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Challenges that may deny the benefits of strategic thinking

2010-01-28T01:50:00Z

Have you ever engaged in critical thinking? Or thinking is like a torture for you as it is for many people? Here is a famous quotation from Luther Burbank, "Thinking is the greatest torture in the world for most people". Or you may be among those few who like to think but how frequently do you think is the real questio...n? George Bernard Shaw was quoted as saying, “Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once a week”...

The article discusses how critical thinking is hard and very few people are thinking and enjoying the benefits of it. The paper also addresses four challenges that deny organizations from enjoying the benefits of strategic thinking: over-depending on vision and failing to become realistic, trusting statistical analysis than intuition and critivity, cultures that glorify the past and shy away from talking about the future, and school systems that promote logical and systematic thinking that are the dominant functionalities of the left-brain than the right-brain that engages intuition, which is very important for strategic thinking that counts the future and the uncertainities attached with it.

To read the full article, click here...

Preview the glimpse of 2010 to enjoy its benefits!

2009-12-28T15:48:00Z

We are at the end of one year, a couple of days away from a new one. What a privilege to get another chance. Many wanted to see this season but couldn’t. We should be thankful and happy. However, we should also be accountable for the chance we are given. How we become accountable, you may ask? It can be achieved by being prepared to exploit each day allocated in the coming year. The question is, “Have we seen the end of it yet”? Do we have measurable and quantifiable expectations at the end of the year? Have we planned about how we reach that destination?

This approach of seeing the end from the beginning is the nature of God (Isaiah 46: 10), who created us in his own image (Genesis 1: 27). Knowing the end in his mind, he called things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). God carefully preplanned the step by step processes of creation that he succeeded in creating a beautiful universe. He hadn't brought the man before he prepared and fine-tuned a life sustaining galaxy. He hadn’t created water-proof animals and plants before stretching the water bodies. He hadn’t brought forth seeds before the soil. When he was done, every thing was beautiful. The Bible says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1: 31, NIV). God left the scene once he prepared the playing ground, leaving humanity to execute the rest of the play as co-workers and following the same pattern.

If we are co-workers, we are accountable and answerable by being faithful to the resources he put at our disposal. One of these resources is time. In 2010, we have 365 days times 24 hours…. We can successfully exploit the time if we follow his pattern, which is- seeing the end before the beginning and working the detail in between. And this is the right time to preview the coming year.

In film industry, they always produce previews so that audiences get the glimpse of movies. The more attractive the preview or the trailer is, the more movie goers. Friend, have you seen the glimpse of the year 2010? Do you have the preview of how your family, organization, team play? Have you planned to show your team this preview ahead of the start of the New Year so that they may align with the plan and get motivated?

If you haven’t previewed the coming year yet, for me, it is like you are a pilot showing up to ride a plane without destination and flight plan. Let's take flight as a metaphor to explain the need to have a clear expectation and detailed plan for the coming New Year. No flight is scheduled without marked destination and detailed plan. The flight destination and its plan are communicated to relevant authorities along the course of a particular flight before the plane takes off. All involving airports are informed ahead of time so that they communicate the info to their towers and officers on the ground.

Friend, do you have a clear expectation and destiny at the end of 2010? Do you have a personal plan for it? Do you have also a plan for your family, organization, and team, if you are a leader? Meeting 2010 without having the YES answers for these questions denies you to exploit the benefits packed within the 365 days of the coming year. Without having these prerequisites met ahead, whether you will harvest all the blessings of 2010 remains uncertain.

You may wonder how it is possible to navigate through days that haven’t shown up yet. It is possible through vision, not via our sight, to see the end and work by faith towards getting what we envisioned. Vision doesn’t exist without knowing the destination. For the sake of our discussion here, let's simplify vision as the abstract of your would be story in that year. However, how can you come up with an abstract without the full story at hand? How can you play your part and coordinate with others to finish the play of 2010 without a script?

Think about a director who imagines a captivating play but without script. Think about a builder who asks his contractor to build him a beautiful house without having a blue print. As a pilot cannot fly without a flight plan, so is a builder who wants to construct a house or a director who dreams a fascinating play but without a blue print and a script, respectively. Whether you are a builder of your own life or a leader (director) of your team, you need a game plan for 2010 if you are aspiring to enjoy the benefit of having another year ahead of you.

What is your vision for 2010? If you don't have, the Bible says, without vision people (individuals, families, communities, organizations, and nations) perish (Proverbs 29: 18). If you have vision, please write them down. The Bible says, “Write the vision. Make it clear on tablets so that anyone can read it quickly.” (Habakkuk 2: 2, GWT). Like in the case of flight plan that must be communicated to all stakeholders so that it reaches its destiny by passing through all its transits, so is in case of your vision where you should communicate it with yourself (until it is imprinted in your sub-conscious and/or spirit) and the people you work with to achieve the vision. To communicate, you need to write it down and articulate it well. As a director should give all players their part from the script so that they coordinate well to satisfy viewers, you should also provide the role of all stakeholders if you aspire to enjoy the benefits of another year through synergetic team work.

If you ask me whether I walk what I talk (preach)? Yes! I revise my life time vision at the beginning of each year and find out what I should accomplish that coming year. As a founder of PRO Leadership Global, I have prepared the three year strategic plan of this new corporation. As I write this blog, I am finalizing the details of the plan for 2010. This plan will be presented to the Board of Directors for approval the early months of 2010. Once approved, the executive committee works the whole year to implement it.

Friend, we shouldn’t just wait for the New Year and hope to enjoy its benefits. There is our part which is to plan and there is God’s part to direct (Proverbs 16: 9). Let’s do our part, which we have obligation and control. It is not too late; we have 4 days ahead to catch the glimpse of 2010…

Happy New Year!

Assegid Habtewold
Your friend

Leaders: Rescue learning programs from your cost-cutting Ax

2009-11-30T01:57:00Z

When we are faced with financial constraints, where do we cut spending? Do we cut budget from things that are very important for our survival and wellbeing? Most likely, we target expenditure towards luxurious stuffs. The reason is simple. These things may not have much contribution to sustain us while we pass through the financial downturn. During this season of our life, we hibernate until the bad season passes.

The same is true when it comes to organizations. During times of financial predicament, many organizations enter into survival mood. Understandably, they attempt to remain profitable and wither the crisis by improving efficiency and cutting expenses. The question is where do they cut costs first? Do they cut from those luxury expenses or from critical programs that secure the long term survival and progress of their organizations? Or they just engage in blind cost-cutting. In the latter case, one may wonder whether such organizations- without some of those critical program that fallen victim of cost cutting- could come out alive when the economy picks up and continue to compete.

Unfortunately, organizations are making across the board cost cutting without serious debates and following appropriate analyses. The data show that organizations are laying-off their workforce and cutting costs as means to survive the current financial peril. Colombia School of Business professor Rita McGrath suspects that there is a kind of “mindless cost-cutting is going on all over the place right now” which rarely brings successful outcomes[i]. It is understandable that organizations should find ways to increase efficiency and remain profitable to survive and cutting costs may be one of the strategies. However, should this cost slashing be made across the board and without adequate analyses?

According to McGrath, the core strategic activities should be well executed “…while those things that are less central are eliminated altogether”[ii]. The question is whether learning programs are considered as one of the core strategic activities of an organization and get spared from being prey of mindless cost-cutting that has been going on since this crisis began. Regrettably, many organizations don’t view learning programs as their core strategic activities. Newton noted, “…when it comes to identifying budget cuts or reductions, training and its associated activities are also among the first victims as organizations struggle to identify ways to save money immediately, not in the long term”[iii].

For that matter, many organizations may not spend much time to prioritize cost cutting areas. They make quick decisions to trim learning programs’ budget by depending too much on conventional wisdom. This wisdom equally affects individuals who may avoid investing towards self-development efforts like buying books and subscribing for trainings and so on. It may look straight forward first to slash budgets en route for programs and efforts which don’t bring profit.

Nevertheless, conventional wisdom is not so wise in this case because it forsakes long-term competitiveness for the sake of short-lived financial savings[iv]. Bell once wondered why learning programs such as mentoring, which appears to be vital to success among the CEO’s couldn’t be rescued in rough economic times[v]. He asked this question during his first job as training director for a major bank. He was forced to scale down his mentoring program within a major division when a hint of impending recession came. Bell’s question is very important right now while many organizations are facing global financial meltdown and wide spread cost-cutting has been practiced widely and affecting learning programs.

Expertus conducted a survey in November 2008 completed by 84 corporate and government training professionals in organizations of various sizes from 19 industries[vi]. The result showed that over twice as many respondents expected budget decreases for training in 2009. Likewise, according to a soon-to-be-released study from the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) and i4cp, over twice as many respondents expected budget decreases for training in 2009[vii]. This survey reveals that organizations are seriously slicing resources used to support learning. Nearly seven out of ten respondents reasoned that their organizations are closely watching at their learning budget in this difficult economic time. This practice is not isolated to business and charity organizations. Government is also trimming its budget for learning programs. For instance, Mentoring.org reported in its web site that “the President's proposed budget for FY2009 would cut mentoring funding in half”[viii].

