Happy New Year, Done, Now set Goals

Now that everyone is done celebrating the New Year and making New Year's resolutions, we can make another important decision. We can decide to sit down seriously and map out a plan to make real changes. Because let's face it, some of you have already broken your New Years resolutions.

Sit down and plan some realistic goals for you to obtain in 2009 and beyond. It generally a good Idea to plan 5 years ahead. Set short term goals that lead up to long term goals. If you had to swim across a channel, you wouldn't aim for the shore that you couldn't see. You would first shoot for the channel marker in plain site. Put some goals up within reach that are steps in the process of obtaining your long term goals.

How do you set goals? Well, first remember that we talked about the five areas of life, Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness, and Finance. The first being the most important and respectively down the line to Finance being the last of importance. Many people have it backwards.

C.S. Lewis said,”If you shoot for Heaven, you will get both Heaven and Earth, but if you shoot at just for Earth you will wind up with neither.”

So set some goals in your faith, for me that would be a better relationship with my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is natural for us humans to search for the truth, and you will find it in the Bible.

Take each area of life and grab some paper and ask yourself; “What would I like to Have? What would I like to do? What would I like to become?” Maybe you would like to have more time to be with your family, or maybe you would like to do more exercise this year to become more fit. If it is to loose weight then set dates with the amount of weight you would like to loose. Say, 20 lbs in 90 days? Maybe you want to be a better Mom or Dad to your children? Maybe you want to set a financial goal and add 500 dollars per month to your income in 60days. Financial Goals are generally goals that support the other areas of life. For Instance, Let's say you want to be a better Dad, so you set a goal to spend more quality time with your daughter. You may need some financial goals to afford to take her to Disney Land. You can see how the areas of life all effect each other and need to be in balance. Maybe you need to develop a greater servant heart in you faith goals? Well that will effect your goal to be a better Dad, don't you think?

I recommend people set some goals to make new friends, learn how to love people, and in turn God will bless you for it. Quite frankly if you stop learning and growing in any of these areas of life, your progress will be hindered. Well, that leads me to the next thought.

You must continue to learn in all areas of life. Why you ask? Because you can never make serious changes with the same knowledge you currently have. If you keep the knowledge the same, the results will definitely not change and you can expect 2009 to be the same year as 2008. Now for some, that may be good if you are satisfied with the results. But if not, then you will need new information as a catalyst to change your results.

In specific, start reading some good books, such as, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, Napoleon Hill's Think and Get Rich, and of course the Bible. Get you hands on the recording by Earl Nightingale, The Strangest Secret. That should help you make some significant change for 2009.


Happy New Year and continued Blessings throughout the year.

Who is Santa Claus Anyway?

I had this kid, Shawn, say to me the other day, “Santa is coming tomorrow.” Then another boy, Edward, said,”Ahhhh, I don't believe in that stuff.” So I said to Edward, “What do you believe in?” And Edward said, “I believe in that the little baby Jesus was born.” “You are a very smart kid Edward”, as I uplifted him for his belief. But then I said to them both, “Santa Claus was a real person and his name is really Saint Nicholas.” Then Edward said, “yeah but, you know rain deers can't fly.” “I know what you mean Edward,” I responded. I let it alone after that but later it got me thinking some more. These kids are most likely in 3rd or 4th grade and both really good kids.



I personally believe that Santa Claus is taking too much attention away from the real reason for celebrating Christmas. We know that Jesus is the “Reason for the Season”. And yes the fruit of the Holy Spirit should be present during Christmas and all year. (Peace, Joy, Love).

The facts are we have blown Santa Claus way out of proportion to what Santa Claus really wanted. Santa Claus didn't do what Santa Claus did to get any fame or notoriety. Santa Claus was a real person who loved our Lord and Savior with all his heart and all his mind. Let's make Jesus Christ first and keep Christ in Christmas. I think Santa Claus would have prefered it that way.

Here is an interesting youtube post:




Now don't get me wrong here. I'm not trying to be a party poop per and ruin it for those kids that believe Santa came down their chimney last night. I mean, I grew up with that and loved it when I was a kid. I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here. What I am trying to say is let's not loose the real meaning of Christmas. That's it.

