Motivation Quote: "What many need is not a change in circumstances, but a change in the very furniture of the mind." --Sam Shoemaker

Motivational Furnishings: Changing places, spaces, bases, faces, laces, or even vases, won't really change your life. All those things are external to you and really have very little to do with the quality of your life.

What matters is the furniture of your mind, not your environment. A hope furnished mind produces contentment, happiness, encouragement, enthusiasm, satisfaction. A sloppily furnished mind produces despair, anger, frustration, disappointment, guilt, and agony.

The good thing about mental furniture is that it can always be rearranged. If you don't like a dark place in your mind, put a light on it.

Prices are increasing. Money is getting tighter. But don't worry. You can easily give yourself a $2,184.00 raise this year (if you regularly buy bottled water). It is easy. Here's how.

If you drink tap water, you will get a $2,184.00 raise. Let me explain. A bottle of water cost about $1.29. Tax brings it up to $1.40 (rounded down).

If you buy two bottles of water only 5 days a week, you spend about $28.00 per week on something you can get for free from the tap. Multiply $28.00 times 52 weeks and you are paying $1456.00 a year. Now that's a water bill!

In order to get that $1,456.00 that that you are paying for water, you must earn $2,l84.00. That's because income tax will take about a third.

So if you need an extra $2,184.00 this year, don't complain. Drink tap water. Your raise is only a faucet away.

TV is mandated to have equal time for political candidates. Why not equal time for expletives? TV and movies are full of expletives for carnal people. Shouldn't there be equal time for expletives for spiritual people?

Many people find carnal expletives to be very offensive. Many of us don't enjoy hearing references to feces, urination, the place of eternal torment, private body parts, what a vacuum cleaner does, and other adolescent themes. We get tired of immature language.

Some folks say: "If you don't like it, don't watch it." However, that is not a very tolerant or accepting attitude. Besides if you turn off every show with carnal themes and expletives, what are you left with?

Instead, let's be fair about this. Let's require TV to be tolerant of those who prefer spiritual expletives. For every carnal expletive used on a TV show or movie, let's require a spiritual expletive to be used. Let's bring the spiritual expletives out of the closet and give them equal time!

Hallelujah! Glory to God! Amen! Praise the Lord! Thank You, Jesus! These expletives deserve equal time!

Sermonless church is catching on in Nashville. Sermonless church is a sermon free Christian gathering focused on fellowship, praise and worship, personal testimonies, and serving others.

Recently as I drove by West End Church Of Christ I noticed their sign. It read: "Sunday, April 20, No Sermon, Leave Early To Do Community Service." That's the concept and it must be catching on.

I also recently saw an announcement about the same Sunday, April 20, from Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood. It read: "The Church Has Left The Building." This coming Sunday, they are not having services in their building and are asking all their members and attendees to go and serve somebody on Sunday morning. Isn't that amazing? Just think of the offering they are losing to have a sermon free Sunday!

A friend from Fellowship Bible Church approached my wife and me about bringing a group down to our sermon free church on the corner of Meridian and Berry Streets in East Nashville on Sunday, April 20. They set up grills on the corner and cooked and serve hot dogs from 10:00 - 1:00 on the grounds. (We had over 300 people and I will give a report later.) It is not only sermonless -- it is outdoors -- outside the box (building).

And it is not just in Nashville. Another friend visited a large megachurch in Chattanooga recently. They also announced that the very same Sunday they will have no sermon. After their sermon free service they sent people all over Chattanooga to spend the afternoon doing home repair work and painting for 140 different families! Awesome!

I find it amazing that churches of various traditions and backgrounds are beginning to think along the same lines. Could this be a work of God?

The transition from conscience based behavior to unconscience behavior is like a man who whittled and whittled and whittled, until the wood which he whittled was whittled away. (Now that's a sentence -- I used the word "whittled" 5 times.)

Unconscience behavior is acting without the filter of conscience. It is making behavioral choices without regard to ethics, moral law, or consequences. Unconscience behavior ignores the inner sense of right and wrong that comes as standard equipment with almost all human beings. The motto for unconscience behavior is: "If it feels good, do it."

However, unconscience behavior is not all peaches and cream. It produces guilt and shame in the person who chooses to whittle down his conscience. This leads to self-justification, denial, defensiveness and to various forms of distraction and/or self-medication -- constant activity, continual noise, persistent anger, drugs and alcohol, ever searching for entertainment, and numerous types of compulsive habits.

Unconscience behavior also negatively impacts our society. There is not enough law enforcement to make people adhere to society's rules. People who behave unconsciencely won't obey rules unless they fear they may get caught and punished. This eventually will lead to widespread chaos. The persistent, random violence in our society is a result of our growing tendency to promote unconscience behavior.