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 Even after such laws were formally repealed, making merry on Christmas was long frowned upon socially.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 ...

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 o...

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 Iaco...

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...

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 manne...