45 Sermon Illustrations on Achievement

In 1992 Kerrin-Lee Gartner of Calgary, Alberta became the first Canadian in history to win Olympic gold in the women's downhill. In Canada she was an immediate sensation.

Shortly after her victory, an announcer interviewing her commented that this must surely be the most significant day of her life.

"No," she replied. "The most significant day was the day of my marriage -- but this ranks pretty high."

Even the greatest of achievements cannot compare with the greatest of relationships.

Jesse Jackson has carried this hopeful, take-control-of-your-future attitude to black youth, an attitude conveyed by this speech to the 1983 civil rights march on Washington:

“If my mind can conceive it

and my heart can believe it,

I know I can achieve it.”

Larry Walters strapped 42 weather balloons to an aluminum lawn chair and soared to 16,000 feet before he shot out some of the balloons with a BB gun and crashed into a power line. He was spotted by both TWA and Delta pilots.

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Version received by email in May 2000:

Larry Walters went to the local Army-Navy surplus store and purchased 45 weather balloons and several tanks of helium. He securely strapped the balloons to his sturdy lawn chair and anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep and inflated the balloons with helium. Larry packed several sandwiches and a six-pack of beer and loaded his pellet gun figuring he could pop a few balloons when it was time to descend. Larry's plan was to lazily float up to a height of about 30 feet above his back yard and come back down in a few hours.

Things didn't quite work out for Larry. When he cut the cord anchoring the lawn chair to his jeep he streaked into the Los Angeles sky as if shot from a cannon. He didn't level off at 30 feet but 16,000 feet. At that height he couldn't risk shooting any of the balloons. So he stayed there, drifting cold and frightened for more than 14 hours when he found himself in the primary approach corridor of LAX (Los Angeles airport). A Pan Am pilot first spotted Larry. He radioed the tower and described passing a guy in a lawn chair ... with a gun! Radar confirmed the existence of an object floating 16,000 feet above the airport.

LAX emergency procedures swung into full alert and a helicopter was dispatched to investigate. The offshore breeze began to flow and carried Larry out to sea. Right on Larry's heels was the rescue helicopter. The helicopter ascended to a position several hundred feet above Larry and lowered a rescue line. Larry snagged the line, with which he was hauled back to shore.

As soon as Larry was hauled to earth, he was arrested by waiting members of the Los Angeles Police Department for violating LAX airspace.

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Another version from Don Johnson [quoting http://www.snopes2.com/spoons/noose/balloon.htm]:

Claim: Larry Walters soared three miles above Los Angeles in an "aircraft" consisting of an aluminum lawnchair tethered to helium weather balloons.

Status: True.

Origins: In 1997, a story about a lawnchair balloonist named Larry Walters began to circulate all over the Internet as a tale about another putative winner of the "Darwin Award" for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty. The story was essentially true, although Larry had actually made his flight fifteen years earlier, and many of the details presented in the 1997 version were made-up or greatly embellished.

The incredible flight of Larry Walters, a 33-year-old Vietnam veteran and North Hollywood truck driver with no pilot or balloon training, took place on 2 July 1982. Larry filled 45 weather balloons with helium and tethered them in four tiers to an aluminum lawn chair he purchased at Sears for $110, loading his makeshift aircraft (dubbed the "Inspiration I") with a large bottle of soda, milk jugs full of water for ballast, a pellet gun, a portable CB radio, an altimeter, and a camera.

Donning a parachute, Larry climbed into his chair from the roof of his girlfriend's home in San Pedro while two friends stood at the ready to untether the craft. He took off a little earlier than expected, however, when his mooring line was cut by the roof's sharp edges. As friends, neighbors, reporters and cameramen looked on, Larry Walters rocketed into the sky above San Pedro. A few minutes later Larry radioed the ground that he was sailing across Los Angeles Harbor towards Long Beach.

Walters had planned to fly 300 miles into the Mojave Desert, but the balloons took him up faster than expected and the wind didn't cooperate, and Walters quickly found himself drifting 16,000 feet above Long Beach. (He later reported that he was "so amazed by the view" that he "didn't even take one picture.") As Larry and his lawnchair drifted into the approach path to Long Beach Municipal Airport, perplexed pilots from two passing Delta and TWA airliners alerted air traffic controllers about what appeared to be an unprotected man floating through the sky in a chair.

Meanwhile, Larry, feeling cold and dizzy in the thin air three miles above the ground, shot several of his balloons with the pellet gun to bring himself back down to earth. He attempted to aim his descent at a large expanse of grass of a north Long Beach country club, but Larry came up short and ended up entangling his tethers in a set of high-voltage power lines in Long Beach about ten miles from his liftoff site. The plastic tethers protected Walters from electrocution as he dangled above the ground until firemen and utility crews could cut the power to the lines (blacking out a portion of Long Beach for twenty minutes). Larry managed to maneuver his chair over a wall, step out, and cut the chair free. (He gave away the chair to some admiring neighborhood children, a decision he later regretted when his impromptu flight brought him far more fame than he had anticipated.)

Larry, who had just set a new altitude record for a flight with gas-filled clustered balloons (although his record was not officially recognized because he had not carried a proper altitude-recording device with him) became an instant celebrity, but the Federal Aviation Administration was not amused. Unable to revoke Walters' pilot's license because he didn't have one, an FAA official announced that they would charge Walters "as soon as we figure out which part [of the FAA code] he violated."

