The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. EAT MORE CHICKEN “If you’re a patron of these popular restaurants, you know that come Sunday, you won’t be eating chicken at his place. On the first day of the week all fifteen hundred Chick-fil-As in thirty-eight states are shut tight, a practice Forbes estimates costs the business $500 million a year. If you were to ask Mr. Cathy why, he would tell you that it has to do with loyalty. “Closing our business on the Lord’s Day is our way of honoring God and showing loyalty to Him,” he has said. “My brother Ben and I closed our first restaurant on the first Sunday after we opened in 1946, and my children have committed to closing our restaurants on Sundays long after I’m gone.”

Excerpt From: DeMoss, Mark. “The Little Red Book of Wisdom.”

  1. LOOKING OUTWARD “Psalm 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

That’s where it starts.

Political correctness would have us look inward to discover truth. Jesus tells us to look outward to truth, which is embodied in Him. Truth and the wisdom of God does not exist within us; it only comes from God, who is outside of us.

Common sense is only common when our moral compasses are working. Strip away the moral compass, and you lose access to common sense. They work hand in hand. Because we’ve looked inwardly to determine our own moral compass, our society has paid a high price.

Excerpt From: Battaglia, Joe. “The Politically Incorrect Jesus.”

  1. COLGATE “A philanthropist later in life, Samuel Colgate (1822–1897) was the American manufacturer whose industriousness resulted in the Colgate-Palmolive Company. Clearly, he recognized Jesus as God’s Son and the value of the written Word:

“The condition of those nations without Christ, contrasted with those where Christ is accepted, reveals so marked a difference that no arguments are needed. It is an object lesson so plain that it can be seen and understood by all. May “the earth be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

  1. WINNING “Winners make plays and losers make excuses.” —

Football Coach Sam Ratigliano

  1. CONTROL YOUR MIND “Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. There is no half-way compromise. The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose, backed by a definite plan. Study the record of any man who achieves noteworthy success, and you will observe that he has control over his own mind.”

Excerpt From: Hill, Napoleon. “Think and Grow Rich.”

  1. IDEAS “If your company, whether it sells underwear or software, doesn’t realize that ideas are the core of its business, then you’re in big trouble.”

Excerpt From: Reiman, Joey. “Thinking for a Living.”

  1. LET GO “Don’t hold onto anything so tightly that Jesus can’t take it from you.”

–Corrie ten Boom

  1. GENIUS DEFINED “Genius is simply the ability to edit.”

–Comic genius Charlie Chaplin

  1. DEAD IDEAS “The greatest repository of ideas are graveyards. Here ideas remain buried with the people who had them but did nothing with them.”

Excerpt From: Reiman, Joey. “Thinking for a Living.”

  1. ONE DECADE “Ten years is, as Shakespeare knew, the normal horizon of human activities, the time we take to educate a child, to launch a career, to establish a business…. Ten years is also the outer limit of political predictability. In ten years, governments change, political leaders rise and fall, empires collapse, wars and revolutions turn the world upside down.”

From: Dyson, Freeman. “Imagined Worlds”

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. START YOUR DAY “The great nineteenth-century British preacher Charles Spurgeon believed that only a fool would fail to post a guard on the gate of the day. “It should be our rule never to see the face of men before first seeing the face of God,” Spurgeon said. “The morning watch anchors the soul so that it will not very readily drift far away from God during the day. He who rushes from his bed to his business without first spending time with God is as foolish as though he had not washed or dressed, and as unwise as one dashing to battle without arms or armor.”

Excerpt From: DeMoss, Mark. “The Little Red Book of Wisdom.”

  1. AMERICA’S RICHEST MAN….puts faith up against a quantifiable return on investment. “Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient,” Bill Gates said. “There is a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.”
  2. GETTING OLDER “One of the blessings of maturity is that it sometimes brings one greater courage to be truthful, regardless of what those who do not understand, may think or say.”

Excerpt From: Hill, Napoleon. “Think and Grow Rich.”

  1. CULTURE WITHOUT GOD “The further individuals and societies stray from a biblical morality, the more they decline in a common-sense approach to life. That’s why there are so many examples of people exhibiting no common sense in our culture. We have replaced common sense with nonsense. To offset this growing lack of common sense, Jesus calls us to be counterculturalists in our response to society, much like He was during His time on earth. As society moves farther away from God’s laws, Jesus asks us to remain centered by following that moral compass residing deeply within us. Not only does this keep us from being lost, it allows people who are desperate to find their true north. There is no true north under the relativism of political correctness.”

Excerpt From: Battaglia, Joe. “The Politically Incorrect Jesus.”

675.. INTEGRITY “Always do right. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

— M. Twain

676.. IDEAS “An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an invasion of ideas. ”

— VICTOR HUGO

  1. BE SAFE? “The Safe Way is a grocery store, not a way to run a business or live your life.” –Joey Reiman

678.. SEX “Sex is like nitroglycerin. It can be used either to blow up bridges or heal hearts.”

