Paul's Sales Training

This is very long but meaningful enough to be posted on February 29th!

0229- Paul’s Sales Training

“ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.

Honor one another above yourselves.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

(Romans 12 vs. 9-13)

Paul's message to the Romans There is a lot to it and it is a good way to live your life. Today, I share a personal story about my sales mentor and trainer, George. In the years he spent training me he sounded just like Paul in his message to the Romans. He would not tolerate sales bluster- he always was sincere and expected the same from me.

            George did not like evil, like late deliveries, a bad product or cheating on pricing- he liked what was good; fair deals, integrity, and ethics. He taught me to respect and honor both the manufacturer and the customer and that they had to come before me- that was not always easy.

            Verses eleven and twelve have to do with keeping a positive attitude; a difficult thing in life, especially in sales. You see, no salesman has more than half of the market share so by definition, they lose more than they win. In my business, we had about a ten percent share so we lost nine out of ten. With that said, George taught me to always be upbeat and positive, “Never be lacking in zeal… Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction.”

            During those years, George was not a church person; just a great guy sent to me from God to be my mentor. We now have a different relationship, friends of each other, of the Lord and of Jesus. He is a Good News Buddy.  I will hear from him when he reads this.

Thought for Today: Focus on Paul’s important message in verses 11 and 12. Keep our attitude upbeat so that we may have a positive effect on those around us. “Never be lacking in zeal... Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction.”

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and Father, we give thanks to our mentors; those who have influenced our lives. That includes Jesus, Paul and the others that you sent to guide us.

Amen

George’s Comments

Pick,

I am honored and humbled to think that I had a positive influence in your life and you are right in saying we didn’t know Paul back then. In fact, I felt I could do all the things by myself. I really didn't need God or Paul or anyone.  The church was not important; I was invincible (ugh, so sinful, so shameful).  So what you saw in me was what God was bringing to the table....it was certainly not me!

I went through too many years ignoring the urging and pushing of the Holy Spirit until He pushed so hard one day, there was no way to ignore Him any longer. It’s sad that we can’t recognize Who really is in control, but joyful that we eventually come to the right “path” and by so doing we are able to share the Gospel with others.  So to all who see this remember, it doesn't matter when you "discover" God, what really matters is that you DO discover God.

 

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--

and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God"  (Eph 2:8)

I am happy and at peace today (as I am almost every day now that I am walking with Jesus), and I, like you, find great delight in the teachings of Paul. I don’t know if I ever told you this, but I considered Paul to be a “frustrated athlete” but an even better “athletic coach” and through that, I have always identified you with him.  In fact, I can look up from this keyboard and see another of my favorite passages.

                   Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever

is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is

admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about

such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard

from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.  And the God of peace

will be with you.  (Php 4:8-9)

Thank you, Bob, for being my friend and for all the good work you are doing.  May God continue to bless you, your Ministry, and all your family.

George

Peaks and Valleys!

Peaks and Valleys



"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God ...
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us,..."
(Romans 5:1-4,)

        Life is full of peaks and valleys. It is very human to take credit for the peaks and blame something else for the valleys. It is hard at times to identify with our own "piece of the action" when there is pain. It is often hard to appreciate the lessons learned through the suffering process.

        We look to our faith more often when we are in a valley than when we are at a peak. Many people that visit our churches come through crises. Divorce, illness, grief, loneliness etc. are among the common reason for a visit. I have personally never greeted someone that told me that they had such a great week that they came to say thanks to God.

        However, one of the beauties of our faith is that we recognize God's role in helping get us to the next peak. We recognize God's role in getting us to the final peak. Each peak gives us a reason for a stronger faith, the lessons learned in the valleys gives us the "... perseverance, character; and character, hope" that carry us through out our lives.

