The Compliment Experiment

Cameron Brown and Brett Westcott. OK who are they? What do they do? Why are they in your devotional? They are both sophomores at Purdue University and you can find them every Wednesday from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm at the central walkway on campus. They are known as The Compliment Guys. They set up their "Free Compliments" sign near a main walkway outside the chemistry building. Rain, snow, sleet, cold -- whatever the weather, The Compliment Guys are "In". They live up to their name. Every person who walks by gets a compliment. To a guy in Purdue sweats they say, "Love your school spirit." To a woman carrying a trendy black bag: "Very nice purse." "It's very large." To the student who ran past them in knee-high leather boots: "I like your hustle." "I like your boots, too."

The guys try to be very personal and specific in their compliments, too. "I like your red coat," Westcott says to a woman listening to her iPod. She turned and laughed, which prompted Brown to say, "Very nice smile." Three women leaving biology lab purposely walked by them. "I like your curly hair. Great smile. I like your glasses," the guys said, pointing to each of the women. One Wednesday, they told a professor to enjoy his coffee, thanked the groundskeepers for their hard work and encouraged someone eating an apple to "stay nutritious."

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If you speak, you should do so as one who speaks the very words of God”. (1 Peter 4:10-11)

We’re living in such gloom & doom times that we need a ray of Son shine. Wouldn’t you like to have a compliment? Ah, look at that great smile!

String a pearl: I’m issuing a challenge for you to become compliment people:
For 8 days generously give compliments in five different places. At home, at work, grocery shopping anywhere your life takes you but please start with God and your family. Be creative, be sincere, look into people’s eyes and bless them. While you are busy & concerned with brightening someone else’s day your insides will shine with God’s love. And that my friends is one of the best places for God’s love to be ….. inside you.

Have fun and let me know how it blesses you.

You are some of the most wonderful & beautiful people I know. Nice teeth!
You are loved
Lyndi

WEEDS

Drawing By Jonathan Cooke '98

I was thinking about weeds – do you ever think about weeds? Goats are good at weeds. They love to eat vines, thorny bushes, and all kinds of weeds. You just can’t top a large herd of goats for weed control. Unfortunately the home owners associations of our land do not allow goats in the burbs. So one needs to take time to weed regularly pulling weed seedlings early before they establish themselves and begin to compete with your plants for valuable resources. For mature, perennial weeds, dig out as much of the root and plant runners as possible. Hummm, opinions are like weeds, they’ve got deep roots and wild runners with an occasional sapling or two and opinions are very viney and thorny. Pick up any newspaper around the country and you can find a multitude of opinions on every subject. Same with the radio or TV they are brimming with people’s opinions. Try the hair salon or barber shop or even the church foyer – opinions flow freely. Just ask how someone thinks President Obama is doing in his first 100 days. Everyone’s got an opinion. Wow, our daily lives are over run with opinions just like weeds invade and occupy a beautiful garden.

Weeds choke out beauty like Opinions choke out truth.

Wisdom works on opinions like goats work on weeds and it’s allowed in the burbs. Wisdom is that elusive quality we respect in others and find so difficult to develop in ourselves. It won’t be found in higher education where the call to an open mind prevails. That always reminds me of a great quote by Groucho Marx - "Now there's a man with an open mind - you can feel the breeze from here"! The Word of God unlocks the amenable secret to finding wisdom. A study of Proverbs 2 is a wonderful place to start. The first directive that catches your heart is to store up commandments within you. On the road to wisdom you will find the transmission occurs in the turning your ear towards, applying your heart to, calling out for and searching. Let the child in you go on a treasure hunt for all God has hidden for you to find. If you want to follow the leader – follow Jesus.

A pearl to string: A man dies. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.
St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart."
"That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service."
"Terrific!" says St. Peter. "That's certainly worth a point."
"One point!?!! I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans."
"Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"Two points!?!!" Exasperated, the man cries, "At this rate it'll just be by the grace of God that I ever get into heaven."
"Bingo, 100 points! Come on in!"
Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6/NKJV

Clinging to His Truth,
Lyndi

A Thursday kind of Love

When patience is prudent

Older women are to train younger women to love their husbands and children. (Titus 2:4)

Good grief ladies don’t you already love your husband and children? I hear a vague response… what’s that? Could you speak up please? Yeah, but not last Thursday? I smile for I have known a few Thursdays. Well the Bible tells us we need training so it must be true.

I don’t know how it came to be that I turned into the older one but here it goes. I’ll give you my best shot. The secret I found is in how the Lord loves me. In John 15:12 Jesus says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” Well how does the Lord love me? 1) Has He been patient with me? 2) Has He sacrificed for me? 3) Does Christ know me & love me anyway? 4) Is Christ prejudiced against me? 5) Can I do anything to separate myself from His love?