— Frederick Buechner.

  1. PERSEVERANCE “It’s only when you stop at failure that you really fail. Walt Disney, who was fired by an ad agency for not being able to draw. But his mission was to make the world smile. He would approach more than three hundred banks to get a loan for what many would have called a Mickey Mouse idea, but Walt Disney prevailed. The 302nd bank lent him money to build his dream.

Excerpt From: Reiman, Joey. “Thinking for a Living.”

  1. TROUBLE “There’s one thing to be said about inviting trouble:

it generally accepts.” —May Maloo

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. TEENAGERS I saw this sign in a restaurant once: “Teenagers, are you tired of being harassed by your stupid parents? Act now! Move out, get a job, and pay your own bills while you still know everything!”

Excerpt From: Turek, Frank. “Stealing from God.”

  1. POT BRAIN DAMAGE “During the first decade of life, brain growth occurs mainly in the gray matter (neurons and dendrites) and during the second and third decades, it occurs primarily in the white matter (connectivity). Exposure to neurotoxins during the brain’s developmental period can permanently alter the brain’s structure and function.

That is what marijuana does to the teen brain: it alters the structure and function. Because of a vicious cycle that numbs the reward and pleasure responses in the brain, more and more is required to obtain such pleasure—or such a high. This is but one reason marijuana users are much more likely to try harder drugs than those who never initiate marijuana use.

Excerpt From: William J. Bennett & Robert A White. “Going to Pot.”

  1. POT LUNG DAMAGE “There are 33 cancer-causing chemicals contained in marijuana. Marijuana smoke also deposits tar into the lungs. In fact, when equal amounts of marijuana and tobacco are smoked, marijuana deposits four times as much tar into the lungs. Marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke.”

Excerpt From: William J. Bennett & Robert A White. “Going to Pot.”

  1. BIBLE AND FOUNDERS “In 1984, University of Houston political scientists Donald Lutz and Charles Hyneman wrote about the sources that most influenced the development of American political thought during our nation’s Founding Era, 1760–1805.

After analyzing some fifteen thousand items published during that forty-five-year period, Lutz and Hyneman isolated 3,154 direct quotes cited by the Founders, identified the source of these quotes, and discovered that 34 percent came directly out of the Bible. French legal philosopher Baron Charles de Montesquieu was quoted 8.3 percent of the time. Sir William Blackstone, a renowned English jurist whose Commentaries on the Laws of England were highly accepted in America, was next at 7.9 percent, and English philosopher John Locke was fourth with 2.9 percent.

Three-fourths of the biblical citations in the 1760 to 1805 sample came from reprinted sermons (one of the most popular types of political writing during these years), and only 9 percent came from secular literature. These statistics clearly reflect the Bible’s impact on the Founding Fathers.

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

  1. INDECISION “Men who succeed reach decisions promptly, and change them, if at all, very slowly. Men who fail, reach decisions, if at all, very slowly, and change them frequently, and quickly. Indecision and procrastination are twin brothers. Where one is found, the other may usually be found also. Kill off this pair before they completely “hog-tie” you to the treadmill of FAILURE.”

Excerpt From: Hill, Napoleon. “Think and Grow Rich.”

  1. SELF-CONTROL “Intemperance in sex habits is just as detrimental as intemperance in habits of drinking and eating. In this age in which we live, an age which began with the world war, intemperance in habits of sex is common. This orgy of indulgence may account for the shortage of great leaders. No man can avail himself of the forces of his creative imagination, while dissipating them. Man is the only creature on earth which violates Nature’s purpose in this connection. Every other animal indulges its sex nature in moderation, and with purpose which harmonizes with the laws of nature. Every other animal responds to the call of sex only in “season.” Man’s inclination is to declare “open season.”

Excerpt From: Hill, Napoleon. “Think and Grow Rich.”

  1. WHY LIFE SO HARD? C. S. Lewis said, “sometimes you only look up when you’re on your back.”
  2. INDOCTRINATE OUR CHILDREN?

Q:”I believe it is best for me to let my child decide for himself on matters related to God. Wouldn’t we be forcing our religion down his throat if we tell him what he must believe?”

A: There is a brief period during childhood when youngsters are vulnerable to religious training. Their concepts of right and wrong are formulated during this time, and their view of God begins to solidify. As in the case of the gosling imprinting his mother goose immediately after birth, the opportunity of that period must be seized when the child is ready developmentally. Permanent attitudes can be instilled during the first seven vulnerable years.

The absence or misapplication of instruction through the prime time period may place a severe limitation on the depth of a child’s later devotion to God. When parents withhold indoctrination from their small children, allowing them to decide for themselves, the adults are almost guaranteeing that their youngsters will decide in the negative. If parents want their children to have a meaningful faith, they must give up any misguided attempts at objectivity. Children listen closely to discover just how much their parents believe what they preach. Any indecision or ethical confusion from the parent is likely to be magnified in the child.

After the middle-adolescent age (ending at about fifteen years), children sometimes resent heavy-handedness about anything—including what to believe. But if the early exposure has been properly conducted, they should have an anchor to steady them. Their early indoctrination, then, is the key to the spiritual attitudes they carry into adulthood.”

Excerpt From: Dobson, James. “Your Legacy.”

  1. WOULD YOU DIE? “According to a popular legend surrounding the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock signed his name largely and distinctly so King George could read it without his spectacles. While that may not be true, it is true that Mr. Hancock put his life on the line with that signature. If the revolution were lost or he were caught, he would be hanged by the British.

Each of the fifty-six signers knew the risk: “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

  1. MOST TOYS “He who does with the most toys dies anyway.” A lifetime invested in the accumulation of worldly possessions will have been wasted if that turns out to be your primary reason for living. When all has been said and done, it won’t matter.”

Excerpt From: Dobson, James. “Your Legacy.”

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. CHRISTIANS VOTING “Here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired.” (1 SAMUEL 12:13)

Voting is the most basic way citizens participate in a democracy. By voting, we help determine who will make the laws and protect our liberties. Unfortunately, people of faith often vote at an alarmingly low rate. When believers fail to vote, is it any wonder that policies contrary to our core values are enacted? America’s leaders have always understood the importance of voting:

“If America is to survive, we must elect . . . individuals who will seek Divine guidance in the affairs of state.”

—BILLY GRAHAM, EVANGELIST

“The people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption.”

—PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD

“God commands you to choose for rulers, just men who will rule in the fear of God. The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted.”

—NOAH WEBSTER”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

  1. WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE

“We ought to obey God rather than men.” (ACTS 5:29)

“Perhaps surprisingly, New England ministers played a key role in rallying popular support for war against England. They pressed their congregations to overthrow King George because they believed that rebellion to tyrants was obedience to God. From many pulpits, ministers recruited troops and strengthened them for battle.

These church leaders knew that the Bible places great emphasis on due submission to civil authorities (Romans 13), but they noted that many passages approve resistance to ungodly authority (see Acts 5:29 above).

It is, therefore, no coincidence that one of watchwords of the American War for Independence was “No King But King Jesus.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

  1. QUOTES FROM BOB SHANK

“MARRIAGE is an equal partnership. The husband is the managing partner and will report to God on the partnership.”

“AUTHORITY can make you do something – but it has limitations and it stops at some point. INFLUENCE is unlimited and eternal.”

“Your business may be the size of your plans, but your calling is the size of your God.”

“To God, “fruit” is people.”

  1. MISTAKES “When you’ve turned down the wrong road, the fastest way to the right road is to turn back.” Excerpt From: Turek, Frank. “Stealing from God.”
  2. MAD MEN “Atheists call murderers like Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, who were atheists themselves, “madmen”—as if reason alone should have led them to act morally. But those dictators were very reasonably following their atheistic belief that without God, everything is permissible.”

Excerpt From: Turek, Frank. “Stealing from God.”

  1. CHOICE “A commitment is making a choice to give up other choices.” — Dr. Scott Stanley
  2. NEXT LIFE When he was in his early twenties, Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706–April 17, 1790) wrote this verse to serve as his epitaph:

The Body of

Franklin, Printer,

Like the cover of an old book,

Its contents torn out

And stripted of its lettering and gilding,

Lies here, food for worms.

But the work shall not be lost;

For it will, as he believ’d, appear once more

In a new and more elegant edition,

Revised and Corrected

By the Author.”

  1. YOUNG MEN BEWARE “Younger men haven’t yet realized the mistakes they are making, but eventually they will. The details are different in each case, but the roads they have traveled look very familiar.

Those who have “Type A” personalities have bumped their heads on the same old rock. They began adult life with an unquenchable thirst for power, possessions, success, achievement, and position, which led to constant time pressure, exhaustion, marital conflict and/or divorce, and ultimately, alienation from children. If something doesn’t happen to turn them around, the end result will often be chronic illness, despair, and death.

Whatever you ache for, whether it is money, status, glory, sex, influence, or all the above, I promise you that Satan will appear to offer it to you. He knows your vulnerabilities, and he will put what you lust for right in front of you. Then he will entice you to take it, as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden. But as it was with her and later with Adam, you won’t get the prize without paying a dear price for it. You may even have to sell your soul to bring it home. You may begin to compromise your belief system, such as with dishonesty, sexual flirtation, excessive drinking, and exploitation of others. You might be among countless men who ignore the sexual and emotional needs of your wife. That can lead to your own inner loneliness, which gives rise to pornography, gambling, and other cheap thrills. It’s all part of the package.”

