Category Archives: Integrity

Sponge

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sponge.jpgIN THE OPERATING room of a large, well-known hospital, it was the nurse’s first day on the medical team…
She was responsible that all instruments and materials were accounted for before completing the final steps of the operation. She said to the surgeon, “You’ve only removed 11 sponges. We used 12 sponges, and we need to find the last one.”
“I removed them all,” the doctor declared emphatically. “We’ll close the incision now.”
“No,” the rookie nurse objected, “we used 12 sponges.”
“I’ll take the responsibility,” the surgeon said grimly. “Suture.”
“You can’t do that, sir,” blazed the nurse. “Think of the patient.”
The surgeon smiled and lifted his foot, showing the nurse the twelfth sponge. “You’ll do just fine in this or any other hospital.”
THOUGHT: When you know you’re right, you can’t back down. Dennis Waitley, “Your Absolute Bottom Line,” Priorities Magazine
KneEmail: “He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will become known.” Proverbs 10.9
Bible reading for 06.07.11: John 17; 2 Chronicles 28-29
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Checkup

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heart_bill_scan_blog_june09.jpgTHE MEDICAL PROFESSION stresses the importance of regular physical checkups…
Anyone with a family history of heart disease is encouraged to get his cholesterol tested. We don’t assume that because we look find outwardly, we have nothing to worry about. If our heart is not functioning properly or there is blockage in our arteries, we want to know about the problem so we can do whatever is necessary to deal with the situation. We know that neglecting our physical heart condition could be fatal.
Should we be any less concerned about our spiritual heart condition? The fact is, when it comes to spiritual matters, we all have a family history of “heart disease.” Nancy Leigh Demoss, “The Heart of the Matter,” Brokenness – The Heart God Revives, 35
KneEmail: “O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?” Jeremiah 4.14
Bible reading for 04.01.11: Luke 6.27-49; Judges 13-15
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Being

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Man-lending-a-helping-hand.jpgAS CONGREGATIONS, WE have tried about everything…
…meetings, lectures, Vacation Bible Schools, “Operation Doorbell,” city-wide campaigns, television and radio programs, bus ministries, building buildings, and hiring preachers with sex-appeal. Some have even followed cultic schemes of “discipling” and instituted unscriptural tactics of evangelism. Many have thought that growth comes naturally, or that, through the employment of slick media methods or “get if for you wholesale” tactics, the noble purpose of the Lord could be realized. Now the time has come, having tried every modern method known to man and having imitated the “numbers-mad” denominations, to read the Lord’s instructions! “When all else fails,” they said, “read the instructions!”
Here comes our Lord giving us the very specific and powerful means to penetrate the world: 13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5.13-16).
Jesus considered the way to penetrate the world was with light and salt. These two avenues, He says, are a demonstration of the most powerful and overwhelming arguments for Truth: a good life, a life full of good works. Good Christians, living a good life and doing good works before men, penetrate the world! Along with this, someone has said that there are five powerful things in the world. The fifth most powerful thing is an idea. The fourth most powerful thing is an idea that is true. The third most powerful thing is the truth of God’s Word. The second most powerful thing is the truth of God believed. But the most powerful thing in the world is the truth of the Living God believed and put into practice!
For too long, we have been salting ourselves. We have been lighting the church. The Lord says salt and light are no good unless they get out into society, into the world, where lost men and women live and die. Salt penetrates the food, preserves the food. Light penetrates the darkness. Leaven penetrates the bread to make it rise and good to eat.
This is our Lord’s way of telling us that every member of the body of Christ is to be involved in soul-winning, penetrating the world. We can all live good lives. We can all do good works before men so that they can glorify and know our Father in heaven. He calls us all, not only to be busy doing something, but to be busy being something. Mac Layton, “Jesus’ Supreme Goal: Great Outreach,” How to Build a Great Church, 113-114
KneEmail: Matthew 5.13-16
Bible reading for 02.15.11: Matthew 27.27-66; Leviticus 17-19
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Honesty

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honesty2.jpg PICTURE WHAT THE world would be like if no one had hidden agendas — everything out on the table, no gossip or talking behind people’s backs…
Imagine how freeing it would be to live like Jesus, not ruled by people’s opinions, to only be concerned about God’s view of us, thus freeing us to care for others with honest words that lead either to rejection or genuine closeness.
Most of us don’t live this way. We get consumed with how we come across to people. We hunger for their approval and become manipulative. This creates a false, but fleeting, sense of satisfaction. Or, we judge others, telling them that they need our approval. But Jesus describes a new way to care for people, one unconcerned with their opinion of us, one in which we have both compassion and candor, making our relationships real.
KneEmail: “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.” John 7:18
Bible reading for 08.31.10: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Psalm 132-134
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Lust