Larry hit the talk show circuit, appearing with Johnny Carson and David Letterman, hosting at a New York bar filled with lawn chairs for the occasion, and receiving an award from the Bonehead Club of Dallas while the FAA pondered his case.

After Walters' hearing before an agency panel, the FAA announced on 17 December 1982 that they were fining him $4,000 for violating four regulations: operating "a civil aircraft for which there is not currently in effect an air-worthiness certificate," creating a collision danger to other aircraft, entering an airport traffic area "without establishing and maintaining two-way communications with the control tower," and failing to take care to prevent hazards to the life and property of others. Larry quickly indicated that he intended to challenge the fines, stating sardonically that if "the FAA was around when the Wright Brothers were testing their aircraft, they would never have been able to make their first flight at Kitty Hawk." He also informed the FAA (and reporters) that he couldn't possibly pay the fine, because he'd put all the money he could save or borrow into his flight.

In April the FAA signalled their willingness to compromise by dropping one of the charges (they'd decided his lawnchair didn't need an air-worthiness certificate after all) and lowering the fine to $3,000. Walters countered by offering to admit to failing to maintain two-way radio contact with the airport and to pay a $1,000 penalty if the other two charges were dropped. The FAA eventually agreed to accept a $1,500 payment because "the flight was potentially unsafe, but Walters had not intended to endanger anyone."

After Larry told interviewers that he didn't have a job or money and could use all the help he could get, patrons at Jumbo's Diner in Port Richmond, California, took up a collection for him. Despite his punishment, Walters didn't rule out the possibility of another flight. "We've been looking at the Bahamas and a couple of other possibilities. It depends on whether or not I can get somebody to finance it, because I sure can't," he stated.

Although Larry Walters never made another balloon flight, he did inspire someone else to try the same feat. On 1 January 1984, a licensed pilot, parachutist, and chute rigger named Kevin Walsh outfitted himself with 57 weather balloons, each six feet in diameter. Armed with five knives and carrying a parachute, Walsh tethered himself to the helium-filled balloons (no chair) and took off from Minuteman Airfield in Stow, Massachusetts, at 7:00 AM on New Year's Day. He shot into the sky even faster than Larry had, hitting the 1,000-foot mark in twelve seconds, reaching 6,000 feet in two minutes, and peaking at 9,000 feet after four minutes.

When one of Walsh's balloons popped, he came back down to 6,000 feet and settled in to enjoy the view. He had wrapped his tether lines in foil in the hope that they would show up on radar, and, sure enough, he was picked up on the screens of controllers at Boston's Logan airport, where he produced a radar blip the size of three stacked jetliners. After a 45-minute flight Walsh cut himself free of the balloons and parachuted to the ground, landing in Hudson and walking away. Kevin claimed that he had been planning his flight for seven years and did it "just to make a positive statement about mankind." Walters had been his inspiration: "I had to commend him for his ingenuity. That's when my dream hooked up with reality." Kevin Walsh soon found himself the recipient of the same kind of attention as his hero when he was cited with four violations of FAA regulations and fined $4,000.

Although Walters' flight brought him instant fame, it never proved very lucrative for him. He was paid a few hundred dollars here and there for television appearances and made a little money as a motivational speaker, but it wasn't until Timex paid him $1,000 in 1992 to appear in print advertisements featuring "adventurous individuals wearing Timex watches" that he saw any real payoff. Even then, he still hadn't recouped the estimated $4,000 it had cost him to make the flight ten years earlier.

Not much else in life worked out for Larry, either -- he broke up with his girlfriend of fifteen years, his speaking career didn't pan out, and he worked only sporadically as a security guard. On 6 October 1993, Larry hiked to one of his favorite spots in Angeles National Forest and put a bullet through his heart. It was a sad end for the man who had made one the most celebrated flights since Lindbergh, a man who said, "It was something I had to do. I had this dream for twenty years, and if I hadn't done it, I think I would have ended up in the funny farm. I didn't think that by fulfilling my goal in life -- my dream -- that I would create such a stir and make people laugh."

Remarkably, Walters seemingly original plan to float up into the sky in a chair tethered to balloons then shoot them down one by one when he wanted to return to terra firma was eerily presaged by an E.B. White piece which appeared in The New Yorker sometime between 1936 and 1954. Popping up in a 1984 collection of E.B. White tales, the pieces titled "Professor Picard Before" and "Professor Picard After" recount the saga of an adventurous professor who believed he could travel to the outer spheres in a basket attached to 2,000 toy balloons and would be able to bring himself back down by shooting out some of them. This being a work of fiction, though Picard descends in flames, he emerges unhurt and choked with laughter.

[see also HolwickID #6426]

"If you go by other people's opinions or predictions, you'll just end up talking yourself out of something. If you're running down the track of life thinking that it's impossible to break life's records, those thoughts have a funny way of sinking into your feet."

Carl Lewis

Olympic track champion

Cited in More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES

"Most of us can do more than we think we can, but we usually do less than we think we do."

Cited in More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES

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A sign found above an office read: "We, the unwilling, led by the

unqualified, have been doing the unbelievable for so long with so

little, that we now attempt the impossible with nothing.

