Ten Guidelines for a happy 1997

Fri, 3 Jan 1997

Clergy/Leaders' Mail-list No. 345 10 GUIDELINES FOR A HAPPY 1997 The wisdom about 'New Year Resolutions' seems to be: # they're a good idea; # don't make too many; # ensure they're realizable; cover the major areas of your life. Following a review of my counseling practice I've listed ten recipes for wholeness. (They'll be appended to my sermon next Sunday on Facing the New Year: see the JMM home page)... 'Bless the Lord... all that is within me' (Psalm 103:1) In your relationship to GOD: be prayerful - dependence/helplessness are necessary prerequisites for a healthy spirituality. How about a thorough spiritual check-up this year? OTHERS: be helpful - even to your enemies. Why not communicate encouragement to someone every day? MIND: read and think about something ennobling/creative each day. Start the day with Scripture; start the year with Eugene Peterson's 'Take and Read'. FEELINGS: 'feel your feelings' and express them - whether fear, guilt, grief, rage, shame, anxiety - to God and to a spiritual director/ counselor. ACTIONS: be generous to those who need a helping hand - without thought of reward or praise - and 'right some wrongs' in your world SUCCESSES: be thankful - many of them were the result of good fortune rather than your cleverness; 'count your blessings' regularly. TROUBLES: be trustful - for some reason God invites our maturing through adversity. What you do to life is more important than what life does to you. SEXUALITY: follow the Maker's instructions, avoiding the extremes of scrupulosity or permissiveness. If God's good gift of sex (or celibacy) isn't good for you, that can be fixed! TIME: own your past, then, if necessary, disown it. Accept what can't be changed. Attend to your dreams. (It's never too late to have a happy childhood). CONSCIENCE: clean the slate each day - don't live with anything that will rob you of love, joy, peace... Shalom! Rowland Croucher Director, John Mark Ministries - resources for pastors/leaders. (Bookroom, library, and worldwide F.W.Boreham Trading Post) Home Page: http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm ____________________________ Clergy/Leaders' Mailing List (Moderated) This mailing list is open to all Christians via Internet e-mail and most fax destinations. Submissions welcome: clergy@pastornet.net.au To unsubscribe, e-mail to: clergy-request@pastornet.net.au with SUBJECT reading UNSUBSCRIBE Copyright: Postings may be re-sent ONLY with all copyright notifications intact. A PastorNET ministry: manager@pastornet.net.au

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