05 November 2023
Two-Minute Features | 12 November 2023

Letting Our Lights Shine Before Others, Part 2 (TMF:2220)

Friday, November 10, 2023
Peace to Live By: Letting Our Lights Shine Before Others, Part 2 (TMF:2220) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       The truth is, is that helping others, letting others see we are not only about ourselves (in effect, letting our lights shine), this typically ends up benefiting us more than it does the person we are actually helping. It benefits us because we get to see that the help we provided eased the burden of our friend. We get to give a little and thus make someone else’s life a little bit easier. Truth be told, it just makes us happier whenever the task is completed, and we know that it makes the person we are helping happy. We know too that it’s not just how we feel that is of benefit to us. Jesus has told us over and over again that doing such things gains us rewards for the future. Since God is keeping track of all the good things we do, he is building up ideas of more and more good things to give us when we enter the next realm of existence. That being the case, then, it only makes sense that the more we give, the more we will receive. In this cost-benefit analysis, we end up getting more benefit versus the actual cost to us.

Letting Our Lights Shine Before Others, Part 1 (TMF:2219)

Thursday, November 09, 2023
Peace to Live By: Letting Our Lights Shine Before Others, Part 1 (TMF:2219) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       We often dread the thought of helping others. Isn’t that sad? Sad but true. More often than not, we wonder if there is a way we can get out of helping someone with something. We don’t want to be bothered. We want all of our time to be ours, and not someone else’s. Yet, despite all of this, we know, deep down, that it’s our responsibility to help others. I mean, after all, we expect people to help us from time to time, do we not? We hope our friend will pick us up at the airport, take us to the auto repair place when our car is done, help us hang out a new light fixture, aid us in moving a heavy piece of furniture, whatever it is, we expect help from others. The truth is, is that helping others, letting others see we are not only about ourselves (in effect, letting our lights shine), this typically ends up benefiting us more than it does the person we are actually helping. It benefits us because we get to see that the help we provided eased the burden of our friend. We get to give a little and thus make someone else’s life a little bit easier.

Spending Time with Thomas Jefferson, Part 2 (TMF:2218)

Wednesday, November 08, 2023
Peace to Live By: Spending Time with Thomas Jefferson, Part 2 (TMF:2218) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Personally, I like to spend my time going through Jefferson’s correspondences from time to time. You may find that you don’t agree with everything he thought, as that’s what I have found, but nonetheless the insights are revealing and helpful. You may find that his own understanding about things jogs your memory and leads you down new paths toward things you have never contemplated before. I would have to say I don’t think I ever really grasped freedom until I became acquainted with Thomas Jefferson’s different writings. The Bible tells us in different spots that we are now free in Christ. It tells us to live as a free people. This being that case, we should probably have a good understanding of what freedom actually is. Some of us think we are living freely, only to not really feel that free at the end of the week. We find that we are giving other people too much dominion over us. We find that we aren’t in a church aligned with what we really think inside our minds. We find that we really aren’t worshipping God in truth, with what rings in our heads to be true, but in a way that someone else has told us we have to.

Spending Time with Thomas Jefferson, Part 1 (TMF:2217)

Tuesday, November 07, 2023
Peace to Live By: Spending Time with Thomas Jefferson, Part 1 (TMF:2217) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       I love history. Admittedly, however, not until the last year really have a spent a significant amount of time becoming acquainted with Thomas Jefferson. Sure, I knew the basics like everyone else. I knew he’d wrote the Declaration of Independence. I knew he was responsible for the religious freedom we enjoy each and every day. I knew he was the third President of the United States. I even understood he liked technology. Jefferson understood freedom perhaps in a way no one ever did, or has, from that moment, up to our current time. Especially if you’re a person who tends to impose lots of rules upon him or herself, then I think you will find Jefferson’s understanding of freedom as a big refreshment. A good place to start is with his Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom. It’s not a very long document, maybe a couple of pages. But the insight into freedom is profound. It’s an amazing thing when we come to realize that we are really free. You and I are free to worship God how we feel that’s right, by the dictates of our own conscious, and not by how our church or anyone else tells us we have to.

Using Drive Time for Enjoyment, Part 3 (TMF:2216)

Monday, November 06, 2023
Peace to Live By: Using Drive Time for Enjoyment, Part 3 (TMF:2216) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       A lot of popular titles are available in audiobooks. Whether that is a Christian book, or perhaps even a self-help book, there are many titles available, and some of these, usually the older books, are available for free. Certainly, to get the newest stuff and the stuff of the past decade or two you’re going to have to shell out some cash. That’s just the way it is. But some libraries allow you to check out audiobooks, and perhaps even over their app. So if money is tight, this could be a good alternative. But it’s amazing how a book can be read without ever technically reading it. Finally, all that drive time to work may be better found to listen to your favorite music. Some people need to realize that is okay to take this time and have fun. Especially, say, you’re driving home from a busy day at the office, and you need some time to wind yourself down before you are greeted by your wife, three kids, and your happy-go-lucky dog at the moment you enter your residence. Mentally preparing yourself for the time spent with family at home can be a wise decision to make. This way, you’re not carrying the overload of the office into your home tonight.