Excerpt From: Dobson, James. “Your Legacy.”

  1. MEDICAL MARIJUANA “Unlike medicines that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires to be safe and effective, marijuana is unregulated, non-standardized, and not proven to be either safe or effective. Furthermore, because medical marijuana is not regulated, dosage is inconsistent and purity is unknown.”

Excerpt From: William J. Bennett & Robert A White. “Going to Pot”

  1. PRAYER COVERING PARENTAL SHORTCOMINGS

“Lord, You know my inadequacies. You know my weaknesses, not only in parenting, but in every area of my life. I did the best I could, but it wasn’t good enough. As You broke the fishes and the loaves to feed the five thousand, now take my meager effort and use it to bless my family. Make up for the things I did wrong. Satisfy the needs that I have not satisfied. Wrap Your great arms around my children, and draw them close to You. And be there when they stand at the great crossroads between right and wrong. All I can give is my best, and I’ve done that. Therefore, I submit to You my children and myself and the job I did as a parent. The outcome now belongs to You.

Excerpt From: Dobson, James. “Your Legacy.”

 

 

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. BABEL SYNDROME “When civilizations strip away the knowledge of a personal God involved in the affairs of man, they eventually implode. The temptation to be our own god begins to erode the opportunities of forgiveness that allow a nation or an individual to heal and be healed. It’s the Tower of Babel syndrome for the twenty-first century—building a bigger platform to get closer to gods we create…ourselves.

You can always tell if a nation is following Jesus because at the center of their national persona is forgiveness and eschewing the temptation of self-interest. Conversely, nations that do not understand the power of forgiveness will always foster hate and mistrust or so focus on man as the center of the universe.”

Excerpt From: Battaglia, Joe. “The Politically Incorrect Jesus.”

  1. EMAIL “I am convinced that the majority of men and women pull into their parking spaces every weekday morning fully intending to turn out a good day’s work, only to leave eight or nine hours later with no achievement beyond answered e-mail. It is possible to pass a career and a life planted before a computer screen like Pavlov’s dog, answering e-mail and hitting Send, answering e-mail and hitting Send, answering e-mail and hitting Send, answering e-mail and hitting Send.”

Excerpt From: DeMoss, Mark. “The Little Red Book of Wisdom.”

  1. INFORMATION OVERLOAD “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” –nineteenth-century philosopher William James
  2. THE DECLARATION “The document was drawn, and on June 28, the original draft was read before the Congress. For several days it was discussed, altered, and made ready. On July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson stood before the Assembly, and fearlessly read the most momentous DECISION ever placed upon paper.

“When in the course of human events it is necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature, and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. . . .”

When Jefferson finished, the document was voted upon, accepted, and signed by the fifty-six men, every one staking his own life upon his DECISION to write his name. By that DECISION came into existence a nation destined to bring to mankind forever, the privilege of making DECISIONS.”

Excerpt From: Hill, Napoleon. “Think and Grow Rich.”

  1. HONESTY “Even when it comes at a high cost, honesty is always a bargain.”

— Mark DeMoss

  1. JOB SATISFACTION “Statistically, only half of working Americans are satisfied with their jobs. Among the satisfied 50 percent, only 14 percent are “very satisfied.” Dig a little further and see that 40 percent of all America’s workers feel disconnected from their employers; two-thirds come to work with scant motivation to help achieve their employers’ business goals or objectives; 25 percent admit to showing up just to collect a paycheck.”

Excerpt From: DeMoss, Mark. “The Little Red Book of Wisdom.”

  1. HEAVEN St. Augustine warned: “A man may lose the good things of this life against his will; but if he loses the eternal blessings, he does so with his own consent.”
  2. BEAR FRUIT “The worship of God is a duty; the hearing and reading of sermons may be useful; but, if men rest in hearing and praying, as too many do, it is as if a tree should value itself on being watered and putting forth leaves, though it never produce any fruit.” — B. FRANKLIN
  3. LETTER FROM GOD

