A short one this month.
The greater your ability to to practice true humility, the greater your chances become of avoiding humiliation.
That's all folks!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, December 6, 2012
The Other Side of Leadership
Most Leadership Developers have a consistent theme: What it takes to become a great leader.
Most Leadership Developers are fantastic at teaching their respective themes. There's tremendous wisdom passed on through these themes.
Let's talk about what not to do if you want to become a great leader.
I'm talking about the opposite of VALID Leadership, aptly called UN-VALID leadership.
VALID leaders practice Vision, Association, Love, Involvement, and Discipline. These traits produce excellent leadership qualities.
UN-VALID leaders practice Vengeance, Arrogance, Lying, Insecurity, and Division. These traits produce destruction and devastation to any organization who allow them to take a strong hold.
Although Solomon talks about it throughout the book of Proverbs, he sums it up in 4 verses.
Solomon states in verse 16 that God hates the traits listed above.
If God considers them an abomination, shouldn't we do our best to avoid them?
As a VALID Leader you'd better.
Most Leadership Developers are fantastic at teaching their respective themes. There's tremendous wisdom passed on through these themes.
Let's talk about what not to do if you want to become a great leader.
I'm talking about the opposite of VALID Leadership, aptly called UN-VALID leadership.
VALID leaders practice Vision, Association, Love, Involvement, and Discipline. These traits produce excellent leadership qualities.
UN-VALID leaders practice Vengeance, Arrogance, Lying, Insecurity, and Division. These traits produce destruction and devastation to any organization who allow them to take a strong hold.
Although Solomon talks about it throughout the book of Proverbs, he sums it up in 4 verses.
- Vengeance- Hands That Shed Innocent Blood (17), A False Witness Who Brings Out Lies (19)
- Arrogance- Haughty Eyes (17)
- Lying- A lying Tongue (17), False Witness Who Brings Out Lies (19)
- Insecurity- Pick Any Of Them (17-19)
- Division- Devising Wicked Plans (18), Sowing Discord Among Brothers (19)
Solomon states in verse 16 that God hates the traits listed above.
If God considers them an abomination, shouldn't we do our best to avoid them?
As a VALID Leader you'd better.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Thoughts To Live By: Thanks to Solomon and James Allen
The last few months has been an educational period. The main lesson, Contentment, took top billing.
By reading a chapter of Proverbs each day, as I've done for the last four years; combined with a highlighted segment of As A Man Thinketh, the path to contentment is much clearer.
I'm not sure we're ever to actually reach the destination of total contentment, but the journey toward there is worth traveling.
There are numerous passages in Proverbs which describe contentment. Today's 21:19 from the ESV says, "Its better to live in a desert land, than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman." This book is loaded with instructions in every chapter to guide us along.
The segment from James Allen, "A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting his thoughts," should be stored in your memory banks and spoken out loud every day.
We are what we think about all day long, and we get to choose the topic.
Mine is Contentment. What's yours?
By reading a chapter of Proverbs each day, as I've done for the last four years; combined with a highlighted segment of As A Man Thinketh, the path to contentment is much clearer.
I'm not sure we're ever to actually reach the destination of total contentment, but the journey toward there is worth traveling.
There are numerous passages in Proverbs which describe contentment. Today's 21:19 from the ESV says, "Its better to live in a desert land, than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman." This book is loaded with instructions in every chapter to guide us along.
The segment from James Allen, "A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting his thoughts," should be stored in your memory banks and spoken out loud every day.
We are what we think about all day long, and we get to choose the topic.
Mine is Contentment. What's yours?
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Christian Fiction Online Magazine
The latest version of CFOM is now live at
http://christianfictiononlinemagazine.com
My latest short, part two of Proverbial Intake, is part. Please check it out and provide feedback.
Thanks,
James
http://christianfictiononlinemagazine.com
My latest short, part two of Proverbial Intake, is part. Please check it out and provide feedback.
Thanks,
James
Friday, July 27, 2012
Break
I'll be taking a break from this blog to finish my novel, Operation Geronimo, thanks for your understanding
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Proverbs 1: Theme?
The first chapter of Proverbs has three major themes. The first and most important will be discussed last.
The next two, in no particular order are:
Association and Wisdom.
Association is the second factor in VALID leadership. Who you allow to populate your inner circle will affect who you become.
Verse 10 (ESV), My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
Wisdom is putting knowledge and experience to work. Why spend countless hours learning and trying new things if you don't apply them.
Verse 33 (ERV), but those who listen to me will live in safety and comfort. They will have nothing to fear.
The final and most important theme of chapter 1 is verses 2-7. These actually explain what the book is about and what we can learn from it. Today let's start with verse 2 and 3.
Verse 2 (ERV) They will help you learn to be wise, to accept correction, and to understand wise sayings.
Verse 3 (ERV) They will teach you to develop your mind in the right way. You will learn to do what is right and to be honest and fair.
The next two, in no particular order are:
Association and Wisdom.
Association is the second factor in VALID leadership. Who you allow to populate your inner circle will affect who you become.
Verse 10 (ESV), My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
Wisdom is putting knowledge and experience to work. Why spend countless hours learning and trying new things if you don't apply them.
Verse 33 (ERV), but those who listen to me will live in safety and comfort. They will have nothing to fear.
The final and most important theme of chapter 1 is verses 2-7. These actually explain what the book is about and what we can learn from it. Today let's start with verse 2 and 3.
Verse 2 (ERV) They will help you learn to be wise, to accept correction, and to understand wise sayings.
Verse 3 (ERV) They will teach you to develop your mind in the right way. You will learn to do what is right and to be honest and fair.
The Proverbial Intake system uses these verses to form its foundation. Why look anywhere else for solid, life-changing advice?
Proverbs is where it's at! You just have to use it.
Proverbs is where it's at! You just have to use it.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
A Thematic Approach to Proverbs
My wife and I have employed the Proverbial Intake System for about four years running. Over this time we've become quite familiar with the book and the message it portrays.
One of our new goals is to decipher a theme for each chapter and institute that theme during the day.
This isn't as easy as we thought. Many of the chapters have multiple themes. Some appear just to be random thoughts reading like the chart below.
 |
| Randomness |
Still others send a clear message. One chapter in particular, 20, devotes 9 different verses to honesty in our business dealings. We'll discuss this in detail and others over the next few weeks.
Until then, off to Houston for our son's high school graduation.
God Bless.
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