Are you part of the team?

A house divided against itself cannot stand.  An athletic team filled with “ grand standers” does not win pennants.  A stage play infested with “scene stealers” quickly becomes a flop.

You cannot grow by pulling opposite to your team.  It is only through cooperation that you will rise above the crowd.

Personality attractiveness is determined by the spirit of cooperation that you and I bring into our corner of the world daily.

“Humans are made for cooperation.

We've been given like hands, like

feet, like upper and lower teeth,

like eyelids…these are made to

work together.  To act against one

another, then, is contrary to nature!”

Marcus Aurelius, A successful

Roman Emperor.  

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

“Professionals can do their best whether they feel like it or not.”  What we call life is for “professionals” not “amateurs.”

Success in almost any business endeavor is caused more by mental attitudes than by mental capacities.

When your work day seems so long…remember that if you want to turn hours into minutes, renew your enthusiasm.

Formula for success:  “When the rock is hard, we get harder than the rock.  When the job is tough, we get tougher than the job.”

“Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful than ten rulers in a city.”     Ecclesiastes 7:19

How should we handle failure?

Failure is experienced by each of us.  How should we handle it?

1.      Gain courage from others.  History provides many examples of those who like the famous Louis Pasteur, “Rose triumphant from the ashes of his own mistakes.”  Remember the failures overcome by Abraham, David and Paul

2.      Remember your freedom in choosing your reaction to the uncontrolled circumstances that bring about failure.  Only the water inside a ship can sink it.  You are somebody!  You have been created in the image of God!

3.      Allow God the time to make a difference.  The presence of Jesus in our history is proof that the Creator cares for us.  He knows each of us by name.  Learn from the prophet Isaiah, “The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.”

What does it take to have peace?

“Keeping peace in a family requires patience, love, understanding and at least two television sets with remote controls.”

Peace in any family whether biological or community involves two coordinates:  “proper attitude and productive, tangible actions resulting from that attitude.”

PEACE demands that we seek to understand whether we are understood or not.  Peace remembers that it is more important to get in the first thought than it is to have the last word.  Yes, peace requires patience, love and understanding.

The prayers that we live ON OUR FEET are just as important as THOSE SAID ON OUR KNEES.  Peace has a tangible price “at least two television sets”…actions that are expressed in our contributing time in acts of kindness…sometimes with our money…and always with our efforts.

“So faith, by itself, if it has no works is dead.”  James 2:17

ARE YOU QUICK ON THE "FLAW"?

“…there is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it hardly behooves any of us to speak ill of the rest of us.”  Robert Burns

We display our greatest wisdom by accentuating the good in people and minimizing their weaknesses or flaws.

Successful people know to search for the good in others…how to praise those good qualities…THEN to offer sincere and charitable judgment.

Quite often the severest critics are those who have never attempted a difficult worthwhile project or who have failed in their effort to reach an objective.

DO NOT BECOME THE CRITIC WHO IS ALWAYS QUICK ON THE FLAW!

"HE" WILL NEVER FAIL YOU

“Take from a man his wealth, and you hinder him; take from him purpose, and you slow him down. But take from man his HOPE, and you STOP  HIM.  He can go on without wealth, and even without purpose, for a while. But he can not go on without hope.” 

Neil Strait.

Here is one statement…a statement of both faith and history that will renew hope in the darkest hours:

“JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, AND TODAY AND FOREVER.”  Hebrews 13:8 

LET US APPRECIATE HIM!

Take time

to

APPREICATE THE MEMORIES

…of a PERSON

            This one has enriched your life

            with encouragement, strength

            and inspiration.  Let the

            person know.

…of a LIFE-CHANGING EVENT

            Remember and thank GOD

            this moment is happening…

…of this NATION

            This unique freedom…

            remember the sacrifices

            that made it possible.

JESUS CHRIST, the eternal

source of Blessing.

Because of Him

this life blends into life everlasting!

LET US APPRECIATE HIM!

AVOID THE FOUR CORNERS OF FAILURE

Corner No. 1:  The unwillingness to ask for help. No one is an island. Each requires assistance from God. God often uses a fellow human to supply.

