General stuff about me…there won’t be much in here…
How to make great decisions
ROAD RULES FOR THE REAL WORLD
How to make great decisions
Brandon Hopkins
1-13-02
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Everyone must make decisions everyday…if your parents make $30,000 or $300,000 a year, you must make decisions everyday.
DECISIONS WE MAKE TODAY, IMPACT THE FUTURE
One last thought: Everyone has CHOICES, but not everyone chooses to allow God to guide their CHOICES. The choice to do so, will influence all your future CHOICES.
Whether you score perfect on the SAT or you only get points for spelling your name right, you must make daily decisions, and the…
QUALITY of your life will be determined by the wisdom or foolishness of those DECESIONS.
“…a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind…They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.�? James 1:7-8
You’re all at the age right now that the decisions you make, are going to affect the rest of your life.
I’m reminded of a girl we’ll call “Tina�?. Tina was going through life just like most of you are right now. She was on fire for God, and leading a small group.
Then she had an opportunity in her life where she met a young man. She knew this guy’s reputation as well as everyone else did. He was never faithful to the girls he dated, but he was very convincing and sweet-talking. He started paying more and more attention to her every day, and Tina liked it.
Before she knew it, she was dating him, and spending a lot of alone time with him every day. When asked about her reasons for dating him she said “I’m going to witness to him, and bring him to Christ.�?
Don’t get me wrong; this is very noble, and also completely UNscriptural.
Bad company corrupts good morals. 1 Corinthians 15:33
Tina’s boyfriend was bad company, and he ended up corrupting her good morals.
She brought him to church a few times, then she slowly stopped coming, stepping down from her small group, then not coming at all.
Tina graduated, and then decided to move in to her boyfriend’s apartment.
After they started living together, they started having sex, and then Tina got pregnant.
At this point, Tina had made a lot of bad decisions, and it only gets worse.
Tina had one more major decision to make, keep the baby, or abort it.
Well, I saw Tina driving the other night, and I hadn’t seen her in years, no baby in the back seat, and her same boyfriend next to her. Tina made a decision to abort her child, and stay with her boyfriend, and continue to live in sin.
This didn’t all happen at once, Tina gradually made decision to get to the place she is at today. She knew the truth, and she turned her back to it.
Fortunately for us, God does not do that. He does not turn his back on us. As soon as Tina is ready to repent, God will be their waiting to take her back.
DECISIONS WE MAKE TODAY, IMPACT THE FUTURE
In the Real World indecision makes you…
• STRESSFUL – worried
• FEARFUL – What if I make the wrong decision?
• VULNERABLE
• DECEITFUL
“The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make.�? Colossians 3:15
Follow God, and he’ll guide you to peace
DECISIONS WE MAKE TODAY, IMPACT THE FUTURE
If you don’t stand for anything, you’ll fall for everything.
If you are different at school than you are here, you need to decide what you stand for.
Do you stand for cussing? Secular music? Alcohol? Drugs?
What do you stand for?
It’s too late to decide you don’t stand for alcohol, when your already at a party.
ADMIT YOUR NEED for help, wisdom, and guidance.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.�? Proverbs 14:12
You may think you know what’s right, but you may be on that path leading to death.
How do you know your not? Ask your CHRISTIAN friends what they think about what you’re doing. Ask your parents. Ask Greg, ask me, and ask someone grounded in the Bible what he or she thinks about what you stand for.
“Get all the advice you can, and be wise the rest of your life.�? Proverbs 28:26
If you don’t ask for advice because you think you know already, you’re prideful.
Pride will destroy relationships, and then your life.
Pride is described by Webster as: Conceited, Cockiness, having a Big Head, Overconfidence.
The opposite of pride is Humility.
If you walk in here, sit in your chair, then start talking or not paying attention, looking around, thinking about other things, trying to impress other people, you are being prideful.
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.�? Proverbs 11:2
DECISIONS WE MAKE TODAY, IMPACT THE FUTURE
BELIEVE GOD WANTS to help you in your decision-making.
God wants to help make EVERY decision.
READ JAMES 1:5-6
God wants to help you make EVERY decision. If you don’t believe that, you misunderstand God’s character.
Don’t place your limited thinking on the unlimited God.
