{{2013_10_07_t1.jpg}} {{2013_10_07_t2.jpg}} {{2013_10_07_t3.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2013_10_07|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_v|| Topics Collection v ]] ======Only if You Speak ...====== Monday, Oct 7, 2013. Only if you speak, you will be heard! Yesterday I have been in some bookshop and ran into various books giving advice to women how to make progress with their career. One of the sentences echoed in my ears for a while: "if you do not say, what you want, you will not get what you want!" {{2013_10_07.jpg }} **Say something ...** What do you think, why did the apostle Paul write his letters to many of the churches in the ancient times? He tried to reach something. And he raised his voice and spoke. He stood up and did something (he planted churches), and then he lived with them, cared for them and encouraged them. In the same way, he starts to address his friend and "son in faith" Timothy: 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Tim 1, 1-2) In the same way Jesus himself asks his disciples and many people around: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7) This statement of Jesus is even stronger! It contains a clear promise. When you ask God, he will listen! {{ 2013_10_07_2.jpg}} **This will happen ...** ** When you have unanswered questions ... as everyone has unanswered questions, when you have dreams and wishes for your life and that of those you love ... as everyone has dreams and wishes and desires ... then you should start to change things. Change is possible. We should not give up. I have just been in a Taco Bell restaurant close to Washington - and they had this nice advertisement on every table: end hunger now! They asked for 1$ to feed kids which suffer. And it is a good idea - though I believe that there are better ways to change hunger. We need to develop the local economy, not just pump money into it. But it is important to start changing things. It is important to raise up and go ahead and do something about the problems. It is important to speak! Individual people can make a difference. You can make a difference, as I can make a difference. We can stand up and speak. We can name things. We can develop ideas, and start to work out the peace which we have in our hearts. If you do not say, what you want, you will not get, what you want. And if you do not stand up, you will not change anything. But if you stand up in faith, you will not remain lonely! (Roland Potthast) [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/doku.php/topics_collection_v|... more texts]]