Personal Development on Growing Up

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Author

Zach Galifianakis

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I have a lot of growing up to do. I realized that the other day inside my fort.

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Author

Madeleine L'Engle

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When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable.

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"Look at Me!"

Author

Max Lucado

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Scripture

Genesis 11:1-9, Proverbs 27:2, Isaiah 2:11-12, Matthew 6:1-4, Philippians 2:3-4, Psalm 115:1

Children have a tendency to say, “Look at me!” On the tricycle: “Look at me go!” On the trampoline: “Look at me bounce!” On the swing set: “Look at me swing!” Such behavior is acceptable for children....

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Never Stop Learning, Always Growing

Author

Tom Nelson

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Scripture

Proverbs 1:5, Deuteronomy 6:6-7, Ecclesiastes 7:12, Luke 2:46-47, Romans 12:2, Psalm 25:4-5

The bottom line is this: never grow complacent. Never grow tired of learning. As soon as we stop learning we lose the capacity to grow and mature in our work and our relationships. This continual lear...

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Genes on a Razor's Edge

Author

David Dobbs

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Most of us have genes that make us as hardy as dandelions: able to take root and survive almost anywhere. A few of us, however, are more like the orchid: fragile and fickle, but capable of blooming sp...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

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”My Dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed...

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Author

Mark Batterson

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Neuroimaging has shown that as we age, our cognitive center of gravity shifts from the imaginative right brain to the logical left brain. At some point, most of us top living out of imagination and st...

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Author

Rob Gordon (John Cusack)

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Scripture

Jeremiah 17:9, Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:10-12, Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3

"I've been thinking with my guts since I was fourteen years old, and frankly speaking, between you and me, I have come to the conclusion that my guts have sh** for brains."

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Author

Garrison Keillor

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Scripture

Genesis 11:4 , Ecclesiastes 4:4, 1 Samuel 18:6-9 , Matthew 6:1-2 , Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 127:1-2

I lust after recognition, I am desperate to win all the little merit badges and trinkets of my profession, and I am of less real use in this world than any good cleaning lady.

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Growing Up in a World that Doesn’t Require Courage

Author

Sebastian Junger

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Scripture

Joshua 1:6-9

I’d grown up in a Boston suburb where people’s homes were set behind deep hedges or protected by huge yards and neighbors hardly knew each other. And they didn’t need to: nothing ever happened in my t...

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The Great Re-Wiring of Gen Z

Author

Jonathan Haidt

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Gen Z became the first generation in history to go through puberty with a portal in their pockets that called them away from the people nearby and into an alternative universe that was exciting, addic...

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Author

Maya Angelou

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Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.

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Prayer for Young Persons

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God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing a...

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Maria Goff and Insecurity

Author

Maria Goff

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Scripture

Ephesians 2:10, Zephaniah 3:17, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 1:10, Isaiah 43:1

Insecurity is a funny thing. It makes us into someone we’re not as a way to cope with someone we used to be. For me, it started at home. Growing up, my dad had been critical of my mother’s weight, and...

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I’m Just Sleeping!

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Isaiah 53:5–9 , Jonah 1:17 – 2:10 , Zechariah 12:10, John 19:31–37 , Luke 24:36–43 , Psalm 16:10

I remember growing up in the ’80s (yes, that dates me) when all kinds of fears and phobias seemed to be in the air—fear of the dark, snakes, scorpions, spiders. Someone in my own close circle was afra...

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Author

Timothy R. Jennings

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In 2007 Frederick Zimmerman and Dimitri Christakis confirmed that educational television watching in children over the age of two did not worsen attention problems, but both nonviolent and violent the...

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Is it a Note Worth Playing?

Author

Seth Godin

Keywords

Passion

I’ve never really played a single note in my life. For 8 years I played the clarinet growing up. Actually, that’s not true. I took lessons but I’m not sure I actually played the clarinet. I went to h...