A reporter once asked Tom Landry, successful coach of the Dallas Cowboys, “What makes a champion?” His answer was power packed. He said, “A champion is simply someone who didn't give up when he wanted to.” He went on to explain: “Success is not accidental. We learn how to achieve.”

Tom Landry further explained the power of positive action by saying, “I'd like to list four short steps that I think it takes to be a champion in the field of sports. First, there is faith. It's believing that you can win. Second, I think you must have training to be a champion. The Cowboys work out four times a week. They lift millions of tons of iron every season. We run many miles to win. Third, to be a champion, you have to have a goal. All winning teams set high goals. The fourth thing that makes for championship is, you must possess the will to reach the goal you set for yourself. This is probably the most important quality of all champions.”

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Don Polston, {Living Without Losing}, (Irvine, CA: Harvest House Publishing, 1975), 161.

Lawyers for a man accused of taking part in a triple-murder had his defense all ready: They planned to say that twenty-two-year-old Darwin Godoy had a defective personality. He suffers from low self-esteem.

This is just another example of how deeply the self-esteem movement has infiltrated our culture. But according to a prominent psychologist, there's no real evidence that self-esteem, or lack thereof, has any such impact on behavior.

Paul Vitz is the distinguished author of the book Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship. Low self-esteem, he says, has been blamed for everything from drug abuse, to teen pregnancy, to murder. Self-esteem programs have deeply infiltrated our schools, where educators believe that if they can just raise the self-esteem of our kids high enough, their problems will go away.

So, teachers tell students (over and over again) how important and special they are. And the curriculum reinforces this sugar-coated message. Students are told to say and write positive things about themselves. The only problem is, it doesn't work.

Self-esteem, Vitz says, is "a complex notion, defined and measured in many different and ambiguous ways." But no matter how you define it, the evidence does not support the idea that high self-esteem, by itself, benefits anything. In fact, psychologists often find that an inferiority complex is a much greater motivator for high achievement.

Gloria Steinem, for example, a high-achieving leader of the feminist movement, freely admits that she suffers from low self-esteem. But self-doubt didn't slow her down any more than it has slowed others who've achieved success.

And then there's the study that compared mathematical skills of children from different countries. As reported in the national media, the kids who ranked the highest -- the Koreans -- scored lowest in self-esteem, while the kids who scored highest in self-esteem -- the Americans -- ranked lowest in math skills. Clearly, all those self-esteem lessons didn't help the American kids add and subtract better.

The fact is, the best ways to raise self-esteem is through genuine accomplishment. That's because, according to Vitz, self-esteem is "primarily an emotional response to what we have done, and to what others have done to us." If you want to feel good about yourself, Vitz writes, then "Do good to others and accomplish something for yourself."

As Christians, we ought to have a high sense of self-worth, because we know God made us in his image, and sent his own Son to die in order to save us.

Worth, or self-respect is one thing, but the self-esteem movement is something altogether different. It promotes self-worship. It teaches that, unless we love ourselves, we will be unhappy. But this assumes, Vitz warns, that God will not love us as we need to be loved. It's a form of "practical atheism" -- and can lead to some sobering consequences. As Samuel Johnson once said, "He that overvalues himself will undervalue others, and he who undervalues others will suppress them."

We need to be wary of the phony praise choruses that come from the self-esteem movement. Remember, our talents and abilities come from God -- and it was Christ himself who taught us, "Blessed are the meek" [Matthew 5:5].

For further reference:

Vitz, Paul. Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1994.

Fastest man on earth is an unflappable Englishman

By Adrian Croft

GERLACH, Nev. (Reuters) - Andy Green, who made history by smashing the sound barrier on land Monday, is the very model of the unflappable Englishman, not turning a hair at driving at over 700 mph.

The 35-year-old Royal Air Force fighter pilot became the first person to drive a car at supersonic speed only one day short of 50 years after American test pilot Chuck Yeager made the first supersonic flight.

"He's the greatest land speed record driver ever -- it's as simple as that," Thrust team leader Richard Noble said.

Green drove the British Thrust SuperSonic Car across Nevada's remote Black Rock Desert at 764.2 mph, or 0.7 percent above the speed of sound. The achievement defied critics who said breaking the sound barrier on land was impossible because the car would take off.

He made another supersonic run 61 minutes after the first one but failed to set the world's first supersonic world land speed record because the turnaround time was one minute more than allowed under international rules.

The breaking of the sound barrier on land, however, is expected to be recognized by the official Federation Internationale Automobiliste.

Noble, who held the land speed record of 633 mph for 14 years until Green clocked 714 mph Sept. 25, has been impressed by his colleague's ability to drive to the speeds requested by the design team.

"He drives it accurately time after time after time. He's extremely cool. It's just a brilliant job," Noble said.

Green has said that the speed of sound was the last great challenge in land speed recordbreaking. "There have been 63 official records in the last 99 years, but at the end of the day, there will only be one sound barrier," he said recently.

He became involved in the Thrust project after reading in a newspaper that Noble was looking for a driver for his new supersonic car. Chosen from among 30 candidates, he is not paid for his work.

He is also the only person ever to drive Thrust -- on test drives in England and Jordan before coming to Nevada. He is here with his girlfriend, Jayne Millington, an RAF fighter controller in charge of the car's radio communications.

Green says he is not afraid of or nervous about driving the black jet car at speeds never before reached on land.

"Should I be? People keep asking me this. I'm afraid I'm missing something," he joked.

