“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Attitude
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A New Heart
by davidrsmithby davidrsmithIn August of 2013, 15-year-old Anthony Tremayne Stokes received an emergency heart transplant to ease his suffering from an acute case of dilated cardiomyopathy. According to the team of doctors, there was no doubt the procedure saved his young life.
But Stokes died two years later from something that no team of doctors could prevent.
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Baseball Manners
by davidrsmithby davidrsmithCoach Brown and his squad of little leaguers were down 11 runs in the 8th inning. He was as frustrated as the 4th graders he was coaching. The game was all but lost, and the poor attitudes around him just kept getting worse.
When he could take it no more, Coach Brown walked over for a heart-to-heart talk with his young pitcher.
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What Do You Expect?
by davidrsmithby davidrsmithWhen you’re in God’s presence, do you expect great things from Him? Do you believe He will do what only He can do? Or has doubt caused you to lose your sense of wonder and anticipation? If so, you’re not alone.
Evidently, it happens to pastors, too.
- ArroganceAttitudeCondemnationCriticismElderlyJesus' TeachingJudgingLabeling OthersPrideSelf-Righteous
Seeing Clearly
by davidrsmithby davidrsmithFrom their quiet kitchen nook, Mr. and Mrs. Caplin spent several consecutive days watching a young family move into the house behind their own. The elderly couple liked what they saw in their new neighbors; Mr. Caplin admired the younger family’s work ethic while Mrs. Caplin approved of their frugality represented by the clothesline they’d strung between two trees.
But it wasn’t long before that same clothesline became a source of serious discontentment.
- AttitudeChristlikeFreedomGovernmentHistoryHumilityIndependenceLeadershipMilitaryPoliticiansPowerSacrificialSelflessServanthood
George and Jesus
by davidrsmithby davidrsmithSome people live their lives in such a manner that the only way they can be accurately described is “Christlike.” Those people’s lives are marked by humility, generosity, and sacrifice. In short, they are far more focused on others than themselves.
For many reasons, George Washington was one of those people.
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Shifting Attitudes
by davidrsmithby davidrsmithPublic opinion sways like a tree in the wind. What was called “wrong” yesterday might be considered “right” tomorrow…and vice versa. While there are dozens of examples of this phenomenon, one of the biggest shifts in our culture has been over homosexuality.
But has our opinion about this topic shifted in the correct direction?
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“Dutch” to the Rescue
by davidrsmithby davidrsmithOmaha Beach was a mess on the morning of June 6, 1944; unspeakable horror was evident everywhere along the deadly stretch of sand. The chaos was so severe that the invasion of Normandy was in jeopardy of failing because the American troops were confused, pinned down by enemy crossfire, and dying by the minute.
Then “Dutch” arrived and changed everything.
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Blessed Blindness
by davidrsmithby davidrsmithYou’ve probably heard “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” “Blessed Assurance,” “To God be the Glory,” “Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior,” and “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross.” Chances are good you’ve even sung those hymns at one point or another.
But did you know that the author of those world-famous hymns almost never made it out of childhood?
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The Sermon on the Mound
by davidrsmithby davidrsmith2,000 years ago, Jesus preached a sermon on a mount that has changed millions of lives since. In 1984, Tommy Lasorda, manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, delivered a “sermon on the mound” of his own…and it changed the life of Orel Hershiser.
It was so definitive in fact, that Hershiser even got a new name.