I had a student one time who was dealing with some serious anger issues. Caught up with them one day to talk about things and they were listening to their iPod. When they took off the earphones all I could hear was rage being pumped through at a barely legal decibel. I said, “Dude, what are you listening to?” “Just some music” was the reply. I asked if they listened to the music because they were angry or if they were angry because they listened to the music. Blank stare. I told them they were just feeding their anger with the music. They had a right to be angry about things happening in their life that was no fault of their own. The problem wasn’t the anger, but the outlet of it, and I believed that their music choice was only escalating an already volatile situation. I helped them picked out some different music and, while their home life did not settle down, they began to deal with things in a healthier and more productive manner. What are you feeding yourself? Yes, if you literally eat junk all the time then eventually your health(and figure) will reflect that. Rather, what are you feeding your mind and soul? The old saying(probably originated with a youth pastor) is, “Trash in. Trash out.” Are you reading anything that is trashing your mind? I am an avid blog reader. Over at Church Relevance, they’ve complied the top 100 Church blogs. Many of them are by pastors. I don’t read all of them, but the ones I do read greatly inspire me. I encourage you to add some of these to your daily reading list. They will lift your spirits and challenge you to chase your lion everyday. #26 on the list is my personal favorite by Tony Morgan. Now, here’s a tidbit for you newbies on how to easily keep up with all the blogs you want to read. Many of them allow you to subscribe by email by entering your information. Many of them have a big orange button(like the one on the right over there) that allow you to subscribe to the RSS feed and receive the blog in whatever format is best for you. Personally, I use Google Reader and it highlights any new entries when I check it. You just need a free google account. By the way, if you’re not using Gmail and all their other tools then I highly recommend them. It basically gets all your life in one place. I would love to hear from you which of the blogs listed you find the most inspiring, entertaining, practical, or helpful. Have a great week and happy reading!
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