A squadron leader who took leave from the RAF to drive Thrust SSC, Green says his holiday job is much safer than his normal duties: flying Phantom and Tornado fighter jets.

Unlike in the Royal Air Force, with Thrust there is no need to balance safety with necessity. "If there's any question of safety, we just don't run. You don't have to go over and intercept Russians over the North Sea," he said.

Born in Atherstone, Warwickshire, Green entered the RAF in 1983 after gaining a first-class degree in mathematics from Oxford University. He has served with the RAF in Britain and Germany and on peacekeeping duties over Bosnia.

A keen sportsman, he rowed for Oxford University at the Henley regatta. He runs regularly and finished the Berlin marathon in 1988 in under three hours.

^REUTERS@

LONDON (Reuters) - Two British soldiers who rowed 5000 miles (8,850 km) across the Pacific unsupported before being rammed by a U.S. fishing boat said Wednesday they were in good health but "gutted" their record attempt had failed.

The attempt to cross the ocean ended around 1,300 miles (2,000 km) off the U.S. coast when their rowing boat, the 23-foot (seven meter) vessel "Crackers," was struck.

"We're both safe, we've got no injuries, so we're well, just a bit gutted," Corporal Tim Welford, 33, of Poole, Dorset, told BBC Radio from aboard a container ship that picked them up after the collision.

He and Corporal Dom Mee, 30, of Exmouth, Devon, said they would have completed the unsupported crossing had it not been for the misfortune. They had spent 135 days at sea after sailing from Choshi, near Tokyo, and had been attempting to reach San Francisco.

"They are both absolutely convinced if it were not for this incident they would have achieved their remarkable ambition of rowing the North Pacific completely unsupported," a military statement said.

This quiz puts things in proper perspective:

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

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In his classic, “Old Man and the Sea,” Ernest Hemingway tells about a weary old fisherman who, like most of his village, has had hard times most of his life. He's barely eking out a living, and he goes out one day and decides to travel farther than usual to fish. And to his amazement, he hooks the largest fish he's ever seen in his life - so big he can't possibly bring it into his boat. So he begins to tow his prize fish behind his boat, excited about what this catch could mean and how it may be the beginning of a wonderful turn of his fortunes. It's the dream catch of his life! But as he comes into the harbor and up to the dock, his joy turns back to an even greater despair than before. All the while he's been towing his prize; the other creatures of the sea have been feeding on it. And all that's left of his dream is bones.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Trouble With Life's Great Catches.”

Maybe one reason that story has enduring interest is that it's a mirror of many of our lives. We pursue what we think will give us what we've needed. We catch it, but our great catches, all too often, turn out to be just carcasses in the end. They gave us hope for a while and then they let us down.

So we go back out, fishing for something else that will be our answer. And ultimately, our next catch disappoints us, too. The trail behind us from our days even as a teenager is littered with the pieces of things that were supposed to make us happy but ultimately didn't. I couldn't help but notice a comment made by Johnny Carson's biographer after Johnny's death. This man who was being lauded as the best in his field, this man who made so many of us laugh so many times... here's what his biographer said: “I can't say that Johnny was ever a truly happy man. I don't think he would ever say he was a happy man.” He's not alone.

In a few sledgehammer words, Jesus Christ exposed all our futile expeditions to find answers for our life; and the only place really worth looking for it. In Mark 8:36, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” You can catch everything this world has to offer - its acclaim, its wealth, its pleasures, its success - and lose the only thing that really matters - your soul. It's your soul that's always hungry for something that you've never been able to find. And your soul is forever restless because you're away from the One you were made by; the One you were made for. In God's own words, “Your sins have separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:2).

We've tried to fill a God-sized hole with things and people that can't begin to take His place. If we live like this, we'll live without peace and without meaning. If we die like this, we'll spend eternity without God and His love. Thank God, He didn't leave us separated from Him. He pursued us. He sent His Son, Jesus, to sacrifice His life for yours and mine - to take the rap for all our sin, that defiant self-rule of our lives.

So what gaining the whole world could never do, Jesus can do. He said, “He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). That could be you ... beginning today. Beginning the moment you admit your need for His forgiveness ... your readiness to turn the driver's seat over to Him ... your complete trust in Jesus and Him alone as your only hope. It is, quite simply, the end of your search.

You've been so busy, fishing for things that cannot save or cannot satisfy your soul. You've neglected your soul, but not anymore. This is the day you can find Jesus and find what your soul has been looking for so long.

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #27064]

The Brookings Institution released a report in 2006 on an interesting phenomenon that has appeared in recent years. American students do comparatively poorly in math compared to students of other nations -- but they feel really good about themselves anyway. As a matter of fact, they think they are really good at math.

As Jay Mathews of The Washington Post reports, “countries such as the United States that embrace self-esteem, joy and real-world relevance in learning mathematics are lagging behind others that don’t promote all that self-regard.”

More from Mathews:

According to the Washington think tank’s annual Brown Center report on education, 6 percent of Korean eighth-graders surveyed expressed confidence in their math skills, compared with 39 percent of U.S. eighth-graders. But a respected international math assessment showed Koreans scoring far ahead of their peers in the United States, raising questions about the importance of self-esteem.

In Japan, the report found, 14 percent of math teachers surveyed said they aim to connect lessons to students’ lives, compared with 66 percent of U.S. math teachers. Yet the U.S. scores in eighth-grade math trail those of the Japanese, raising similar questions about the importance of practical relevance.