This strategy of saving money to survive may work in short-term but in the expense of long term competitiveness via improving the growth of employees. The retired Chairman of Intel Craig Barrett said, “You can't save your way out of a recession, you can only invest your way out”[ix]. Besides, unless organizations continue expanding the existing overall skills of employees through learning, they couldn’t continue to compete once the economy picks up[x].

The other challenge is that organizations don’t spend much time and energy to make wise, far-sighted, and long-term decisions while they are striving to survive by cutting-costs. It may seem easy on the surface for a CEO or CFO to make decision and cut learning expenses[xi]. However, they will find out that it is typically not the answer to surviving in tough economy if they mine deeper. The research from Expertus revealed that organizations use mere cost and volume metrics to influence budget or other important decisions than using business impact or return-on-investment metrics[xii]. Johnson also argues that though organizations are cutting training related expenditures first when time gets tough, there is no objective measure that calculates the business case of return on investment[xiii].

In conclusion, we have seen that organizations don’t take adequate time to make sound decisions when they are faced with financial constraints. They simply carryout unwarranted cost-cutting measures that may affect the long-term development and performance of their employees. Moreover, organizations don’t adopt comprehensive metrics and objective appraisals before they make decisions like cost-cutting against their learning programs.

The following are some tips that might help organizations make sound decision concerning their learning programs during seasons of economic crisis. They should make comprehensive analyses before they make decision to cut learning program costs. If cutting-cost from this sector is imminent, they should target those programs that are subcontracted to third parties. Besides, they should consider maximizing the use of their internal resources at hand than totally abandoning these programs until the economic situation improves.

Though the major players in cost-cutting are the top leaders, there are also parts learning professionals should play to mitigate the challenge of scare resources. They should consider the advice of Tamar Elkeles- VP of Learning at i4cp, who said that those who are responsible for employing development programs should demonstrate conservative fiscal responsibility[xiv]. They should also rethink and reprioritize how best they can deliver learning considering the tight financial realities facing their organizations.

Endnotes

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[i] McGrath, R. (2009). A Better Way to Cut Costs. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved on November 21, 2009, from http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/hbr/mcgrath/2009/03/a-better-way-to-cut-costs.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-MANAGEMENT_TIP-_-APRIL_2009-_-MTOD0410

[ii] McGrath (2009).

[iii] Newton, R. (2002). Mentoring is “a tool whose time has come”. Human Resource Management International Digest, 10(4), pp. 31-32.

[iv] Oakes, K. and Grohs, M. (2009). Cutting That Training Budget Is a No-Brainer, Right? Retrieved on November 20, 2009, from http://www.i4cp.com/trendwatchers/2009/02/13/cutting-that-training-budget-is-a-no-brainer-right

[v] Bell, C. R. (2002). Managers as mentors: Building partnerships for learning. New York: Berrett-Koehler.

[vi] Expertus.com (December, 2008). Expertus and Training Industry, Inc.’s Survey Results Reflect Reactions to Tightening Economy. Retrieved on November 20, 2009, from http://www.expertus.com/news/press/2008/Expertus-and-Training-Industry-Inc%E2%80%99s-Survey-Results-Reflect-Reactions-Tightening-Eco

[vii] Oakes and Grohs (2009).

[viii] Mentoring.org, (2009). Your Help Needed: President's Budget Cuts Mentoring Funding in Half. Retrieved on November 22, 2009, from http://www.mentoring.org/news/20/

[ix] Schlender, B. (2009). Craig Barrett's exit interview. Retrieved on November 22, 2009, from http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/13/technology/schlender_barrett.fortune/index.htm?section=yahoo_buzz

[x] Newton (2002).

[xi] Oakes and Grohs (2009).

[xii] Expertus.com (2008).

[xiii] Johnson R. (2009). Training and the Cost Cutting Dilema during Tough Times. Retrieved on November 20, 2009, from http://www.hoteljobresource.com/trends-detail-sid-39213.html

[xiv] Oakes and Grohs (2009).

Discerning and mastering change!

2009-10-10T19:51:00Z

John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the US said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” The challenge is how many of us know that change is the law of life, respect, and abide to it and enjoy the future? On the contrary, rather, change is resisted and unwelcomed in many lives, homes, organizations, and communities.

Kevin Cashman, the author of ‘Leadership From the Inside Out’, argues that we fear change since it always involves both creation and destruction. But these two happenings are part of who we are. Ninety eight percent of our atoms are exchanged with new ones in the course of one year. Cashman put it in perspective: “Every moment our atoms are changing; our thoughts are changing; our emotions are changing; our relationships, our finances- change is endless and constant.”

While change is this much intimate with us, why a few people sense and master change more than many of us do? Why some leaders have more affinity with change and capitalize over its occurrence while others fight against it unsuccessfully? Futurist Alvin Toffler asked in his book ‘Future Shock’ a very interesting question, “Why do some men hunger, even rage for change, doing all in their power to create it, while others flee from it?”

Think about why one person survives the pending danger and catastrophe while many remain victims? Why one company survives while others go bankrupt and extinct? Even in this global economic meltdown, while many companies are undergoing bankruptcy, why few companies are unaffected and even striving? Daft in his book ‘Organization Theory and Design’ warned, “Today, every company must change and innovate to survive”. But how many company leaders are pro-change and engage in continuous innovation?

While both Wal-Mart and K-Mart were on the same footing a couple of decades ago, why Wal-Mart outsmarted K-Mart in the retail business and became on top? Why Jeff Bezos saw a striving online bookstore business and formed Amazon in 1994 while the traditional bookstores never imagined that such a business would finally challenge them? Xerox and Apple were developing personal computers in parallel but why the management of Xerox couldn’t sense the timing to market Alto, the first developed personal computer, while the co-founder of Apple Steve Jobs- who visited Xerox’s PARC Lab in 1979- got insightful technology breakthroughs and jump-started Macintosh and pioneered the personal computer revolution? The question could continue…

There could be many factors but there is no question about the ability of such leaders to sense a pending change ahead of the curve. Though I cannot be sure, right now, the very source of these leaders’ ability to discern change ahead while their counterparts are obsessed about the past and preoccupied with present happenings, I would agree with Toffler that such leaders have the ability to create a coherent image of the future more than their counterparts. I also agree with Cashman that such people are bold enough to break from old patterns and open up to change.

However, having this sense of discernment and breaking away from the status quo isn’t enough to orchestrate change and sustain it. It takes to adopt the three stages of change model of Lewin successfully. These are: unfreeze (making ready for change), implement change (transition), and refreeze. However, leaders should be aware the challenges of the middle stage of the change, the transition, and give it their prime attention. This stage is the toughest because people in this phase are convinced that the status quo is challenged but they aren’t certain about the future and are confused. Let’s take two examples from history and among the contemporary leaders.

Deschenes and Rogers, in their article ‘A systems view of Jesus as change agent’, named Jesus the most successful change agent in history. Jesus finished executing the three stages of socio-spiritual change. He commanded his followers to 'duplicate' the same change in the rest of the world, and left the scene (Mark 16:15). Among the three phases, one can easily appreciate the transition was tough for the people. He challenged the old ways and multitudes were touched by his preaching (Matthew 7:28). However, few believed in him while many of them confused and unable to make the transition.

Likewise, Barack Obama got more than 50 million votes and elected President under the banner of change. During the campaign, he could be able to challenge some of the old ways of doing things in Washington and promised change and many got inspired. However, he is confronted in the transition stage where many people are showing wariness and look confused and uncertain about the future.

New Year Resolution that adds value to our life-time dream!

2009-09-09T15:37:00Z

Right now, as Ethiopian New Year is approaching, crafting personal and/or organizational New Year resolutions may preoccupy most Ethiopians. The real issue right now is whether we have questioned the validity, authenticity, and effectiveness of our resolutions consciously and productively. Are the resolutions good enough to keep us motivated the whole year? Are they aligned with our overall life-time and/or long term plans? Do they really contribute for the bigger picture, that bigger picture being our fulfillment in life? And many more questions.

I remember my New Year resolutions and some of my friends. Most of them were to do with our immediate concerns and aspirations. Though some of them were great for that season of our life, most of those resolutions were purposeless and kind of wish-lists, at least mine. Should we be apologetic about what happened in the past? I don’t think so but we should learn from the past and develop better resolutions consciously and purposefully.

If our resolutions were just for the sake of writing, saying, and then forgetting where we put them in the rest of the year and/or never questioned their fulfillment at the end of the year and before we craft another one, then this year is the right time to change that trend. The real question is how can we draft a New Year resolution that motivates us to do some valuable and measureable things that could move us a little closer to our life time dream and/or long term plan? That is the key!

Note that this reminder doesn’t seek to advocate uniform resolutions for all of us. We are diverse in personality so are our aspirations and dreams. Thus, there are many ways each of us approach to make our resolutions contribute towards our life-time and long term plans but there may be some wisdoms we could share one another. I am forwarding mine and would be glad to hear yours.

