Jul
25
Sunday Sermon: Empathy–the importance of “changing places”
Filed Under Inspiration, Sunday Sermon, Teamwork | 1 Comment
(Sunday, 7/25/2010) In our “Sunday Sermon” series we take a break from the craziness of local politics and news to seek a more timeless & spiritual perspective. If that doesn’t interest you, you’ve got hundreds of other posts and thousands of comments to choose from.
Today’s thoughts are excerpted from a letter I received last month from a friend, Paul Rhoads, formerly assistant pastor at a church in Lakewood, currently with Christian Resource Ministries. In it he shares some truths that I think will hit home with most of us, but he definitely approaches the topic from a Christian perspective.
“Changing Places” is an attitude, or “posture” that my friend Paul believes is essential to “a life of on-going growth and renewal.” I’ll let him explain in his own words:
Changing Places means seeking to truly understand whatever situation I am in from the other’s point of view. There are three biblical convictions that undergird this posture:
We are incurably self-focused
Why? Because of our finiteness and our fallenness: We are limited by our own experience. We have only lived our own lives. We cannot know what it is really like to be someone else. We can imagine; we can try to put ourselves in their place, but our efforts are limited by that fact that we can only live our own life.
What makes matters worse is that we have been distorted by the disease called sin. Sin creates a centripetal force that pulls us into Read more
Jul
11
“Sunday Sermon:” The proper perspective on problems big and small
Filed Under Inspiration, Sunday Sermon | 6 Comments
(7/11/2010, Los Alamitos) Our occasional “Sunday Sermons” are a glance away from current issues in Los Alamitos in an attempt to capture the much broader perspective of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. If you don’t want to read such a perspective, you have been warned.
Today’s “Sunday Sermon,” once again, is taken from one of the notes by Pastor Chuck Smith in The Word for Today Bible. I would love to post “Sunday [or Shabbat] Sermons” from other local pastors & rabbis. Please encourage yours to submit brief devotionals using the “contact us” button in the masthead.
David’s perspective:
From First Samuel 17:32 – 37 (English Standard Version):
And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
“Pastor Chuck’s” comments:
David saw this giant Goliath from the proper perspective. It wasn’t David against the giant, but the giant against the God David served. So it wasn’t “Poor me, I’m facing a giant,” but it was “Poor giant, he’s facing the eternal God of Israel.”
David’s take on Goliath was that he had “defied the armies of the living God” and didn’t have a chance.
So often we become overwhelmed by our problems, and lose true perspective. Fear then grips our heart, and we are open for defeat. Remember who God is. That will give you perspective.
The key to conquering the giants God wants us to conquer, and to peace in all situations, is Read more
Jun
29
Fallen hero returns Wednesday at Los Al Base
Filed Under Community News, Inspiration, National Issues, The Base | 1 Comment
(6/29/2010, Los Alamitos, info supplied by Laura Hertzog, Base Community Relations) The Joint Forces Training Base will be welcoming home a Fallen Hero this Wednesday, June 30, 2010.
Hero Mission for Cpl. Claudio Patino is scheduled for Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. The public is requested to arrive between 10:15 – 10:40 to allow time for parking and walking to the location.
Directions can be obtained from the Guard at the entrance to the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, 11206 Lexington Drive, south of Katella. Photo identification is required for entrance to the Base.
USMC Cpl. Claudio Patino IV, 22, of Yorba Linda, Calif., died June 22 while supporting Read more
Jun
25
John Wooden Memorial Service broadcast live Saturday @ 11 on KCAL 9
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(6/25/2010) Saturday, June 26, beginning at 11 a.m. in Pauley Pavilion, UCLA will host a public memorial service on behalf of the Wooden family to celebrate the life of Coach John Wooden.
I had the privilege of attending UCLA during the height of Coach Wooden’s success, and have long admired him for his character, his skills in teaching, mentoring, building teamwork, and discipline.
Bruins and sports fans around the world have expressed interest in attending the memorial or gathering informally with fellow Bruins to remember Coach. The memorial service, expected to last 90 minutes, will be broadcast live at 11:00 by both KCAL 9 and Fox Prime Ticket in Southern California.