Tom Loveless, the report’s author, said that the findings do not mean that student happiness causes low achievement. But he wrote that his analysis of the international math assessment, the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, shows that U.S. schools should not be too quick to assume that happiness is what matters in the classroom.

Not long ago, my wife and I were trying to get our daughter admitted into a school. For many reasons, it was quite a challenging experience. We narrowed down our selections and set about the long process of getting her enrolled. As we were about to enter yet another school building, I found myself thinking about how often we consider ourselves the masters of our own futures. We make choices in so many areas -- are we not in charge?

A sharp person knows that this is not entirely true. We do not decide where we are born, our nationality, our family, our gender, or even our facial features. Moreover, there are also many times when our own lives depend on someone else’s choice. Though we chose the school where we would like to see our child admitted, we cannot ensure that the school will choose her. School officials find themselves with a pool of candidates, all of whom they will evaluate, and not all of whom will be admitted. Thus, we wait and see if our daughter is chosen by the school for enrollment.

There is a certain comfort in knowing that God has chosen us. We are not in the kingdom because we are the most intelligent, but because He has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. We are not heirs because we are people of inherent honor, but because He extends to us his glory. We are not his children because we are strong, but because we are weak. Not only do these things prevent us from boasting in anything but Christ, they also offer us a confidence in living out our lives.

No longer do we need to be achievement-driven; we were not chosen because of some special ability or gifting. No longer do we need to please people for a sense of acceptance; we are the apple of his eye. No longer do we need to fear the future, for we are held in the arms of one who holds everything in his hands. Defeat need not be a word in our vocabulary -- not because we are go-getters and succeed at all costs -- but because we are confident that God is using all that happens in our lives to weave a beautiful tapestry. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Living as Christ’s own, we live with the assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God. And we live with the reminder that nothing is ordinary in the life of those who are called according to God’s purposes. As we go about the seemingly mundane and sometimes frustrating scenes in the drama of life, there is still value in it because we know the Director is at work in every scene. There is the hope of God’s sovereignty in all that confronts us. There is the comfort of God’s omnipresence throughout the stories of our lives. Even in our shortfalls and bad choices God is still at work, going about the process of sanctification, urging us onward toward the prize. And He who began a good work in us will be certain to bring it to completion.

________

Cyril Georgeson is an itinerant apologist with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Delhi, India.

________

Copyright © 2007 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

Sermon for church groundbreaking ceremony. 1 Chronicles 28:9-20

DO IT!

======

I. It's jogging season.

A. Runners are all over the roads.

B. Solomon was starting his biggest project.

C. All of us face challenges in life.

II. Start with God.

A. Acknowledge God. 28:9

B. Serve God.

C. Seek God.

III. Put some muscle into it. 28:10

A. Where does human effort fit into God's plan?

B. Be strong.

C. Be guided by God. 29:19

D. Don't get discouraged.

IV. David never got to finish his tasks.

A. Neither have others.

B. There is always something to leave for the next generation.

Has your working day become one long battle to wade through a to-do list?

The multiple distractions of the modern workplace – digital overload, open offices and constant interruptions, to name a few – can make it near impossible to achieve your goals, or even get anything done at all.

But, what if you’re going about things the wrong way? Perhaps you should be thinking more about what you shouldn’t be doing instead.

That’s one of the strategies employed by Canadian entrepreneur and investor Andrew Wilkinson, who has come up with a list of “anti-goals”.

Topsy-turvy thinking

Wilkinson noticed his day (and that of his business partner) was filled with things he didn’t want to do. He was feeling stretched, doing business with people he didn’t like, with a schedule dictated by others, he wrote recently on Medium.

He wanted to figure out how to improve his day and make it more enjoyable. So, he followed the lead of Charlie Munger, right-hand man of famed investor Warren Buffet, and a proponent of ‘inversion’ – a strategy that looks at problems in reverse, focusing on minimising the negatives instead of maximising the positives.

To put it in practice, Wilkinson came up with his worst possible workday: one filled with long meetings at the office, a packed schedule dealing with people he didn’t like or trust. Then he came up with his list of ‘anti-goals,’ which includes no morning meetings, no more than two hours of scheduled time per day and no dealings with people he doesn’t like.

These ‘anti-goals’ have made his life “immeasurably better” he wrote in the blog.

“I think people always try to think about where they want to go. ‘What will make me happy?’ is such an open-ended question, and it’s surprisingly much easier to figure out what makes you miserable,” he wrote in an email to BBC Capital.

What not to do

Wilkinson and Munger aren’t the only ones using anti-goals to help them cut out distractions and realise ambitions.

Tim Ferriss, author, podcaster and investor believes in the power of a ‘not-to-do’ list. Why? “The reason is simple: What you don’t do determines what you can do,” he writes. On his not-to-do list? Don’t let people ramble, don’t agree to meetings with no clear agenda, and work shouldn’t fill a void that should be filled elsewhere.

Another fan? Angela Ceberano, founder of Flourish PR, a public relations firm in Melbourne, Australia. She uses the ‘traffic light system’ to list things to ‘stop, start or continue’ doing. Stopping unproductive activities is crucial for goal attainment as it allows a clearer direction, she says.