The very starting point towards this journey of developing New Year Resolution should be revising our life time dream/vision (if you don’t have one, what an opportunity to draft one this year!) so that we could be able to see what decisions and activities we make this year could help us add value to it. As you know, vision is not necessarily a fixed destination; rather, it is being in a particular state whether that state we dream about is to become a leader, a business person, a researcher, a soldier, a teacher, or a politician, etc. As far as we are in that state and walking on that road, we are living our dream; we should not wait until we reach the climax of that state and the end of the road. We shouldn’t wait to enjoy our life until we become a leadership expert, a millionaire, a Nobel Prize winning scientist, a General, a Principal or a president. We can simplify the journey towards our dreamland this way: identify the road it takes us there, develop skill-sets that help us become better on that thing we dream about, form friendships that nurture us, cut-off things that drag us behind, and so on.

Towards that end, what can we do the coming year that contribute towards that goal is the real question. Should we go to school? Should we start small business? Should we start writing something? Should we start making daily exercise? Should we change job? Should we quit that unproductive relationship? Should we reduce over sleeping? Should we join a particular club? Should we make u-turn from a path that may lead us to a dead-end? Should we take an exit from that wrong route? Should we rejoin the right track leaving the erroneous one? On and On….

In conclusion, I encourage you- depending upon your stage in life and where you would like to go, to take this season a wonderful chance to make a turn around through effective, measurable, and realistic New Year resolution. This is a good juncture to seat down and craft resolutions that contribute and add values towards your life-time and long-term goals. This is an opportunity to identify areas you need to change, take risk, etc. Don’t forget to revisit them, at least quarterly, which in turn gives you a chance to monitor your progress, make changes on time if required, and so on.

Happy Ethiopian New Year!

Golden rules for the 21st C Mentors

2009-08-11T01:05:00Z

In the previous two blogs, we discussed the importance of mentoring and its difference with other fields like counseling, coaching, and discipling. Considering that we are either mentee or mentor or both in a given time in our life, it is wise to be informed and make conscious choices so that we may benefit out of it. In this blog, I will discuss a few golden rules for the 21st C Mentors:

1. Create an atmosphere of partnership.

If we closely notice, there is a major shift between leader-followers relationship. In their book entitled “The leader in you” Levine and Crom indicated that the days managers’ orders mindlessly obeyed are gone. They believed that there should be cultural change to survive in the years to come, and suggested that this takes a whole new breed of leader, a leader quite unlike the bosses most of us have worked for and some of us have perhaps become. These new breed leaders will have to communicate and motivate far more effectively than did leaders of the past. This cultural change should also influence the mentor-mentees relationship. The 21st C Mentors should be different than their predecessors. Mentors cannot achieve their mentoring goals if they depend on orders and act like bosses. They should build an atmosphere of partnership.

2. Empower your mentee.

Empowerment takes the mentor to give his mentees all it takes to make them better for the thing they are passionate about. Dr. Winston of Regent University said that the role of a mentor is to figure out what the mentee wants to do and help him become better on that. I have been struggling with this grand golden rule. The first thing that comes into my mind towards my mentees was that I know what is best for them. Of course, the motive is right and genuine but it is not about me taking stand for them. I should first ask what they want and help them become better on that. It is about empowering than dictating or discipling.

3. Make the mentee independent.

The tendency of many of us is to make sure the mentees remain dependent on us. In most part, this may be because we think that we are the best teachers for them. However, this denies the very nature of mentoring, which is helping the mentee to be better in what he wants to become. Donald Trump, in his book entitled “Think Like a Billionaire” wrote that a mentor’s job is to teach someone [mentee] to be independent and to learn to think that way as well.

4. Create a trust-filled environment.

Chip Bell, in his book “Managers as Mentors”, emphasized that trust is a crucial commodity throughout the mentoring relationship. He also said that a trust-full partnership is one in which error is accepted as a necessary step on the path from novice to master. In order the mentee to open up, take risk, ask, challenge, and so on, which are critical for the mentoring process, the mentor should create a trust-filled environment.

5. Appreciate your mentee.

Michael Jackson was looking for his father’s/mentor’s appreciation. From the interviews given by his closest friends following his premature and sudden-death, he was in desperate need of appreciation from his father even if he had millions of fans. They noted that Michael usually comes back from great performances and seat in his hotel and ask "where is dad"? The adoration of his fans was not enough; he wanted to get affirmation from his mentor. However, his father was always telling him, "you can do better than this". Unintentional in most part, many mentors push harder on their mentees for their own sake so that they may achieve better. However, there is one human nature, that is, we need appreciation. The great psychologist William James noted that the deepest craving of humans is the need to be appreciated. Though mentors should stretch their mentees, there should always be a sense of genuine appreciation for the little achievements mentees score.

There are many more golden rules for mentors but let’s stop it here. In the coming blog, I will discuss some of the golden rules mentees should follow to maximize from the mentoring relationship. Remain tuned!

What do you want: mentoring or discipling?

2009-07-29T00:51:00Z

It maybe very easy to differentiate mentoring from its other siblings like coaching and counseling but there seem some confusion between mentoring and discipling. It looks like, for both mentees/disciples and mentors/disciplers, the line between the two appears to be blurred. Though it maybe unintentional, in most cases, the two parties fail to make sure the delicate line is walked carefully. Term wise, most people are prone to use them interchangeably. In some cases, discipling is exclusively understood within religious context and many people are not enjoying its benefits in the work places and else where.

Let’s make a couple of points to clarify the main differences between mentoring, coaching, and counseling before we discuss our main topic. Unlike training (which is mostly designed for groups) mentoring, coaching, and counseling share the same approach, that is, they are mostly crafted and customized to meet individual needs and concerns. However, their goals are very different.

Conventionally, counseling targets to resolve an issue or problem while coaching is aimed at improving a particular skill. Simply put, counseling may end its mission if the issue comes to a normal state or if status quo is maintained while coaching may persist until the new height is met whether that new height is getting the next raise or promotion or championship. On the other hand, mentoring is designed to empower the mentee by ways of altering his thinking process through well crafted questions, feedbacks, and challenges in a friendly and two-way relationship backed-up by trust. Mentoring bond may linger a life time as far as the two parties believe that the process should carry on that far.

What do you want: mentoring or discipling? Experts say that mentoring is mentee-centric while discipling is discipler-centric. Whether you are a leader or a follower, answering this question at the very early stage of the relationship is critical if your desire is to make the most out of the relationship. In this blog, we will try our best to show you the main differences, which in turn may help you make conscious decision whenever you are confronted to choose between the two.

Do you remember Jesus and His disciples?! Jesus picked 12 men and invested on them to look like Him and propagate His mission. From the disciples’ side, not only they dropped off their profession and abandoned their previous plans for their life, they denied themselves and their aspiration in life and lived for Jesus’ cause. Of course, not all discipling may follow the same model and pattern. In some cases, there may be partial or temporal discipling arrangements as per the choice of both parties and depending upon the circumstances at hand.

There is also a possibility that some one may disciple himself after someone he appreciates at his work place, church, or school even without the knowledge of the person. In such cases, the disciple mayn’t totally abandon his vision and copy the virtual discipler but he may adopt some of his styles or characters, or approaches. There could be also many variants of discipling depending upon the objective condition someone may find himself. The most important factor is that discipling is making someone to look like the other unlike mentoring, which is an arrangement where the mentee is mentored to become a better person in the area he wants to excel without the need to drop off his vision and copying his mentor.

If you are a leader and looking for people who buy into your vision and lend a hand to carryout the vision, you may opt discipling. If you are a leader and looking for people who have their own vision but you want to be of assistance for them achieving their vision, you probably prefer to mentor them by following the golden rules of mentoring, which we will discuss in depth and in the coming blogs. By the same token, if you are looking for someone who will empower you to become what you aspire in life; you may look to someone who helps you to become better on that thing. If you are looking to follow someone, then you may need to drop or align your vision with his and commit yourself to pursue the vision and goals of your discipler.

In both cases, from both parties, it takes to take adequate time to reflect on the kind of relationship they should pursue before they commit themselves for either of the relationships. They should know that it takes honesty, accountability, and responsibility to opt between the two and demands to live up to its expectations. We will continue to discuss more details about mentoring and how the two parties could make it a win-win relationship.

Remain tune!

Mentoring and we are inseparable!

2009-07-23T17:51:00Z

Each one of us is either a mentor or mentee or both at a given time in our life. During much of our early years, we have had mentors. These could be our parents, teachers, relatives or others. Bell (2002) wrote, “Over the course of our lives, learning comes from many people, in many places, and through many events”. As we grow up, we start to influence others in the area we specialize while at the same time continued to get mentored. As we grow older and older, we may spend much of our time as mentors. In any case, mentoring appears inseparable from us.

I hope, you agree with me that mentoring is inseparable from us and you are already enjoying its benefits. If you doubt about it, let’s face it! You may not acknowledge it or unaware of it but some how, you have been a mentee of others. By the same token, you may not even know or recognize it but, at least, someone, some how, and from some where is getting your mentoring. If you reflect on your life, you will definitely appreciate the mentors who are impacting your life right now. Or else, you may be both a mentor and mentee at the same time. In which ever stage and circumstance you may find yourself, it is important to consciously recognize the inseparable nature of mentoring from your existence. The sooner you acknowledge and tap into it, the better you exploit its advantages.