I got this flyer on my car the other day while stopping in at K-mart, I noticed there was a lady putting them on all the cars with such efficiency, that when I stopped in at Wal-Mart I got another one too. I mean she must of went through 1,000 cars, easy. I looked at the flyer and it was barking loud at anyone who celebrated Christmas. I mean, First is was a roman pagan holiday, 2nd the Christmas tree is a pagan symbol and should not be used. 3rd Christ wasn't born on Dec. 25th. 4Th , I forget what 4th was and even 5th and 6th.

Now there might be some degree of truth there, but I say. “So What” Let people celebrate Christmas, who cares what date, who cares if they have a Christmas tree or not. Who cares if their kids are looking for gifts under the tree from Santa. All that stuff isn't important anyway. The main reason for the season is the Jesus Christ came form Heaven to save us from our sins and bring us into a closer relationship with the Father. We can argue the detail later. Let's enjoy the season and keep that message flowing to every corner of the earth. Let's not use this season to argue, judge, and pick on one another. It is not what Saint Nicholas wanted and certainly not what God wants.

My Friend Frank always says,” God wants you to do two things to be in his will, Give, and Forgive. Now go spread the Gospel to all nations and stop fighting about it. Show the fruits of the Holy Spirit within

Merry Christmas

Video link remove as it is no longer available. 

Thanksgiving After Thoughts

You know one of the reasons I write this blog is to encourage others to have good relationships. When I first started working in business, I didn’t realize how important these skills are. I was always the type of person to get along with everyone, but I never really showed my emotions. I wasn’t expressive. I didn’t realize that people needed to see my heart not just hear my words.

When I dove into the network marketing business, I realized I had to pick up these people skills to a higher level. Not only to a higher level but also to a higher calling with my Lord and Savoir. At first it was all business, and then it became about the people, and through the struggles I realized that I couldn’t do it all by myself. I needed the biggest hitter working on my side. “All things are possible through Christ.” Now this was a process that took some time. Interestingly enough, other people on my team were going through the same process and the relationships grew stronger.

Well that leads me to Thanksgiving. I didn’t set this up, but I was thankful to have a part in it. My buddies Frank and Sharon, Frank and I met years ago in the martial arts and we are in business together, and we got with Shawn and Karla, Chris, Keith, and some others, to do a Thanksgiving Meal for homeless mothers and their kids. Now what made it easy was that Frank runs a pizzeria and had all the tools needed to cook the meal. It was like a catering job. Let me tell you something, That turkey was among the best I had ever tasted. It was like butter slowly melting in your mouth. It was good!

Anyway, we all got together early Thursday morning before doing our own family time. And served the meal to these mothers. It was a good feeling for us all. When we got there we all shared with the mothers and ourselves why we were grateful. We said prayers. Frank read a devotional book from John Maxwell that was right on. We were done by 12:30 PM and headed back to our perspective homes.

I think we all got the message that life is more than about ourselves, and that we can get together, by no coincidence I might add, and do great things for each other and other people. And God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit gets the full credit, because with the inspiration from God we wouldn’t even have known what to do. God gets all the credit.

Which brings me to my next thought, about how far America is deviating from what make her great. I heard fellow once say, Tim Marks, on a recording, “We have the most educated society in the history of mankind, and yet we are further from the truth than ever before.” How true this is!

Just look at what happened at Wal-Mart the next day. A crowd of greedy people stampeding the doors for a black Friday bargain kills a man at a part time job. Not one person in that crowd had enough common sense to stop and realize this isn’t all that important anyway. For the life of me, I really can’t understand why anyone would wait in a line from 10 PM the night before. You must not place much value on your time to do that. Forget about the flu shot, our society needs a shot of righteousness to straiten our buts out. Bring morals and values back to America. Sure, there are a lot of people shaking their heads right now in agreement, but the proof is in the pudding. (Chef lingo)

Well getting back to Turkey Day, later that same day I saw the 700 Club do a piece on the history of Thanksgiving and I said that has to go in my blog. Yes, even if it takes until Dec 4 to write about it. This piece is so inspiring to see how our forefathers thought and why we are blessed so much by our God. I mean get real, how do you think a little nation made up of 13 colonies barely held together by a string, with not enough healthy soldiers, or enough supplies and weaponry, could have beaten the most powerful nation on earth at that time. Maybe it was Luck? Nope, I don’t think so, it was shear determination to be in the will of God. You will see that when you see this video. It is in George Washington’s own words, as he dedicates a national day of Thanksgiving.

