excuse.”

I was so pleased to encounter one friend after another in this gathered array of Michiganders, who expressed enthusiasm, and with tears in their eyes, realized the necessity of repentance.

Throughout my journey I have discovered that politics does not work because it’s so afraid of failure that it lies.

Education is limited because without the spunk of perseverance, it may not survive.

And religion is nearly comical because it pursues salvation without revering personal responsibility.

But the magic of enthusiasm followed by the anointing of repentance turns the human race into a livable sort, making folks able to co-exist with one another without gossip and murder.

I think this begins with how we answer the question, “How are you?”

We can decide to hide our feelings and say “fine” with varying degrees of apathy, or we can launch into a series of woes about our present condition, hoping for sympathy.

But I have found the perfect answer to “how are you?” Here it is: “At first, a little overwhelmed, but by nightfall, kind of surprised at how well things turned out.”

I shall always remember the folks in Marlette with Pastor Dave and his evolving outreach. They brought to the sanctuary enough enthusiasm to welcome repentance.

That’s the good news.

The better news?

It turns out that enthusiasm and repentance are much easier to work with than defeat and stubbornness.

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Good News and Better News… November 16th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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You can like them.

You can ignore them.

You can get fussy about them

But people aren’t going away.

This came to my mind yesterday as I was honored to share in front of the dear souls in Leo, Indiana.

Pastor Dave walks in a congenial competence. I fear he might consider that statement to be a left-handed compliment or even an insult, but he would misunderstand.

The American public-at-large needs congenial competence.

We’re constantly tempted to be unfriendly while infested by excuses for failure instead of showing a steady leadership which offers a sense of comfort.

There’s something wonderful about being congenial. Saying hello to your fellow-human without scrunching your brow with suspicion may be the definition of God’s love.

And also taking a few moments to figure out what you can do, supplying an effort equal to your promise is a stroke of genius.

I don’t ever want to lie to anyone.

I wear my weaknesses as proudly as I display my strengths.

My weaknesses tell people they can trust me because I haven’t tried to hide them. My strengths can exhilarate them because they understand that I’ve taken the time to work on myself and try to pursue the second mile.

I suppose when I finished up in Leo yesterday, there were individuals who would have said we had a morning of revival, but without being coy, I would contend that we had a morning of “vival.”

I’m not so sure any of us were truly alive until we got together–because the worst prison we can find for ourselves is a cave of our own misunderstanding. We need one another, because without that contact, we think we are smarter than we actually are.

I so enjoyed the people. I loved hearing their stories. I was thrilled with the look of hope on their faces.

I am proud to say that I joined Pastor Dave in trying to be a congenial, competent person.

For this is my prayer:

I want to bring you joy and deliver the little dab of talent I can as efficiently as possible.

 

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