As I grow up, I have been mentored both face-to-face and virtually. For me, it happened that most of my mentors in various issues are living far away from where I live where the chance to meet and get their mentoring is remote. However, thanks to their unwavering effort to publish and record their wisdom where I am virtually mentored via reading their books, listening, and watching their teachings. I am also privileged to mentor wonderful leaders. It gives me a great pleasure and honor to get such a chance to invest on others’ life.

As a candidate for Doctor of Strategic Leadership at Regent University and majoring in Coaching, I have had an exciting opportunity to learn from my professors and discuss about this topic with fellow cohorts. I have learned lots of things about mentoring well beyond my expectations. Even if I have been getting mentored and mentoring others, I haven’t fully captured the essence and full meaning of this very important topic.

As soon as I finished the session, I promised for myself to share with you, at least, how mentoring is inseparable from us. In the near future, I will write about the features of mentoring and some tips that might be helpful for you as a mentee and/or mentor. Stay tuned!

A Life Full of Praise- Part IV

2009-07-02T16:51:00Z

In our previous sessions, we saw how worship is not for few and a religious act. We saw how we all owe God praise as far as we are breathing. We also discussed some of the stumbling blocks that are denying us from entering into a life of worship. We specifically dealt how we should not feel condemned, which is a roadblock that keep us from living a praiseful life. I would like to emphasis the latter issue one more time.

It is scriptural that we are not condemned. There are no condemnation for those "who takes refuge in Him" (Psalm 34: 22). There is no also condemnation for those "who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8: 1). As far as we believe in Him, we are taking refuge under His wings and we are free from condemnations of any kind.

Regardless of the above truth, however, it is sad to know that there are many Christians who feel condemned for the mistake they committed years or even decades ago. Most of them dropped serving God and reluctant to attend weekly church services for the same reason. Most of them confessed their sins and they should have felt relieved but they never felt they were forgiven. These people are God loving and they are sincere about their fearing God but we know that there is always a chance to be sincere but still wrong.

The sad thing about such people is that they made there mind as if He won't forgive them and they are defensive when others are trying to encourage and reconcile them. It is a mystery why they preferred to alienate themselves from God and think that that is the right decision and wise thing to do, especially considering eternity in view. I couldn't figure out whether they fallen into the tricks of the devil who wants to distance them from God and keep them in bondage or that is a personality flaw. The challenge is more tough because they know the scriptures that talk about His forgiveness but they know more of scriptures that describe how He is serious about sins. This issue may be more complicated when the teachings such people listen are full of fear mongering. Therefore, I would like to emphasis this condemnation issue a little further as I believe is one of the strongest reasons people are living praise-less life.

For those who are bombarded with teachings that are sarcastic about God's mercy, please take a private walk and deal the issue by yourself or with friends who are well aware of God's unwavering love for His kids than dying condemned. I encourage you to dare and engage with God Himself and privately. We know that God is open for reasoning including a debate that may guarantee us the emission of sin. Here is the case in point: "Come now, let us reason together; though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1: 18)

David was a smart person who exploited such royal offers. He jumped into such a privilege to debate with the Most High, who has all the Veto power but generous at the same time to cancel all of our debts right away as far as we dare to engage with Him in debate and reasoning. I like how David argued with God when he said, "What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?" (Psalm 30: 9) Take time and think about what David was doing!

David should have mourned for his going down and should have called for a pity party but rather he brought excellent, logical, and convincing arguments before the One who could turn around everything in his favor. Yes, David won and claimed his victory on the same chapter: "You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." (Psalms 30: 11 - 12) We don’t need to argue the same argument as David already did; we just quote that scripture and petition to the Judge who is not happy with our condemnation as that doesn’t bring Him praise (Don’t forget that we have a lawyer in the Universe's Court room! Jesus is in our side). God rather prefers to rescue us from what brought condemnation in our life so that our mourning and bowing down of our head turns into dancing and praising.

In this edition, I encourage you to believe with me and enter into a life of praise to benefit all of its advantages. If you are already in that orbit, let’s make a quantum jump to the next level of praise to bring down Heaven on earth. Though we praise God for what He has already done, it encourages and motivates us if we know more about the attached gains from praiseful life. The following are some of the advantages of praise:

Praise saves and rescues us from our enemies: "I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies." (Psalm 18: 3). We know that as David sang to the LORD, he was delivered from the hand of all his enemies including King Saul. David was a man who touched the very heart of God. Let's see the reaction of God against David’s foes as dramatized by David himself: "The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind....he reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies." (Psalms 18 7 -17) Friends, there is no need to waste time in forging alliances on earth and forming weapons that cannot affect spiritual forces. There is no guarantee to hide behind human made shields. The secure and guaranteed option for any form of enemy is our praise, which brings down the Mighty One from whose Hand no one will escape. Enter into your season of praise and sign the contract with God who can save you from all of your enemies.
With praise we inherit our portion: God has many ways to help us possess our inheritances. Some of the avenues are sound of shouting, music, and trumpet, and praise. Joshua 6: 20 "When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city." For a war its end result known, why crying; we are just expected to praise God which unlock our inheritance. While God plus you are the majority regardless of who are the other end, why complaining and shaking. Put your head up and shout- a shout of victory, and enter your season of possession.
Praise is a medicine to our Heart: The Bible says, "A cheerful heart is a good medicine; but a broken spirit drieth up the bones." (Proverbs 17:22) I cannot figure out a thing than continual praise that could fill our heart with joy. I know one thing, there are no medical prescriptions we can provide for our spirit and soul to feel joyful. Therefore, without doubt, praise evaporates broken spiritedness (broken heartedness) and feel our heart with cheer. While we have a choice to make praise our life style and do it continually that develops a merry heart, why we should settle for a broken spirit and harvest dry bones? That was why, I believe, David proclaimed, "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalms 34:1). Paul the Apostle advises us to give praise in continual pattern. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." (Hebrews 13:15) Praise is the engine fuel for our 'heart'. Praise daily and lubricate your heart before it breaks Once it is broken, there is no insurance that can regain its function. Once it is malfunctioning, there is no remedy except praise. Prevention is a best policy in the Kingdom; thus, prevent heart break by continually praising God who dwells in our Heart as a majestic King who deserves unfailing praise!!!!!
Praise unchains us from any kind of bondage: Paul and Silas were praising while the jail was shaken and their chains set loose. Not only you, people who are around you will be set free of any bondage as you are a person of praise. "Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken. All the doors immediately flew open, and everyone's chains were unfastened." (Acts 16:25- 26) This days, we may not be chained because of Christ. However, we may be encircled by our enemies from all directions. It just takes praise to enjoy a breakthrough that we may not get from earthly realm. Challenges, enemies, situations might encamp around us and we may feel we are chained and there seems no sign that help is coming from man kind or from those close to us. The easiest and short antidote is to praise the Most High and get deliverance. "As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated." (2 Chronicles 20:22).
Praise detonates evil spirit and routs the devil: We know that King Saul disobeyed God and as a result an evil spirit would sometimes troubled him. A King by the size of Saul could not help it but surrender for depression as the evil spirit tormented him. He might have waged big time war and maneuvered thousands of his army if this was the Philistines or David but such an enemy didn’t have any respect for any size of army. However, a simple praise chased it away when a little boy came and played. It took David who knew how to play harp to soothe Saul when the evil spirit tormented him. "Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him." (1 Samuel 16:14-23 ) Depression in our life may not always be from evil spirit but the antidote for whatever might be the cause of depression is praise. Praise is a gateway for depression free zone! Praise disinfect any feeling of uneasiness and depression!
Praise releases us into the future and the unknown: In addition to repelling evil spirits, praise can invite the Holy Spirit for the purpose of prophecy and predicting the future. The principle behind this truth is simple. It is not a religious promise or a doctrine. Whenever there is praise, as we have seen from the Bible, God dwells among His people. Whenever He- who is Alpha and Omega who knows the end from the beginning- is around, the future is an open book for His servants. When Elisha was asked prophecy to get deliverance from the invading Moabites, he asked for someone who could play harp. He knew that he could tune into the heavenly realms and download the will of God and how to achieve it from the Most High. A musician came, and as he began to play, the prophet was inspired to unleash what they should do. He told the strategies to follow and victory was inevitable. While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha and he said, ‘This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches...’ (2 Kings 3: 16). Friend, don't spend your resources by going to fortune tellers or allow your head for parking lot prophets to lay their hand on you and prophecy about your future. Praise the Most High and He unveils the strategies you should follow to chase your enemies and how to achieve your short and long term milestones.

A life full of praise- Part III

2009-06-21T17:35:00Z

In the past two sessions, we have seen how God is worthy of praise. Emphasizing the fact that praise is not a religious act but a demonstration of our affection and honor to God. We saw that, even if we don’t have any special thing happen on us for the day, God deserves our full gear praise for who He is and what He has already done and would possibly do based on His righteousness.

We encourage you to meditate on the following scriptures that reaffirm to our soul and inner most being that God is worthy of praise regardless of what is going on within and around us before we discuss some of the stumbling blocks that hinder our sense of praise in persistent way:

"For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods" (Psalm 96:4).
"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom" (Psalm 145:3).
"I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies" (2 Samuel 22:4).
"You are worthy, our LORD and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being" (Revelation 4:11).

We find the Bible as saying that God inhabits in the praises of His people (Psalms 22:3). That means, praise sets the atmosphere of dwelling for the Most High. You can imagine what is going to happen when He dwells! We also know that God’s power and might are unleashed through praise and worship. David- our hero about praise- said: "Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might." (Psalm 21: 13) Therefore, if our desire is God to dwell in our life and in the midst of us, we should maintain an atmosphere of praise and anything less than that is a roadblock to enjoy the utmost sequel of having Him in our midst. If we expect to His indefinite and mighty power exercised in our favor, we should exalt His name. Anything short of praising and exalting Him, whatever you may call such a situation or circumstance; it is a barrier and should be bulldozed.

There are many stumbling blocks that are the creations of ourselves either out of ignorance or misinformation or misunderstandings. Most importantly, there are deep rooted religious mentalities and/or cultural/traditional believes that have been denying us from enjoying the life of praise to its full. In this session, we will try to bulldoze some of the barriers, and enter into our inheritance as the Israelites entered into their inheritance- Jericho- without labor and sweating but by just praising Him. We will praise, regardless of where we are in terms of human measure like Paul and his prison partner Silas, to watch in our very eyes the shattering down of things that have constrained our progress.

Among many awkward reasons why we are not standing before God to praise Him on daily basis and enjoy His power, love, and compassion is the attitude that praise is for some who are ministers, choirs, who have the gift of singing and who are endowed with smooth throat, those who are rich, healthy or those who got something special from God, those who are king like David and the list continues. The Bible doesn’t exempt any one from praising as far as he is breathing. "Let everything that has breathes praise the LORD. Praise the LORD," states Psalm 150:6. We all breathe as far as we are on earth; praise is our act of proof that we live. Of course, the duty is exponential when it comes to us who are His servants- Christians, who are called to be priests of His Kingdom: "Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD" (Psalm 134:1-2). Therefore, no one is exceptional, whether a believer or not, to praise God as far as he is in taking the unpaid oxygen.

Another roadblock to have a life of praise is the feeling of condemnation; the feeling of unworthiness. While we are feeling condemned, we cannot expect ourselves to praise Him. While we are hesitant on whether He accepts our praise and while we are still uncertain about whether the whole of His Angels and Hosts dwell as we lift up His Holy Name and recount His mercy, love, gifts, and compassions, there is no appropriate praise and worship that amounts to the class of the Most High. We may still feel condemned and unworthy and praise but it takes quality sacrifice of praise to provoke the intervention of the Most High and His army. It is a futile attempt to think that God who searches the heart accepts and consumes sacrifice of praise that doesn’t come from a ‘pure’ and full of gratitude heart.

In most cases, we don’t present a gift to someone we think doesn’t deserve. We may not also feel comfortable to do so for people whom we think we are unworthy to give one. But once we determine to give while hesitant, someone can tell it by just seeing how we present the gift. It is pretty easy to figure out whether you are enjoying doing so or you are just doing it superficially. In most cases, recipients are more interested on our emotion and the way we present it than the amount of it. The ways we present a gift to someone equals and even sometimes overtakes the value of the gift itself. On earth and in the world filled with hypocrisy and short of perfection, we want to make sure, if we revere and respect the recipient of our gift that our present stands of good quality. It must be wrapped up with excellent cover that appeals for the sense of the prospect recipient. We must show lots of gesture and bright countenance to add up more than the actual worth of our main gift.

Will you be excited to open a gift presented with unpleasant face or from a person whose approach shows you that he is not sure whether you would love his gift? If that is the case down here and among us, what about the Divine recipient of praise who dwells in heavenly and perfect places? Can we, while down, fearful, condemned, and at the same time offer praise to the King and draw His attention while He enjoys heavenly praises every fraction of seconds, all day long, and from holy creatures? Can we compete with these heavenly choirs and lure the LORD to leave theirs and dwell among our praise while we are in such attitude and mood? Think about it!

David was well aware of how his Father was delighted on him. David said, "He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he DELIGHTED in me." (Psalms 18: 19) I can imagine how David approached God when he praised and worshiped Him. I sympathize now how he made the heavenly hosts jealous when they had been seeing the Most High turned His face to accept the sacrifices of praise each time David, just a mere man who was far from perfection, offered sweet smelling flavor praise down here from the earth. David knew that he was not always perfect but believed that God was delighted in him and rewarded him of His attention because he was found righteous (Psalms 18: 20). David did not trust by his ability to be righteous but in God who could: "He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake." (Psalm 23: 3) He was humble enough to ask God to guide Him in His paths: "Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." (Psalm 25: 4 - 5)

David also knew that God is pleasant and good who was not in the business of pursuing those whom He punish and curse: "Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name" (Psalm 135:3). We should believe that He is good and not interested to condemn us. But that doesn't mean that He loves sin and encourages those who do sin but rather than condemning, He guides them into His ways: "Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways." (Psalm 25: 8) He paid the highest price to free us from feeling rejected, condemned, and went long way to ignore our transgression at the point where He won’t bring it against us because His beauty, power, and right hand-Jesus was the price. As far as we are in Christ, there is no condemnation at all: "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).

To offer sweet smelling praise, we have to first come to the point where we acknowledge what God has done in favor by feeling we are righteous in Christ and clean as far as we are washed with the Blood of Jesus. Since Christ, the High Priest, stands at the right Hand of God, we have a reason to approach His Throne boldly and in confidence to offer our praise to the One who is always worthy (Hebrews 4: 16). Even if we loss everything we have had, feel life is not fair, and swimming against the tide, we should not forget the priceless and incalculable gift God offered for our redemption, Jesus Christ. That alone should be the reason to remain praiseful in the rest of our life because He demonstrated unwavering Holiness and Faithfulness to maintain His covenants to our forefathers. He gave us another chance, through acknowledging His greatest offer of pardon by accepting Christ as a savior, to dwell in His presence in the heavenly places filled with continual praise and worship throughout eternity.

Another roadblock is the mentality of praising God with a sense of bribing Him. Any gift, even in human senses, giving under the expectation of something back in return is no more a gift of love or respect but a bribe. Let alone the most Holy, Principled, and Righteous King who has everything and remains Alpha and Omega without any say from any of His creations and who lives in eternity as rich and glamorous without the addition of whatever possessions they might have, a principled mortal man won’t accept bribe.

The other issue is the feeling of abandonee. We may ask something and we don’t get it to assume that delay is denial. We might be inflicted with our enemies and felt we are left ignored like orphans. We might still be in sickness, debt, bareness, and warfare, and so on where we might be tempted to refrain from praising God while we are in these kind of setbacks and the likes. We might even feel God sided with our enemies and question His Holiness and trustworthiness. While we are in the doubt of God’s integrity, it is obvious we may not enter into His Holiest places to adore, exalt, and reassure Him that He is still in control of everything and whatever happens is for our good and He won’t fail to disappoint us in the end. David felt it when he said "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" (Psalm 22: 1)

The above setback never prompted David to fail short of praise because God is Holy and righteous one. He never questioned the integrity of God. While he was in that troublesome situation and groaning, he adored the Mighty and Holy one when he said "Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel." (Psalm 22: 3) David rather used his praise as a bargain to bring more praise to God if delivered. He promised to multiply the praise by referring to his people and the congregation how God is worthy of praise regardless of his circumstances. He didn’t want to judge God because of what was going on his life; rather, he recounted how faithful God was for his ancestors when he said, "In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed." (Psalm 22: 4-5)

David was not only fighting with his situation as thorn that tried to deny him of praising the worthiness of God but people mocked him and multiplied the reason he should not praise God. "All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let Him deliver him, since he delights in him." (Psalm 22: 7 - 8) But for David it was not only God trustworthy for his ancestors but acknowledged Him as his God from the womb and told Him that there was no point to denounce God though he was in trouble and mocked. He made clear to God that he couldn’t come out of this trouble by his strength and there is no way to be offended and give his back against God because people made fun of him. He reduced himself as a worm and not a man.

What an outstanding integrity from a man who was in the midst of struggles but remained acknowledging the integrity of God regardless of the short term setbacks he was experiencing. Rather than feeling pity and murmur against God, David still envisioned praise once he was rescued. "Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you." (Psalm 22: 21- 22) He even didn’t wait till he was relieved from his distress to confess his vows, “You who fear the LORD, praise Him!....From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows." (Psalm 22: 23, 25)

This man left God with no option! Not only had he praised Him privately while he was still in his trouble but went to praise Him before the congregation. He was persistent! We have already read the blessings of God for David's unwavering integrity and persistent praise from the Bible. We also read how His Son Jesus too never turned back His face for those who press on even when the law didn’t favor some of the people out side of the covenant. We saw how Christ was surprised by the Samaritan lady who was persistent against His rejection for healing. We know how He finally gave her what she demanded regardless.

Let's bulldoze the barriers and be persistent in praising to enjoy its benefits! Remain tune to read the fourth part on the benefits of praiseful life and more.

A life full of praise- Part II

2009-06-09T14:58:00Z

In Part I, we discussed that we should have a life of praise regardless of where we are in life and what is going on around us. Praise should be fully understood if we desire to enjoy its benefits. It should also secure its rightful place in our private communion with the Lord and as we worship in the Church corporately so that we may attract the presence of the Lord and the accompanying blessings.