Too much good stuff
If you also want to watch the USA Ghana World Cup Round of 16 Soccer Game at 11:30 a.m. (on ABC 7), you’ll need to tape the Wooden Memorial, or vice versa. The problem is, UCLA’s amazing men’s baseball team will be playing the elimination game to decide if they make it to the finals of the College World Series at–you guessed it–11 a.m. Saturday morning (all times Pacific Daylight Savings). I plan on taping the Memorial as well as the half hour special at 12:30 on FSW and saving both for a long time, while flipping between the College World Series and the World Cup. . . . and, oh yeah, watching the grandkids.
Sound like a busy Saturday morning!
Wooden links
“John Wooden’s life was a love letter,” L.A.Times columnist T.J.Simers’ tribute.
UCLA’s Wooden Tribute page with videos, additional links.
As always, your thoughts and comments, including any postings about the Memorial Service itself, are welcome. Click here to post a or read a comment: Read more
Jun
4
(June 4, 2010, Los Alamitos) Tonight one of my heroes passed into eternity. A living legend, if there ever was one, no longer lives among us, but he lives in the lives and hearts and habits of thousands, probably millions.
John Wooden was reaching the apex of his coaching career during my years at UCLA. Years after his retirement I was privileged to hear him speak on his “Pyramid of Success” at several different Realtor meetings. I cherish an autographed copy. He stayed and graciously signed autographs and chatted as long as his handlers allowed at every event of his I attended. The ultimate gentleman. The ultimate husband. The ultimate mentor. The ultimate coach.
When my family can’t figure out what to give me, they dig up a book by or about John Wooden. Many a night Nate’s bedtime story was a chapter from one of Wooden’s books.
Over this weekend, and during the week ahead, there will be numerous articles about Wooden in print and on radio and TV.
I encourage you to tape, watch, read, and clip as many as you can.
Here’s a little taste of Coach’s wisdom:
The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.
It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.
You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.
Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.
Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters.
You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.
There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer.
Thank you for being a mentor to a man you barely met.
I’m going to miss you, but by God’s grace I hope to see you again and Read more
May
23
“Sunday Sermons” are occasional posts that are spiritual in nature. They’re frequently items I found helpful and thought might be helpful to others. If that might offend you, or doesn’t interest you, you’re certainly free to skip them!
Today’s “Sermon” comes from a comment by my Pastor, Chuck Smith, from The Word for Today Bible.
“He [God] kept him [Israel] as the apple of His eye.
As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out it’s wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings.
So the Lord alone led him. . .”
from “The Song of Moses”
Deuteronomy 32: 10 d – 12 a
(by Pastor Chuck Smith) God’s dealings with Israel are here compared to the way an eagle deals with its eaglets. The eagle builds its nests up high on the cliffs, where no one can get to it. The mother eagle goes out each day and brings food back to the squaking little eaglets, which devour the food and begin to grow.
But one day, as those eaglets are growing Read more
May
5
Los Alamitos National Day of Prayer Event @ 12:15 p.m. today
Filed Under Inspiration, Local events | 2 Comments
(5/5/2010, Los Alamitos) According to Wikipedia, the idea of a “National Day of Prayer in the U.S. dates back to a 1775 proclamation of the Continental Congress, but the idea of an annual National Day of Prayer came from Billy Graham during a 1952 crusade in Washington, D.C.
While the idea of the federal government proclaiming a Day of Prayer has become somewhat controversial, I’d hope few would question the right of people of faith to gather to pray for the nation and its leaders. I, for one, think Read more
Mar
8
LAUSD District Choral Festival 3/8-3/9/10
Filed Under Community News, Education & Schools, Inspiration, Local events | 2 Comments
[Ed Note: JM still, Dave will be back posting tomorrow]
On Monday and Tuesday night at 7PM all the choirs from all the programs at the LAUSD will be joining together for the yearly festival at the LAHS Gym. Doors open at 6:30PM, and this always sells out for both nights (a very packed house).
Jan
12
Haiti Earthquake Relief: What we can do today
Filed Under Inspiration, News you can use | 8 Comments
(1/12/2010) As Californians we’re used to earthquakes, but not many reach the 7.0 magnitude of this afternoon’s disaster in Haiti.