I don’t know if anyone here watched a show that was on TV a couple weeks ago, but it was called Domino Day 2001, did anyone see it?
If you didn’t, what they would do is set up anywhere from 1,000 dominos, to 50,000 dominos, then knock them all down. These people were serious about setting up dominos; they made pictures, and had rulers that calculated how far apart the domino must be, down the millimeter.
If there were one domino out of place, that creator would know where is goes, because each one was marked. The same goes for God, he knows where you have a hole in your life, and he knows exactly what is supposed to be filling that empty space.
DECISIONS WE MAKE TODAY, IMPACT THE FUTURE
CHECK OUT GOD’S standard for living
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.�? Psalm 119:105
“Your Word�? could be substituted for “The Bible�?. The Bible guides you, and lights the way.
This next part is the absolute favorite part of the lesson for me.
I named it the Decision Test.
With these 5 points, you can make every decision in your life, and make it a good decision.
1. The ideal test: is this decision in harmony with God’s word?
2. The integrity test: would I want everyone to know about this decision?
3. The improvement test: will it make me a better person?
4. The independence test: could it become addicting?
5. The influence test: will it harm anyone else?
DECIDE AT LOGICAL times and move on with living life to its fullest.
Making decisions on what you feel is irrational and dangerous.
Almost all suicide occurs when people are having a bad day, or something tragic happens to them. Only 15% of suicide comes when people are being treated. That means 85% of suicide comes at times that people aren’t fully expecting it.
My grandmother always told me, never make a decision at night. The reason for this is, more people are more emotional at night. You don’t think through it, and your tired, and more likely to make a decision based on emotion rather than thought.
“It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows.�? Proverbs 20:25
The Bible here is talking about guilt, “later to consider his vows�? meaning after you’ve made a bad decision, you’ll know it.
Whether this decision is to put yourself in a sexual situation, committing suicide, or just going to a party, you will regret it later.
DECISIONS WE MAKE TODAY, IMPACT THE FUTURE
Make good decisions now, and have a good future later.
Religion finally Back in Schools – 10-26-99
Religion finally Back in Schools – 10-26-99
Religion is now back in schools as one jury decided Monday of last week. The trial was Green v. Board of Education, and Mrs. Green did not like a short prayer being recited after the Pledge of Allegiance. That is just too bad the jury decided. Mrs. Green was quoted as saying “I’m taking all my children out of public schools and home-schooling them.� After a short deliberation, the jury decided to allow the prayer to be recited by a 6-2 vote.
In this case, the defense asked the question “Does the reference to God in a classroom imply that the school supports a specific religious doctrine?â€? The answer is apparently “No,” and jury member Tim Johnson said after the trial. He was also quoted as saying “In no way does this make the school Christian or Catholic, every major religion has a ‘God’, and that’s all the prayer talks about.â€?
In each classroom at Mohawk Elementary School, children recite the prayer every day and some stay quite. When one boy was questioned about why he did not recite the prayer and remained silent, he responded by saying “My parents said that is not what we believe.� This is what transpires in a lot of the classrooms, some children recite the prayer, and some choose not to.
The issue of being able to ‘choose’, as the defense made a point of, is free to every student. No children are forced, persuaded, encouraged, rewarded, or penalized if they choose to say or not to say the 23 word prayer. The prayer is not mandatory.
Some positive effects of this prayer is one, that it might result in a decrease of violence. This might happen by students remembering what the Bible says about certain subjects, and then deciding to not indulge in those actions. While some individuals may see the prayer as harmful, in reality, it is not. If people don’t want to take part of the prayer, they are not required to, and may remain silent at their own choosing. How can remaining silent hurt someone?
I personally agree with the decision of the court and jury. I am religious and do regularly attend church. I am Christian, and do not believe that this ruling can be harmful in any relevant way.
