2016 – Page 3 – The Doug Ellingsworth Blog

When We Mess Love Up

by Doug Ellingsworth @https://twitter.com/DEllingsworth on February 15, 2016

love-1241392 I’ve been thinking about love. Not so surprising, I guess, considering that yesterday was Valentine’s Day.

It’s not the romantic sentiments of love that I’ve been pondering, but the harder and tougher consequences that result when we mess love up.

Love is summed up by John in his short little books toward the back of the Bible, and by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. In I John, we learn that God is love and how we manage love in our lives indicates whether or not we even know God. Then, in his weighty instructions to married couples, Paul says that love demands that we place our wants and wishes second to those of the one we love.

Love is not a burning emotion launched into your unsuspecting heart at some random meeting, but is a spiritual decision. Love is much more a commitment than it is a feeling.

Ministry

When You Don’t Meet The Expectations Of Others

by Doug Ellingsworth @https://twitter.com/DEllingsworth on February 4, 2016

prozac-nation-1317104 Forty million Americans suffer from anxiety disorder, our country’s most common mental illness.

I wonder how many of those conditions are tied to a sense of worthlessness caused by failing to live up to what others expect of them?

We’ve raised a couple of generations of self-absorbed offspring who are grossly offended by any act or expression that even suggests they could be wrong. I’m not talking about this kind. But knowing that you have disappointed someone you care deeply about hurts. Especially when you realize that you don’t have the ability to be or do what they demand.

So, what do you do when you can’t meet the expectations others set for you?

Living

America, Meet Your Next President!

by Doug Ellingsworth @https://twitter.com/DEllingsworth on January 27, 2016

bernie-sanders-portrait-02 Your next President is a 74-year-old carpenter, film maker, and politician. He plans to raise your taxes, give you free universal healthcare, make college a free ride for all, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, force large banks to downsize, guarantee you 12 weeks of paid medical and family leave to go with at least two weeks paid vacation, and start a universal child care program for children 0-3.

Without changing the prices on the value menu at McDonalds.

He believes that “climate change ravages our planet and our people – all because the wealthiest industry in the history of our planet has bribed politicians into ignoring science.” He says that “today in America, if you are black, you can be killed for getting a pack of Skittles during a basketball game. Or murdered in your church while you are praying” – as if no white, red, or brown people have ever been murdered. As for working for the LGBT activists, as President he will “sign into law the Equality Act, the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, and any other bill that prohibits discrimination against LGBT people.” He also promises to “veto any legislation that purports to “protect” religious liberty at the expense of others’ rights.”

Say hello to Bernie Sanders.

Ministry

Why I Do What I Do

by Doug Ellingsworth @https://twitter.com/DEllingsworth on January 22, 2016

Chaplain_E_book_

To borrow from Mr. Dickens – It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in West Tennessee this past week.

The worst? The Chamberlains suffered a family’s worst nightmare when their two-year-old son ran from his grandmother who was taking him and his older sister for a walk in the woods. In moments, the rambunctious boy was out of sight, lost among the trees and ravines and creek beds.

The best? Hundreds of volunteers came from all over the region to help search for the lost toddler. Enduring freezing temperatures and icy rain, they searched the rough and wooded Chester county hill country grid-by-grid for seven days and nights. Strangers became comrades at prayer vigils, interceding for a family most had never met. Searchers waited at the staging area for hours on end just in case they were needed. Human compassion and selflessness at their highest levels were on display for world to see.

Leadership/Living

Focus. Automatic or Manual?

by Doug Ellingsworth @https://twitter.com/DEllingsworth on January 12, 2016

old-camera-1550965-1918x1200 I’m not all that old, but I remember when the first “point and shoot” cameras came out. Remember the old Instamatics? Drop in a film cartridge, spin the little wheel a couple of times with your thumb, and you were ready to go. No lens settings to worry about, no rings to adjust. Just aim, click, and wind.

What made those cameras so universal was that they were always in focus. Unless you had a mighty jittery hand or you snapped a picture while jumping on your neighbor’s trampoline, the odds were that every picture would turn out. Of course, you wouldn’t know for sure for a week or so – depending on how long it took to get them developed.

With today’s digital cameras, the auto focus feature makes us all good photographers. But good is all it can do. That wonderful feature that automatically focuses for you cannot see all that’s framed in the viewfinder, and often prevents you from seeing the detail that separates good from great.

Leadership/Living

2016 Reading List

by Doug Ellingsworth @https://twitter.com/DEllingsworth on January 6, 2016

old-books-1520670 Happy New Year!

2016 was ushered in on rain drops and flood waters here in west Tennessee. Epic floods were forecast, and folks began the daunting task of moving and storing their belongs before the rivers crested. Farmers moved all of their equipment out of what we call the bottoms – the low ground where the Obion and Forked Deer Rivers meet and flow into the Mississippi. The newspaper ran a picture of the sheriff leading a convoy of nearly 50 tractors headed for higher ground. Fortunately, the crest was not as high as predicted so it looks as if we might be spared this go around.

Time to stop watching the water and get to work.

I’ve put together a reading list for this year. I’ve mixed a few new books in with some old ones I just never got around to reading. I also had a few recommendations from friends, so I added them to the list.

Year: 2016

When We Mess Love Up

When You Don’t Meet The Expectations Of Others

America, Meet Your Next President!

Why I Do What I Do

Focus. Automatic or Manual?

2016 Reading List