In answering “yes” to the first three questions and “no” to the last two you have a pretty good idea of how to love your husband and children.

When you are patient though you feel like flying off the handle;
When you put your needs aside for your husband’s;
When you know their obvious weaknesses, but love them anyway,
you are loving your family with Christ-like love.
When you demonstrate love without playing favorites or love no matter what your husband or children have done, you are loving them as Christ loves you.

A pearl to string: This kind of love can be learned because it is not an emotion, it is ACTION. The Bible tells us that we must not just speak words of love, but we must show our love through our actions. If you are struggling with loving turn to the Lord and ask Him to help you understand His love for you. And let that love flow through you to your husband and children. You see, my friend, the only reason you and I can love at all is because He first loved us.

We are His first love,
In that you can grow
Lyndi

Remembering my brother Tim

Dr. Thomas B. Gordon
November 17, 1949 - March 10, 2009


You've traveled over the sunset and into God's arms.





I will miss you Tim - I love you

For all those left behind


Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

www.thomasbgordon.com

Oh the Good Times

Long ago I prayed, “Lord, help me grow in the good times”. I also prayed for wisdom because I knew patience is a by-product. When I was younger, much younger, I prayed for patience but learned that’s not really a bright idea. What you get are tests to see if you’ve got patience yet. So the question, ‘are we there yet?’ originated with God? Hmmm, perhaps I gained a moniker of wisdom just by praying for wisdom. My new prayer wasn’t asking God for good times. It was about a deeper walk with Him. When times were tough I knew just where to run. Oh I can run……. I can run fast in the spirit – like a speeding bullet! My concern was with how quickly I got too busy to spend time with the Lord when my life was rich and full and trouble didn’t linger at my door.
Do you know I actually failed the ‘good times’ test? Multiple times! I got too busy to take the time in the mornings to spend time with my creator and Savior. I learned how to pray on the run. I think that is similar to eating on the run. Fast food has little to do with nutrition and what’s actually good for your body’s health. As fast prayer has little to do with an intimate relationship with Christ and what’s good for the kingdom of God.

A pearl to string: I found this earth walk is really a training ground for my eternity with God the Father. I read in Jeremiah 1 verse 5: “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you” and believe He must be talking about me. God didn’t say, “you’re it” then run and hide. He does have a plan… one for me…. one for you but it’s not about personal happiness. A gold fish is happy. Why you ask? Because he is and does what God made him to be and do. Circumstances aren’t the barometer of God’s love and goodness—the cross is. That’s it. That’s the secret for me. If it doesn’t come through the cross it’s not God’s truth – it’s mans truth. Man’s truth changes like the wind and blows every which way. What you swear today is truth your children’s generation is already changing. Born into this world and trained unto this world. Christ had to die on a cross to free us and we have to die to self to live free. A godly life is a fragrance that draws others to Christ. We are to God the fragrance of Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:15

The good times are with Him
Inching closer, staying longer
In His presence you are loved,
Lyndi

Lost Cow

So is a lost cow a foreshadow of a lost sheep? Maybe….. A cow starts its morning off by nibbling on a patch of green grass. When it finishes it looks ahead to the next patch of grass and starts nibbling on that one. Then it nibbles on a clump of grass right next to a hole in the fence. On the other side of the fence is another patch of grass, which the cow nibbles. The next thing you know, the cow has nibbled itself into being lost. Along comes a motorist …. Oooops!

Sin is like that. It’s not necessarily an obviously big offensive act but rather a series of small rebellious acts that become second nature. We know we’re NOT supposed to nibble or dibble or whatever it is that we’re doing. Of course it can be far more serious than that but truly many are caught by the nibble dibble sins.

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, and keep you longer than you want to stay."

Well the good news in rural areas for the farmer is: whoever hits the lost cow pays for the dead cow. It’s not such good news for the surprised motorist.

The Good News for the believing Christian is much better. Father God sent His Son Jesus to pay for the nibbling sheep and the Holy Spirit will help the sheep change their dibbling ways.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11-13/esv)

A pearl to string: The creator of the Universe is the One who created us, loves us, died for our sins, and lives in relationship with us and He’s coming back to get us. It just can’t get any better than that. But we can’t dance for joy blinded to all that is going on around us. It really doesn't matter how long we have known God. Each day is new and we must get up, prepare to guard against sin, knowing we will face temptation. The best way to stay alert and the greatest deterrent to sin is the word of God!

Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (NIV)

OK, I’m headed for my Bible now
Keep walking in Son shine
And know you are loved,
Lyndi