inspiration

Live the Great Life!

Would you like to have the very best life possible?  Of course!  Every one of us would love to have a great life, full of rich pleasures, satisfying relationships, simple delights, meaningful purpose, and a secure future.  We want our lives to matter, and we want to enjoy life as much as possible.  In fact, everyone who comes to me for counseling and guidance is coming to me because they want a better life for themselves – better relationships, better patterns of thought and behavior, better mental health, etc.  Through my professional training and years of experience, I have learned many insights and tools into improving these various areas of life.  It is my joy to share these with my clients, and watch their lives and relationships become healthier and more satisfying along the way.  And there is one insight that stands about all the others, when it comes to helping people live the great life. (more…)

By Roger Butner, ago

Rhythm

For centuries, the Ten Commandments have stood as pillars of life for many, many people – Jew and Christian alike.  There is something very fundamental about these guidelines, for anyone desiring to lead a moral life under the guidance of God.  In fact, I frequently use this analogy when it comes to how we can live the best life possible: Let’s say you have just purchased a new electronic appliance – maybe a new multi-disk DVD/CD player.  If you want to get the most out of it – proper functioning, full use of available features, etc – you really should read and follow the instruction manual provided by the manufacturer.  Sure, you could get the thing to turn on and operate if you skip the manual and get right to it.  However, you will most likely miss some key features, and may well run into some frustrating problems.  Reading the manual just makes sense.  Follow the guidelines of the one who created the equipment, and you will get the best possible functioning.  The same is true for our lives.  Our Creator (God) has provided us with an instruction manual (the Bible) to teach us how to get the most out of our lives.  In fact, Jesus repeatedly says he came to give us life to the full, or the abundant life.

“Okay,” you may be saying to yourself, “that’s all fine and good, but what does it have to do with the title of this post – ‘Rhythm’?”  Here is my point.  I’m not writing this post to convince you to read the Bible as your guideline for living, although I wholeheartedly believe we all should do so for the best life possible.  Instead, I want to raise a question and a concern.  For those of us who still hold up the Ten Commandments as basic guidelines for life, why do we completely ignore one of them?!?  (more…)

By Roger Butner, ago

Advocates – not Adversaries

Some of you have healthy, vibrant, joy-filled marriages that are a great source of security and love in your life.  It’s not perfect, but it sure is good!  If so, please consider finding another couple or two to mentor.  Believe me, some couple out there could really use your encouraging example.  Others reading this post are not so content.  Your marriage has sadly become a source of discouragement and pain, and you aren’t sure what to do, or even how you got here.  If you find yourself in this group, or even just need a boost to a good marriage – read on (then pass it on to someone else).

Most of us did a great job being a loving, supportive, encourager to our spouse back in the days of dating, courtship, and engagement.  Everything was so fresh and new, and your sweetheart just seemed so perfect and easy to serve wholeheartedly.  You felt compelled to do kind, loving, encouraging things for this wonderful person who could make you feel good with simply a word or a smile.  Then you got married, saw the real-life unedited version of one another, disappointed each other and hurt each other a few times, and suddenly it wasn’t so easy to focus on blessing them.  You started putting more and more energy into protecting and defending yourself.  Before you knew what happened, you had become an adversary of your imperfect spouse, rather than an advocate of your beloved sweetheart.  Following is a very simple explanation of what leads to being either an adversary or an advocate to your mate: (more…)

By Roger Butner, ago

Surviving the Storms in Life

Our preacher, Eddie White, recently invited me to co-present a portion of the sermon based on Mark 4:35-41, when Jesus miraculously calmed the storm in which he and his disciples were sailing.  He wanted me to offer a real-life application for this Biblical text.  Following is my outline of comments:

1. Expect storms to come through your life. This world is a stormy place.  We don’t help ourselves by hoping storms won’t come our way.  If we expect it, we will prepare for it.  Philip Yancey, in his book, “Rumours of Another World,” notes that in other cultures around the world, they expect suffering and hardship, rather than contentment and peace.  John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

2. Don’t waste a lot of time and energy asking “Why?” So many people throughout the ages have invested so much in searching for answers to why bad things happen. (more…)

By Roger Butner, ago