To My Dear Child, (Insert Your Name)   You may not know me, but I know everything about you. (Ps 139:1)  I know when you sit down and when you rise up. (Psalm 139:2)  I am familiar with all your ways. (Psalm 139:3)  Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. (Matthew 10:29-30)  For you were made in my image. (Genesis1:27)  In me you live and move and have your being.  For you are my  offspring. (Acts 17:28)  I knew you even before you were conceived. (Jeremiah 1:4-5)  I chose you when I planned creation. (Ephesians 1:11-12)  You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book.   (Psalm 139:15-16)  I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would  live. (Acts 17:26)  You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)  I knit you together in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13)  And brought you forth on the day you were born. (Psalm 71:6)  I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me.  (John 8:41-44)  I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of  love. (I John 4:16)  And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. (I John 3:1)  Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. (I John 3:7)  I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. (Matthew 7:11)  For I am the perfect Father. (Matthew 5:48)  Every good gift you receive comes from my hand. (James 1:17)  For I am your provider and I meet your needs. (Matthew 6:31-33)  My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.  (Jeremiah 29:11)  Because I love you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)  My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the  seashore. (Psalm 139:17-18)  And I rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)  I will never stop doing good to you. (Jeremiah 32:40)  For you are my treasured possession. (Exodus 19:5)  I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul.  (Jeremiah 32:41)  And I want to show you great and marvelous things. (Jeremiah 33:3)  For if you seek me with all your heart, you will find me.   (Deuteronomy 4:29)  So, Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart.   (Psalm 37:4)  For it is I who gave you those desires. (Philippians 2:13)  I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine.    (Ephesians 3:20)  For I am your greatest encourager. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)  I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles.  (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)  When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. (Psalm 34:18)  As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart.   (Isaiah 40:11)  One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. And I will take  away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4)  I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus.  (John 17:23)  For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. (John 17:26)  And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. Jesus died so that  you and I could be reconciled.  (2 Corinthians 5;18-19)  His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you.  (I John 4:10)  I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love.   (Romans 8:31-32)  If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. (I John 2:23)  And nothing will ever separate you from my love again.   (Romans 8:38-29)  When it’s time for you to Come home and I’ll throw the biggest  party heaven has ever seen.  (Luke 15:7)  I have always been your Father, and will always be your Father.   (Ephesians 3:14-15)  My question is….Will you be my child? (John1:12-13)  I am waiting for you. (Luke 15:11-32)  With Love, Your Father,        Almighty God

–Unknown

  1. FAITH? “Most [“Christians”] believe Jesus was raised because they were raised to believe.” — C. Seidman
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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. HAPPINESS “When Benjamin Franklin was confronted by a disgruntled American, complaining that his country had failed to provide him with the happiness it had promised, Franklin is said to have smiled and calmly replied, “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

  1. LOSING A LOVED ONE “People who suffer the loss of a loved one will tell you that your presence is comforting, not your answers.

In his first sermon after losing his son to suicide, Pastor Rick Warren advised his congregants that if they were unsure about what to say in a tragedy, say nothing. Just be there. Job’s friends initially did that. It was only after they began to speak that they made matters worse.

If you’re hurting right now, I risk making matters worse by giving intellectual answers to emotional pain.”

Excerpt From: Turek, Frank. “Stealing from God.”

633. BIBLE OR BAYONET? “Consider the boldness of Robert Winthrop, lawyer, philanthropist, and speaker of the US House of Representatives (1847–1849):

Men may as well build their houses upon the sand and expect to see them stand, when the rains fall, and the winds blow, and the floods come, as to found free institutions upon any other basis than that of morality and virtue, of which the Word of God is the only authoritative rule, and the only adequate sanction.

All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. The less they have of stringent state government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint.

Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet.

It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the state supporting religion. Here, under our own free institutions, it is religion which must support the state.

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

634.WORKAHOLIC “Let me ask you. Have you ever sent an e-mail to a co-worker, or someone that reports to you, on a Sunday or a Saturday or in the evening? What are you telling them? Speaking for myself, I was telling them, “I expect you to work twenty-four/seven. I expect you to work ninety hours a week.” You know why? Because that’s the behavior I was showing them. I wasn’t telling them to honor the Sabbath. I wanted them to answer my e-mail on Sunday morning. I was expecting them to pour every ounce of their time and energy into work.”

Excerpt From: Dobson, James. “Your Legacy.”

  1. ABORTION MIDDLE GROUND?  “One individual asked me, “What is the evangelical middle ground on abortion?”

“There really is none,” I replied. “One cannot have a middle ground on the sanctity-of-life issue, as it’s firmly grounded in an inviolate law of God about when life begins and who can determine a disturbance in its continuum.”

At that point, the man threw his arms in the air. “See, there’s no talking with you evangelicals, because you refuse to discuss things like this!”

I replied kindly that he was asking me the wrong question. “It’s not about finding the middle ground to when life begins and when it’s okay to summarily take that life,” I told him. “The better question would be how to find common ground, not middle ground.” I took a breath and went on. “Middle ground suggests that we compromise on something we have no right in doing—violating our conscience and our understanding of God’s Word. That’s not finding middle ground; that’s a sellout. Or intellectual dishonesty, at best.”

Excerpt From: Battaglia, Joe. “The Politically Incorrect Jesus.”

  1. HIS STORY “The history of salvation is the grand overarching story of the Bible; embracing it gives coherence to all of life. It calls each of God’s people to own the story, and it dignifies each one with a role in the further outworking of the story. Nevertheless it is impossible for any human being to fully grasp how his or her decisions will contribute to God’s grand scheme; and Ecclesiastes helps people to see that they do not have to understand this. Each of the faithful, by “fearing God and keeping his commandments” (Eccl. 12:13), participates in ways that he cannot “find out,” trusting that God will take care of the big plan.”