In this session, we will cover the benefits of praiseful life. We should be well informed about the attached advantages of praiseful life, which in turn engages the Spiritual world as we lift up the worthy King whose praise provokes heavenly beings in our favor. There are multitudes of benefits in developing a life of praise and worship. Our praise as a weapon of war disarms the devil. Praise invites Spiritual forces that defeats the battle we might have been engaged in. Praise delivers, protects, promotes, and so on.....

One of the very first adjustments we should make in life is to know that life on earth is not walking on a red carpet all the time. There may be challenges and disappointments here and there, and now and then. If we attach our praise only in reaction to hay days and when we feel good, we end up abusing praise and also miss a very important weapon to remain focused and happy while passing through storms and fires of life in this planet. There is no price attached to praise except it lift us up above the affairs of day-to-day life's worries. Knowing that a life of praise is one of the keys to enjoy life on earth, we will share ideas to maximize the benefits of praise in our personal and communal life.

There are all arrays of misunderstandings concerning praise and worship in some Churches. In most cases, it is considered as an appetizer and/or dessert, not the main menu. It has been positioned as a buffer zone for waiting late comers, to awaken a congregation prior to the Word session, and to decorate some seasonal ceremonies. As far as praise and worship is considered insignificant and/or misplaced from its rightful position in the Church, there is a high chance that people may feel that praise is not necessary at home and in their private life. This trend should change if the people of God enjoy the results of a life full of praise.

Of course, there are cases I have noticed praise is exercised at home. In most cases, praise goes ahead as a way to warm-up for the tough ‘work’-prayer. I had been doing that for years (and still in the process of fine-tuning my praise-hood life) and felt ashamed before God when I reconsidered what I was really doing before the Author of everything and the Most High God. There were (and still there are some) times where I dumped my prayer lists on God without even worshipping and praising Him for a second. I now feel sorry for myself and feel jealous when I compare myself with God's Angels who are addicted (and programmed) to worship.

I am not emphasizing that praise and worship is a protocol to approach before God and as a way to appease Him. The anointed worshiper David believed that God is ‘worthy’ of praise. He says, "I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise." (Psalm 18: 3). If we don’t have any specific list to praise God for a particular day, at least, we should sacrifice praise for Who He is. We should also remember what He has done thus far: His mercy, grace, goodness, healing, love, companionship, protection, favor, guidance, and many more blessings in our life and our beloved ones. He is our Wonder, Hero, and Miracle. He is the beauty of all beauties and Wisest of all wises. No one is compassionate like Him. He loves unconditionally. He is generous than anybody, and many more. For that matter, what can we give back to God for what He has been giving us for free and every day?

Can we imagine if we are supposed to be charged for what we breathe, think, imagine, and see, and so on? His gifts for our life, satisfaction, survival, and meaning have never been short for a fraction of seconds. He has been a giver and the giver of the most precious gifts for which we cannot pay back except to adore and praise Him. Since the world engrosses us with lots of immediate needs and our flesh magnifies things that are went wrong, we couldn't be able to appreciate and be full of praise for His daily incalculable provisions, limitless protections, consistent visitations, and His generosity to consider us His kids and companions.

Oh God, let’s understand the worth of praising you not as we intellectually fathom but as it supposed to be in your very awesome Eyes!!!

A life full of praise - Part I

2009-05-27T15:55:00Z

The very concept of praise and its rightful place to perform it has been misunderstood. We need to address this very critical issue in believers life. This month will be dedicated to reintroduce a life of praise regardless of where we are in life and what is going on around us.

The Word of God says "You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise." (Psalms 8: 1 - 2) Praise is something God Himself ordained. The word children doesn’t necessarily mean we should be babies to praise. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you 'change' and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18: 2-4) It takes to ‘change’ and be humble to praise God whom we don’t see in person all the time. It takes faith and a 'changed' attitude like kids to praise God while what is around us don’t prompt us to praise. It takes 'change' to have a heart of gratitude to praise God for who He is, who we are in Him, and so forth.

Praise may be simple and someone may burst into praise when something is given and/or done to him unexpectedly. That was why we saw lots of sinners and sick people were praising Jesus publicly and right away. That was understandable. Someone, at the scene, may praise someone who forgiven him or cancelled his debts and so forth. That is natural. King David said, "Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation." David had been praising God for His mercies, however, he had been praising and worshiping God unlike any other king and continually, and every day.

David entered into the House of God seven times a day and praised Him. Surprisingly, he praised Him even after his son was dead following his transgression: "Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped." (2 Samuel 12: 20) The attitude of David was that God deserves praise regardless of what was going on and whatever was the judgment He made as he accepted Him as a righteous judge whose Words are true. "I will give thanks to the LORD because of His righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High." (Psalms 7: 17) In another place David said, "...you have sat on your throne, judging righteously" (Psalms 9: 4) David also asserted that His Words are right and true. (Psalms 33: 4)

As we all know, David lived a victorious and commanding life. He enjoyed success, health, and long age. He was delivered, honored, favored, and protected. These and many are the rewards of worshippers and people who live to praise the Most High, who deserves praise for what He has already done to man kind. We owe Him of His continual mercy and compassion corporately and individually.

Yes, we should praise God like David as God forgave us and canceled our sins and restored us back to our former glories. However, this praise should be in the rest of our life and in consistent and daily basis. We shouldn’t make praise as a reaction to what is going on and what we get from God. Praising Him should be our prime duty in our fellowship with Him and regardless of what we have got in return. We should make it our life style.

There are many lessons we should learn from the praiseful life of David. We should also try to understand God as a God who is righteous and worthy of PRAISE by His very nature! We should reach the level of maturity where we praise the Almighty by default, in every situation, more than once a day, and in the rest of our life.

Besides, the life of complaining and ungratefulness looks like every where and we should be careful and watchful so that we may not be entrapped. We shouldn't be surprised when we see citizens are unthankful of governments, congregations are unthankful of their preachers, children are unthankful of their parents, and so on. Paul had already prophesized it: "in the last days, people would become unthankful" (2 TIMOTHY 3:1-2) This is the last days and the prophecy has to be fulfilled but we children of God should not be overtaken by the prophecy without our knowledge.

In this series, we will dig deep into the meaning of praise, its benefits, and more. There are also many side effects when our life is void of praise. Both the presence and lack of praise in our life has attached consequences that we should be deliberate and conscious of the way we fellowship with God on daily basis.

Lack of Sense of Urgency-Part I

2008-12-27T04:09:00Z

Without leaders feeling the sense of urgency, no major change has ever happened. There is a high correlation between change and the urgent need of it. The author of "Sense of Urgency", John Ketter believes that if there is no sense of urgency, there is no change. What he meant by that? He is emphasizing that without a leader showing the fierce urgency of change, no one buys into his agenda. If people are not buying a cause of change, there is no way change comes to picture. It takes the active involvement of grassroots.

In the aforementioned book, Kotter emphasized the business needs of change through overcoming the fear and anger that can suppress urgency; the importance of ensuring words, actions, and behaviors communicate the need for change; and how to keep fanning the flames of urgency even after the transformation effort has scored some early successes. Though this book focuses on businesses and how they inject urgency in their effort to bring change, we can still draw lessons from this book, which we can translate into our life and the change we are desperate for.

To make his case for change appealing, President-Elect Obama continually quoted the memorable phrase of Martin Luther King Jr.: “The fierce urgency of now”. There might be tones of other reasons why Barack Obama won the Presidency like his decision to run his campaign like a business, because he avoided negative message, and/or due to his smart move to tap into the Internet and his ability to connect with the new generation, and more. However, his ability to articulate the immediate need to change Washington and its workings drawn voters' attention and gained their trust. Otherwise, other candidates brought the same change message on the table. However, voters bought into the message of change coupled with a candidate who was passionate about its fierce urgency.

One of the finest motivational speakers in the US, Jim Rohn says, “Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value”. It is not possible to remain passionate about a thing and at the same time become senseless of its urgency to do it now. It just cannot happen. If we are not passionate enough and our people don't buy our claim; it maybe because we are not yet positioned in making our case urgent enough. The other magic behind sense of urgency is that it helps to confront challenges and to remain committed with the desire to bring forth results, especially of those which are demanding.

The above examples are just a few paybacks from being in a sense of urgency mode. There are many other benefits of having this sense of urgency attribute in our life, which in turn impact our families, communities, and beyond. However, we are going to focus on how it deters us from maximizing our potential right now and right here.

The main purpose of this mini-article is to pointer how the lack of sense of urgency is one of the possible culprits that slows or hampers our effort to fulfill what has been pre-determined before the foundation of the earth for us to co-work with God, Who already pre-pared and provided what it takes within us when we joined the world. Of course, when we say the lack of sense of urgency, what we are assuming is that other factors and prerequisites are being kept constant. Otherwise, talking about the fierce urgency of now is a luxury. We should first know that predestined work destined for our life on earth and envision on how to materialize it. Then comes, living every day as if it is our only day left from the calendar of our life on earth. To be frank, this has been the struggle of many and you and I might not be exceptional.