Combine the huge earthquake with the poor quality of construction and readiness of the hemisphere’s poorest nation, and the projections of massive loss of life ring true.
Fortunately, helping out is as easy as a few mouse clicks. What is needed most, especially initially, are Read more
Nov
26
Happy Thanksgiving weekend!
Filed Under Inspiration | 2 Comments
(by Dave Emerson) Thanksgiving is, in many ways, my favorite holiday.
Not because of the turkey, or even the football, but because of two things it celebrates, and the example set by our Pilgrim forefathers that seems especially appropriate in November of 2009. Put it all together, and you may just have the secret to a happy life: Read more
Sep
11
9-11, 8 years later: A word of thanks to our Los Al heroes
Filed Under Inspiration, The Base | 2 Comments
New York 8 years ago today
(9/11/09, Los Alamitos) Early this morning I was riding my zero-emissions, infinite gas mileage alternative vehicle home from “Norm’s” Automotive on Sausalito (we’ve got at least three good auto repair shops right here in Los Alamitos, so I see no need to drive further and spend more money so the sales tax on those overpriced parts can go to Cerritos or Westminster).
As I passed the Los Al fire station, I noticed John Underwood setting up a video camera to record a tribute to the heroes who gave their lives trying to save their fellow Americans eight years ago. Men and women willing to rush into two buildings that thousands Read more
Aug
13
20th Harvest Crusade this weekend
Filed Under Inspiration, Local events, News you can use | 1 Comment
Crowd at Angel Stadium for last year's Harvest Crusade
(8/13/2009) Riverside Pastor and long time O.C. resident Greg Laurie brings his Harvest Crusade to Orange County for the 20th year in a row this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
What exactly is a Harvest Crusade like? Church for those who don’t like church? A combination of outstanding music of several varieties and a jargon-free, relevant presentation of Read more
May
3
Sunday sermon: “Blessed are the peacemakers”
Filed Under Inspiration, Sunday Sermon | Leave a Comment
(5/3/09 by Dave Emerson) Warning: “Sunday Sermons” are spiritual in nature and are usually written from a Biblical/Christian perspective. If this might offend you, you are free to skip this post. . . or to read on and perhaps broaden your perspective.
2 millenia ago a relatively young, unortodox itinerant preacher preached probably the greatest sermon ever given on a hillside in the remote Roman province of Judaea. The “Sermon on the Mount,” as it’s commonly called, contains teachings so radical that they have changed the world, yet are virtually impossible to live up to.
Jesus began his sermon by proclaiming “blessings,” or true happiness, upon eight specific conditions or behaviors. Many of those aren’t what I’d put on a list of “keys to happiness:” Read more
Apr
19
Belated Sunday Sermon from Kenya: Life’s Curveballs
Filed Under Inspiration, Sunday Sermon | Leave a Comment
The omlette bar line this morning at Constitution Park's "Homeless Church"
Warning: Our occasional “Sunday Sermon” series is religious in nature. If that might offend you, feel free to skip it.
(4/19/09) To show you just how small the internet is making our world, today’s “Sunday Sermon” was delivered this morning in Kenya by a Mike Carmen from Knott Avenue Christian Church in Anaheim. I received it as an e-mail earlier today from a young man from Lakewood named Geoff Nighswonger.
Geoff’s an amazing 21-year-old who organized a weekly Sunday morning church and breakfast for the homeless in Bellflower which grew into a non-profit, “Hands On International.” Geoff’s in Kenya now helping Read more
Apr
12
Warning: This is primarily a community and political blog, but on some Sundays we wander into religious territory. If this might offend you, you may want to skip this post.
(4/12/09 by Dve Emerson) Many Christians don’t realize that the “Last Supper” Jesus celebrated with his disciples on “Good Friday” was actually a traditional Passover Cedar.
Not only were Jesus and all twelve of his disciples Jewish, so were all but one of the authors of the New Testament (Luke). Anti-semites who claim to be “Christian” are quick to focus on the role of Jewish religious and political leaders in the death of the radical preacher who they only saw as a threat to their power, but they are forced to skip over the Jewishness of the entire chain of events and of Jesus himself.
Somehow, the Gregorian monks thought a “Christian” calendar Read more
