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September 17, 2001
This is an attempt to get back to normal. June and I return in three weeks from the UK and will spread more “Good News” upon our return. With Blessings from Bob and June.

“I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.” (Ecclesiastes 2:13NIV)

In our democratic society, we are pressed into a competitive market place for our goods and services. That is supposed to be what makes America great. Success is often a matter of having more “stuff.” We are building 5,6 and 7,000 square foot houses, owing bigger boats, luxury cars abound etc. All this is very good for the economy, but is it good for our souls?
Aristotle Onassis definition of success was to “...keep climbing higher and higher—just for the thrill.”

Barbra Streisand said, “success for me is having ten honeydew melons and eating only the best part of each.”

Because you are reading this Good News today, I pray that your definition is more closely better represented by Dr. Gary Rossberg’s perspective: “Success is not just a matter of money, power and ego, but also issues of the heart— like compassion, bravery, generosity and love. It is an issue of character, not performance. ...of being the person God wanted you to be, not how much salary you can pull down....”

If we sit in our homes surrounded by our “stuff” and still feel underachieved; If we sit on the couch next to our spouse and still feel lonely; we should go back to the simple things we learned growing up and search our faith for the definition of success. We will find that Rossberg is very close to the answer.

Thought for the Week: This week, let us look at our calendars and try to evaluate where our efforts are taking us. Let us review our goals and our interactions with others. Let us fit our lives into Rossberg’s perspective rather than the more material views of success.

Prayer for the Week: Dear heavenly Father, our world has changed. There are new fears, heavy grief, threats of war and revenge running rampant through out our society. World terror seems to be taking over well beyond faith and love. Somehow we pray for an answer to how it all fits Your plan. We pray for Your guidance and somehow for the ability to keep the power of Your light above the darkness that seems to be closing around us.

Amen

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August 26
This is the first of a three part series.- The Family
_{Part 2 - The Work Place  Part 3 - In Public}

“Treat others as you want them to treat you... Never criticize or condemn or it will all come back to you. ...If you give you will get. Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more and running over. Whatever measure you use to give, large or small, will be used to measure what is given back to you.” (Luke 6:31, 37-38TLB)

Every day as people and Christians, we are giving. In the 60’s the expression was “giving off vibes” (That probably came from the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations”). What we give has an overwhelming effect on our lives, our social environment and those around us. Whether we are in the work place, the family arena or driving alone down the street, we are participating and giving to those around us.

Let’s take a look at the place where being positive is the easiest. The family, where love is the strongest. Certainly, within each of our families, we have always been positive, loving and “real cool”. If you say that, you better take a reality check and be sure your other family members see it the same. Most of us do not meet that standard.

Sometimes we are tired, sometimes the career is not working well, sometimes we anger when we should stop and meditate. Perfection is our goal, perhaps not our reality. When we are down, it is important to remember that we are the children of God, and we have His support in both the good and testing times. He wants us to work with Him to bring peace and good while sharing His love with others. Sharing His love instead of “our frustrations” with others is a lofty goal.

Thought for The Week: This week when we feel stressed out, let us focus on not bringing it home. Let us remember that it is OK to ask the family for support during stressful times, but unfair and destructive to pass our stresses on to them.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, through your love, we are truly blessed. We stand before you covered with your love. This week we pray that during tough times, we can reach out to you and feel and share that love.

Amen.

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August 30
This is the second of a three part series - The Work Place
_{Part 1 - The Family  Part 3 - In Public}

“Treat others as you want them to treat you... Never criticize or condemn or it will all come back to you. ...If you give you will get. Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more and running over. Whatever measure you use to give, large or small, will be used to measure what is given back to you.” (Luke 6:31, 37-38TLB)

Within the work place, there are often stresses that have a negative effect on the overall environment. Deadlines that need to be met, projects that are under funded, professional jealousies that have developed, a lot of issues that are passed on to us that we can not control- It is easy to be negative and act different than child of God. It is not always easy to to behave the way Luke has suggested.