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apa.jpg
DURING WORLD WAR II, Nazi Germany dropped pornographic pamphlets from the sky over enemy territory…
The reason; to distract the soldiers minds with fascinations causing them to ignore the front line. This has been the strategy of porn from its inception; while we fight the diversionary tactic of pornography, the enemy rolls in behind our backs and destroys our homes.
Imagine conquering an entire nation in less than sixty years by simply planting destructive seed in the minds of a few men and watching it spread to the masses. That is what Satan did through the likes of Hugh Heffner and Bob Guccione in the 50s when Playboy and Penthouse became nationally distributred magazines. Over the years, images of undressed women and men engaged in illicit activity have jumped from the pages of embarrassed to purchase magazines to the privacy of our own personal computer screens. Today, US porn revenue exceeds the revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC combined and contrary to its previous consumer group of mostly adult males; its largest demography today is 12 – 17 year old males and females.
Jesus knew that something as small as gazing at the bait would lead to total entrapment. Paul Kendall
KneEmail: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27-28
Bible reading for 02.17.10: Mark 1:1-22; Leviticus 23, 24
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Walls

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walls.jpgWE ALL HAVE walls…
Not the stone, concrete, or wooden ones that typically surround properties, but emotional ones. Ther are parts of our lives that we keep walled off from other people. The closer we are to someone, the fewer walls there are, the more self-disclosure we allow. But even with those with whom we are the very closest, perhaps our spouse and/or very dearest friend a wll or two remains in place. The walls are there to keep us from hurting. Maybe what we are keeping to ourselves is something we’re afraid will cause the other person to think less of us or even reject us. A wall is in place to protect us from that kind of hurt. Believe it or not, we likely even have walls when it comes to our relationship with God. Really.
The candid request of our text is remarkable. It is full disclosure. No walls. My heart, my anxious thoughts, my actions are all open to scrutiny. Something has to be understood here, though. This isn’t actually an invitation to all God to do something He was not otherwise able to do. Notice verses 1-12. God already knows everything there is to know about me. He knows me better than I know myself. No, this invitation is in reality an acknowledgment, an admission on my part of what is already a reality. God knows my heart. He knows my anxious thoughts, He knows not only what I do, but why I do it. The only thing that is left is for me to acknowledge what God already knows, own up to it, and allow God’s will and purpose to change and shape me even to my innermost being.
Walls separate; bridges unite. We already have a big enough problem of separation from God caused by sin. He provided a bridge in His Son. We need to be rid of the walls that only further separate. With God we must have no walls, only a bridge. David Deffenbaugh; Bill McFarland
KneEmail: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
Bible reading for 12.08.09: 2 John; Daniel 8 – 10
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Putt

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Floyd.jpgAS PROFESSIONAL GOLFER Ray Floyd got ready to tap in a routine nine-inch putt, he saw the ball move ever so slightly…
According to the rule book, if the ball moves at all, the golfer must take a penalty stroke. Floyd was among the leaders in the tournament offering a top prize of $108,000. To acknowledge that the ball had moved could mean losing his chance for big money.
Writer David Holahan described what some golfers might have done: “The athlete ducks his head and flails wildly with his hands, as if being attacked by a killer bee; next, he steps back from the ball, rubbing his eye for a phantom speck of dust, all the while scanning the playing partners and the gallery for any sign that the ball’s movement has been detected by others. If the coast is clear, he taps the ball in for his par.”
Ray Floyd, however, didn’t do that. He assessed himself a penalty stroke and wound up with a bogey on the hole.
THOUGHT: The patriarch Job also showed remarkable honesty in matters not seen my human observers. He maintained his integrity by fearing God and shunning evil. Job knew that the eyes of the Lord were on him at all times, and that was what really mattered to him. The true test of our integrity comes when no one is watching us. If we remember that God sees what others don’t and that it’s His approval that matters, our integrity will improve. M.R.D.II
KneEmail: “Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?” Job 31:4
Bible reading for 10.27.09: 2 Timothy 1; Jeremiah 12-14
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