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
- SONS “The Son of God became the Son of Man in order that the sons of men could become the sons of God.” — Unknown
- GREED “The Greeks had a curious word they used when referring to greed. The word means “a thirst for having more.” To illustrate, it’s probably fanciful yet fairly descriptive to think of a fellow who is thirsty taking a drink of salt water, which only makes him thirstier. His thirst causes him to drink even more, which ultimately results in making him terribly sick. And if he continues to drink he could die.
That’s the whole point of greed. You’ll want more and more of something that really isn’t good for you. And in the getting of it, you’ll suffer the painful consequences.”
Excerpt From: Charles R. Swindoll. “Dear Graduate.”
- AMAZING LOVE “God proved His love toward us. How? It was not by writing His love in flaming letters across the sky nor by belting His strong voice from heaven expressing His love. The Bible says, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Jesus was not some sort of remedial action, a last minute splint for a broken world when everything else had failed. The preparation God had done was staggering. He had raised up a Greek nation that took the Greek language across the known world so the gospel could spread without a language barrier. He raised up a Roman empire that built a road system of fifty thousand miles across the world so the gospel could move from country to country. Yes, it was in the “fullness of time” that Christ came (Galatians 4:4).
Excerpt From: O. S. Hawkins. “The Joshua Code.”
- THINK BIG “Don’t listen to that mocking little voice that tells you to be more realistic. Ignore it. You can either accept reality as it is or create it as you wish it to be. This is the essence of dreaming—and thinking big.”
Excerpt From: Hyatt, Michael. “Platform.”
- SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY “Security is our first core need, and it’s defined by the question Who can I trust? We’re healthiest when we meet our need for security in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, in trustworthy people, and in ourselves as we learn to be right and do right even when the burden is heavy. Security is rooted in forgiveness—from God, from others, and especially from ourselves.
It becomes a problem when we begin looking for security in all the wrong places. Some young people try to meet their need for security in their technology and its availability. Many believe technology will never let them down (as human relationships often do!).
When teens don’t have instant access to their technology, their security feels threatened.
Many of today’s teens are secure in things being quick, perfect, and easy. They trust that the access they need will always be readily available.
[For them,] It’s WHAT they trust that matters, not WHO. This is potentially very damaging because technology is not how God designed this need for security to be met.
Trusting people doesn’t come naturally to young people partly because they’re relating through social media and texting. It’s hard to truly know people and develop friendship and discernment skills. They may be attempting to meet this need with the number of “friends” they have. What they don’t understand is that security is not found in quantity (multiple online connections). It’s discovered in QUALITY (real and faithful relationships).”
Excerpt From: Koch, Kathy. “Screens and Teens.”
- ADDICTION AGE “Children who develop addictions to screens are much more susceptible to developing other addictions someday. Research suggests 90 percent of addictions have roots in the teen years. To further drive home this point, one in four Americans who began using any addictive substance before age eighteen are addicted, compared to one in twenty-five who started using at age twenty-one or older.
Excerpt From: Koch, Kathy. “Screens and Teens.”
- XTIAN DIVORCE RATES NOT SAME “We often hear that divorce rates in the Church mirror divorce rates outside of the Church. One study even suggested that the best predictor of divorce was “the concentration of conservative Protestants living in the county,” but as Brad Wilcox of the University of Virginia has demonstrated, this study (and others like it) fails to distinguish between nominal conservative Protestants and committed conservative Protestants. Christians who are active in their faith, evident by religious practices like church attendance, are far less likely to get divorced than those not active in their faith.”
Excerpt From: Sean McDowell & John Stonestreet. “Same-Sex Marriage.”
- CHOICES “Choices are the hinges of destiny,” — Unknown
- ACHIEVEMENT “No bird soars in a calm.” — Wilbur Wright
- DECISIONS “Giving into fear is a poor chisel with which to carve out tomorrow. In life, we first make decisions. Then our decisions make us.”
— R. Bowen Loftin.
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