Tag: Challenges

Categories
Weekly Blog

Three Ways to Strive, Not Just Survive

Have you ever felt stuck? Like you can’t get any movement? Make any progress? Do you have an interest in how you might change that? How you might excel, thrive?

Before we identify the three ways to thrive as promised in the title of this blog, let’s establish something foundational. Bear with me. All of the following is truer than true:

  • God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done.
  • He loves you unconditionally and forgives you unconditionally.
  • He is our creator, knowing you better than anyone else can.
  • God made you with special gifts and talents, with a very specific and divine purpose.
  • He, more than anyone, knows what will make you happy and fulfilled, what will provide you with peace and joy.

Add to the above that His message is incredibly compelling, as demonstrated in Scripture, the Sacraments, the Saints, and so many great books that speak to the heart and/or the head.

Question – who in your life, with the above attributes, would you not want to be communicating with on a regular basis? For me, anyone who knows and cares for me that much, and can offer me so much, I want to be talking to as much as possible.

So now, the three ways to thrive, not just survive:

  1. Prayer
  2. Sacraments
  3. Scripture and Faith Based Books

Please stick with me here. Each can change your life….really.

Prayer

Just 10 minutes a day…take whatever is on your mind to our Lord, i.e. challenges, desires, dreams, relationship issues…whatever. Start out by describing to Jesus what it is you want to solve for…

  • Explain the situation, followed by defining your ideas related to it.
  • Identify all that you know or are thinking to Jesus, including any proc and cons.
  • Pose any questions you might have to Him and then in silence, listen for His voice in your heart, His Will for what you might do.

Guess what, the above really works. Whenever I do it, which is quite often, Jesus helps me in figuring out my challenges, desires, dreams, relationship issues, typically bringing to mind something I hadn’t previously thought of.

Interestingly, the secular world tells us how good meditation is, how much it can help to visualize or exercise real forethought for something. My suggestion is the same, while bringing God into it, the One who knows and loves you more than anyone else in your life.

Sacraments

The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) has become a very important part of my faith journey. Going monthly (sometimes I slip to every 6-8 weeks, although rarely), it is so gratifying to talk to someone confidentially, the Priest who is in Christo (the person of Christ), about the challenges I’m having. Going to the same Priest on a regular basis allows me to discuss with him the progress or challenges I’m having. Then, receiving absolution is this feeling of being cleansed…creating a new beginning, by the Grace of God.

Over a year ago, I began going to Mass daily.  There is something about the simplicity, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. And it’s special to me to receive Jesus, His body, blood, soul, and divinity every day in Holy Communion. My first prayer immediately afterwards is always “come into my heart, mind, body, and soul”. What a great and fortifying way to start each day.

Reading Scripture and Faith Based Books

There’s an expression, “it’s one thing to know the Bible, it’s another to know its Author”. The only way to know God our Creator, Jesus who died on the Cross for our sins, and the Holy Spirit, who dwells within each of us, is to read and pray through Scripture. Yes…some of it is dry, but so much of it is intriguing and inspiring.

The other way to grow in your faith and as a person is to read good faith-based books. There are SO MANY good ones that feed the heart and the head. In addition to mine (I know…self-serving), I list several recommendations in my book, which are listed here.

  • Jason Evert, Saint John Paul the Great, His Five Loves (Ignatius Press, 2014)
  • Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, Loved As I Am: An Invitation to Conversion, Healing, and Freedom through Jesus (Ave Maria Press, 2014)
  • Matthew Kelly, Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose (Matthew Kelly, 1999)
  • Michael Scanlan, Let the Fire Fall (Servant, 1986)
  • Deacon Keith Strohm, Jesus: The Story You Thought You Knew (Our Sunday Visitor, 2017
  • Rev Rick Warren, Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan, 2002)
  • Jacques Philippe, Searching for and Maintaining Peace (Alba House, 2002

Or pick another. Reading just 10-15 minutes a day (I’d suggest right before you turn out the lights at night) will be so impactful….it can change your life.

You do these three things and I GUARANTEE that you will thrive, not just survive.

As usual, please feel free to get back to me with your comments, questions, or concerns.

May God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

Why Bad Things Happen….Remembering 9/11

If you’re like me, you know exactly where you were and what you were doing on 9/11, when the jetliners hit the twin towers, flight 93 went down over Shanksville, PA, and the fourth jet crashed into the Pentagon, combined killing over 3,000, in the largest terrorist attack on US soil, in history.

I was sitting in a conference room in Wheeling, WV, with Brian Joseph (no relation), CEO of a manufacturer my company was doing business with. It was incredible and unbelievable seeing it all unfold on TV from Brian’s conference room.9/11 not only changed the country and the world, but millions of individual lives as well.

Why Bad Things Happen

The question is often asked…why do bad things happen? An additional question asked is…why does God allow bad things to happen?

I’m not a Scripture scholar nor a theologian, so my answer has much more to do with my personal experience than the teachings of the Church. That said, my very specific lived experience would indicate that God allows bad things to happen to bring us closer to Him. Without question, minus the personal tragedies I suffered through, I would not be on this faith journey today.

Maybe you’ve experienced “conversion” and like me are on your own faith journey. If so, when good things happen, you thank God in gratitude. If not, it’s likely that you don’t go to God in the good times…you believe you have everything handled on your own. But in bad times, in desperate times, many, many of us go to God, pleading for His help. From what I understand, that’s what happened on 9/11. For weeks afterwards, Churches were full and confession lines very long.

What Bad Things Happened to Me

To know my story is to know that I lost my family as I knew it, I lost my business, and I lost a lot of money. I refer to them as the three 2×4’s that came across the back of my head. Being a control freak and having lost control, I had a“conversion” experience that changed my life forever. Praise God!!!

