wiseasgandalf's blog, page 1

Last login: 2 hours agoWiseasgandalf: John is a 44 year old married guy from Tennessee, USA.; Likes 534 pages, 5 videos, 39 photos • 202 fans • Received 48 reviews; Member since Apr 15, 2007

Favorites » His Blog

Display:
List
• Grid

20 Ways to Attack Shyness | ThinkSimpleNow.com: Jul 2, 4:35am 38 reviews health •http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/2...; Tina always writes well, but this is one of her best articles. I'm not particularly shy, but all of us have times where we feel uncomfortable. A thoughtful and helpful guide to being yourself no matter the situation.

Four Words in Every Great Book | Light Along the Journey: Jun 30, 5:00am 1 review •http://www.lightalongthejourney.com/?...; I had just finished reading a really great book, Crazy Love (which I will post a review of soon!). It was one of those books that really blew me away, made me think, made me cry. I was thinking, "What was it about this book that was so great? What made it worth reading?"

Four words came to my mind, four words that summed up what I most appreciated about that book. And as I thought about it, I realized those four words were the standards that I wanted to use to judge any book. I decided that every great book is:

Beautiful: I want any book worth my time to be beautiful. If it isn't revealing the beauty of God, His creation, His kingdom, why read it? I want to finish a book and be freshly blown away by how glorious God is. A book can be erudite, incisive, famous, or funny, but if it isn't beautiful nothing else really matters.

True: There are plenty of feel-good books out there. The road that leads to destruction is wide and well-traveled. I generally don't need books that I have to pick apart to find the truth amidst a sea of distortions and mistakes. I want books that are saturated with the pure milk of the Word, books that will point me along a path that's true.

Hard: Not "hard" as in "hard" to understand, but hard as in hard to follow. I want a book to tell me to believe something and do something that my old self says "No way!" to. I want to be convicted and challenged. I want a book to make me squirm and force me in a corner. As the Harris brothers recently titled their book, I want a book to tell me to do hard things.

Transforming: In Crazy Love Francis Chan says that we have been conditioned to hear messages without responding, to feel that our job is done if we simply feel convicted. I want the message of a book to be explicitedly designed to change me. Although ultimately it is the Spirit of God who transforms a person, a book that doesn't aim to catalyze and guide transformation isn't worth my time.

Beautiful. True. Hard. Transforming. When I thought about it, those words describe the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels. Maybe they should describe the words of all His followers. All of us, whether we are writing a book or just conversing with a friend, should strive for our words to be seasoned with God's grace contained in these four words. You may never write a book, but you can still speak words that are beautiful and true, hard but transforming into the lives of those you know.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/know_your_vines.png: Jun 30, 4:58am 1 review humor •http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/know_your...; so THAT'S why my scoutmaster said a prepared camper always takes extra rope with him!!

Slightly related true story:

I had a woman once come into my office to be treated for poison ivy because her husband had seen a dried up vine in the woods, thought it was pretty, and had fashioned it into a wreath for her. Lesson: poison ivy retains its essential oils (what causes the skin reaction) sometimes for years after the vine dies.

I Want a Wii Life | Light Along the Journey: Jun 22, 2:59pm 1 review •http://www.lightalongthejourney.com/?...; I'm currently hooked on my wii fit game. Especially this morning, when my tv screen showed the little wii balance board put on a party hat and wave to me and wish me a happy 44th birthday. (Yes, it's the little things in life!)

One of the things that I appreciate the most about wii fit is the feedback. When I do an exercise, the balance board is continuously sensing where my body is and showing me this yellow circle that represents where I want my body to be and then a moving red dot of where my body actually is. Being able to see that circle and that dot makes a huge difference between the wii fit and just following along an exercise DVD. Instead of just seeing someone else, you see where YOU want to be and have the feedback of where YOU are, which gives you both a goal and the knowledge (and satisfaction) of when you're within that goal.

Yes, having a wii-fit game is an awesome tool for toning up my body, but what about toning up my life? Wouldn't it be great to have a "wii life" game that I could strap on and take with me everywhere? As I go through my day, whether I'm stuck in traffic, trying to figure out what to do with a patient, listening to my wife, or talking with my kids, there would be my wii life game showing me on a screen, "Here's the circle where you need to be, and here you are with this little red dot." I would always have a clear vision of where I needed to be, and continuous feedback of where I was in relation to where I needed to be. I can hear the little wii voice now: "Be a little more patient here, little less self-centered there, oh, you're right where you need to be on love, shift left, shift right, alright, great job!"