Excerpt From: Crossway. “ESV Study Bible.”

  1. PERSEVERANCE “99% of all drowning victims die within 10 feet of the shore. Perhaps in your own life, you do not realize how close you are to SUCCESS.” — Unknown
  2. POT POTENCY “Today’s marijuana THC levels are in the double digits—we’ve gone from about 3 to 5 percent THC in yesteryear’s marijuana to just above 13 percent THC—but common strains are available that go much higher, into the 20 percents and beyond. The difference between 3 to 5 percent THC and 13 to 30 percent THC is very significant. It is like comparing a twelve-ounce glass of beer with a twelve-ounce glass of 80 proof vodka.”

Excerpt From: William J. Bennett & Robert A White.

  1. EVIL “Evil” is ‘live’ spelled backward. Evil is in opposition to life. It is that which opposes the life force.”

Excerpt From: Kupelian, David. “The Marketing of Evil.”

  1. TICK TOCK “I’m never so lost in living that I don’t hear the clock tick or have an eye on the calendar—not in a paranoid sense, but with a sense of purpose.”

Excerpt From: DeMoss, Mark. “The Little Red Book of Wisdom.”

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. WEALTH CAN’T BE KEPT “At age six, Henry John Heinz (1844–1919) helped his mother tend a small family garden. At twelve, he was working more than three acres and using a horse and cart to make deliveries to Pittsburgh grocery stores. He went on to found a company that he named 57 Varieties. Today the H. J. Heinz Company, incorporated in 1905, sells more than 1,300 products, ranging from ketchup to baby food, worldwide.

Heinz’s company pioneered safe and sanitary food preparation and was ahead of its time in employee relations, providing free medical benefits and swimming and gymnasium facilities. Women held supervisory and other positions of responsibility. Henry Heinz was also very involved in promoting Sunday school in Pittsburgh and around the world.

In his will, Heinz said, “I desire to set forth at the very beginning of this will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I also desire to bear witness to the fact that throughout my life, in which there were unusual joys and sorrows, I have been wonderfully sustained by my faith in God through Jesus Christ.

“There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them.”  (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2 ESV)

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

  1. LIFE’S CENTER “We live in a time where the issues of the day are overwhelming. We are over-stimulated, due to the constant flow of media through our minds, and so overstressed and tired that, on some days, we can’t even decide which pair of socks to wear in the morning. We need to grasp hold of a faith that can meet us right in the trenches of life and help us see past what is all around us. A faith that is THE center of our lives, with everything revolving around that. The kind of faith that acts as a filter for everything we experience everyday—in media, entertainment, politics, relationships, and yes, even in the church.”

“When we raise the flag higher than the cross, we have a problem.”

Excerpt From: Battaglia, Joe. “The Politically Incorrect Jesus.”

  1. DECATHLETES Perhaps the most challenging event in the Olympic Games is the decathlon. Composed of 10 separate events in which scores are complied to crown an overall champion. (Decathlon events are: (first day) 100-meter dash, running long (broad) jump, shotput, high jump, and 400-meter run; (second day) 110-meter hurdles, discusthrow, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1,500-meter run.) The champion of the decatholon is broadly considered the greatest athlete in the world. Yet decathletes are NOT world record holders in ANY one of the ten events. But they are committed to being “world class” in ALL of them. God wants us to be committed to excellence and balanced overall in our own lives.

10 Areas of Commitment: Physical, Intellectual, Relational, Spiritual, Marriage, Parenting, Career, Finance, Discipling the saved, Teaching the lost.

–The Masters Program

  1. WHEN “IRON SHARPENS IRON” What happens? Sparks, heat, noise. It can be intense!

— Bob Shank

  1. PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE — Chris Jennings

“The hard thing to do and the right thing to do are typically the same.”

“You can’t win championships with junior varsity players.”

“LeBron may be the best player in the world, but he still goes to practice.”

“An anagram for “listen” is “silent.”

  1. LOSING ARGUMENT “If you cannot answer a man’s argument, don’t panic. You can always call him names.” — Oscar Wilde
  2. VICTORY “CHRISTIANS are not fighting FOR victory.  They are fighting FROM victory. The outcome has been determined.” — Tony Evans
  3. THREE RINGS 1. Before Marriage – Engagement ring. 2. At marriage – Wedding ring. 3. During marriage – Suffer ring. — C. Seidman
  4. MEANINGLESSNESS “Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure.” — G.K. Chesterton
  5. APPEASEMENT and weakness DO NOT WORK in human affairs. That is the lesson of history.

