Thankfulness

We had a guest speaker at Northside last weekend. His name is Bob Russell and he's the pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. The sermon was "Jesus, The Cure for a Thankless Heart". He said, "Weather you're a contented, happy person is a whole lot more determined by your attitude than it is by your circumstances". That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Chuck Swindoll -

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our attitudes."

Here's an excerpt from Bob's sermon. It's not a very positive description of Americans. I'm not trying to bash Americans, but I do notice the negative, complaining attitude many people have. And on the flip side, I live with and work with many very grateful and positive people!