There is a lot to consider when planning our New Year's resolutions. Have you considered this: A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk I have a workstation... Can atheists get insurance for acts of God? If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it FedUP?

Does fuzzy logic tickle? If they arrested the Energizer Bunny, would they charge it with battery? I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions. How come you never hear about gruntled employees? I don’t have a solution, but I admire your problem. If a tin whistle is made out of tin (and it is), then what, exactly, is a fog horn made out of? If quitters never win, and winners never quit, what fool came up with, "Quit while you’re ahead"? Okay, who stopped the payment on my reality check? I believe the only time the world beats a path to my door is when I’m in the bathroom. Do Lipton employees take coffee breaks? What hair color do they put on the driver’s licenses of bald men? What was the best thing BEFORE sliced bread? If it’s zero degrees outside today and it’s supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be? Since Americans throw rice at weddings, do Orientals throw hamburgers? Why are they called apartments, when they’re all stuck together? Why is a carrot more orange than an orange? Why do they call it the Department of Interior when they are in charge of everything outdoors? Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it. Why do we wait until a pig is dead to "cure" it? Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle? Do Roman paramedics refer to IV’s as "4’s"? Whatever happened to Absorbine Senior? Is there another word for Thesaurus? Why is there Braille on the keypad of the drive-up ATM machine?

Source: http://earthstar.tripod.com/ESP_dir/ questions.html

A boy told his father, "Dad, if three frogs were sitting on a limb that hung over a pool, and one frog decided to jump off into the pool, how many frogs would be left on the limb?" The dad replied, "Two." "No," the son replied. "There’s three frogs and one decides to jump, how many are left?" The dad said, "Oh, I get it, if one decides to jump, the others would too. So there are none left." The boy said, "No dad, the answer is three. The frog only DECIDED to jump." Does that sound like last year’s resolution? Great inspiration and great resolutions, but often times we only decide, and months later we are still on the same limb of do-nothing.

Source: Help4Sunday, January, 1999

I am the New Year. I am an unspoiled page in your book of time. I am your next chance at the art of living. I am your opportunity to practice what you have learned about life during the last twelve months. All that you sought and didn’t find is hidden in me, waiting for you to search it but with more determination. All the good that you tried for and didn’t achieve is mine to grant when you have fewer conflicting desires. All that you dreamed but didn’t dare to do, all that you hoped but did not will, all the faith that you claimed but did not have -- these slumber lightly, waiting to be awakened by the touch of a strong purpose. I am your opportunity to renew you allegiance to Him who said, "Behold, I make all things new."

Source: Jeffery Anselmi A New You For a New Year.
Citation: http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=37760

Consider Charles Colson, the aide to Richard Nixon who was sent to jail for Watergate. As as a result of his experience as a convicted felon, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, now the world’s largest Christian outreach to prisoners and their families. Prison Fellowship has more than 50,000 volunteers working in hundreds of prisons in 88 countries around the world.

A ministry that has blessed millions of people got started twenty-five years ago because Charles Colson committed a crime. God’s eternal purposes for that man included even the sin that sent him to prison. It was a part of God’s plan from the very beginning. But the story that matters most to you isn’t Peter’s, or Paul’s, or even Charles Colson’s. It’s yours. And what I want to say to you this morning is that the story of your life has not been ruined, not by your sin or anyone else’s. God’s good plan for your life is not buried under the mistakes of the past. God has a plan for your life, a good plan, a wise plan, a loving plan, a sovereign plan, and that plan is still in effect. You haven’t missed it. He is working out that plan in your life right now, today. Will you believe that? And will you renew your commitment this morning to seeking God, and following Him, and serving Him with your whole heart; free of the past, no longer weighed down by regret?

Source: Alan Perkins in "Getting Past Your Past." http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=34927

Behavioral scientists have discovered that we usually see things that we are prepared to see. This is all centered in a network of nerve cells called the "Reticular Activating System." Everybody has this system. The "Reticular Activating System." works like this:

Once something has been brought to our attention, and we have been prepared to see it, we’ll see it virtually everywhere we go. For example, you decide to buy a new car. You make up your mind that you are going to buy a certain brand, a certain body style, and a certain color. Now, you’ll see those cars everywhere. You’ll see them on the roads, in TV advertisements, in newspapers and magazines. They’re everywhere. Now what has happened? They were always there, but the moment you were prepared to see them, your Reticular Activating System kicked in, and suddenly you saw them everywhere. It happens in other areas of life, too. We see what we are prepared to see. If we are prepared to see doom & gloom this year, then that’s what we’ll see. If, on the other hand, we have prepared ourselves to see sunshine & opportunities, then that’s what we are going to see.

Source: Melvin Newland, Central Christian, Brownsville, TX in "How Does It Look to You Now?" http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=32279