Why it works

Many productivity experts promote forward-looking thoughts and actions, so how can focusing on the negative work? By helping us reflect on and cut out activities that don’t align with our broader goals, says Repa Patel, an Australia-based executive coach and director of leadership development firm Leading Mindfully.

Anti-goals, says Maurice Schweitzer, a professor of operations, information and decisions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, “Give us a step-by-step process for thinking about things a little differently.”

Wilkinson’s list is specific to him, says Schweitzer. They are a set of crisp, clear, guidelines that are broken down into actionable steps and, therefore, attainable. It’s about prioritising that which is important.

Anti-goals can give us a different perspective “in a way that helps us identify an underlying issue,” he says.

“Goals narrow our focus and motivate us in a specific direction.”

No, they can’t be anything they want and the world is not their oyster. Our false promises are hurting Generation Y.

________

Some of the most thought-provoking people in recent times weren’t real. Remember the Obama campaign’s “Julia”?

Now there’s Lucy, a creation of the Huffington Post’s “Wait But Why” blog. Lucy is today’s emerging adult, an encapsulation of what the article calls “Generation Y Protagonists and Special Yuppies,” or GYPSYs for short.

From their earliest years, GYPSYs like Lucy, born between the late 70s and the mid-90s, have been told that they’re special, they can be whatever they want to be, and they should just “follow their passions” when choosing a career. Well, not surprisingly, some have noted that many GYPSYs struggle with a sense of entitlement.

According to the article, “The GYPSY needs a lot more from a career than ... prosperity and security ... Where the Baby Boomers wanted to live The American Dream, GYPSYs want to live Their Own Personal Dream.”

This, as the HuffPo’s blogger points out, is a recipe for unhappiness for Lucy — or anyone else. When reality exceeds our expectations, we’re happy. But when reality falls short, we’re unhappy, even depressed. And reality just can’t match the dreams GYPSYs have learned to expect.

And there’s a lesson in here for the Church, too. We often tell young Christians that God wants them to “follow their passions” — a phrase that’s only been around for a couple of generations — so that we can all discover our special “calling.” In fact, I used to tell people that the key to discovering God’s will is just discovering your passions.

Now, there’s certainly truth to the idea that the Lord has gifted us in unique ways to serve Him, and we can discover these gifts through our passions and use them for His glory. Remember how Olympian Eric Liddell “felt God’s pleasure” when he ran? But there’s more to the biblical picture of calling and vocation than just this.

Jesus also said we must pick up our cross and follow Him. Paul said that anyone who wishes to follow Christ will be persecuted. Remember, Eric Liddell died in a Japanese prison camp.

It’s really only Christians in the West, especially America, who have the luxury of dwelling on the question, “What has God made me to be and what is my calling?” Unfortunately, in the process of this dwelling, we may miss other lessons about calling that our brothers and sisters around the world are forced to learn.

The Protestant Reformers understood calling to be not primarily about passion, but as a commitment to glorify God in whatever station we find ourselves. It may be your calling right now to be a student, or a mom or a dad, or a minimum wage employee simply just having to make a living. Whether directly connected with our passions or not, God calls us first and foremost to do the next thing well, to His glory, with all of our might.

So instead of asking, “What does God want me to do one day?” we should be asking “What does God want me to do next?”

It’s possible that we’ve “Christianized” a sense of entitlement, and therefore a misunderstanding of calling. In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul says that God determines the exact times that people live and the boundaries of their dwelling place.

Thus, whether we inherit a culture of economic downturn in which many people can’t find a job, or if jobs are plentiful and we can really “follow our passions,” we accept either as from God’s hand. Our calling — whatever culture we find ourselves in — is to live fully engaged in this world, regardless of the particular circumstances.

As Bonhoeffer wrote, “Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be. Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom. Make up your mind and come out into the tempest of the living.” These are good words for every generation.

________

Copyright (c) 2013 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow, in “Motivation and Personality”, theorized that in the hierarchy of human needs the need for “self-actualization” is the necessary final step for full development of the personality.

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. He must be true to his own nature.”

If we judged success by worldly standards, some might be inclined to assess Paul’s leadership career as an abject failure and a bitter disappointment.

In the closing days of his life, when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, Luke was virtually his only contact with the outside world (4:11). Paul was confined in a Roman dungeon, dreading the savage cold of coming winter (vv. 13, 21), and without any hope of deliverance from the death sentence that had been imposed on him. He suffered because of the sadistic contempt of his enemies. He was even abandoned or disavowed by some of his closest friends. He wrote, “This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me” (2 Timothy 1:15). “Asia” refers to Asia Minor, where Paul had focused his missionary work. Ephesus, where Timothy pastored, was the capital of that region. So Paul wasn’t telling Timothy anything Timothy didn’t already know firsthand. In that time of fierce persecution, association with Paul had become so costly that all but a few of the apostle’s own spiritual children had in effect disowned and abandoned him.

That’s why people who see things superficially might think the end of Paul’s life was tragic. At first glance, it might even seem as if his enemies had finally defeated him.

A failure? Actually, the apostle Paul was not a failure as a leader by any measure. His influence continues worldwide even today. By contrast, Nero, the corrupt but powerful Roman emperor who ordered Paul’s death, is one of history’s most despised figures. This is yet another reminder that influence is the true test of a person’s leadership, not power or position per se. In fact, a careful look at how Paul’s life and ministry came to an end can teach us a lot about how to gauge the success or failure of a leader.

Paul’s first long imprisonment and trial before Nero apparently ended in the apostle’s release sometime before AD 64, because he wrote the epistles of 1 Timothy and Titus as a free man (1 Timothy 3:14-15; 4:13; Titus 3:12). But that liberty was short-lived. In July of the year 64, seven of Rome’s fourteen districts burned. When the original fire was nearly extinguished, another fire, fanned by fierce winds, broke out in another district. Rumors circulated that Nero himself had ordered the burning of the city to make room for some ambitious building projects, including a golden palace for himself.

Trying desperately to deflect suspicion, Nero blamed Christians for starting the fires. That began the first of several major, aggressive campaigns by the Roman government to destroy the church. Christians in Rome were rounded up and executed in unspeakably cruel ways. Some were sewn into animal skins and ripped to death by dogs. Others were impaled on stakes, covered with pitch, and burned as human torches to light Nero’s garden parties. Many were beheaded, fed to lions, or otherwise disposed of at Nero’s command in equally ruthless ways.

During that persecution, Paul was again taken prisoner by the Roman authorities, brought to Rome, subjected to persecution and torment (2 Timothy 4:17), and finally executed as a traitor because of his relentless devotion to the lordship of Christ.

Throughout his first imprisonment at Rome, Paul had been kept under house arrest (Acts 28:16, 30). He was allowed freedom to preach and teach those who visited him (v.d 23). He was under the constant guard of a Roman soldier but was treated with respect. The influence of his ministry had therefore reached right into the household of Caesar (Philippians 4:22).

Paul’s second imprisonment, however, was markedly different. He was virtually cut off from all outside contact and kept chained in a dungeon (2 Timothy 1:16). He was probably held underground in the Mamertine Prison, adjacent to the Roman forum, in a small, dark, bare stone dungeon whose only entrance was a hole in the ceiling scarcely large enough for one person to pass through. The dungeon itself is not large; about half the size of a small one-car garage. Yet it was sometimes used to hold as many as forty prisoners. The discomfort, the dark, the stench, and the misery were almost unbearable.

That dungeon still exists, and I have been in it. The stifling, claustrophobic confines of that dark hole are eerie and depressing even today. It was there (or in a dungeon just like it) that Paul spent the final days of his life.

There is no reliable record of Paul’s execution, but he obviously knew the end of his life was imminent when he wrote his second epistle to Timothy. Evidently he had already been tried, convicted, and condemned for preaching Christ, and perhaps the day of his execution was already scheduled. He wrote to Timothy, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6).

Naturally, there are notes of profound sadness in Paul’s final epistle. But its dominant theme is triumph, not defeat. Paul wrote that last letter to Timothy to encourage the young pastor to be bold and courageous and to continue following the example he had learned from his apostolic mentor. Far from writing a concession of failure, Paul sounds a clarion note of victory: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Facing his own imminent martyrdom, Paul had no fear, no despondency, and no desire to stay in this world. He longed to be with Christ and eagerly anticipated the reward He would receive in the next world. Therefore, as he reviewed the course of his life, he expressed no regret, no sense of unfulfillment, and no feeling of incompleteness. There was not the smallest duty left undone. He had finished the work the Lord gave him to do, just as in Acts 20:24 he had hoped and prayed he would do: “so that I may finish my race with joy.”

Paul measured his own success as a leader, as an apostle, and as a Christian by a single criterion: He had “kept the faith” — meaning both that he had remained faithful to Christ and that he had kept the message of Christ’s gospel intact, just as he had received it. He had proclaimed the Word of God faithfully and fearlessly. And now he was passing the baton to Timothy and to others, who would be “able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

Therefore, Paul faced his own death with a triumphant spirit and with a deep sense of joy. He had seen the grace of God accomplish all that God designed in him and through him, and now he was ready to meet Christ face-to-face.

________

Excerpted from The Book on Leadership, 181-84.

© 2004 by John MacArthur.

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[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

"It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment; in these qualities old age is usually not only not poorer, but it is even richer."

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 - 43 B.C.)

Orator, statesman and writer

Cited in BITS & PIECES

The Brookings Institution released a report in 2006 on an interesting phenomenon that has appeared in recent years. American students do comparatively poorly in math compared to students of other nations -- but they feel really good about themselves anyway. As a matter of fact, they think they are really good at math.

As Jay Mathews of The Washington Post reports, “countries such as the United States that embrace self-esteem, joy and real-world relevance in learning mathematics are lagging behind others that don’t promote all that self-regard.”

More from Mathews:

According to the Washington think tank’s annual Brown Center report on education, 6 percent of Korean eighth-graders surveyed expressed confidence in their math skills, compared with 39 percent of U.S. eighth-graders. But a respected international math assessment showed Koreans scoring far ahead of their peers in the United States, raising questions about the importance of self-esteem.

In Japan, the report found, 14 percent of math teachers surveyed said they aim to connect lessons to students’ lives, compared with 66 percent of U.S. math teachers. Yet the U.S. scores in eighth-grade math trail those of the Japanese, raising similar questions about the importance of practical relevance.

Tom Loveless, the report’s author, said that the findings do not mean that student happiness causes low achievement. But he wrote that his analysis of the international math assessment, the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, shows that U.S. schools should not be too quick to assume that happiness is what matters in the classroom.