Corner No. 2:  The belief that force is stronger power than kindness.  “There is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as real strength.”  American Indian Proverb

Corner No. 3:  The belief that escape from reality is possible.  Dreams and hopes are fulfilled only through the recognition of the reality of God and the strength that He alone can fill.

Corner No. 4:  The surrender to self-pity instead of turning to the Creator for forgiveness and wisdom. Through Christ one can “start by doing what is necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly one is doing the impossible.”  (Francis of Assisi)

SLOW DOWN A LITTLE!

Your pursuit of happiness will be more successful IF YOU WILL SLOW DOWN A LITTLE.

Slow down enough to smile. 

This improves your face.

Slow down enough to compliment

when a good job is done.

Slow down enough to count your

blessings daily.

Slow down enough to listen to

another’s troubles.

Slow down enough to have a

two-way conversation with God.**

TODAY, SLOW DOWN ENOUGH

TO SEE IF YOU ARE GOING IN

THE RIGHT DIRECTION!

** “Two-way conversation” with God involves prayer and the study of His word. 

What is your "Patience Attitude?"

It is better to be PATIENT on the highway than a PATIENT in the hospital.

Our lives are determined by the “TALLNESS” of our ideals, the “WIDENESS” of our sympathy, the “DEEPNESS” of our convictions, and the “LONGNESS” of our patience.

If we are willing to develop patience, we will discover that our spirits are refreshed, our tempers are controlled, our foolish pride is diminished, and our tongues are disciplines.

Patience can be acquired:

            Daily prayer…Daily Bible study…Daily determination…Daily self-examination…Daily walking in Jesus’ direction.

PATIENCE IS A “DAILY” ATTITUDE!

CONSIDER CHRIST CAREFULLY:

1.      He experienced the everyday demands of work…paying bills and taxes.

2.      He became acquainted with physical weariness and emotional stress.

3.      He encountered critics and false friends.

4.      He experienced both glowing success and bitter failure.

5.      He was unswerving in doing His Father’s will.

6.      His cross was real.  His pain beyond expression.

7.      His resurrection has given hope and purpose to OUR history.

8.      BECAUSE OF HIM, WE KNOW THAT DEATH IS NOT THE LAST WORD!

Who is Christ?

In his life, CHRIST IS AN 
EXAMPLE, showing us how to live.

In his death, HE IS A 
SACRIFICE, satisfying for our sins.

In his resurrection, 
A CONQUEROR.

In his ascension, 
A KING.

In his intercession, 
A HIGH PRIEST.

(Martin Luther)

WANTED: A TOUGH MIND AND A TENDER HEART

The Tough Mind:

1.      Declares that the world doesn’t owe me a living.  It was here first.

2.      Guards against my being deceived in business, politics or religion.

3.      Demands that I keep trying in face of disappointments or failures. To finish FIRST, I must FIRST FINISH.

The Tender Heart:

1.      I can sense YOUR PAIN in MY HEART.

2.      I can remain young in spirit regardless of the calendar years.

3.      I can reach across racial lines and gender gaps with generosity.

The tough mind disciplines my thinking

to see what God expects of me. The

tender heart produces humility and hope

that I can receive the blessings that

He has promised.

Does fear paralyze you?

If allowed to go unchecked, fear can paralyze.

Three strategic errors that allow fear to conquer us:

1.      An ignorance of God’s purpose for our lives.

2.      A lack of faith in God’s power and wisdom.

3.      Selfish views that are of very limited duration and value.

To defeat fear:

1.      Recognition of our inadequacy which leads to fellowship with God by listening to His word with hearts of obedient faith.

2.      Recognition of the dignity that God has given to us by creating us “in His image.”

3.      We can develop a DYNAMIC CONFIDENCE by prayers, worship and a spirit that says to God, “Here I am…USE ME.”

Are you discontent?

Two kinds of discontent are in all of our lives.

There is the discontent that works to accomplish goals.

There is the discontent that wrings its hands and loses what it has.

There is no cure for the first but SUCCESS.

There is NO CURE for the second.

