focus on strengths

Although you're keeping an eye out for both strengths and weaknesses, your focus should be on an employee's strengths. Conventional wisdom holds that self-awareness is a good thing and that it's the job of the manager to identify weaknesses and create a plan for overcoming them. But research by Albert Bandura, the father of social learning theory, has shown that self-assurance (labelled "self-efficacy" by cognitive psychologists), not self-awareness, is the strongest predictor of a person's ability to set high goals, to persist in the face of obstacles, to bounce back when reversals occur, and, ultimately, to achieve the goals they set. By contrast, self-awareness has not been shown to be a predictor of any of these outcomes, and in some cases, it appears to retard them.

awesome graphic

Contemplate this picture, what an awesome way of communicating the idea that God pursues us to protect.

More like this can be found at http://www.christianlectionarygraphics.com/

an elephant experience

Was in Thailand recently for a conference run by David Bussau who is an awesome man of God. While at the conference I got to visit an elephant park where I saw elephants riding bikes, playing soccer and throwing darts. But best of all was the elephant ride and then getting picked up by an elephant trunk. What an awesome animal they are.

how lucky am I

My bike, a Yamaha FJ1100 needed some major work, and my lovely wife let me spend some of our savings picking up a new bike, and really its a bike of my dreams. Now I am the proud owner of a 2001 Kawasaki VN1500.
See you on the road.

ebooks

If you are interested in ebooks, digital versions of books that can be read on your PC or PDA, then check out the 16,000 titles available at http://www.gutenberg.org/

anonymous - just give me Jesus

An anonymous author made this striking comparison:
Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ's 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.
Jesus painted no pictures; yet some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him.
Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by Him.
Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach and Mendelssohn, (also Wesley, F. Crosby and Gaither, etc.) reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratorios they composed in His praise.
Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth. His unique contribution to the race of men is the salvation of the soul! Philosophy could not accomplish that. Nor art. Nor literature. Nor music. Only Jesus Christ can break the enslaving chains of sin and Satan. He alone can speak peace to the human heart, strengthen the weak, and give life to those who are spiritually dead.
I cannot speak for you, but as for me, "just give me Jesus."

how did the bible come together?

The Church History Institute (http://chi.gospelcom.net/index.php) has some great articles about Church History. Of particular current interest is the articles about the Da Vinci Code and also an excellent article on how the New Testament came into being. (http://chi.gospelcom.net/morestories/canon.shtml)

God's method

"If God incarnate pitched his tent right in the middle of those whom he led - those whom he called his friends - what should we as leaders do? I have become convinced that the best place from which to lead is not above our people, not in front of our people, not under our people, and not on our cell phones with our people." - Bill Robinson
(The Ministry Report, Feb 2006, P.37)

wise words

Everyone was under tremendous presure in those fast-paced days, yet Ed was always calm and in control. When Ed wasn't out talking with people he could generally be found in his office with his feet up and his eyes closed, contemplating.
As I unloaded my problems with Ed that day I quickly learned his secret:
“Give yourself plenty of time to think … and to reflect on just what it is that really needs to be accomplished. Delegate everything possible, and reserve for yourself only those things where your personal attention is need to move the work ahead.”
(Christian Management Report, Feb 2006, P.32)

rob bell

Listened to a audio booked called 'Velvet Elvis' and it was brilliant. The guys a brilliant and thought provoking communicator. He's worth listening to, check out some of his sermons at http://www.mhbcmi.org/findex.html

beggar

The story is told of a man who had begged on the streets for a living.
One day he touched a man on the shoulder and said, "Hey, mister, can you give me a dime?" (That was many years ago when a dime was worth much more than it is now.)
As soon as he saw the face of the man he had asked, he was shocked to discover that it was his own father!
He cried out, "Father, father, do you know me?"
The father looked at him, then suddenly threw his arms around him and with tears in his eyes, said, "Oh, my son, at last I've found you! I've found you! You want a dime? Everything I have is yours."
The beggar said, "Think of it. I was a tramp. I stood begging my own father for ten cents, when for 18 years he had been looking for me to give me all he had."