If we judged success by worldly standards, some might be inclined to assess Paul’s leadership career as an abject failure and a bitter disappointment.

In the closing days of his life, when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, Luke was virtually his only contact with the outside world (4:11). Paul was confined in a Roman dungeon, dreading the savage cold of coming winter (vv. 13, 21), and without any hope of deliverance from the death sentence that had been imposed on him. He suffered because of the sadistic contempt of his enemies. He was even abandoned or disavowed by some of his closest friends. He wrote, “This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me” (2 Timothy 1:15). “Asia” refers to Asia Minor, where Paul had focused his missionary work. Ephesus, where Timothy pastored, was the capital of that region. So Paul wasn’t telling Timothy anything Timothy didn’t already know firsthand. In that time of fierce persecution, association with Paul had become so costly that all but a few of the apostle’s own spiritual children had in effect disowned and abandoned him.

That’s why people who see things superficially might think the end of Paul’s life was tragic. At first glance, it might even seem as if his enemies had finally defeated him.

A failure? Actually, the apostle Paul was not a failure as a leader by any measure. His influence continues worldwide even today. By contrast, Nero, the corrupt but powerful Roman emperor who ordered Paul’s death, is one of history’s most despised figures. This is yet another reminder that influence is the true test of a person’s leadership, not power or position per se. In fact, a careful look at how Paul’s life and ministry came to an end can teach us a lot about how to gauge the success or failure of a leader.

Paul’s first long imprisonment and trial before Nero apparently ended in the apostle’s release sometime before AD 64, because he wrote the epistles of 1 Timothy and Titus as a free man (1 Timothy 3:14-15; 4:13; Titus 3:12). But that liberty was short-lived. In July of the year 64, seven of Rome’s fourteen districts burned. When the original fire was nearly extinguished, another fire, fanned by fierce winds, broke out in another district. Rumors circulated that Nero himself had ordered the burning of the city to make room for some ambitious building projects, including a golden palace for himself.

Trying desperately to deflect suspicion, Nero blamed Christians for starting the fires. That began the first of several major, aggressive campaigns by the Roman government to destroy the church. Christians in Rome were rounded up and executed in unspeakably cruel ways. Some were sewn into animal skins and ripped to death by dogs. Others were impaled on stakes, covered with pitch, and burned as human torches to light Nero’s garden parties. Many were beheaded, fed to lions, or otherwise disposed of at Nero’s command in equally ruthless ways.

During that persecution, Paul was again taken prisoner by the Roman authorities, brought to Rome, subjected to persecution and torment (2 Timothy 4:17), and finally executed as a traitor because of his relentless devotion to the lordship of Christ.

Throughout his first imprisonment at Rome, Paul had been kept under house arrest (Acts 28:16, 30). He was allowed freedom to preach and teach those who visited him (v.d 23). He was under the constant guard of a Roman soldier but was treated with respect. The influence of his ministry had therefore reached right into the household of Caesar (Philippians 4:22).

Paul’s second imprisonment, however, was markedly different. He was virtually cut off from all outside contact and kept chained in a dungeon (2 Timothy 1:16). He was probably held underground in the Mamertine Prison, adjacent to the Roman forum, in a small, dark, bare stone dungeon whose only entrance was a hole in the ceiling scarcely large enough for one person to pass through. The dungeon itself is not large; about half the size of a small one-car garage. Yet it was sometimes used to hold as many as forty prisoners. The discomfort, the dark, the stench, and the misery were almost unbearable.

That dungeon still exists, and I have been in it. The stifling, claustrophobic confines of that dark hole are eerie and depressing even today. It was there (or in a dungeon just like it) that Paul spent the final days of his life.

There is no reliable record of Paul’s execution, but he obviously knew the end of his life was imminent when he wrote his second epistle to Timothy. Evidently he had already been tried, convicted, and condemned for preaching Christ, and perhaps the day of his execution was already scheduled. He wrote to Timothy, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6).

Naturally, there are notes of profound sadness in Paul’s final epistle. But its dominant theme is triumph, not defeat. Paul wrote that last letter to Timothy to encourage the young pastor to be bold and courageous and to continue following the example he had learned from his apostolic mentor. Far from writing a concession of failure, Paul sounds a clarion note of victory: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Facing his own imminent martyrdom, Paul had no fear, no despondency, and no desire to stay in this world. He longed to be with Christ and eagerly anticipated the reward He would receive in the next world. Therefore, as he reviewed the course of his life, he expressed no regret, no sense of unfulfillment, and no feeling of incompleteness. There was not the smallest duty left undone. He had finished the work the Lord gave him to do, just as in Acts 20:24 he had hoped and prayed he would do: “so that I may finish my race with joy.”

Paul measured his own success as a leader, as an apostle, and as a Christian by a single criterion: He had “kept the faith” — meaning both that he had remained faithful to Christ and that he had kept the message of Christ’s gospel intact, just as he had received it. He had proclaimed the Word of God faithfully and fearlessly. And now he was passing the baton to Timothy and to others, who would be “able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

Therefore, Paul faced his own death with a triumphant spirit and with a deep sense of joy. He had seen the grace of God accomplish all that God designed in him and through him, and now he was ready to meet Christ face-to-face.

________

Excerpted from The Book on Leadership, 181-84.

© 2004 by John MacArthur.

*

[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]