How To Be Miserable

If you're looking for the recipe for wretched unhappyness...this will get you there. Author unknown.

How To Be Miserable

- Think about yourself
- Talk about yourself
- Use “I” as often as possible
- Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others
- Expect to be appreciated
- Be suspicious
- Be jealous & envious
- Be sensitive to slights
- Never forgive criticism
- Demand on agreement with your views on everything
- Never forget a service you have rendered
- Do as little as possible for others
- Trust nobody but yourself

The Hunter

The media has been filled with moral collision stories lately. The unfolding mess in New York state government has been the top news item for days as one governor steps down and now his replacement has similar issues.


Several years ago I wrote a small piece of poetry that captures the peril of making poor moral choices.

-The Hunter-

Silently, skillfully he weaves through the forest of people…hunting. Beneath his feet, spats of blood from an earlier hit. A man, unconvinced that careless eyes and a wandering heart is the target of choice, stood broadside and vulnerable. Now, the trail of hemorrhaging life is betraying his whereabouts as the broken shaft of the arrow of lust protrudes from his soul. Panic rakes his senses as dignity, reputation and future ooze from the open wound. The cadence of stalking footsteps ring in his ears like an approaching train as he succumbs.

Thoughts that were running through my head as I reflected

on the moral failure of a fellow pastor. Scriptures tells us that the enemy of our souls is

like a lion, hunting those who allow him opportunity to get close

4/4/02 MW

recent phone conversation

A guy contacted me and wanted to know if I would disciple him. He proceeded to ask if there were certain books he could read or study groups he could join that would speed up the process. I come across this kind of request often. Since there are so many different opinions as to what discipleship means, you have to dig a little to see what a person is really asking.

It's heartbreaking when I meet with these young men and witness the effects of either not having a dad present while they were growing up or living with a father who just didn't connect with them. Now, they're starved for solutions to all the unanswered questions, affirmation and for someone to unlock their purpose/person. They have begun a friendship with Christ and honestly do not understand why He was so relationally cemented to His Father. It's tough to frame discipleship for them while this very primal need remains unresolved because they are actually seeking something deeper than what they think discipleship means. I pray and trust God for wisdom on how to help this generation see Christ and flourish.

By the way, here's a very simple working definition for disciple:

Someone called to live in Christ, equipped to live like

Christ, and sent to live for Christ.