Monday, December 20, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years; in six weeks we celebrate three major holidays with the center focus around faith, family, friends and the future. There is no greater time of the year to share our faith, love our families and friends and plan to do it better in the New Year.
I had built a fire in the formal living room the other day when afterwards, my grandson walked out from his room and looked down and said, “Wow GP, how did you do that?” Amazing how children bring out the beauty of something we take for granted. The things in life we have experienced for years so easily become common.
I sat down some time after that moment to run through my heart and mind all the things that I have experienced and received through my life time and wanted to take in the love, joy and memories they have brought to me. I thought of my days as a child growing up in the mountains with very little. I would make my own toys to play with, or build tree forts, or catch “craw dads” in the creek. The simple things of life have made life more valuable than the conveyer belt feelings today’s world manufactures for us.
I ran through my mind the beautiful nostalgic Christmas movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life, Charlie Brown’s Christmas, Home Alone (smile) and so many more that spark such emotional memories spending time sitting with friends and family sharing the Holidays. Laughing with kids and grand kids, crying (again) during the emotional moments: and then to feel a little hand on your arm with a little voice, “Why are you crying GP?” Nothing in the whole world is more important than our Faith, Family and Future.
Like always, I take these six weeks at year’s end to recap my life, reevaluate what I have or have not done with regard to my purpose and goals. As I sit here writing you I want to say YOU are one of the Reasons for the Season. I want to say to you, you are important to Jenny and me. Like Clarence ( the angel in It’s a Wonderful Life) reminded George Bailey (Character Jimmy Stewart played) what life was all about, so has these past few weeks giving me my very own “Clarence” moment.
Please allow me to share my heart and say to you that there is nothing more important than our Faith in Jesus, Church family to share spiritual moments or worship, prayer and divine experiences with. I need, you need Jesus, prayer, worship and church. I need, you need other Christians to comfort, challenge, and care for you. I love my family more than life itself. My family is the most important part of my life. My children and grand children make life worth living and worth living better in 2011.
Please allow me to say thank you for your role and part you have played in my life that has made me who and what I am today. I want you to feel as well as know how much I love you and thank God for you. Take this moment to make a phone call, write a letter, send a card or email to your family and friends and tell them you love them. Envelope this time to get alone with God and say a prayer for your family, church and your future.

With all our hearts;


Pastors Tim & Jenny McClure

Thursday, December 2, 2010

ATTITUDE

The great Spanish philosopher, Jose' Ortega Gasset, reminded us that we human beings are the only creatures on the planet Earth that are born into a natural state of disorientation with our world. That is, while all other creatures are guided by instinct they are unaware, and they don't have the capacity to question other creatures. The human creature was given the godlike power to create his or her own life, good or bad. Each of us does exactly that, all the years of our lives.
Every day, we put in place actions and ideas that will determine the shape and substance of our tomorrow. For some, those ideas and actions lead inevitably to extraordinary achievement and rewards. For many they tend to lead to a kind of middle ground in which great numbers of people take their cues from each other, without question or consideration. And for some, those actions and ideas lead to repeated frustration and problems, and they spend their lives in the bottom layers of the socioeconomic pyramid.
Success or failure as a human being is not a matter of luck, circumstance, or fate. Success in life is not secured to a select few who without their choices just wake up successful. It's a matter of following a common laws God has sown into the earth.
Attitude has changed more lives, brought about more success stories, helped create more millionaires, and saved more careers and marriages than any other subject known to man. And rules we talk about apply to any situation, under any and all circumstances. We never have to say, "I wonder what will work in this particular situation." All we have to do is make these ideas our own. And we begin with what I call "The Magic Word: - ATTITUDE."
We all want good results from life, in our home, in our work, and in all our contacts with other people. The most important single factor that guarantees good results, day in, day out, all the months and years of our lives, is a healthy attitude! Attitude is the magic word.
Attitude is defined as "the position or bearing as indicating action, feeling or mood." And it is our actions, feelings or moods that determine the actions, feelings or moods of others. Our attitude tells the world what we expect in return. If it's a cheerful, expectant attitude, it says to everyone with whom we come in contact that we expect the best in our dealings with our world.
You see, we tend to live up to our expectations. And others give to us, as far as their attitudes are concerned, what we expect. Our attitude is something we can control. We can establish our attitude each morning when we start our day - in fact, we do just that, whether or not we realize it. And the people in our family - all the people in our world - will reflect back to us the attitude we present to them.
It is, then, our attitude toward life that determines life's attitude toward us. Cause and effect. Everything we say or do will cause a corresponding effect. If we're cheerful, glad to be experiencing this miracle of life, others will reflect that cheer back to us. We are the kind of people others enjoy being around.
You and I are responsible for our lives. You and I produce causes all day long, every day of our lives. The environment can return to us only a corresponding effect. That's why I say that each of us determines the quality of his or her own life. We get back what we put out.
Here's a way to evaluate the quality of your attitude in the past: Would you say that people tend to react to you in a smiling, positive manner, giving you friendly greetings when you appear? Your answer to that question will tell the story.
As soon as a person begins to change, his or her surroundings will change. And it works like this: great attitude, great results; good attitude, good results; fair, or average, attitude, fair, or average, result; poor attitude, poor results.
So each of us shapes his or her life. And to an altogether unexpected extent, the shape and texture, the quality or lack of quality, of our lives is determined by our habitual attitude. It sounds simple, doesn't it? But it's not quite that easy. For most of us, learning this new habit takes time. But once it becomes a habit-knit part of our lives, our world will change as dramatically as it would if we would if were walking from a dark cave into the bright light of day.
Most people never think about their attitudes at all. For most of them, it's a matter of beginning each day in neutral. Their attitudes are neither good nor bad; they are poised to react to whatever stimuli they encounter. If the stimulus is good, they will reflect it; if it's bad, they will reflect that, too. They are chameleons, going through their days reacting to whatever confronts them. And these are the people of our environment. That's why it's so important for us to control our attitudes, to make sure they're excellent or good.
It was William James of Harvard University, the father of psychology in America, who said, "Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."

By Dr Tim McClure

LIFE EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE:

What was the most fun I had this past year? __________________________________
What did I learn this past year? ____________________________________________
What did I change for good this past year? ___________________________________
What mistakes had the most positive impact on me this past year? ________________
What bad habits did I pick up this past year? _________________________________
What books had the biggest impact on me this past year? _______________________
What important projects would I like to complete this next year? _________________
What am I looking forward to in my personal life in this year? ___________________
What skills would I need that I do not to raise my personal life? __________________
What books will help me the most this year? _________________________________
How can I increase my service to others this year? ____________________________
What would I need to do to raise my spiritual life up another level? _______________
What one thing continually distracts me from becoming personally, spiritually better?
What are my greatest strengths? ___________________________________________
What are my greatest weaknesses? _________________________________________

Take the time to answer these in your own heart and begin preparing yourself to re-evaluate this past year and begin planning to set adjusted Goals for the New Year.

Dr Tim McClure