Remain Tune for Part II!

Lack of Sense of Urgency- Part II

2008-12-06T00:29:00Z

It is true that the lack of urgency in knowing self in relation to that predestined purpose for our life is one of the main factors that kept most of us at bay. Assume what life would be if we know that 'one thing' we invest the rest of our life on for our fulfillment? Look the focus, energy, & security that comes when we discover that treasure hidden within us packaged as God's present to the world? Imagine, as our forefathers in faith and most successful individuals on earth did, we are aware of that 'one thing' we supposed to commit ourselves in the rest of our life and work it as if the day left to start/progress/finish is today- based up on where we are in our journey.

There might be many reasons that kept us from enjoying the above advantages following our knowledge about self and that main thing that should suppose to be our priority in life. It is really worrisome to know that God went extra miles to help us get fulfilled and this is our responsibility to finish the race. He didn't left the job on us alone. God had made us co-workers with Him before we even existed physically on this planet. He pre-pared what we ought to do while we are on earth before the foundation of the earth. The real question is why are we not sensing it on daily basis? Why not we should make determination to know that 'one thing' He wanted us to accomplish and remain focused with a sense of urgency as if we have just today? Knowing that one thing maybe tough but some of us discovered it and the question is once we know it why other things are so powerful to drift us away from it? What is the glue to keep us stick on it and do it regardless of numerous challenges and priorities? The lamentation could continue.......

The real challenge is knowing and even willing to pursue it never enough. Here is what Leonardo da Vinci had to say, "I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do". Most of those who left us legacy understood the importance of application and sense of urgency. There might be many, among their generation who knew a lot more than they do and who showed aggressive willingness, but the difference maker that exalted these few individuals was the sense of urgency they demonstrated and the decency of applying what they knew.

Friend, where do you stand? Are you aware of your call and purpose in life? If not, what is keeping you to postponed it from knowing it now and urgently? Or are you waiting till you become perfect and a master of what you do? Or are you waiting that perfect day? If you are not in these categories, then you may be one of those people who are flip flopping? Sometimes feeling the urgency but when the rubber hits the road or when the heat is up, dropping the agenda and its urgency? Whatever is the challenge and the cause, friend, we all are in this together. You are not alone! The main thing is, let's reshelf our priorities and make first thing first!! Most importantly, we are not left to guess about it. We have a great Teacher who lived with a sense of urgency. Our Leader and Mentor, Jesus Christ! Let's learn from Him and follow His footsteps.

Jesus was living every day accountable to His assignment and with a sense of urgency. He said, "There is one who has sent me. I must do his work while it is still daylight. Night is coming. Then it will be too dark to work" (John 9: 2-4). He knew that He had to exploit every minute and second as if He was left with the last second at hand. We never heard Jesus was bored or idled from pursuing His assignment. He knew that time was the key factor on earth unlike in eternity and in Heaven. He was exploiting every chance to serve His purpose.

And that was why He maximized His Potential and time perfectly. For Him, the only way to bring out His potential and accomplish all works the Father gave Him was by being passionate and with a sense of urgency all the time. He never tired or any of the physical needs deterred Him from pursuing His purpose with a sense of urgency. At one point, when His disciple worried and thought that He was hungry; He said, 'doing the work of His Father is His food'. He was calm and doing what He had to do even on the eve of a cruel death on a cross. What a commitment and sense of urgency!!!!

Fear of Socialism by proponents of Capitalism is an over reaction

2008-12-01T19:13:00Z

Here is one of the headlines at World Magazine, November 27, 2008: “The return of British Socialism”. The title took this declaration based on the recent proposal of tax increase suggested by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, if his party re-elected in 2011. The writer associated this with the claim against President-Elect Barack Obama as a Socialist because he was suggesting tax increase against those who make more than 250, 000. Here is the leading opinion of the article: "Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s so-called “fairness agenda” sounds a lot like the language used by Democrats in the States".

It is true that signs are increasing in Europe, Asia, and South America where even pro-capitalism, if not authentic right wing, parties are promising reforms that might discourage entrepreneurship. That may be a warning sign for supporters of free-market economy and individual entrepreneurial spirit but it should not be considered as the second coming of Socialism and frighten everybody. This approach of representing Capitalism is not productive both in short and long term. These signs should not have been taken more than alerts for supporters to revisit this centuries old principle. Rather, it should have been considered as a timely call to maintain 'the vehicle' so that it could further propel free-market economy throughout the 21st C without hurting those it suppose to serve

Proponents of Capitalism might be over reacting out of fear that the general public is undermining the benefits of Capitalism and might quickly resurrect Socialism. Yes, this is the right time to engage in pursuing a rescue mission before it is too late. However, we have already indicated in one of our commentaries entitled "Change is due across all systems..." that 21st C deserves change, which is due for most ideologies, systems, and principles and Capitalism cannot be exceptional. In that commentary, we quoted the headlines of many mainstream printing media that call for attention that Capitalism is at bay, wondered, and threatened.

These campaigns are timely but their purpose should be to call for more strategic and long term approaches to salvage Capitalism than over emphasizing how the other alternative- Socialism- is bad. Rather than focusing on the aftermath of Capitalism's demise and how Socialism is the worst scenario if the former is abandoned, why not spending that energy to propose better reforms and alternatives? Why not proposing reassuring fixes for temporal challenges and make amendments by projecting how Capitalism is a best bet to succeed in the 21st C, which in turn helps to regain public trust?

This is really a good chance to invite fresh and innovative insights that evolve the 20th C Capitalism into its next brand that could withstand the 21st C challenges. Its core principles still makes it the only viable ideology to promote pro prosperity competition, stable economy, and sustainable man kind welfare. Rather than calling the once unpopular and dead ideology into the scene, there should have been true confession and self assessments that might prompt the public to buy into the longevity of Capitalism. For example, there are many indications that Capitalism is betrayed by some business leaders. Why not hammering that than redirecting towards Socialism and/or finger pointing towards those leaders who are trying to contend the fall out through some policy measures?

Partly, the credibility of Capitalism is eroded by unethical and too much selfish greed of leadership in businesses. Proponents of Capitalism need to call for a healing crusade to rebuild the wounded Capitalism. Calling those genuine and caring efforts, to avoid more damaging consequences of unstrained pursuance and abuse of Capitalism's ideologies, Socialistic cannot be a solution. By the same token, demonizing Socialism than taking appropriate corrective and progressive measures is a distraction, to say the least.

Arguing what Socialism can offer in comparison with Capitalism is the least thing to invest time and energy. The 19th C Karl Marx's hypothetical assumption that Socialism and Communism could enhance collective prosperity proven wrong after costing so many lives, precious time, and resources. For that matter, who is committed to resurrect Socialism? The former fans of Socialism like China and Russia have been making many reforms to accommodate free-market economy over many years. Not only affluent and progressive leaders of the 21st C, staunch former Marxist leaders shouldn't be underestimated as if they dare to experiment this tenet again and in our generation.

On the other hand, centuries old ideological orthodoxy, which believes in allowing and protecting individuals to strive freely contributes for the betterment of their society proven right again and again. Taking the weighty hands of governments out of the marketplace equation and restraining it from making decision on behalf of individuals long established truth and the only way out to allow individuals in enjoying their God-given inalienable rights. We should remember Adam Smith's work, Wealth of Nations. In this work, Adam argued that the natural effort of every individual to better his own condition, when suffered to exert itself with freedom and security is so powerful a principle, that it is alone, and without any assistance capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity. There is no time and luxury to reinvent this wheel!! This is not time to doubt as if there is ideological vacuum.

However, there is no doubt that the current global financial crisis has become costly for the reputation of free market economy. This calamity gave a free pass ticket for governments who got excuses to expand their share within their economy and portray a lion share role in leading their economy. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan discussed in length, during his recent speech at George Town University, how democracy like free press and individual property rights played vital and historic role in promoting wealth, stability, and prosperity. He built a powerful case for ideologies of Capitalism by bringing so many examples and begged stakeholders to refrain from betraying this ages old precept. However, he didn't fail to admit that though the principles behind free market system is sound, lack of integrity spawned the current financial crisis.

We need this kind of lobbying and arguments than cynical approaches out of zeal for Capitalism. It is apparent that the current catastrophe is not in favor of Capitalism. At the same time, the probability of the world reverses its course and endorses Socialism is also unlikely. There is no practically vital momentum that can resurrect Socialism from its burial and the recycling bin of human history. However, it becomes obvious that the global economy is in peril and the world is in Emergency State. Recognizing this state, countries are taking steps undermining the principle of less government involvement and deregulations. While observing this perceptible reality, it is not wise to just act blind-loyal. Without admitting some oversights, implementation failures, and irresponsible deeds of those who abused the benefits of the system, while reintroducing this noble ideal to the 21st C generation, the public cannot give its focused attention and ultimately its trust and support.

The heavy hand of governments and too much limiting factors is not pleasant and should not remain there for long. However, over reacting against those temporal reactions by some friendly political forces towards individual liberty and private property ownership in response to some ad hoc crisis should not be over exaggerated. Associating any effort like tax increase against the wealthiest as a coming of Socialism is also unfair. For that matter, Adam Smith himself said, "It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion."