I hope you enjoy, and remember being thankful is part of developing an attractive personality. God Bless.

Why Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness, and Finance?

Finally getting down to why I’m writing this blog and sharing with both people I know personally and those who don’t even know who the heck I am. Well, I hope that something I say here on the blog will help someone. I hope that there will be some seed of thought here that will be planted on fertile ground.. As said in the bible in Mark 4:20,

“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

So people are probably asking why these five areas of life? And the answer is important, as these are the categories that all humans have in common. Each one affects the other and yet is important on its own. Take for instance, Friends as the third category, who your friends are will effect the other four areas. The wrong friends will tear those other categories down and you with the process. The right friends will build you up and cause spillover into the other 4 areas of life or categories. The truth is that a balance between these areas is what will give a more fruitful life.

Second, the order, Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness and Finance, is for a specific reason. It is the order of priority. Faith, being the highest priority, also transcends itself into the other 4 areas of life. Faith is the belief in things not seen. It is the ability to see positive things for the future even when bad things happen. That’s why leading a spiritual life is so important, as it benefits all areas of life. Generally, when a person lacks Faith then Fear takes over. Fear is just the other side, also a belief in things not seen, but is the lack of hope, a negative attitude. Yes, Faith is by far the most important indeed.

The last of the five is Finance. You can have all the money you need and still be unsuccessful. Sure, money is a good tool, but not the secret to happiness. However, the lack of this area will, like the other 4, spillover and affects the other areas of life.

Family and Friends mainly has to do with cultivating good relationships. It is amazing to me how much modern peoples lack in this regard. Learning to nurture your relationships will only have a positive effect on your entire life.

And of course, Fitness is so important. We have all heard the saying, “Without our health we have nothing”, although not absolutely true, it obviously trumps how much money you have in the bank.

It is amazing how much time has gone by after starting this blog. I have so much to share with you and look forward to covering some more on this topic. I will also be covering specific elements from all the 5 areas of life.

Blessings to YOU! I will leave you with a very funny video about priorities, WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER BE

The Video is no longer available. So I removed the link.

OBAMA VS. McCAIN

One more day until the election and I will be glad not to have to listen to one more negative political ad. I can’t recall when a political season of worse negativity than in this year in 2008. It is basically more of the same. I can’t wait until someone speaks up and encourages campaign finance reform. It seems congress passes one law and the parties and candidates always find a way around it.

What I would like to see is each candidate that runs for president has the same media coverage and advertising dollars to run their campaigns. I would like to see some accountability for accuracy in information. Let’s face it both candidates stretched the truth. It is interesting to see all the facts that are stretched this year.

Just take a minute and look at all the disputed claims on factcheck.org. I won’t repeat it here put just take a look.

http://www.factcheck.org/archive/October_2008.html

There should be laws in place just like there is with commercial organizations such as vitamin companies, where there are fines rendered for false information to the public. These are just my opinion, but doesn’t that make sense?

I would also like to see third parties treated fairly. Many good third parties have great ideas that are being suppressed by the big two. I particularly like the libertarian party, and the constitutional party. The reform party has some good ideas and so does the Green Party. I’m not promoting a third party here, but I think they should be heard.

Here are some websites to look at:

http://www.lp.org/

http://www.constitutionparty.com/

http://www.gp.org/index.php

http://www.reformpartyusa.org/


It really is amazing how many third parties there actually are:

http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm

Well with all that said I will disclose who I am going to vote for, and that is John McCain and Sara Palin. The reason I am going to vote that way is because of the social issues that I feel are going further and further away from what I believe to be the truth. And that is the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And that our rights are endowed by our creator. This county was founded on Judeo Christian values and it is those values and respect for God that has allowed this nation to become great. It will be the loss of those values that will send this nation into destruction, as did the Persian Empire, and the Roman Empire fall into obscurity.