Very early in my career, a very senior engineer at Bell Lab’s advised me that as an employee, I would always receive a percentage of what I was worth, never 100 percent. His explanation was that difference was required to have a profitable company. After 40 years of working, that seems to have been very accurate advice. In the business environment, when thinking dollars and cents, his equation seems to work. However read Luke again.

One of the many issues that have always been a challenge to me personally is the people that are sharks in the business environment and Christians on Sunday. What I mean is, those that are opportunistic, somewhat misleading (I won’t say dishonest) and practice ways that are not part of good Christian ethics. My question has always been, “Can you function outside Christian guidelines Monday through Friday from eight to five, and then consider yourself a Christian?” The most successful business people that I know live only by good Christian ethics. They have read Luke.

In the real world, giving is rewarded many times over. God has set it up this way. I believe that the business world is part of the real world and that we are to act and follow God’s guidelines there if we are to live to our full potential.

Thought for the Week: This week let us be positive and contribute to solving problems rather than spreading them. In the work place, when someone is whining, let us have the courage to tell them to take it to their boss rather than spread their frustration around. Work on the solution rather than the problem. At home, let us be the leader and solve whatever problems arise and pray for guidance when we the solution is not apparent.

Prayer for the Week: Dear Lord, during our lives we are often tempted to forget your ways and work out problems in a human rather than a Godly manner. This week please give me the strength and foresight to let you work through me when trying to help, both at home and in the work place.

Amen.

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September 4
This is the third and last in this three part series- In Public
_{Part 1 - The Family  Part 2 - The Work Place}

“Treat others as you want them to treat you... Never criticize or condemn or it will all come back to you. ...If you give you will get. Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more and running over. Whatever measure you use to give, large or small, will be used to measure what is given back to you.” (Luke 6:31,37-38TLB).

Above, we are reminded that the measure we use to give, will be used to measure what is given back. Then what do we get back when we are impatient and angry in public. What did the doctor who exercised his road rage by punching the elderly woman get for his efforts? What did the lady who flipped me off on 394 last week teach the children who were riding with her? Yes, we all have frustrations, bad days, we can choose to be angry—or we can choose to live in God’s image and do his work on earth.

It seems that every day we read of some manifestation of a person’s anger against those around them, against society. How do we as Christians avoid getting so far down that we can not control our emotions? We have the tools, then it must be as simple as using them in our lives. That is how “Good News” got it’s start. Several years ago June and I gave up the morning news for a morning meditation and decided to share some of them with you. Im my dreams, we hope that we are contributing to your lives.

When we think of our life plan, our goals, we think of peace, tranquility and wealth. In Luke we are told that when we share our peace etc. we will receive more back then we gave. Then when we are down and out, we can cuss, strike out, seek a mentor to discuss things with or simply pray. As Christians we have the tools and an obligation to use them. As NIKE (my favorite philosopher) says in it’s slogan- Just Do It.

Thought for the Week: This week we will all have high and low times, peaks and valleys, frustrations and celebrations. Let us recognize the “lows” and repeat this week’s prayer. Let us be peacemakers rather than facilitating the stresses of our society.

Prayer for The Week- I used this in January and suggested that we all use it for the year.

God Grant me the serenity to accept the things that I can not change. The courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference.

Amen.
(Thanks to Bill W.)

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August 12
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

Who in our lives are the winners? Some say the one with the most toys wins. That’s a materialistic one liner that gives me goose bumps. However, in our society today, we pursue “things” instead of happiness and peace. So who are the real winners and how do they win?

God placed us here to be his stewards with our first priority to be sharing the gifts we received from Him with others. That seems to be a very tall order. However, we always feel great when we have reached out and helped a friend or stranger. In fact, is that not when we feel the best?

God gives us resources in many different forms. We have money that we earn and knowledge that we have learned. We graciously share these things with our families and children and that makes us feel good. Many people also reach out beyond their own family units and share. There are many ways to share and sow the seeds that God has given us to plant, and we are real winners when we reach out and share our gifts.

Thought for the Week: Let us look for an opportunity to help someone this week. Perhaps someone who is sick, someone hurting or someone lonely. Let us see if we can share a bit of ourselves to make someone else feel better.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, we are living in a troubled world. Suicide bombings, road rage, families in strife and many other incidents that confuse people. This week we pray for an opportunity to help and share with someone, an opportunity to demonstrate your Grace through our actions.

