Revitalize Your Church

“The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love to God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for others is learning to listen to them. It is God’s love for us that He not only gives us His Word but also lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for others when we learn to listen to them. Christians, especially ministers, so often think they must always contribute something when they are in the company of others, that this is the one service they have to render. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking. Many people are looking for an ear that will listen. They do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking where they should be listening. But those who can no longer listen to others will soon be no longer listening to God either; they will be doing nothing but prattle in the presence of God too. This is the beginning of the death of the spiritual lif...

I can identify with this poem by Beethoven and am sharing it in honor of his birthday. . .  My bad hearing  Does not trouble me here.  In the country  Every tree  Seems to talk to me, saying, "Holy! Holy!"  Inside the forest is enchantment  Which expresses all things –  Sweet peace of the forest!  Almighty, I am happy  In the woods,  Blessed  In the woods,  Every tree has a voice  Through thee.  O God, what glory  In such a woodland place!  On the heights is peace –  Peace to serve thee –  How glad am I  Once again  To be able to wander  In forest and thicket  Among the trees,  The green things and the rocks.  No mortal can love  The country as I do;  For woods and trees and rocks  Return the echo  A man desires. I found this at Your Daily Poem  This poem is in the public domain .

I' m biting the bullet and buying hearing aids this week. When the audiologist tested my ears, she said my deafness falls in the range of female voices. That explains a lot! I joke that Cathy talks twice as much as she used to, because she has to say everything twice. Hopefully, my hearing aids will help both of us, and will at least eliminate one of my excuses. Hearing loss is definitely a challenge. It takes tremendous concentrated energy to listen and understand. I am often utterly exhausted after conversations and meetings, because the simple act of hearing requires so much work. I'm looking forward to my hearing aids, but dread the "old man" stigma that accompanies them. I hope to simply smile and be a happy old man. At least I'll hear what you're saying. Happiness comes through acceptance. Cathy says I'm a better listener these days. "When you lean in to listen, I know you are paying attention and working hard to understand me....

Here's a great post from my blogger buddy, Mark Batterson.

Happy New Year! Every January, instead of making a bunch of resolutions, I like to develop a theme for the New Year. Sometimes, I make the theme rhyme, such as, “Knock ‘em Alive in 2005” and “Make it Great in 2008.” This year, I’m going off rhyme. (although I could say “Things Will Be Fine in 2009” or “Walk the Line in 2009.” Nope, I’m not going to rhyme it this year. Instead, I want LIVE it. Here’s my 2009 New Year’s Focus: “Listen and Do.” Yep, that’s it. Simple and sweet. Listen and Do. 1) Listen: You and I have been given two ears and one mouth. That’s because we’re supposed to listen twice as much as we speak. However, I’ve discovered that talking is easer than hearing. Explaining is easier than listening deeply. Why is it so hard to listen? Consider this. We speak at 100-150 words per minute. We are able to comprehend at 250-300 words per minute. We think at 600 words per minute. So, if you are a fast thinker (600 wpm) and the other person is a slow talker (100 w...

My family has had to repeat a lot of things lately. They mumble something, I say, "Huh?" and then they say it all over again. Sometimes, I wonder if they do this on purpose, just to get my goat! My kids are teasing me about going deaf. I guess that's what I get for listening to rock and roll music full blast in my headphones as a teenager. It's payback time for me. (and a warning for the MP3 generation) I'm not totally deaf, mind you. I can still hear whispered plottings behind my back. It was that way with my dad too. He didn't hear what I wanted him to hear, but sure he heard everything I didn't want him to hear! All this fuss about my hearing, lately, has reminded me how important it is to listen. There are a lot of folks in this world who have a very fine set of ears -- and yet they don't listen! They're too busy talking: mouths wide open and ears closed shut! I'd much rather be hard of hearing than hard of listening! In case you're won...