Paul Lindsay

Christmas is a national holiday in the U.S., the U.K., and a host of other countries. For many people—regardless of their religion—it’s a paid day off from work. But employers actually aren’t compelled to grant the benefit, at least in the States and in Britain. If you get to stay home on December 25th, it’s due to company policy or specific contract rights. With some jobs, of course, working on Christmas is part of the deal when you sign on. This coming Monday, cadres of nurses and doctors, fire fighters and police officers will be on duty for at least part of the day. There was a time when working on Christmas was the rule—not the exception. The devoutly Christian Puritan settlers in Massachusetts banned all celebrations of the day, associating such events with paganism and idolatry. (England had similar prohibitions, as well.) Even after such laws were formally repealed, making merry on Christmas was long frowned upon socially. The holiday, as we now know it, didn’t really ascend

We have now reached once again the unique holiday of Thanksgiving. Very few countries celebrate a thanksgiving holiday of any type. Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in   Canada , the   United States , some of the Caribbean islands, and   Liberia . It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in   Germany   and   Japan . In the last few years we have witnessed less notice of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. It appears we recognize Halloween and then move to Christmas, leaving Thanksgiving out in the cold. Thanksgiving by it’s very name as you know is giving of thanks. Are we as a people thankful? I must admit that the vast majority of people are not thankful or they don’t appear to be. It has been suggested that Thanksgiving isn’t as popular because it doesn’t generate near the income for retailers that Christmas produces. I imagine this is true from that aspect

All of us have a dream. When we were small children an adult would ask us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” My generation would answer something like this, “I want to be a policeman, a fireman, an astronaut” I could name so many other career choices. If you are to ask kids from this current generation, you would receive a completely different set of answers. Some of the answers you would possibly get would be,   I want to be a You Tube celebrity, I want to be a blogger, I could continue with so many opportunities that didn’t exist 5 years ago. If a young person has a dream of achieving whatever they desire, the possibilities are fantastic with the advent of technology. The ability to work from anywhere using the internet makes so many things possible. As I mentioned earlier, you can post video to You Tube and it can be seen worldwide. A live radio broadcast can be produced from anywhere with an internet connection. Whatever dream you have, the possibilities of re

All of us deal with some form of adversity. Adversity is defined in it’s simplicity as difficulties and misfortune. I don’t know anyone who wakes up on a daily basis and says to the themselves, “I look forward to a day full of adversity!”  We all face difficulties each and every day. Some difficulties are more aggravating than others, that goes without saying. Whenever a difficulty starts, we need to first check our attitude. If we react in a positive way when the difficulty begins, we have a better chance of coming out of it much faster. If we react negatively, it could go on much longer than we wish for it to continue. It is how we respond to adversity that determines how long we stay in it and how it will affect us in the long term. Keep in mind this quote by Barbara De Angelis, “We don’t develop courage by being happy everyday. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” When adversity comes into your life, do something positive. Lee Iacocca

I had the privilege of visiting a former church we were a part of for 14 years on Sunday. I saw a large number of very dear friends who I miss being with each week. When you serve in a ministry who has a large number of dedicated volunteers, you remember the passion to do everything with excellence because it is for the Kingdom of God. I am always energized when I am around people who have a heart to give their best to make things run efficiently with the desire to glorify God and make the name of Jesus great. What I am describing is found with this team each and every week. I had the privilege of serving with the media team in this church. Most of my time in this ministry was serving behind a camera. I must admit it was more fun than work for me. We were allowed to be creative to make the production look great. Each ministry in this church is operated incredibly well. This makes a visit to this church such a great pleasure. When everyone is on the same pa

It is interesting to me, how we don’t realize that how we think, affects our lives. We make most of our decisions based on what we ponder. Consider how much you dwell on a particular thought and at some point you make plans on how you will make it happen.  You possibly have thought on a matter so intently, that you start making hand motions or your foot moves as if you are actually doing what you are only thinking about. Your thoughts are actually very powerful. It is the genesis of any action you take. Books have been written on what effects our thinking can accomplish. Possibly one of the better known books on the subject is “Think And Grow Rich” written by Napoleon Hill. The book was first released in the 1930’s and changed the trajectory of many lives. Many of the concepts are found in the Word of God, the writer only acknowledges the fact in rare mentions. Another source that is out there is the Master Key System. It follows the same concept as the book “Think And Gro

In each situation in our lives we react a certain way to what is happening, in many cases reacting differently than other people. Why do we react differently than others? It is perspective!     Perspective is defined as “a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.” In a light hearted way, (in some cases) a football game comes to mind. You may be pulling for your favorite team and your good friend is pulling for the opposing team. Each of you are pulling for your team with all your might. At the end of the game, one of the teams prevails while the other team is dejected over the loss.   If your team won and your friends team lost. You are thrilled, your friend not so much. From your perspective it is awesome to have a win, your friend isn’t happy at all. Why? It is from the perspective you are coming from. You may have a particular point of view concerning a matter and many around you don’t share your view. You think in the manner you do becau

Have Persistence Can you imagine how many people who have dreams and aspirations to do great things in life, they get started to fulfill those dreams, but something takes place to hinder those dreams and aspirations? Can you imagine how they begin to feel when things begin to go wrong and their plans are not being fulfilled? If you have been in the place where you had plans to accomplish something to make a great impact in your area of influence, you then take steps to start and then things start to go awry, what do you do at that point? You know the answer to that question! You keep moving forward! You do not stop! You have persistence to see it through! The 30 th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) made an incredible statement that is worth repeating, read it and let it inspire you, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius

The Secret To Success? We have seen so many books over the years that is purported to have the secret to success. Admittedly I have read many of these books that gives the steps to accomplish, which leads to success. If you have read any of these books, you know they have a lot of helpful information. I read a statement from a gentleman who has had tremendous success in his life and he said something interesting, “There are no secrets to success: Don’t waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence.” The gentleman who made this statement was U.S. Army General (retired) Colin Powell. Mr. Powell stated some powerful thoughts for us to consider. He said, Success is the result of “perfection”. I am unable to find an explanation as to why he said that. I am imagining it points to how focused you are, in reaching your goal. Hard work is a given, if you wish to be successful,

  Isn’t it interesting that what we say to someone and how we say it, has the ability to change the entire trajectory which they may go in? If you have watched the way a child responds to the way someone speaks to them and what is said to the child, how those words could set the direction the child will go. You will in some cases see their direction changed for the remainder of their life, seeing them do great good in their generation. It will cause you to consider the way you speak, or it should.   Encouragement is one of the great things you can give someone. A quote from Wilfred A. Peterson from the book “The Art of the Living Treasure Chest” published by Simon & Schuster has a quote that is believed to have actually happened, whatever the case, it has a great truth which comes from a time of great pain in the life of Abraham Lincoln.   The powerful quote is this, “Words of encouragement fan the spark of genius into the flame of achievement. Legend tells us that Lincoln

  I read a quotation some time ago that is well worth repeating, “It’s the start that stops most people.” I believe the thought behind the quote is the fact that people have great ideas, but haven’t acted on them yet. But, as soon as they start taking action, they discover that it is much more difficult than they anticipated. This results in them becoming a non-starter.   Don’t be the person who has the idea to start, but when you start, you find that it involves more work than you expected and you decide to quit. Consider the possibility that if you push through, that you may fulfill that dream you have had for a long time.   You may remember basketball great Michael Jordan. During his heyday, a saying was coined through much television promotion, “Be like Mike”. He was the most decorated basketball player in his time. He appeared in numerous television commercials, including shoes that bore his name. They were called Air Jordan’s. Mike also appeared in movies. Anytime you wo

If your goals are logical, don’t expect luck or the like. Why? Luck doesn’t exist! “You need to aim beyond what you are capable of. You need to develop a complete disregard for where your abilities end. If you think you’re unable to work for the best company in its sphere, make that your aim. If you think you’re unable to be on the cover of TIME magazine, make it your business to be there. Make your vision of where you want to be a reality. Nothing is impossible.”   —Paul Arden Paul Arden made an incredible statement above. Many will possibly read it and think that is a good statement and go on to something else and not think anything more about it. Let’s break it down and see what we can glean from it. It is something that will not only cause you to have a positive thought, but, encourage you to make a move in a positive direction. Now let’s begin the breakdown in the statement: 1. You need to aim beyond what you are capable of. As you know, so many of

Create something you wish already existed.  Have you ever thought, “I wish someone would create something to solve this problem”? When that thought crossed your mind, did you begin to picture in your mind the solution, seeing the steps to solving the problem? Is it possible that you are being given the knowledge to creating the solution to your own problem? Perhaps, you have the solution to a problem for someone you are yet to meet. You may ask how is that possible? It possibly came as a fleeting thought and you continued to ponder on that thought and you began the steps necessary to complete the process and you are not sure why you put in so much effort. Could it be, that you could have the solution to someone’s problem? God has ways to use us, that we may never consider. When you see something that has amazed you or you wonder why someone created “that”!  It is possible that, it was not created for you, but for a person that you will encounter in the near future? Have yo

Your vision of who you want to be is your greatest asset. “Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.”   —Oprah Winfrey This statement made by Oprah is a powerful one to say the least. While I’m not a fan of what Oprah teaches, because as you know, she is a great believer of New Age philosophy, there is no doubting the truth in the statement above. As children, we had an incredible imagination, with dreams of what we would become when we grew up. Some fulfilled those dreams, sadly most have not. Many of us grew up quickly and did not have the opportunity to chase and catch those dreams. I was one who did catch the dream, but I got comfortable and took for granted that it would never end. As you well know, reality does set in and you find out nothing lasts forever. As you and I have discovered, we have to continue dreaming and setting goals to continue progressing effectively through life. “No matter where you a

Don’t wait to start.  One of many things I have learned through life is don’t wait to start. Time moves so incredibly fast.   If you don’t purposefully carve time out every day to make progress and improve whatever you wish to accomplish,   without question, your time will get lost in our increasingly crowded lives. Before you know it, you’ll be old and withered   wondering where all that time went. I feel like I should still be in my 20’s, but I am in my 50’s!! I waited many years to actively start doing many things I enjoy today including writing. I have been guilty of waiting for the right moment when I’d have enough time, money and whatever else I thought I needed. I was waiting until I was somehow qualified or had permission to do what I wanted to do. We all do that don’t we? But you are never prequalified. There is no degree for “live your dreams.” You qualify yourself by showing up and working. Then you continue to work until you master what you are attempting to fulfill i