100%... WHAT GETS IT???
(From the Internet - received in an e-mail)
100 PERCENT
A tribute to you who always give more than 100%--
What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder
about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all
been in situations where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about
achieving 101%?
What equals 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these
questions:
If:.. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Then: H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K... 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98% and
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E... 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%... But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E... 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100% AND, look how far the love of God will take you L-O-V-E- O-F- G-O-D... 12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%.
Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While HARD WORK and KNOWLEDGE will get you close, and ATTITUDE will get
you there, it's the LOVE OF GOD that will put you over the top!
(Author Unknown)
I have written about PERSEVERANCE... MIDEAST PEACE... LOVE... THE DASH... THE DREAM... INFORMATION AND APPLICATION... I find the course of these subjects to be most fascinating because they have ministered to me as I wrote them to send to you.
I received a message this week about a young man whose father is a SWAT officer. The young man is going through chemotherapy in an effort to reduce Hodgkins Disease. The note follows (used by permission):
" Update on BrandonJust a quick note to let you know what Brandon's status is. He and I are heading in for our 4th and hopefully last round of chemo treatments. It will be 3 days and we are praying to get it done. During our last round some 21 days ago, we received Brandon's mid term reports. The doctor started with, "hey miracle boy come on in the office and lets talk." The doctor went on to tell us that his lungs were clear, I did not even know his lungs had Hodgkin's in them. When we started treatments in Sept. he had a 60% capacity in his lungs and the normal person has 70%. During his last test 3 weeks ago he was at 85%. Yeah God! This information did not come with out a price, the last round of chemo kicked our butt hard! We were up talking in the middle of the night during night 2 of our 3 day chemo. Brandon said something that really rocked me, he said, "dad I don't know how people without faith get through this stuff?" He went on to say that during several of the really ruff bouts with his chemo side effects, he really could not take it. He said that he asked God to help him and that he had relief as soon as he asked. Brandon said that he used to feel like the Lord has been silent in his life, but came to realize what a good day and a bad day is. I hope this note encourages you all, I want to thank you all for your encouragement, support, phone calls, prayers and thoughts as they have helped us to make it this far. Please don't stop praying as this fight is not over yet, we will have to do radiation treatment in December and as Brandon says we will have a great X-mas present, "No more treatments!"
Continuing to stand firm (Eph.6:10-20)(Read about the Armor of God-DRS)
David, Sharon, Brandon and Ashley"
Thanks Dave for use of this uplifting, life revealing letter. It plays right into an introduction for this week's message.
What is faith? The Bible definition is in Hebrews 11:1 It says, "NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]." (Amplified Bible)
In my own words I state it this way, "Faith is doing the best you can with what you have where you are and leaving the rest to God... or whomever else is responsible."
There is only one kind of faith. There is not a religious kind and some other kind... There is ONLY ONE KIND. "[There is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism,... (Ephesians 4:5)
You walk into a room... a place where you have been invited... If it is dark you look for and turn on a light switch. If you are tired you look for a place to take a load off your feet. If there is a chair or couch there... and there is no perceived danger... even if you have never been there before you sit down... maybe lightly at first... but you sit down. You probably drove a motor vehicle for transportation to the location. Using the faith that you have learned to exercise from childhood, you use things that you know that work... or look like they will work.
Many people cannot explain the theory of electricity but they still turn on a light switch to get light... or power an appliance for use or for entertainment... or drive a motor vehicle for transportation. They may never have sat on a particular chair before or lain down on a particular couch or bed before but they appear to be usable so you use them. Many people cannot explain the workings of an automobile... but that does not stop them from putting a key into the ignition switch and turning it on. They may not know how there is power to move the car... nor how it varies the speed of movement... but it does not stop them from starting the motor, putting it into gear, mashing on the accelerator pedal and moving from one place to another using the vehicle for transportation or hauling a load.
They are using faith... as they initiate their actions there is no proof that the items they hope to use will do what they expect them to do. They just act like it will do what is hoped for... and it usually does meet most of their expectations.
I have a friend and associate who, like Brandon in the above letter, is going through chemo fighting cancer. He would be dead now if he had believed the doctor's prognosis... Instead he is still living... still fighting the cancer... and the cancer is still shrinking. Is it a battle?... Yes. Does life get tough for him?... Yes. Does he give in to what others think that he ought to do?... No. He is living the best quality of life that he can and is deeply thankful for all of the marvelous time that he has lived beyond the doctor's prognosis.
Faith for most of us is living for as long as we can... living as best we can... sometimes making our bodies move when they do not feel like moving.
Faith for many of us in relation to peace keeping began as an idea that germinated someplace within us... and it grew... it would not go away... it would not be denied...
When we told the idea to others they found it unbelievable that we could even consider such a thought much less act upon it and follow through into a profession like peace keeping.... "Why you might get hurt... or even get killed!"... but their opinions did not sway most of us. Roadblocks of life did not sway most of us.
I am reminded of a fellow classmate from Basic School. He was tall and thin. He had the required height but not the required weight. He had to weigh 155 pounds or he would not be accepted. He ate bananas and drank water until he could hold no more.
He gained the ten pounds and passed the physical. My visual acuity failed me and a most noted Ophthalmologist told me that I could do nothing about it. He said that it could not be improved. He said, "Here, take these glasses and give up your dream!"...
but I did not do that... I sought for a way... I meditated, looking for a way... one day while meditating, I discovered a way. I discussed it with a friend who became excited that I had just proven something that he had believed for a long time. We worked together...
we developed a method and used it... I used it faithfully and went back sixty days later and passed the minimum requirement and was accepted for the same basic school as the classmate I spoke about above.
With Dave and Brandon... with my associate, friend and fellow chaplain... with the man who did not weigh enough... with my visual acuity... what is the common denominator among us?... We did the best we could with what we had where we were... and we gained changed circumstances... we overcame things which others did not believe we could overcome or diminish... we persevered... we prevailed... we have the life we believe is ours to live in spite of all of the arbitrariness of life and the unbelief of others.
That is called faith. Sitting on a chair takes faith. Turning on a light takes faith. Living a victorious life takes faith. Being a Peace Keeper takes faith. I watch the interviews of the Peace Keepers who have been to Iraq several times. I hear them talk about their faith, their prayers, their value for life and their commitment to the duty for which they are assigned. I see the amputees who were told that they could never do the job again... but some of them are doing the job again... some of them are running on two prosthesis. I read about the Trooper burned so badly that he cannot ever come back to work... but he does come back to work. I listened to the testimony of a Trooper who was struck by a car on the Interstate and pronounced dead... as he was being rolled into the morgue after the passage of well over an hour of time, he came to and spoke... nearly scaring those rolling him down the hall to death! He recovered and returned to work.
Faith is knowing inside you that you can do the job of peace keeping long before you are ever given the chance to prove it. Audey L. Murphy, the most decorated soldier ever, was turned down by the Marines and the Navy. The Army finally took him. He was small and mild mannered. His superiors did not believe that he should be in the Infantry and tried to move him out of an action unit. He persisted. He begged a chance. No one believed he could do it... no one but Audey... he went on and did it and became a decorated hero many times over. He won a field commission and would have gone to West Point had he not been wounded in action. He could not be an officer so he became an action movie star in many western movies and in his own life story, "TO HELL AND BACK."
One faith impels all of us. How we apply it determines our success. If we do not apply it that determines our defeat. Submitting to fear is the opposite of applying faith. To have and even to tremble is not wrong as long as we deny the defeating power of the fear and apply faith... doing the best we can with what we have where we are and leaving the rest to God or whomever else is responsible.
Someone sent a message to me this week and asked if I knew how to accomplish a certain thing. I sought for a way. I asked a friend if he would cooperate. He agreed...
and the thing that was desired to be accomplished is now well underway to success.
"Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you." (Jesus in Matthew 7:7)
As a chaplain I must often deal with death. Death is cessation of life as we know it here. I call it "Graduation."... because it is the achieving of one course of life and being initiated into another course of life for which we are destined. We are designed to live and apply faith... We are designed to, at some point in time, to move to a different form of life. My Eternal Captain said to seek first the guidance and direction of God and His way of doing and being right and all the things that you need will be furnished to you besides... and do not borrow trouble from tomorrow... sufficient to each day is it's own things to be overcome. (Matthew 6:33-34)
We are born into this world, a world not of our own making nor of our own choosing. We learn to live in this world. The arbitrariness of life presents us with challenges and problems that must be dealt with if we are to live and prosper. We do the best we can and we find that place where we fit... we may listen to others and deny moving into that place because of their affect upon us... or we deny all efforts and things that would block us and we develop a single primary purpose in life... we become Peace Keepers.
We go through grueling testing and more testing. We go through shaping and training.
When many fail... we achieve. We are initiated into the realm of the Peace Keeper.
Peace Keepers come in as many varieties as there are individuals among us. We all learn the basics and how to apply them for the best possible results. Then we learn to specialize. Within the framework of what is allowed and expected we apply ourselves.
By faith we believe that we can do each of these things and all of these things before we have ever proven it to anyone including ourselves... BUT WE KNOW... WE KNOW...
WE KNOW THAT WE CAN AND WILL DO IT... AND WE DO. WE HAVE APPLIED
FAITH... WE STILL APPLY FAITH!!!
Peace Keeper, Soldier... Peace Keeper, Officer... Peace Keeper, Chaplain...
Using the premise introduced at the beginning of this message... these three titles all add up to well over 150%. IT IS THE PEACE KEEPER THAT HAS WON AND KEEPS OUR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY... FOR THAT MY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND I THANK YOU SO VERY DEEPLY. THAT THANKS AND APPRECIATION APPLIES TO ALL WHO HAVE SERVED, ARE SERVING AND ARE PREPARING TO SERVE.
"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!" Be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary. Take the very best possible care of you in all facets of your life... do not neglect the spiritual facet. You need for it to be strong and health in order for you to succeed.
Call or write if I may be of any assistance. When most of you receive this we will be starting a class of Chaplain Recruits and Chaplain Re-Hires. Pray for them and those of us who will train them. I will continue to pray for you daily or even more often.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINES... SEMPER FI!
As it has always been... So it still is.
"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN." Sun tzu
ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT, BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!
WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
[My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law and ethics... it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil as possible in the process.
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.]
I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers,
Surviving Peace Keeper,
Virginia State Police Alumni,
RETIRED Police Officer Virginia Beach Police Dept.,
DCJS Certified Police Instructor,
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
===============================================================
Copyright: CHAPLAIN CORNER (DRS) 2006. All rights reserved.
May not be duplicated without permission, except to be forwarded
with copyright and all source information for any quotation intact.
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