But do I really need a video game to employ this concept in my life? If I am willing to listen to the voice of God, will He not be willing to show me my circle and my dot? I have the Bible and the Spirit to guide me minute by minute if I am willing to listen. As I seek to know God better everyday, to love Him, to abide in Him, to walk with Him, I will daily be better able to sense where my spirit is in relation to where God wants me to be. That's what God truly desires for my life, and I don't even need a TV screen to do it.

Anatomy of a Hug on Flickr - Photo Sharing!: Jun 17, 7:31pm 1 review •http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollands...

What Does It Mean to Walk with God? | Light Along the Journey: Jun 17, 7:29pm 1 review •http://www.lightalongthejourney.com/?...; Walking is a oft-used metaphor of life's journey. Over the years I've come to realize that my most important goal is to walk with God. But what does that really mean, to walk with God? What does it actually entail to structure the focus, the rhythm, and the path of my life to a relationship with an infinite being? I will doubtless spend the rest of my life learning the answer to this question (and then trying to live it out!). But at 43 years of age, this is the framework of what I have so far:

First, to walk with God means to follow Him. Twenty times the Bible records Jesus uttering these two words: Follow Me. If my life is focused on God, then I will be looking toward Him, as Jesus looked to the Father, to sense where He is moving in the world, to know the path of love, the path of obedience, and sometimes the path of suffering He would want me to take. If I am to walk with God I must endeavor to follow Him.

Second, to walk with God means to be shepherded by Him. Psalm 23 is one of the most beloved pieces of sacred poetry, and for good reason. We all have a desire to be led by still waters; we all must pass through the valley of the shadow of death. To go through the good and bad of life, the blessing and the trial, with a loving Shepherd by my side is precious indeed. But as the prophet once spoke, just like a sheep I am prone to wander off the path, and I must purpose to focus on God and let Him shepherd me.

Third, to walk with God means to abide in Him. The night before He died Jesus took great pains to explain to his disciples the mystery of abiding in Him, and how vital it would be to their lives. Just as a branch is created to draw life and vitality from the vine, my spiritual life and vitality comes only from Christ. I cannot walk with God without the practice of abiding in Him.

Lastly, to walk with God means to see Him as the goal and destination of my journey. There is a reason why mystics throughout the ages have used a labrynith as a spiritual exercise. To walk through a labrynith is to encounter many twists and turns and seeming changes in direction, and yet to know there will be an end to the journey within the center, and that every step taken will have actually been a step toward that blessed center. So it is with life. Though my steps be many, and often seemingly take me away from my goals, I can look toward God as my center and my destination. I can rest secure that my journey will surely lead me to Him.

How to Find Passion in Your Job | ThinkSimpleNow.com: Jun 17, 6:28pm 29 reviews self-improvement •http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/h...; Who hasn't dealt with job satisfaction?? A doable action for plan for improving it.

Jun 14, 10:16am: ...that's what I try to do every day,
I hope my stumbles help you to
Laugh, Love, Learn, & Live too!

CyberSpace Splinters of My Soul:

My personality: Imagini Visual Personality Profile | Personal DNA Profile | Myers-Brigg Type ENTP Profile
Vortex DNA | CareerDirect Profile
My Library: LibraryThing
My Book Reviews: Amazon.com (give me some "helpful votes"!)
My profiles: Facebook and LinkedIn
My pics: Flickr
My religion: juststopandthink.com [juststopandthink.com]
My Website:

My Book: Learning Through Life
Death & divorce, tears & trials, love & loss--- as a family physician I see my patients dealing with these issues of life every day.

Over the years I have learned that I can't make sense out of life without God. I've also learned that God is a gracious and patient teacher.

As I've learned to walk with God & listen to Him, I've been writing down what He has taught me about Himself & about life. As I've shared my writing with friends, they have told me how much they have been helped & encouraged in their own walk.

So, I finally decided to put it all in a book. I call it Learning Through Life. It is a collection of forty or so reflections, stories, word pictures, & homilies on what God has taught me over the years about Himself and about life.

You can read the entire text FREE at the book's website:

learningthroughlife.com [learningthroughlife.com]

I hope you enjoy it, and would love to hear your feedback on it.

John