Thought for Today: Today let us recognize if we are in a peak or a valley. Let us recognize the lessons we are learning if it is a valley and give credit to those things that helped make it a peak. Either way, let us give thanks to God.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we are in a confused world. Many people are concerned about their future in tough economic times. There is war, fear, terror that seems to dominate the news. Certainly there are many needing a "peak" to help them out. This week we pray that through your Son Jesus, we all may find a peak and a way to share your Love with someone.

Valentine's Day

00214 Be My Valentine

“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic,

love one another,

be compassionate and humble.”

(1 Peter 3 vs. 8)

            “Love one another” is a great idea. It does not include any qualifiers or reasons to separate people from the group; it means all, every day and moment. That is our Christian charge and it means everyone, every day.

           

Valentine’s day in America has become a symbol of romantic love where symbols seem to replace the real thing. It is good to have a day when we symbolize our love, caring and dedication. It is good to focus on those around and dear to us. It is kind of fun.

           

As Christians, we believe that we were made in God’s image. To love everyone, we need to have God’s heart and capacity to care. We are reminded of that today!  Happy Valentine’s day!

Thought for Today: Today we will focus our love on those closest to us; our families, significant others, moms and dads, etc. That is great but let’s also try to care for everyone!

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord, today we give thanks for our ever-expanding hearts that seem to have enough love in them for everyone. We give thanks for the ability to understand and care for all.

Self Respect

0204 Self Respect

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,

And let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,

over the livestock, over all the earth,

and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image,”

(Geneses 1v 26 & 27)            

           

            God made us in His image but one of humanity's significant problems is people suffering from low

self-esteem and a lack of self-respect. It manifests itself in a myriad of problems including substance abuse and depression; a lousy way to go through life.

           

Twelve-step programs have been very good at dealing with these two issues. They work because they have people admit there is a power greater than themselves (God) and their goal is spiritual growth. Low

self-esteem occurs when someone loses touch with the Lord and has trouble recognizing His presence in their lives.

            Spirituality, self-respect, and confidence go hand in hand. Understanding that the Lord is with us every day makes for a satisfactory lifestyle. If you are reading this, you probably have life under control. Meditation is one way of recharging our spiritual batteries. We need to do that for ourselves, our families and others around us. When we have self-esteem, others will want what we have. That is when we can help.

Thought for Today: This week when we look in the mirror, let’s look past the visual image of ourselves. Let’s look into our own eyes and try to see inside where our heart and soul reside. Take that thought out for the week and display to others our pride, self-respect and our faith in the Lord.

 Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and Father we live in a wonderful place surrounded by beautiful people. Some let differences separate us and come between us. This week we pray that we can contribute to dissolving and understanding those differences. We pray that with our strength through you we find a way to do your will and take a step toward acceptance of spiritual differences by respecting others.

Amen

Ground Hog Day!

0202 Punxsutawney Phil

We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world”

and that “There is no God but one.”

For even if there are so-called gods,

whether in heaven or on earth…

…for us there is but one God,

(1 Corinthians 8 vs. 4 & 5)

            On Groundhog Day every year in Pennsylvania, they forecast the end of winter. Today, Phil’s shadow was not seen, and it was declared that winter will end early! Well, you see Phil is never wrong because somewhere in the world there will be an early spring; probably not here in Minnesota.

           

Phil is a character, not even a legend. He is no Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed or Ichabod Crane. He is just a groundhog being disturbed for a group of people in Pennsylvania to have fun. Frankly, he is not a good idol!

           

Would it be fun if next year if they opened Phil's den and Jesus stepped out? Picture him in a white robe, the sun beating down on him with a heavenly glow leaving the crowd speechless. Imagine Jesus saying something like, “Sorry folks but even I refuse to do a long-range weather forecast. There will be more bad weather here in the north country but do not fear for the Lord will be with you.” He would then give is his blessing and arise toward the heavens.

            Bless you all and may we have an early Spring!

Thought for Today: The Lord blesses us and keeps us 365 days a year.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and father, we pray for those in the north that deal with fire and ice. May they take the time to appreciate the seasons and the beauty of it all.