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich in 1938 to meet with the German Chancellor, Adolph Hitler. The brutal dictator wanted to seize Czechoslovakia and enslave its people. He promised no more territorial claims if the British government would not oppose the takeover. Chamberlain agreed and flew back to London. He is still seen on film today waving a paper signed by Hitler, and claiming, “Peace in Our Time.” What followed was the brutalization of the Czechoslovakian people and five years of bitter world war during which fifty million people died. Chamberlain set it up by appeasing a mass murderer.

This is also true for teens who regularly come home drunk at three a.m., vomit in the bathroom, and are unable to work the next day. Such a young man or woman is in deep trouble and needs to be confronted by tough parents. To pacify an adolescent who behaves like this and to dole out money to keep the peace is to become an enabler. That will cripple him or her in time.”

Excerpt From: Dobson, James. “Your Legacy.”

 

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. WHOSE SIDE? “The guidelines of what we ought to do are furnished in the moral law of God. It is no longer enough that we pray that God may be with us on our side. We must learn to pray that we may be on God’s side.”

–Wernher van Braun (1912-1977) Director of NASA

  1. DIVIDED ATTENTION “If you chase two rabbits, you will catch neither.”

—Russian proverb

  1. YOUR CALLING “A “little c” calling ends when you do. A “Big C” Calling continues for eternity.” — Bob Shank
  2. BE YOUR BEST “Only the mediocre are always at their best. If your standards are low, it is easy to meet those standards every single day, every single year. But if your standard is to be the best, there will be days when you fall short of that goal. It is okay to not win every game. The only problem would be if you allow a loss or a failure to change your standards. Keep your standards intact, keep the bar set high, and continue to try your very best every day to meet those standards. If you do that, you can always be proud of the work that you do.” Excerpt From: “Coach K’s Key Words for Success”
  3. BURIAL Bob Hope’s wife asked him where he wanted to be buried when he died. His response: “Surprise me.”
  4. PREPARE  “Spectacular achievements are always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” — Roger Staubach
  5. RUSSIAN TEXTBOOK “If we could effectively kill the national pride and patriotism of just one generation we will have won that country. Therefore there must be continued propaganda abroad to undermine the loyalty of the citizen in general and the teenagers in particular.”Excerpt From: Reagan, Ronald. “The Notes.”
  6. AMERICA TODAY?  “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

— Written in anguish over the ravages of civil war by President Abraham Lincoln on March 31, 1863 while declaring a National Day of Fasting.

  1. DEATH FOR ALL “The business section of the paper highlights only those who are successful in their vocational endeavors. The social section contains pictures and stories only related to the social elite. The sports section is filled with articles about those teams and individuals who excel in their athletic fields. Then we come to the obituary section. There, listed side by side in alphabetical order, are the rich and the poor, the known and the unknown, the prominent and the not so prominent. We are all equal in death. It is our common denominator.

A lot of voices and volumes today tell us how to live. Motivational and self-help books flood the marketplace. But there is only one book that tells us how to die.”

Excerpt From: O. S. Hawkins. “The Joshua Code.”

  1. PC JESUS? “Jesus was not open-minded when it came to truth. He stated that He was THE truth, which flies in the face of political correctness. Much of what He taught and stood for clearly clashes with the popular notions that want to redefine and reinterpret the person and teachings of Jesus, and ultimately the Christian faith, so that neither step on anyone’s sensitivities.

Ultimately, political correctness boldly asks us to commit intellectual suicide by assenting to what we actually do not believe. It asks us to buy into the fashionable definition of Jesus to make Him and His teachings more palatable, in an expedient way to “relate” to a wider world.

Jesus, however, calls us to be salt and light, not chameleons.”

Excerpt From: Battaglia, Joe. “The Politically Incorrect Jesus.”

 

 

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. DONT GET LOST “In 2013, the company rolled out a new version of Google Maps. Instead of providing you with the same representation of a city that everyone else sees, it generates a map that’s tailored to what Google perceives as your needs and desires, based on information the company has collected about you. The app will highlight nearby restaurants and other points of interest that friends in your social network have recommended. It will give you directions that reflect your past navigational choices. The views you see, the company says, are “unique to you, always adapting to the task you want to perform right this minute.

What is arguably the most important way of looking at a city, as a public space shared not just with your pals but with an enormously varied group of strangers, gets lost.

In Google’s world, public space is just something that stands between your house and the well-reviewed restaurant that you are dying to get to.” Expedience trumps all.”

Excerpt From: Carr, Nicholas. “The Glass Cage: Automation and Us.”

  1. THE GOLDEN LAW “There is one all-important law of human conduct. If we obey that law, we shall almost never get into trouble. In fact, that law, if obeyed, will bring us countless friends and constant happiness. But the very instant we break the law, we shall get into endless trouble. The law is this: Always make the other person feel important. William James said: “The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” As I have already pointed out, it is this urge that differentiates us from the animals. It is this urge that has been responsible for civilization itself.