My wife and I kid around, saying that it would be nice to not have experienced all the things, specifically the tragedies, that we do in our lives. The fact is that it is every single circumstance that makes us who we are, the good and the bad. I thank God for EVERYTHING that’s taken place in my life, including the tragedies, because I know I would not be who I am without each and every one of them.

Attitude of Gratitude

I choose to live in a place of Gratitude, believing that everything happens for a reason, as part of God’s grand plan. There are no accidents, mistakes, or coincidences. We may not know the reason on this side of Heaven, but I’m convinced thatthere’s always a reason for the things that occur in our lives. For me, it was to bring me closer to God.

Although 9/11 was an incredibly tragic event for our country and the world, it’s my suspicion (and experience) that it brought a lot of people closer to God.

Please feel free to comment to me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

What If You Knew the Truth

What if you knew the truth….how would it change your life? 

Did you ever think to yourself, “if I could only do this” or “if I could only do that”? Or how about, “if I were only better at….” You believe that if you were better at something or had a different skill set, your life would be better. 

In addition to the above, you think, “if I could only have ‘X’, I would be happy”. If truthful, most often you’re thinking of ‘X’ as prominence, possessions, or pleasure. 

We’re constantly searching for and trying to do all of the things that we think are going to make us happy. 

What I Thought Would Make Me Happy

The above was true for me for the longest time. It was all about the prominence, possessions, and pleasure. Those were the things that I thought were going to make me happy. Those were the things that were going to prove to other people my success, my place in this world…which would contribute to my happiness. 

I worked endless hours. I pushed and pushed and pushed related to my career. And I bought a bunch of really nice, cool stuff. 

Guess what…none of it made me happy. 

Then I Learned the Truth

Then I learned the truth…something that changed my life forever. Did you know that…

  • You have a God who loves you unconditionally
  • Who gave His only begotten Son to die a torturous death for your sins
  • Who (Jesus) rose from the dead so you can live in His glory
  • God conceived of you thousands of years ago
  • He made you in His image and likeness, individually and as part of all of humanity
  • God made you with special gifts and talents
  • He made you with a specific purpose
  • He wants you to be happy and fulfilled
  • God made you for Greatness!!!

All of the above is true. And here’s what else is true…the only way we’re ever going to be happy is to understand our identity as a child of God, use our God given talents, fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives, and abiding in His will. That’s it…the ONLY way.  

It’s true, it’s Scriptural, as referenced below: 

  • Jeremiah 1:5 – “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations.”
  • Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
  • John 10:10 – I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.

God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done. He made you a specific way and knows what is best for you. Embrace this truth and live a life of Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment. 

As always, please get to me with questions or comments at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com. 

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

 

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

Lessons from the Mass Shootings

On July 29th, 3 were killed and 16 wounded at the Gilroy (California) Garlic Festival. On August 3rd, 20 were killed and 26 wounded at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, TX. Then just 13 hours later, 9 were killed and 27 wounded at a popular downtown area in Dayton, OH. Add to that other active shootings of the past months and years, in addition to what takes place in our biggest cities like Chicago, on a regular basis.

So the question is “why”.

Some want to point to guns and others mental health issues or current public discourse. Given our current political climate, I’m not confident that our politicians will do anything to positively impact the issue. And how about this…even if it were the best of political climates, would what they do really address the core problem?

The Impact of Religion

As religion, spirituality, and attending Church decline in our society, we lose our moral compass. We become desensitized to so many things, including the value of life. Here are some facts:

  • Pew Research Center finds that the percentage of adults (ages 18 and older) who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years, from 78.4% in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014. Over the same period, the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”) has jumped more than six points, from 16.1% to 22.8%. You can get more info here.
  • Gallup indicates that U.S. church membership was 70% or higher from 1937 through 1976, falling modestly to an average of 68% in the 1970s through the 1990s. The past 20 years have seen an acceleration in the drop-off, with a 20-percentage-point decline since 1999 and more than half of that change occurring since the start of the current decade.
  • In 2014, the FBI released a study showing that “active shooting incidents” had increased at an average annual rate of 16 percent between 2000 and 2013 (Blair and Schweit, 2014). Blair and Schweit found that active shootings had increased from only one incident in 2000 to 17 in 2013.

Notice the correlation above between active (mass) shootings and a decline in religion, spirituality, and church membership.

Other Potential Reasons

Some would blame Justice Hugo Black and the Supreme Court for their ruling in Everson v. Board of Education(1947), where they had an interpretation of “a wall of separation between church and state” which was much different than that of Thomas Jefferson. Although just one ruling, the impact has been devastating to those of us of faith.  

With a little looking, you can find articles or research that point to societal issues, like “Individualism” rather than laws or government. In the same article, the researcher points to kids not going to church because their parents don’t go to church.

Here’s the Point

Without God, without our faith, we lose our way. To understand what the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit are, or what the seven Christian virtues include, is to want them for ourselves and for our children. But more and more of society is turning its back on the only institution that teaches them.

I saw a recent post that said, “Dear God, why do you allow so much violence in our schools?”, signed Concerned Student. The same post had the following reply, “Dear Concerned Student, I’m not allowed in schools”, signed God.

Jesus Brings Meaning to Our Lives

More important than the institution is Jesus Christ, our Savior. As many of us know, it’s only being in relationship with Him, understanding our identity as children of God, that life is meaningful. In fact, if you’re a reader of my blogs, you know that:

  • God made each of us with special gifts and talents
  • In His image, as part of His grand plan, individually and as part of all of humanity
  • He put you on this earth for a specific purpose
  • God made you for Greatness!!!

So…what to do. Here’s what I think. Pray for the victims. Pray for our society. And share the love of Christ with as many as possible…one soul at a time. 

As always, feel free to contact me with questions or comments at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

May God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph