Buy your Fair ticket early for $6.00 at Kroger so you can get into the Christian concert with us Monday night August 23. Some of us will meet up at the Fair and some will carpool from Evangel Minors Lane at a designated time and place (TBA).
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read pages 13-20 "Character Matters" by Dr. Mark Rutland
COURAGE: ...is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.(Clara Booth Luce)
Noble Courage is the authentic spontaneous act of self-sacrificial concern for the defenseless.
Courage is not fearlessness but the willingness of mind necessary to act out of conviction rather than feeling.
Discuss the printing press operator who was fired for refusing to run the press on a pornographic project.(p. 14) Was he a fool or courageous because of conviction.
Do you agree with the author's statement: "If a society misdefines courage, it is on the verge of barbarism."
Courage is that willingness to deny my own flesh and do what is right and noble, regardless of the cost.
Discuss the engaged couple living together who chose to move out before their wedding even though it was financially and physically difficult.( p. 15)
Courage is the first and greatest element of character.
Courage is the catalytic agent that summons every other virtue into action in the face of temptation or crisis.
It even takes courage sometimes to be honest.
MORE THAN VALOR -
Though bravery may be admirable, courage is far more than valor in the face of danger.
Some people are just naturally more bold. Sometimes public heroes in war or athletics later live unproductive and even destructive lives. Such people were never truly courageous. They were simply brave.
Don't confuse prudence (wise action) and cowardice.
The distinction between a hero and an obnoxious show-off is character. In other words, if his motives are selfish and impure, a "hero's" actions may result from a lust for preeminence that overrides good judgment.
Were the 9/11 terrorists cowards or heros?
Is a fearless warrior who conquers a city then rapes and burns courageous?
Tue courage is about valiant goodness.
COURAGE AND PUBLIC TRUST-
Until we can cultivate statesmen who are willing to be turned out of office for taking a stand for moral issues, a national character will continue to erode. No office gained or kept is worth the loss of character!
Why is courage necessary for a preacher?....a policeman faced with a bribe?....a schoolboy asked to hear a dirty joke?
DAILY COURAGE-
The long, lingering moral crises of life are the most difficult and taxing. Examples: Young men and women who commit to stay sexually pure until marriage....crippled teenager who does what is right with a good attitude through years of daily horrible pain.
COURAGE AND THE FEAR OF GOD-
Do you agree that all lesser fears will be swallowed up in the life of the man who truly fears God????
Proverbs 29:25..."The fear of man bringeth a snare but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe."
The fear of man is a trap, but it is harmless and baitless to the man who fears God.
IF WE FEAR GOD MORE THAN WE FEAR THE GOOD OPINION OF OUR MATES AT WORK, OUR SPOUSES, OUR CONGREGATIONS OR OUR CONSTITUENCY, WE ARE FREE!
The fear of the Lord makes us calm, quiet and confident.
Pursuing courage,
Becky
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