8 minute read
Trinh
SUCCESS BASED THINKING
by Dr. Dung Tirnh
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Success is not determined by the size of a bank account, a title or a position held. Success is having a sense of purpose, passion, and positive personal relationships - people. I call it “PPP”. Success begins in the mind. Achieving success is a pattern of thinking, a belief system, which removes barriers that prevents us from achieving our purpose, passion, and positive personal relationships in life. Faulty thinking and untrue beliefs hold us back from achieving success in both business and life. They limit our ability to grow and expand. Most of the time, we are our own enemy to achieving success. Thinking correctly and embracing truth creates freedom in our life and expands our horizons. God has principles that govern this world, and being aligned to those principles opens the door to fulfilling our purpose in life. We are created by God in love, and we each have a purpose destined to us by God, with a specific set of talents/spiritual gifts given to us. When we recognize, develop, and implement our God given spiritual gift, it is when we find Purpose and Passion in our life, our reason for living. And to fully survive in society while putting our talents and gifts to work, we need all of these ingredients: Purpose, Passion, and People.
Key Paradigms of Success:
These are "truth concepts" that we can use to filter events and opportunities that we are faced with each day. It will allow us to move beyond a mind state of fear and doubt, and move forward with decisions for growth and success. • God is Sovereign • Everything that is thrown at us in life is already "Father Filtered". God allows trials in our lives for a purpose - to allow our character to be refined and grow. • God's ways are not our ways, His plans are not our plans. • All things (good and bad) work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. • Where God guides, He provides (famous Pastor Chuck Smith quote)
• "I can" and "I can't" are stories constructed in our minds by parts our brain (the medulla) who's primary purpose is "security and protection", Not Growth and Success. We acknowledge our Fear, say "Thank You for sharing", and move forward with our plans for success. God is orchestrating His Master Plan. Our goal is to find where He is moving and be in the current of His work. Because He is sovereign, there are no accidental opportunities. Every meeting is a Divine appointment and every circumstance we face has already been known by the Father before we were even born. Our job is to be
M I N D SUCCESS
prepared and grab opportunities as they come.
Dung Trinh, M.D. arrived in the United States at the age of 5 as a Vietnam War refugee. His childhood education was at a Buddhist pagoda in Vietnam and having never heard of God before, his first introduction to Christianity was when a Christian church in Orange County sponsored the whole family to be flown to the US during the war. Through a series of ‘God circumstances’ during his high school years, Dr. Trinh became a follower of Jesus, which he believes was the most important decision of his life. He has served on the Board of Directors of various organizations over the past several years and founded ‘Tongue Out’, a nonprofit organization which provides free health care to ‘the least of these’ around the world including Vietnam, Haiti, Peru and Mexico. His activism stems from his deep faith in God and appreciation of his parents’ sacrifices for their four children. Dr. Trinh can be reached at dung.trinh@alzoc.org .
THE GIFT OF THE CROSS
by Eithne Keegan, MSN, RN
However, what does the cross mean to me?
Recently, I was C—Christ, Christ’s love for all of us R—Radiant, his radiant love for us touched by a conversation I had with my nephew in Ireland. I had given him a gift of a cross, after one of my O—Oasis, he is our oasis in the desert mission trips to Africa. It was given as a symbol of love, S—Sacrificial, He sacrificed his life for us on the but little did I know, that this little cross on a leather chain cross, so our sins would be forgiven, past, meant more to him than I would have ever imagined. present and future. Simon said, “I felt protected when I wore this cross”. S—Supreme, He is supreme above all of us. So, I decided to write a story about this gift as, at the time of sharing the gift, I never knew that this simple gift would mean so much to him. He asked if I could find The cross is a symbol of Christ’s death on the another similar cross and have it blessed. cross and his resurrection into heaven. Like Simon, the cross as a symbol, is comforting to us. Jesus is my Simon is a deep thinker, highly intelligent, compassionate, caring, fun-loving and a fierce competitor protector and the reason why I stay close to Him and His whether it be at sports, or simple card games. We enjoy Word every day. How do I do that? I pray, worship, our deep conversations and relish the time we spend attend church, and read my bible daily. To me this brings together. me close to my protector. Why, because I know that he sacrificed himself for me to show me his love and to forgive my sins past present and future. The famous verse What is the origin of the cross? John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his The cross was not widely used in mainstream one and only son, that whosoever believes in him should Christianity until the time of the Roman emperor have eternal life”, summarizes the cornerstone Christian Constantine—about 300 years after Christ established His belief that God sacrificed his son for the salvation of Church. humanity. This is my statement of faith. According to the book Babylon Mystery Religion, the cross originated among the ancient Babylonians of Chaldea. From there, it spread to ancient China, India, Mexico, parts of Africa and other places, centuries before Christianity was born. I read somewhere that in Italy, before the people knew anything of the arts of civilization, they believed in the cross as a religious symbol. It was regarded as a protector and was placed upon tombs. In 46 B.C., Roman coins show Jupiter holding a long scepter terminating in a cross. The Vestal Virgins of pagan Rome wore the cross suspended from their necklaces, as the nuns of the Roman Catholic church do now”.
Thijs van der WeiPhoto by
Simon Keegan
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WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE HIDING
by Darlene Sala
You who are in the healthcare industry or healthcare ministry--are there times in your life when you’d just like to be invisible? You don’t want to hear anyone call your name for help, or ask you one more question, or expect anything from you. You just want to hide somewhere where no one can find you. I’m sure you know the feeling. You just wish you could just stay in bed and pull the covers up over your head for the entire day! Few of you who work in healthcare have that luxury. In this pandemic, people’s lives are depending on you. Spouses and children need your care. On the practical side of things, you can’t risk losing your job. So you keep going. There is one place, however, where you can go to hide. You can run to God, as a baby bird runs to its mother and hides under her wings. Psalm 91 tells us this: “He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection” (Psalm 91:4 NLT). For a baby bird, under its mother’s wings is a place of safety, warmth, and comfort--a place of closeness to the one who can take care of its needs. For us, being under God’s wing means safety and comfort and protection, as well. The Psalmist David wrote, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so will
I comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13). The apostle Paul wrote, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). When an eaglet is under his mother’s wing, everything is dark. Sometimes under God’s wing we can’t see anything either, but we know He can see what is ahead and will protect us. Peace comes because we know the one who cares for us will not forsake us in our time of need.
When life overwhelms you, don’t try to make it on your own. Run to Him for refuge. As Psalm 91 tells us, He will cover you with His feathers, He will be your refuge, and His faithful care will be the security you
need.
