Motivation Quotation: “Do right always. It will give you satisfaction in life.” –Wovoka (Paiute, Native American)

Commentary: Do you remember the oldies song: “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”? That seems to be a real problem for people. We often struggle to feel satisfied? Why?

Maybe it is because we know our inner self too well. Other people may believe that we are amazingly nice, kind, moral — but we know who and what we really are deep down inside. We may hide our wrong doing and wrong thinking from others, but we can't really hide it from ourselves.

As a speaker I have asked hundreds of people: How many of you like liars? Believe it or not, I have never had even one person raise his or her hand in a positive answer to that question. It seems like no one likes liars.

So, let me ask you this. If you lie (and you don’t like liars), how will that make you feel about yourself? You got it! You will feel dissatisfied with yourself.

Wovoka’s words were wise words. To get satisfaction with life, always do right. Wrong behavior will always lead to personal dissatisfaction.

Don’t just believe me. Personally try out Wovoka’s wisdom for yourself. Today, when you are about to do, say, or think something wrong, why not pause? Then do, say, or think the right thing instead.

In Wovoka’s words: “It will give you satisfaction.” Try it and see for yourself.

That question doesn't make much sense, does it? Family is not something you attend. Family is a group of people you are connected to. And so is church.

Our modern idea of church as either a religious building or a religious meeting that you attend is a long way from the New Testament idea of church.

Church in the Bible is the family of God. It is a group of people in a family relationship -- a community of believers. The Greek word that is translated "church" in English, literally means "the called out ones". Church is a body of people "called out" to live like Jesus Christ.

So where do you go to church? Well, in reality, you can no more "go to church" than you can "go to family". If you are a child of God then you are a part of the church -- the family of God.

Do you remember the old: "Here's the church, here's the steeple, open it up and here are the people," rhyme with the hand motions? Well, we got it backwards. It should go: Here's the church (and we wiggle and show our fingers in our hands to represent the people), here's the steeple, and here's the religious building. Ok, it doesn't sound quite so poetic, but it is much closer to the Biblical idea.

All genuine Christians are part of God's church. We are His family.

One of the unexpected results of the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has been the extreme persecution of Iraqi Christians. An article in The Tennessean reports that “As many as 50% of Iraq’s Christians may already have left the country.” There were about 1 million ancient Assyrian Christians in Iraq at the time of the invasion.

Iraq’s Assyrian Christians trace their beginnings to 33 AD and Apostle Thomas. Many of them still speak the ancient language of Aramic, the language that Jesus spoke. Inspite of great persecution they have been in Iraq for almost 1900 years. Between 1914 and 1918, 750,000 Assyrian Christians were massacared by the Turks.

The Tennessean says: “The Christian community (in Iraq) has little political or military clout to defend itself, and some Islamic insurgents call Christians ‘crusaders’ whose real loyalty lies with U.S. troops.”

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says: “These groups face widespread violence from Sunni insurgents and foreign jihadis, and they also suffer pervasive discrimination and marginalization at the hands of the national government, regional governments, and para-state militias.”

John Gleason wrote on an Assyrian Christian web site on December 21, 2006: “It is ironic that the American-led occupation would usher in an era of atrocities against Iraq’s Christian minority. They were an easy revenge target for the majority Muslims, who have only been enboldened by the U.S. government’s apparent disregard for the Assyrian’s plight. With more important geopolitical alliances to forge with the warring Muslim factions and with the Kurds, you could say the Americans have thrown the Christians to the lions.”

The article in today’s Tennessean said: “Although Islamic extremists have targeted Iraqi Christians before, bombing churches and threatening religious leaders, the latest attacks have taken on a far more personal tone. Many Christians are being expelled from their homes and forced to leave their possessions behind, police, human rights groups, and residents said.”

Please pray for God's protection for our Iraqi Christian brothers and sisters.

Do you ever use White Out? (You know what I'm talking about -- that liquid that comes in a tiny bottle that you dab on paper to cover your mistakes.)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a White Out to erase our shame in life? Well, there is a White Out for you. But it won’t do you any good if it stays in the little bottle. Why not open your White Out and use it to erase your personal guilt?

How’s this for some powerful White Out? Jewish prophet, Isaiah, said: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow.” And the writer of the ancient book of Hebrews said: “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”

A heart-felt, obedient faith in Jesus Christ will remove your guilt, and it comes by hearing the Word of God. Don’t believe me? Try Bible White Out! Do this. Read the New Testament (the last third of the Bible that starts with Matthew) at least five minutes a day for 21 days. And don’t miss a single day. That’s all.

I have challenged hundreds of people to try Bible White Out for 21 days. Many people are too lazy to read 5 minutes a day and give up after a few days or a couple of weeks. But those who stick with the White Out Challenge for 21 days come back to me and tell me of amazing results.

Why not try it? What have you got to lose?

Many people today want to label illegal immigrants as criminals? Are they? And are we willing to be consistent?

If today’s illegals are criminals, wouldn’t that also make the Pilgrims criminals? I mean, if we are consistent?

The Pilgrims settled in North America without the legal permission of the local Native American governments. I am sure that they broke many of the laws of the original inhabitants. Were the Pilgrims criminals? If not, then why are our modern illegal immigrants called criminals? Both groups came here looking for a better life. So how can we celebrate the illegal Pilgrims and put down the current day illegals?

Texas was settled by a few legal immigrants who came from the United States with Stephen Austin and agreed to accept Catholicism as their religion. Later thousands of illegal immigrants came from the US and settled in Texas. Were they criminals? If so, why do we now call them heroes and celebrate their battle of rebellion against the legal government of Mexico at the Alamo?

Many hunters, trappers, and pioneers illegally entered "Indian Territory" -- land that the U.S. Government had set aside in treaties for Native Americans. Were the people who entered "Indian territory" illegally criminals?

If we are going to persistently label today’s illegal immigrants as criminals, aren’t we going to have to sprinkle the word criminal through out our history in order to be consistent?