Amen.

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August 6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

In business and in our personal lives, we have to move quickly and make decisions fast. That just seems to be the way of our society. When we are making these decisions, we make them with the tools at hand. Often, things work out well in the Godly sense of the word. Is that a “God Moment”?

How do we know God’s will in a situation? Or, can we expect to know God’s will? Those are hard questions. Perhaps a better one is, “Am I ready and am I willing to do God’s will?” If the answer is yes, then the other questions can be asked.

Perhaps it is best expressed by Isaiah 55:8-9: “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’”

The more we value control and power, the greater a struggle we will have. To know God’s will there cannot be any power struggle; he wants our will to be submissive to him. He needs to be in charge.

Thought for The Week: As we go through our week, let us look back at our decisions and treatment of others and check out how compatible they are with our spirituality. To be at peace, our daily lives somehow have to fit God’s plan.

Prayer For the Week: Dear Lord, during the holiday season we look at our lives with more emotion than during the rest of the year. One of the things we say is “peace on earth, good will toward men.” This week we pray that we can hold that thought in our daily lives and allow your work to be done through us here on Earth.

Amen.

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July 15
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. ...keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” (Romans 12:9-11)

Do we love each other as God loves us? If so, why do we have negative thoughts about people? Have you ever sat in the office complaining about the boss, your work associates, the drive to work? Our focus when we are in that mode is not on what is right, but on what is wrong with our surroundings. When we really analyze the problem, it is never 100% wrong or bad. We are generally choosing to focus on the negative. We lose big time when we are in that mode.

Each and every one of us has good times and bad. The message in Romans 12 clearly helps us focus outward toward others good points rather then inward on our parochial negative funk. In my own case, when I am in “the funk”, I am generally being selfish!

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:12-13). The message is quite clear that if we want to be at peace, we need to love, respect and allowing God’s work to be done through our presence.

Thought for the Week: Let us focus on the positive aspects of live and other people.

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, the world is full of challenges for us. Some of us are so busy that we forget and harm our children. Sometimes we are angry and frustrated with careers and jobs. Our introspective and sometimes self centered nature is our worst enemy. This week we pray that we may remain open to seeing the good in our lives and taking the time to share it with others. Somehow through this positive view, we will be doing your work.

Amen

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July 8
“In the same way, we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face to face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 (TLB)

Tim, a very good Christian and friend, is someone that I have known over ten years. He trains for marathons, works in the same industry, loves music and shares many of the same ideals that I do. I like the guy and he had a tough Spring. This week I will share his experience.

Training for marathons is often a matter of working through ever increasing pain thresholds. Everyone experiences them in their own way and in many different ways. Tim used to experience pain in the lower stomach/colon area. I used to think he ate incorrectly. This year the pain grew unbearable, so Tim started searching for the reason. He did not have much success and in February at a major business meeting, he became very ill.

Finally, a doctor identified a blockage in his colon and prescribed surgery. However, there were several more tests and some misdiagnoses over several weeks and Tim lost weight and became very weak. He was as he described, “in a black tunnel with no light at the end.” He was dying and did not know why!! And yes he did ask God why!!

Well, he had some major surgery and spent 13 days in the hospital recovering. He had been close to death. During this process, somehow Tim realized that his future was not in control of the medical community, but that God was with him and in control. What a blessing and what a great result.

I want to share with Tim and you all, that when Tim shared his story with me, I was very moved. I believe that I felt God’s spirit working through Tim to help me better understand our Christian beliefs and faith.

Thought for the Week: Let us focus on the unfortunates around us that are ill and keep the 23rd Psalm and 1 Corinthians 13 in mind. Let us see if we can contribute to helping in some way.

Prayer for the Week: Dear Lord, many of our friends have health issues. Some are minor, some serious and some fatal. We pray that we may find a way to assist, help and calm their fears. Let us help them understand that you are with them through it all. May we help by following your guidance through prayer.

Amen