Podcast
Daily Got a Minute Message with John Ed
Hosted by John Ed Mathison · EN
In each episode of “Got a Minute,” retired Methodist minister John Ed Mathison will share a small piece of wisdom to help you through your day.
41episodes
Episodes
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Gentle Giant
2d ago00:00:57Tap to summarizeGrowth is an interesting phenomenon to observe. Sometimes it’s really unusual. Ask Amy Sharp and her family as they bought an Alaskan Malamute puppy. It has grown to be the size of a Shetland pony. The 5-year-old dog today weighs 182 pounds, which is more than double the norm. Amy says that his collar is as big as someone’s belt. He eats $1000 worth of food in a year. They refer to him as a “gentle giant.” Growing spiritually is far more important than growing physically. Just as we have metrics for measuring physical growth, the Bible teaches us how to measure our spiritual growth. How much have you grown in the last five years in your spiritual life? I challenge you to grow in your faith and to become a gentle giant.
Transcribe →God's Promises
3d ago00:00:57Tap to summarizeThere is a picture of President Trump walking across the tarmac with a beautiful, blonde Army soldier. She has become a dream girl for many of the troops. Her name is Jessica Foster, even though she is not a real person. Her picture has been AI-generated, but she has even been included in fake pictures with Russian President Putin and also smiling next to an F-22 fighter jet. She doesn’t exist. She is a fake. AI can create an illusion that doesn’t exist. Are you spending your time, energy, and money focusing on things that are real, or are they just fake? God’s values are for real. So many things in life look good and promise good results, but never produce. God’s promises are real, and He always makes good on every promise.
Transcribe →A World of Deception
4d ago00:00:58Tap to summarizeWe read a lot today about how adults have created the world where deception is practiced in so many different ways. How did this happen. Some British researchers wanted to answer that question and discovered that about 25% of babies grasp the concept of deception by the time they reach ten months old. They learn fast and by age three they become, in researchers’ words, “quite adept and cunning little liars.” Ten months to age three. Wow that’s fast. What if research showed that babies learned from hearing and seeing Bible lessons lived out that are the foundation of morality and integrity and honesty? Are you willing to help start a culture change where babies don’t learn deception as quickly as they do honest and truth?
Transcribe →Persistence
5d ago00:00:59Tap to summarizeWhen the going gets tough, the tough get going. They persist. President Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve most problems of the human race.” Remember – in the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not because of its strength but rather its persistence. Persistence is powerful – and it pays off!
Transcribe →Museum of Accomplishments
1w ago00:00:58Tap to summarizeIs it best to put on display your failures or your accomplishments? A Vancouver resident Evvan Collin decided to cope with a personal heartbreak by creating an exhibit in a shopping mall that is entitled “The Museum of Personal Failure.” He invited others to submit artifacts. One person exhibited a wedding dress from a failed marriage, tie rods from a blotched car repair, and a wall of rejection slips filled with firing notices of people who had been fired or failed a job application. Collin says that such a museum is an attempt to deal with failure. I think I would like to see a museum of accomplishments and inspiration to help people focus less on today’s problems and more on tomorrow’s possibilities. To what kind of museum would you contribute today?
Transcribe →God's DNA
1w ago00:00:56Tap to summarizeRecently, researchers announced that there is a possibility to determine the authenticity of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Holy Child” chalk drawing. They have discovered fragments of DNA that they think belong to the artist and that DNA from about 1510 AD could determine whether or not de Vinci was the author of some of these disputed masterpieces. That’s amazing to me. God’s work has been around a lot longer than Leonardo da Vinci. God puts His DNA into the lives of folks that have repented, changed, and are following Him. God’s DNA writes the name of a person into the Lamb’s Book of Life. I don’t know if the “Holy Child” chalk drawing is from da Vinci or not, but you can know if God’s DNA is in you!
Transcribe →Going the Extra Mile
1w ago00:00:58Tap to summarizeJoe Sass is a school crossing guard in Chicago. One day after a huge rain, he noticed a 7th grader who arrived at the crosswalk that was submerged in deep icy water. Sass asked him if he would mind if he put him over his shoulder and carried him across the street. The 44-year-old guard did that and dropped him off on dry land. Nobody realized that WGN Morning News’s skycam captured the event and it went viral. Some people started a GoFundMe campaign for Sass and raised over $10,000. Sass decided to give the money to local non-profits. Sass went the extra mile. The mile that means the most in life is the mile when you go beyond what is required of you. Are you willing to be a second mile person today?
Transcribe →Boosted Standings
2w ago00:00:56Tap to summarizeThere is a debate right now because New York magazine has recorded that Representative Nancy Mace had ordered a staff member of hers to go on Reddit forums and figure out how to boost her standings in the rankings of “the hottest women in Congress.” I don’t know Rep. Mace, and she has called the allegations ridiculous. I hope they are. How would you like to have your standings boosted in what area of life? What if all Americans wanted to boost our standing in civility, love and appreciation for each other, and most importantly to every day become more like the person that God has created us to be. That’s an area of life where we all ought to have our standings boosted—and it won’t happen by a staffer or another person—it comes through our own actions.
Transcribe →Stranded
2w ago00:00:56Tap to summarizeIn a time of desperate need, people can go beyond what is expected. They are people who go the extra mile. Austin Applebee is thirteen years old. His mother, Joanne, and his two younger siblings were stranded in shark infested waters off the coast of western Australia. They were on inflatable paddle boards and a kayak when strong winds unexpectedly swept them out into the Indian Ocean. Applebee swam for four hours to reach the shore. When asked how he did it he said, “I kept thinking—just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” Emergency crews were able to rescue his mom and siblings. A 13-year-old boy swimming in shark infested water for four hours—how can we complain about some “safe job” we are not sure we want to do?
Transcribe →Tough Times
2w ago00:01:00Tap to summarizeSometimes huge challenges bring out the best in us. I love those kind of stories. When Hurricane Ian hit Naples, Florida, Johnny Lauder decided to stay at home. When he saw water gushing inside his house, he moved his two sons and one son’s girlfriend to the attic thinking they would all be safe. But then his cell phone rang. His wheelchair-bound mother, Karen, 84 years old, was trapped in a house half a mile away. Johnny climbed out a window and starting wading to rescue her. Her house was filled with 4 feet of water. Lauder pushed his mother to safety and also carried out another elderly neighbor who was also in trouble. Lauder said, “I would have done it for anyone’s mom—or anyone else in that situation.” Often time the toughest times bring out the best in each of us. What will God bring out of you today?
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