“I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.”

“Wesley Covenant Service”, John Wesley, Founder of the Methodist Church

Also, did you know that Martha’s Vinyard is the site of the first Methodist Summer Campground in the United States?

I have always respected an honest opinion. I like dealing with people who will share their feelings even if those feelings might be unpopular, make the person sharing them unpopular or not make the people they are sharing them with feel good.

But just because someone is honest, it does not make them right.

An honest opinion can still be honestly wrong, or at least based on incomplete or misinformation.

Originally published at Niles Holsinger.

“People are not the enemy. The enemy is the enemy.”

My father-in-law says that a lot. And it’s true.
People are not the enemy, but people can be stupid.
And hurtful.
And mean.
And angry.
And insecure.
And hurting.
And sad.
And bitter.
And broken.
And hopeless.
And sometimes, so am I.
We must learn to forgive.
We must learn to give the people the benefit of the doubt.

“We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.” — GK Chesterton

Originally published at Niles Holsinger.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28–29

It’s an invitation.

It’s an invitation to a new way of living.

It’s an invitation to peace.

And all it takes if for me to let down my guard, drop all pretense and show. I have to become honest and authentic with where I am. I need to completely open up about my pain, frustration, worry, doubt, and fear.

I have to come to Him.

Originally published at Niles Holsinger.

I’m amazed at how many people I meet that are missing great opportunities because they can’t bring themselves to let old things go.

People that are holding on so tightly to an offense that they don’t have a hand free to grab on to something good that might be coming there way.

Unforgiveness is a prison. It traps you at the moment in time when the offense occurred. I know you know people like this. They talk about hurts they experienced five, ten, twenty years ago like it happened yesterday.

Some people are lucky; when they hold on to unforgiveness…

This is a term we are all familiar with. (Unless you live in a cave somewhere.)

These are the rules that we have to agree to so we can use specific devices or software like our phones or social media. Every once in a while, it seems more often than not, these rules are updated, and we have to agree with them.

The updated terms never benefit us, the consumer. They are usually the result of some loophole that was found by the company, and they want to protect themselves. We hardly ever read them, and have no idea what…

It’s time to shake off that old thing that’s been holding on for so long that you feel as if it has become part of your body.

Maybe it’s a failure, a heartbreak, or something you wish you had said but didn’t or never had the chance.

Whatever it is, whatever has anchored you to your past, leaving you unable to move forward into freedom or destiny, maybe it’s time to leave it.

Maybe it’s time to let it go.

Remember, “You don’t drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there.”

Originally published at nilesholsinger.com on May 16, 2018.

Has God put something in your heart to do? Then do it! Why are you waiting to start?

“Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment… Travel light.”
Matt. 10:9–10 (MSG)

Originally published at nilesholsinger.com on May 14, 2018.