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No Food, No Riot

Author

Charles Duhigg

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I had been in Iraq for about two months when I heard about an officer conducting an impromptu habit modification program in Kufa, a small city ninety miles south of the capital. He was an army major w...

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End of Construction, Thank you for your Patience

Author

Billy Graham

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My wife, Ruth…was one of those who could lighten heavy hearts, especially mine. I will never forget when she announced what she wanted engraved on her gravestone, and for those who have so respectfull...

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The Perfect Soil for Winemaking

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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My first call to ministry was in Eastern Washington state. It turned out to be one of the most prolific winemaking regions in the country. One of the things I learned from a local winery was really qu...

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Scarcity vs. Abundance

Author

John C. Maxwell

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Scripture

Genesis 41:14-44, Nehemiah 2:1-8 , 1 Kings 17:8-16, Luke 16:10, Psalm 37:5-6 , Galatians 6:9

Nick believed his purpose was to speak to audiences, to become a motivational speaker, yet he had no experience, no resources, and no invitations. He decided to begin calling schools and offering to s...

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Sabbath for Pastors: Why Is It So Hard to Rest?

Author

Dan Baumgartner

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If you are a pastor…this one’s for you. Sabbath. So many things have been written. Most of us have taught our people or preached about Sabbath, and underscored how busy people in our churches re...

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Throwing Away Valuable Resources

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Psalm 42:, Philippians 3:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 11:24-30

In many parts of the country, leaf clean-up is an annual chore. They fall from the trees, blanket our lawns, and we often bag them up and toss them out (or burn them). There’s a lesson in this… In my...

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Understanding The Nature of Prayer

Author

James Boice

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Scripture

2 Chronicles 7:14, 1 Samuel 1:9-20, Isaiah 64:6, Luke 18:9-14 , John 14:13-14, Psalm 51:17

I remember a story that R. A. Torrey told, growing out of a series of meetings he had held in Melbourne, Australia. He had been speaking on prayer. One day just before a noon meeting a note was placed...

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When Rulers Refuse to Listen

Author

Adam S. McHugh

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Scripture

1 Kings 12:6-16 , 2 Chronicles 24:17-22 , Jeremiah 36:20-31 , Luke 23:1-25, Acts 7:51-60 , Psalm 2:1-12

The kings Of history are rewarded with many impressive descriptors: majestic, exalted, glorious, sovereign. Men and women bow before such heights of nobility; even the eyes of wealth and status fall t...

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Lessons from MJ, Lionel, LeBron, and Every Other GOAT

Author

Tod E. Bolsinger

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The Difference a Coach Makes Back in the days when Phil Jackson’s Chicago Bulls (and Los Angeles Lakers) were dominating the NBA, the joke was that all the coach needed to do was “roll out the basket...

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Preventing Pastoral Burnout: How to Cope with Overwhelm

Author

Alan Briggs

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A Leadership Coach’s Perspective I make it a habit to study what’s happening in churches across the country. I get the honor of coaching some incredible pastors, so I need to stay fresh. Any time I’m...

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God of grace and truth, hope and power:

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

Ephesians 6:10-11, Isaiah 58:11, Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 61:1, Psalm 147:3, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Romans 15:13

God of grace and truth, hope and power: in the midst of an ever-changing world, we delight that You are constant, joyous and loving, always the same, but never stagnant or boring. That’s why we’re so ...

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Compassionate God—In Christ, you enter

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

1 Timothy 2:1-4, Psalm 33:22, Philippians 4:6-7, John 14:1, 1 Peter 5:7, Romans 12:15

Compassionate God—In Christ, you enter our condition; you experience our sorrow and our joy ... and redeem them. By Your Holy Spirit, you carry us along: in crisis and celebration, in despair and acco...

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Living in Transition

Author

William Bridges

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I became interested in the subject of transition outer changes around 1970 when I was going through some difficult inner and outer changes. Although I gave up my teaching career because of those chang...

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