George Washington said that it is impossible to govern a nation without God and the bible. I think everyone should be taught what was in the minds of our country’s founders. Take some time to research and to understand what made this county what it is today.

http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/

Ok, I will leave you with some humor, and wish you all a tremendous election day.
Go Vote!

Halloween? Not Really all that fun,

I’m sorry to see so much evil celebrated on this day. A day that was originally called Hallows Eve, should be used for its original purpose, and that is to celebrate the great Christians who went before us. All Saints Day is really what true Christian should remember. Here is a post from Chuck Colson on Breakpoint from last year about All Saints Day,

Hope you enjoy!




Honoring the Witnesses - All Saints' Day

It is Halloween again, and to be frank, I really don't look forward to talking about it on "Breakpoint" every year. At best, Halloween has become an excuse to ask total strangers for candy. At worst, it is a celebration of the mindless paganism our ancestors wisely turned their backs on.
So this year, I would like to turn your attention to the often-overlooked celebration that Halloween calls to mind. In case you have missed it before, the name Halloween is a shortening of All Hallow's Eve and signifies the night before All Saints' Day.
For centuries on All Saints' Day the Church celebrated the lives of Christians who went before us. And rightly so: We can learn so much from those whom the author of Hebrews calls that great cloud of witnesses.
The tradition of remembering the Church triumphant dates back to the time of the first Christian martyrs. When soldiers of Marcus Aurelius Verus came to arrest Polycarp, a beloved church leader, Polycarp greeted them kindly. According to the third century historian Eusebius, Polycarp "ordered a table to be laid for them immediately, invited them to eat as much as they liked, asking in return a single hour in which he could pray."
When Polycarp later stood in the coliseum, accused and surrounded by the jeering crowds, the governor pressed him to recant his faith. Instead, this man, who himself had been discipled by the Apostle John, said this: "For eighty-six years, I have been [Christ's] servant, and He has never done me wrong: How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" As they were preparing to burn him alive, Polycarp offered up prayers of faith and praise.
In the years following Polycarp's death, Christians would gather annually to take communion beside his grave. There they would remember his brave witness and take courage from his example.
As the years passed, the day shifted in focus from remembering Polycarp to honoring all martyrs. By the seventh century, the Church created a holiday to honor all of God's saints—heroes of the faith.
One of my favorite heroes was a woman named Monica, who lived during the fourth century. She would never face flames or jeering crowds, as did Polycarp, but she did face testing. That testing came in the form of her own longing for the return of her prodigal son, Augustine. His licentious lifestyle made this Christian mother weep. Later, when Augustine, who is now known as one of the foremost theologians of Christianity and scholars of Western civilization, did come to Christ, he wrote this prayer: "My mother, Your faithful servant, wept to You for me, shedding more tears for my spiritual death than others shed for the bodily death of a son. You heard her."
I could tell you story after story like this, from Justin Martyr to Martin Luther to Amy Carmichael. But let me encourage you to do something this All Saints' Day. Take the lead in your church to honor the great saints who set examples for us. Reacquaint your children with Halloween's Christian origins. Research together and talk about the lives of Christian heroes.
Sure, go ahead and let the kids dress up like Batman and hit up your neighbors for candy. But when the hoopla of modern Halloween is over, encourage your kids to imitate some real heroes—not in what they put on, but in how they live their lives.
-Chuck Colson

9/11 What have we really learned?

I find it strange how people forget about 9/11. Yet it seems such a short time ago that the nation pulled together as one people.

Today people are looking to find blame for the condition of the economy, either it's the democrats, or it's the Republicans fault. Depending on who you decide to vote for.

But let's not forget what really is causing this depression. The war on terrorism is still going on and oil is the weapon of choice. The attack is not about territory or land it is about ideas and truth. Those that would like to see the values of this country eroded would love to have another 9/11. We really are not through this war on terror yet.

And if the terrorist win by wiping the values we hold dear from all Americans thoughts, they will succeed in conquering America. Because America is an idea.

God Bless America and lets all be grateful for the little things. A friend of mine sent me this video and it is great. I hope it affects you the way it affected me. Peace and Love to you All!