Positive Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

…Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,

 just as in fact you are doing."

(1 Thessalonians 5 vs11)

        In my high school years of football, our coach was a negative motivator. It seemed that everything we did was wrong. The best complement we ever received was a "good job, but...”. The criticism after “the but" was all that I ever remembered. None of us believed that we were very good and we were not having any fun. In 1956, three of us quit the team to go to private schools for a variety of reasons. There was a large article in the local paper about how significant a loss it was to the local high school team because they lost some great players. All three of us were really surprised at the compliments given to us by the coach.

        At my new school, I found my way to a swim coach named Al Houston. Al was caring man, a positive motivator and would have two or three swimmers at each Olympic Games. Receiving positive motivation was a wonderful experience. The team all felt good, worked hard, we liked Al and each other. We were also the best team in the northeast. We learned to focus on excellence, not letting each other down and generally care about each other.

        This is a strong message. We are in challenging political and economic times and there is a lot of negativity in the world. Each day we read and see bad news. To stay positive we need to follow the lead of Christ and demonstrate our love and caring.   We need to show our fellowship toward others.

Thought for Today: Today we will have the opportunity to be negative. School teachers will have a mischievous child, salesmen will lose an order, the weather may not be good... and we will want to whine. When that happens, stop and meditate, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up". Let us all have a positively great day.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly father, today we pray for those with negative ideas, those with aggression toward humanity and their victims. We pray for them and the opportunity to influence with them in a positive way.
Amen 

George Maguire's Birthday Special

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)

Last year our Pastor Ed had each of us in bible study pick a “Faith Verse”, a verse or more that we feel we try to live by; one that means a lot to us. The above was one of several selections that I made. There is a lot to it and it is a good way to live your life.

            With that said, I want to talk 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, 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: Today let’s focus Paul’s important message in verses 11 and 12. Let us use them to keep our attitude positive 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, today 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 things by myself. I really didn't need God or Paul or anyone.  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 though 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 most 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

Endurance and Life!

 Endurance and Life

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial,

because when he has stood the test,

he will receive the crown of life that God

as promised to those who love him."

(James 1:2)

                   In our seemingly endless search for tranquility, we always seem to "want what we want, when we want it". Waiting seems like an impossible task. We seem to want our victories to come via the easy route. That is rarely a reality of life. Life is not a sprint; it is an endurance event, a marathon.

            Many of you know of my amateur career as an endurance athlete, a Triathlete, swim, bike and run. Just to get to the starting line in a race takes hours of practice, mostly alone; sometimes in pain; often in bad weather conditions. However, in most races there are thousands of participants! That's correct, thousands. This is generally true of most endurance events. What for? Why do people do that?

             Let me summarize the feelings that occur during a typical Triathlon. There is anticipation and excitement standing on the beach during the national anthem. There is generally a feeling of spirituality during the blessing. In all my races, there was a period of fear at some time during the swim. Boredom, pain, doubt and an entire array of other feelings occur during the bike ride and run. Then comes good time; the approach to the finish line.

 The finish line generally has a crowd of 10,000 to 50,000 spectators. Enthusiasm and positive energy seem to radiate out of the crowd to be absorbed by the competitors. Most of my fellow racers agree that the feeling of finishing, the pride, and the accomplishment and of course, just being done, is very special. I personally have never crossed the finish line without tears of joy in our eyes.

 As a great grandfather and senior citizen, I can look back over the years and see the parallels between racing and life. Life is full of challenges, fears and excitement. Consider what James said in his twelfth verse:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and

complete, not lacking anything."

Let's remember to live our lives as Christians, be patient, meet our challenges and look forward to receiving our "crown of life".

Thought for Today: We are all living through trying times. There is too much to do, too much work, not enough playtimes. However, we have God and through Him we have our Christian friends. Today let's look toward the future knowing that patience and perseverance will bring us tranquility and happiness.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly father, as Christians we are not perfect. We seem to want immediate gratification throughout our lives. Today we pray for patience to discover your will, the courage to implement it and the knowledge to recognize your presence in our lives.
Amen

A Still Place

"Be still and know that I am God"

 (Psalm 46:10)

            The world is a busy place and today’s message is not for June and I any more, but it applied for all the years we were raising our children, running three businesses, active in our church etc. I believe it is one of the reasons we made it through it all and the reason we are not overbooked seniors.

            Many Americans are overbooked; families are tied up every day with career and children’s activities; empty nesters seem to have filled the time with commitments; often retirees do not know how they ever had time to work! That leads to a lot of stress, tension and often family failures. That’s correct; the family that plays too much together just may not have enough quality time to survive. They do not have time to call for help.

            In his book Bread for the Table, Henry Nouwen says it this way, “These are words to take with us in our busy lives. We may think about stillness in contrast to our noisy world. But perhaps we can go further and keep an inner stillness even while we carry on … It is important to keep a still place in the "marketplace". This still place is where God can dwell and speak to us. …with that stillness God can be our gentle guide in everything we think and do.”

Thought for Today: We are experiencing a different world than we grew up with. Terror attacks, financial issues, confrontive politics and even the weather seem to add complexity to our already overbooked lives. This week let us recognize the need for peace in our personal lives. Let’s make room for that stillness and peace that we can find through our faith.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, the world around us is confusing, sometimes cruel and always difficult to understand. Please allow us time to step aside from our busyness and dwell upon "your will" rather than "our wants and needs". Let us find the peace or stillness to allow "thy will to be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Memories!

Memories

“Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

(Psalm 90 vs. 12) 

            Numbering our days is a great thought, we often catalog them in our minds and many are hidden in our sub-conscious. Each day of our life is a present and special in some way. Each has a memory, some fade but the great ones stay forever.

            The major ones do not take rocket science to remember. I am an elder and remember where I was for each of the following; Pearl Harbor (27 months old!); when JFK was shot; the twin tower assault; Ted Williams last at bat (a home run at age 41!).

            The un-conscious ones are often more fun when they can be jarred to the front. Recently an old friend from 1955 and I reconnected and reviewed our memories together; high school football experiences, school days, former teachers and of course cheerleaders. He brought back so many memories that one evening while on-line he called me. We talked for a long time!

                      The Lord is good to us, we may not be wealthy, but we are rich; rich in memories, full of love and happiness and wisdom. The numbering of our days has paid off in a worthy life.  

Thought for Today: Today we will create a memory. Weather it is a major or minor event remains to be seen. Either way let us recognize its contribution to who we will be.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and Father, we thank you for all the great memories and blessing you have bestowed upon us. Today we pray that we serve your will here on earth as we go through our day.

Amen

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;  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, give thanks to God.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we are in a confused world. 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.
Amen 

Hope Through Prayer

 Hope through Prayer

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

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

(Romans 12 vs. 11 & 12)

            Hold on to your faith, keep holding on. When the going gets tough, when choices are hard, when the stress builds, pray about it; turn it over to God. Paul’s letters repeat that time and time again and often we are not hearing it. Our faith is not always strong and we can be confused.

            In his message above, he is talking about a great way to get through a day, week or month. He is preaching a way of life through faith that leads to confidence and peace.

            Memorize this one, try it and you will like it!

Thought for Today: Let’s attack today with “fervor”, being “joyful” and by all means prayerfully.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord we give thanks for the day you have made for us to have. We thank you for the opportunity to do your will and contribute to each other’s peace.

Amen