Six Assassins of Contentment

HT: Darrin Patrick

You have enemies as you try to live as a content man. Most of the time we think the enemies are from without—people around us and circumstances upon us. But the true enemies of contentment are within in us, which is where contentment is either fed or starved.

At the heart of contentment is an embrace of the present and a willingness to enjoy the good things we have right now. These enemies distract us from the present and prompt us to either idolize or demonize our past and future. We either worship or hate the past or future, but doing so makes it impossible to embrace the glory of the contented life.

The following 6 assassins are at work within you to destroy your enjoyment of the life God has given you...

1. Regret

2. Nostalgia

3. Fear

4. Vision

5. Multi-tasking

6. Hurriedness

You can read the explanations.

Pride and Pet Snakes

HT: Erik Raymond

A 34 year-old man used to walk up and down his neighborhood and show off his 6′ boa constrictor to neighbors. He often would let the snake wrap around the children and slide on their trampolines. He liked to show off his snake.

On one such occasion last June the snake constricted around his neck. Within minutes he was out of breath, on the floor, and soon after, dead. His ‘pet’ became his ‘killer’ in a matter of seconds. This man had overestimated his ability to master the snake while underestimating the snake’s desire to master him.

So often, this is the way it is with the sin of pride.

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The Galactic Empire's Leadership Mistakes

HT: Forbes Video

Satan Hunts Among the Hurting

HT: Marshall Segal

Mountain lions detect vulnerabilities in their prey and attack the weakest — the young, the sick, the injured. Studies have confirmed this instinctive cruelty. It’s how the mountain lion lives, following the scent of suffering and feasting on whatever he finds.

The enemy of your hope and happiness hunts with that same instinct, with a cold-hearted and ruthless hunger for the weak or hurting. Satan prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). And because he’s clever, he spends a lot of his time among the suffering. He lies in wait with lies, wanting to consume the fragile and vulnerable.

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World Series Champ Ben Zobrist: Victory Belongs to the Lord

USA Today Sports/John Rieger

HT: Christian Post

With the Kansas City Royals winning the franchise's second World Series Sunday night, Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist explained who the real winner was when asked about his emotions on winning his first World Series.

The 10-year Major League Baseball veteran, who made it to the World Series once before in 2008 as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays when they lost in five games to the Philadelphia Phillies, knows what it's like to make it so far in the playoffs, only to walk away empty-handed.

Zobrist, the son of an Illinois pastor, asserted during a television interview after the series-clinching 7-2 victory over the New York Mets that no matter the amount of preparation the players put in, God is the one who emerges as the true victor.

"This is incredible, a very prepared team, everybody is prepared but, you know, you prepare the horse for battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord," Zobrist stated. "I am so thankful to be a part of this. I am just thankful."

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China Adopts Two-Child Policy

HT: Joann Pittman and ChinaSource

Rumors were swirling all last week that the Chinese government would announce a major relaxation of the 35-year-old “one-child policy.” Sure enough, on Thursday, October 29, it happened.

At the end of Party meetings in Beijing, it was announced that China’s couples (both rural and urban) would be allowed to have two children instead of just one. Of course, the National People’s Congress (China’s legislature) must “approve” the changes, but that body is not in the habit of rejecting Party proposals.

While this news is widely welcomed, both inside and outside of China, it’s important not to overstate the significance, or mischaracterize what is happening. Most headlines have been along the lines of “China Scraps One-Child Policy,” leaving the impression that the government has decided not to interfere in the matter of how many children a couple can have. That is not the case. There has been no change of heart as to the nature of the relationship between the citizen and the state.

A more accurate headline would be “China Adopts Two-Child Policy.” Instead of saying “you may only have one child,” it is now saying “you may only have two children.” In other words, the state still mandates the number of children and the bureaucratic mechanisms of enforcement remain in place.

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Comforting Those Caught in the Crossfire of the Abortion Debate

HT: Sue Lijenberg of Healing Hearts Ministries International

It’s been 33 years since the Lord brought me to a place of healing from my abortion, but I remember the journey as if it were yesterday. I had been living with the secret sin of abortion for almost 10 years. Trapped in the middle of a culture war throughout the 1970s and 1980s, I felt I had no place to turn.

I was a pregnant, unmarried 18-year-old in 1972 when I walked into a Planned Parenthood clinic in Topeka, Kansas. They referred me to a clinic in New York City where abortion was legal at the time. (The next year’s Roe v. Wade ruling would legalize abortion throughout the whole country.)

In the years following my abortion, I began to witness two opposing sides lobbing personal insults like grenades. On one side of the street outside the abortion clinic, women demanded their reproductive “rights.” On the other side, pro-life protesters holding pictures of dead babies called women coming out of the clinic “baby killers.” Given my experience, I didn’t feel I belonged in either camp.

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