Jesus summed it up in one thought—probably the most important rule in the world: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

Excerpt From: Carnegie, Dale. “How To Win Friends & Influence People.”

  1. GEN. BRADLEY KNEW “General Omar Bradley was one of the main US Army field commanders in North Africa and Europe during World War II. Later, he was the first officer assigned to the post of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1948, he stated this powerful insight, “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. . . . The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional

  1. ADMITTING YOU’RE WRONG “By fighting you never get enough, but by yielding you get more than you expected.” — Unknown
  2. INTERESTING The words “silent” and “listen” have the same letters. — Unknown
  3. LIFE WELL LIVED? The American Dream is all about “a life well spent.” The Kingdom Dream is about “a life well invested.” — Bob Shank
  4. MENTORING “No matter who you are or what you have achieved, you are incomplete until you find a way to use the blessings you have experienced in your life to have a positive effect on others.”

Excerpt From: “Coach K’s Key Words for Success”

  1. MENTORS “The older I grow, the more I am convinced that there is no education which one can get from books and costly apparatus that is equal to that which can be gotten from contact with great men and women.”

Excerpt From: Mansfield, Stephen. “Then Darkness Fled.”

  1. CREATIVE PROCRASTINATION “Most people engage in unconscious procrastination. They procrastinate without thinking about it. As a result, they procrastinate on the big, valuable, important tasks that can have significant long-term consequences in their lives and careers. You must avoid this common tendency at all costs.

Your job is to deliberately procrastinate on tasks that are of low value so that you have more time for tasks that can make a big difference in your life and work. Continually review your duties and responsibilities to identify time-consuming tasks and activities that you can abandon with no real loss. This is an ongoing responsibility for you that never ends.”

Excerpt From: Tracy, Brian. “Eat That Frog!.”

  1. CONFUSED? “Former Fed Chief Alan Greenspan wasn’t known for scintillating or lucid speeches. He once said, “I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you’ve probably misunderstood what I’ve said.”

Excerpt From: Turek, Frank. “Stealing from God.”

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

  1. FULL DISCLOSURE “Winston Churchill, caught by a flustered Roosevelt as he emerged from a White House bathtub in the early days of World War II, simply stood erect and said, “I have nothing to hide from the president of the United States.” Suspicions subsided, trust arose, and treaties were signed.”

Excerpt From: Mansfield, Stephen. “Then Darkness Fled.”

  1. GOD’S HELP “God has no limitations in His ability to pull something off, but He’s going to do it in His time and not before.”

Excerpt From: Charles R. Swindoll. “Wisdom for the Way.”

  1. SEEN VS. UNSEEN “The more important things are those which are hidden; the least important are those which can be seen.”

—Booker T. Washington

  1. THINK LONG-TERM “Losers try to escape from their fears and drudgery with activities that are tension-relieving. Winners are motivated by their desires toward activities that are goal-achieving.” For example, coming into work earlier, reading regularly in your field, taking courses to improve your skills, and focusing on high-value tasks in your work will all combine to have an enormous positive impact on your future. On the other hand, coming into work at the last moment, reading the newspaper, drinking coffee, and socializing with your coworkers may seem fun and enjoyable in the short term but inevitably leads to lack of promotion, underachievement, and frustration in the long term.

Excerpt From: Tracy, Brian. “Eat That Frog!.”

  1. THE BIBLE “Isn’t it interesting that the Book of Exodus, which was written nearly 3,600 years ago, is still relevant to our lives today? It is because the biblical text was “God-breathed.” It was written by forty authors over a course of 1,500 years, on three continents and in three languages. There has never been another book like the Bible, yet it has been banned in public schools, in most universities, and in the public square.”

Excerpt From: Dobson, James. “Your Legacy.”

  1. DEFEAT “Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn.”
  2. FOUNDERS’ FAITH “Most historians do not limit the “Founding Fathers” to the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, but this core group of men represents the religious roots and thought of those who shaped the political foundations of our nation. As a matter of public record, the delegates included 28 Episcopalians, 8 Presbyterians, 7 Congregationalists, 2 Lutherans, 2 Dutch Reformed, 2 Methodists, 2 Roman Catholics, 1 unknown, and 3 deists (those who believe in an impersonal God who gave the world its initial impetus but then left it to run its course). A full 93 percent of the convention’s members were members of Christian churches, and all were deeply influenced by a biblical view of mankind and government.

The Declaration of Independence, for instance, identified the source of all authority and rights as “Their Creator” and then clearly stated that individual human rights are God-given, not manmade. Therefore, the argument continues, no king or established religion would ever stand in the way of human liberty or dignity—an assertion uniquely Judeo-Christian and key to the republic we have today.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

  1. AMERICAN LEADERS “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”

— JOHN JAY, FIRST CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT

  1. OPPORTUNITY “That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.” Excerpt From: Hill, Napoleon. “Think and Grow Rich.”
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