The Wise Men of Chelm
Major Objective: In the beginning of the scene Rebbe Pinchas is trying to do what is “right� by burying Gimpel, since Gimpel believes that he is dead, and has convinced Rebbe Pinchas of this as well. I think that it is important to note that due to the part of the play that we chose to do, we never got to the major objective which is to find the stranger to get back the towns valuables. Although this play has a definite plot, it is a comedy and I believe that the character of Rebbe Pinchas, although an important role, is mostly there to aid in the comedy. That said, in the second scene, when I take on the part of the stranger, I believe that his objective is simply to become wealthy, and take advantage of the people of Chelm. In the third scene, when I play Rebbe Pinchas again, I believe his objective was to convince the stranger to sell his cow. And in the last scene, I believe Rebbe Pinchas’s goal was to relay the news that the cow doesn’t give gold, and then to find some way to get back their valuables. But like I said, I very rarely felt as though Rebbe Pinchas was the person who provided the conflict throughout the scenes, I often felt like the character of Rebbe Pinchas was created by the author simply for comedic purposes.
What stands in the way: I believe that what stands in the way of Rebbe Pinchas fulfilling his objectives is the fact that he is a fool. Although Rebbe Pinchas would like to consider himself wise, he simply cannot because he is often proved wrong by others throughout the play. I think Rebbe Pinchas’ major objective is to be a wise man, but his foolishness stands in the way.
Physical and Emotional Traits: Rebbe Pinchas is very physical. He moves his hands and body frequently throughout each scene. He makes funny faces, especially when he is offended by something. Rebbe Pinchas always tries to continue looking “wise� at all times. I like to think that Rebbe Pinchas and Rebbe Mottel have a sort of competition going on. I think that Rebbe Pinchas enjoys telling Rebbe Mottel that he is doing things wrong. Above all else, Rebbe Pinchas likes to have others compliment him. Rebbe Pinchas is angered easily, especially when he is challenged by others. Rebbe Pinchas is very hot blooded, and his temper is wild, but overall he is a kind man, especially towards Gimpel. I believe Rebbe Pinchas looks as Gimpel as sort of a Protégé. Pinchas is often frustrated by others easily, especially because he always thinks he is right, even if logic says otherwise.
Relationships: Pinchas has a different sort of relationship with Rebbe Mottel. He and Mottel get along as long as they are in complete agreement, although that occurs very infrequently. They are constantly arguing or debating about something. When they are in an argument it seems as though both sides find their argument perfectly logical, and see no sense in the other point of view. It takes one side to be proven wrong before someone will back down. They are good friends, but they often don’t see eye to eye. Like I previously stated, I believe Pinchas and Gimpel have different relationship. I believe that Gimpel looks up to Pinchas, and Pinchas appreciates that. I think that Pinchas enjoys that attention and admiration from Gimpel.
Evaluation of the group’s process: I am not exactly sure what we are suppose to answer to here, but I will simply say that although I often was frustrated because I felt like not everyone (including myself at one time or another) was not pulling their weight, I did enjoy this process. I feel like I learned a lot through this experience. I had a chance to act, which was fun. But I also had a chance to work in other areas of theatre, because at various times I think everyone did everyone else’s job too. I really liked this project.
A & P by John Updike
The story I am responding to is A & P by John Updike. I really liked the story, I thought that it was a good example of a young man coming of age and challenging his authority figures even to the point of self sacrifice. In the story the manager of the A & P supermarket talks to some girls about dressing inappropriately in his store. This causes the main character, Sammy, to question his boss’s authority and his decision to embarrass the girls. This is how Sammy comes of age in the story. He decides to quit his job even though it will upset his parents. He decides to leave the store because he realizes that he cannot continue to work for a boss that he doesn’t respect.
I like how in the end of the story the main character realizes that due to his decision the world is going to be a much harsher place for him. He realized that doing what you feel is right will sometimes cause you to sacrifice things that make your life easy. The main character, Sammy, decides to do what he feels is right, rather than doing what is easy.
In the story there is a big difference between the main character and the customers in the A & P. The customers in the store advert their eyes as the girls in their bikinis pass. They all just stand and listen as the boss embarrasses the girls. Some of them probably agreed with the manager of the store, and if they didn’t they certainly were unwilling to say so. Sammy however, completely disagreed with the actions of his employer and he was willing to sacrifice his comfort to challenge his boss. The patrons of the store were unwilling to come out of their comfort zones to confront the store manager. I think this may have been a reason why Sammy felt compelled to say something to his boss, nobody was willing to challenge the bosses authority, besides him. Maybe when Sammy was challenging his boss, he was also challenging the customers is the store. Maybe this was Sammy’s way of challenging all of society.
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