We have the right to be discontented with certain elements in our society.  We have the RESPONSIBILITY to cure this discontent with determined efforts to make things better.

We must begin TODAY right where we are.

REMEMBER:

It is better to light a candle

than to curse the darkness.

“To finish FIRST,

you must FIRST FINISH.”

THE SCHOLAR'S PRAYER

FOR STUDENTS:

The “Scholar’s Prayer” written by Cambridge University scholar H. C. G. Moule (1841-1920). 

Love and Savior, true and kind,

be the master of my mind; 

Bless and guide and strengthen still

all my powers of thought and will.

While I ply the scholar’s task,

Jesus Christ be near, I ask;

Help the memory, clear the brain,

knowledge still to seek and gain.

Here I train for life’s swift race;

let me do it in Thy grace.

Here I arm me for life’s flight;

let me do it in Thy might.

Thou hast made me mind and soul;

I for Thee would use the whole;

Thou has died that I might live;

all my powers to Thee I give.

STRIVING, THINKING, LEARNING

STILL, LET ME FOLLOW THUS

THY WILL, TILL MY WHOLE GLAD

NATURE BE, TRAINED FOR DUTY

AND FOR THEE.  

How To Get Along With Others

In his book, The Carpenter and You, the late Dr. Karl Minninger, a world famous psychiatrist, gives these suggestions to help each of us get along with others:

·        Take a personal interest in those around you…learn the first names of those with whom you associate daily.

·        Work hard at controlling your temper.  Practice showing a good attitude even when you do not feel like it.

·        Be slow to condemn but very quick to show appreciation and to compliment.

·        Be willing to ask for forgiveness when you make a mistake.

·        Be quick to forgive when an apology is given to you.

·        Remember that it is more important to find what is right rather than who is right.

·        Be the kind of person that you want the other person to be. 

What does love look like?

“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others.  It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.  It has eyes to see misery and want.  It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

That is what love looks like.”  Augustine.

FEED YOUR MIND WITH THIS NOURISHMENT FROM GOD’S WORD:  (For best results read these words aloud.)

“Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast,

it is not proud.  It is not rude,

it is not self-seeking, it is not

easily angered, it keeps no record

of wrongs.  Love does not delight

in evil but rejoices in the truth.

It always protects, always trusts,

always hopes,  always perseveres.

 LOVE NEVER FAILS.”

I Corinthians 13:4-8

Now read them again…slowly…carefully. 

WHAT IS YOUR EXCUSE?

Before either of us complains about life being unfair…

CONSIDER THE CHALLENGE OF BEN FRANKLIN:

He was the oldest signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

He achieved fame in 21 lines of endeavor.

He was a philosopher, statesman, man of letters, journalist, author, essayist, printer, publisher, economist, scientist, linguist, inventor, humanitarian, historian and mathematician.

HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF ONLY TWO YEARS OF FORMAL EDUCATION!

Are You Personally Responsible?

“We live in an age of specialization where nine out of ten specialists are so specialized that they have to recommend other specialists.”

You and I must remember that there are certain basic responsibilities that must be met on an individual level. They cannot be shifted to a “specialized agency.”

One of these is that I am accountable for the way that I use the talents and the opportunities given to me.  This recognition will prevent my becoming immersed in jealousy, laziness, or a hyper-critical attitude.

I WILL NOT HAVE THE TIME FOR THESE TIME-CONSUMING ITEMS! 

WISDOM FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON

“It is impossible to account

for the creation of the universe,

without the agency of

A SUPREME BEING.

It is impossible to govern the

the universe without the aid of

A SUPREME BEING.

It is impossible to reason

without arriving at

A SUPREME BEING.”

Personal Conclusions:

            It is impossible for me to direct my life to the fullest without respecting the will of the CREATOR who has revealed Himself in His book, the BIBLE. 

WISDOM FROM ABRAHAM LINCOLN

“It is the duty of nations, as well

as men, to own their dependence

upon the overruling power of God

AND

to recognize the sublime truth

announced in the Holy Scriptures

AND

proven by all history, that those

nations only are blessed

whose God is the Lord.”