The wave of Socialism that shaken the world and its scars were a few decades away. Its gloomy offer in some part of the world are still in the minds of many people who are now players of the free economy. We cannot be forgetful of, in just a few decades, its embodiment threat against individual liberty, freedom of religion, and innovation to adopt it as a best bet alternative against Capitalism. Socialism never been a propelling engine to those countries who practiced it. It disappointed them and others who fought against it shouldn't be fooled this time around and be the latest victims. But using that fear to rescue Capitalism whose reform has due long ago won't release it from being kept at bay or heal its wounds.

The tactic of scaring the public of the second coming of Socialism didn't work effectively, especially seeing the 2008 Presidential election outcome in the US. The challenge rather to advocates of Capitalism is to show solidarity for those temporary responses and work hard on how, in the long run, to reserve the outstanding features of Capitalism by incorporating some reforms worthy to fit the 21st C. There are many new challenges that came with the new Century, which Capitalism cannot just ignore. Some of the challenges are the priorities of the generation like the issue of environment, HIV/AIDS, and more, which shouldn't be out of the new equation. New wins are pouring following the coming of new Century and they need a new Wineskin; the old one is bursting all over However, the pattern of the Wineskin should follow the same one that was tested, produced result, and endured for years.

In order this ideology remain on the driver's seat and in commanding position, it should proof itself again as relevant and beneficiary for collective success. The real challenge Capitalism has is to reassure humanity that it is still capable to bolster prosperity, stability, progress, and innovation with minimal adjustments to respond the challenges and opportunities of the 21st C. Otherwise, sarcastic approaches and fear mongering towards some friends of the core values of Capitalism and the free market don’t solve the stand-off. It is not time to scare both friends and foes alike. It is time to bring all forces including those who started doubting Capitalism.

Last but not least, if changes are not coming on time and convincingly, frustration might undermine the qualities of Capitalism and overrides it at once. Before governments are considered as the solely compassionate life savors and over regulations as the strongest life-belts and over burden economies and constraints entrepreneurial spirit, well-thought and conscious changes the 21st deserves in our economic models and beyond, not sarcastic approach, polarization, and distractions!! There might be many reforms needed over time and some changes may require cautious moves but it becomes obvious that it takes business leaders motivated by transcending values than greed and temporal profits. It takes to build confidence of the public to the extent that they believe these leaders are more trustworthy than their respective governments and rigid regulations....

Once again, America showed the world Her genius:

2008-11-05T18:40:00Z

Once the results were announced by CNN that Barack Obama became President-Elect, my attention was shifted to watch how Senator John McCain would respond. Beyond my expectation, he stood and demonstrated the most civil and honorable concession. I was almost wondered while watching live the extreme maturity of Americans democracy, which I used to admire from remote. His call for unity once Americans bought the theme of Barack Obama- change- demonstrated the decency of Americans to unity themselves regardless of differences for the sake of common good. What an exemplary democracy!!!

While I was in that mood of appreciation, I went well beyond this eventful moment to think about the foundation of this nation. This incident reminded me how the vision of the Founding Fathers, who founded one of the greatest nations on the cradle of noble principle: God-given inalienable rights of individuals, once again renewed and proven its strength and the immortality of that value. For that matter its impact transcends national boundaries and that is why millions are dreaming to come to America with the hope of enjoying this God-given right.

Definitely, the presidency of the first Africa-American is electrifying to the world, as Former Secretary of State General Colin Powell said. All over the world, reactions are pouring out and the President-Elect is receiving congratulations. Here is a statement from the congratulatory remark taken from South Africa's former president, Nelson Mandela: "Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his congratulations letter to Obama said, "At a time when we have to confront immense challenges together, your election raises great hopes in France, in Europe and in the rest of the world,"

This occasion also reminded me of how America birthed, nurtured, and crowned great leaders that have been serving not just America but the world. In Her relatively infant history, USA has been playing critical roles in those defining moments humanity faced that include major World Wars and ideological battles that inflicted world citizens. I was watching the acceptance speech of President-Elect Barack Obama and noticed that America once again birthed and offered another inspirational leader and added to the list of leaders like Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Regan.

Beyond its historic impact and regardless of whether you agree with his personal and/or party ideologies, President-Elect Barack Obama came at the right moment when not only America but also the world needed direction. Great leaders have been born in the midst of crisis and we are experiencing one right now and it takes visionary, wise, and inclusive leadership, which Barack Obama demonstrated throughout his campaign.

Great crisis demanded the insight, inspiration, and gut of great leaders who rescued humanity from those grave challenges. Though it is too early to predict, we will come out strong from the crisis we are in and the presidency of Barack Obama came at the right time for the US to play Her leadership role at the global scale in winning the fight against terror, environmental degradation, HIV/AIDS, and more. Once again, America showed the world Her genius.

God Bless America!!!

Get envisioned and live out your dream- Part III

2008-11-04T01:23:00Z

In Part II, we discussed how the lack or presence of sight should not be a determining factor for our success and how we should also be careful that having sight doesn’t mean that we are seeing the invisible world very clearly.

Jonathan Swift, a 17th C teacher, singer, traveler and writer, said that vision is the art of seeing the invisible. We already know that sight helps to navigate through the visible world but vision navigates through the invisible world. The visible world might look like congested, crowded, exploited, and no room for discovery and exploit but thanks to vision, which can help anyone who aspires to venture into the invisible world for new discoveries, insights, exploits, and achievements.

This week, we will try to define vision and the importance of having it for individual and corporate success and how we should work hard on daily basis until the vision is fully manifested. Dr Myles defines vision as "a mental image of a preferred future, a conceptual picture of a desired end." He also said that vision is a detailed documentation of a future desired. For anyone who desires to know more on vision, we recommend you to read His book entitled, "The principles and power of vision." In this book, he made it clear that individuals, organizations, and nations need vision. According to Dr Myles, vision is the birthplace and the incubator of motivation. He said that every great act that has positively impacted human history was a result of vision. He credited vision as the key to unity that provides the stimulus for personal and corporate discipline and commitment.

There is no way that we can be able to see the end desire of our life or project with our mere sight or even using the best binoculars or stereoscopes. There is no way that we remain committed and passionate without vision while nothing big is going on. Vision is the security that drives each of us with the hope of seeing the end of the line regardless of challenges and impossible situations facing us all the way to the end. Life is a thick jungle and dark and without vision, walking through it is impossible and risky. We need to use vision to navigate through this jungle that can light up our way and shows us a light of hope at the end of the tunnel. This way, we can only pass through frustrating, challenging, and improbable circumstances. Sight is a poor choice of aide.

However, having a vision is not the end of the game and pursuing it is not an easy task. From its inception till it comes to pass, vision is something that demands more of our time and resource. It takes to write it down, remain focused, inspiring others to own the vision, taking risks, and maintaining consistency, and more. The Bible says, "Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets so that whoever reads it may run with it." (Habakkuk 2:2) It takes our patience and the ability to choose the right timings as the vision grows from one phase to the next. Habakkuk 2: 3 calls our attention to consider that the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, the Bible says, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

Though we are advised to wait patiently and it doesn’t delay, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t work hard. Visionaries have to write down the vision, give it to others to run with it, be exemplary for their people by carrying out tasks that contribute towards bringing forth the vision. It is self explanatory that visionaries have to do continuously, from the day they conceived the vision, to attain parts of the vision while waiting its full manifestation. That is why vision is different from Illusion. Illusion doesn’t call for our commitment and we are just envisioning and remain watchful for its coming and in most cases it doesn’t show up.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the thirty-second President of the United States and one of the most respected and loved presidents said, "Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground." Visionary people are those who kept the balance. While they are envisioning big and trusting its coming, they maintained their ground and never failed to take care of what is expected of them. Alvin Toffler, a great author and futurist, once said that you've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.

Let’s finish this session by raising some relevant questions. Do you have a vision? Do you trust it more than you trust what your sight presents? Are you sold out for this vision to the extent that you pursue it regardless of set backs and disappointing performances right now and while waiting its full manifestation? Are you doing small things, every day/week, which could add up to the vision you have? Hope, your answers are positive.

Get envisioned and live out your dream Part II

2008-11-04T01:14:00Z

Hope, you have already read part I. This week, we will try to show how we don't have any excuses to have sight but devoid of vision. We borrow Helen Keller's infamous statement and hammer the issue further. This is our belief that, in the end, you will be thirsty to conceive your life time vision and pursue it so that you may also impact your generation as Helen Keller, a great visionary, did.

There is no question that sight is one of the critical functional organs that performs the most important duty to live a fulfilling life on earth. This is true for almost all animals except a few exceptions. The use of sight among animals varies depending up on their ‘call’. Some animals need extra ordinarily performing sight than just to see barely. One of the animals that really need such powerful anoint is eagle. It is estimated that an eagle can see another eagle soaring at a distance of 25 - 65 kilometers.

Whether animals like eagle which demands a more specialized and far reaching sight or others who use their sight less extensively, most animals might not endure to survive without sight. However, human can survive and even succeed without having sight. The best example in the latter case is Helen Keller. Author Theodore Zeldin wrote in his book that "no history of the world can be complete which does not mention Mary Helen Keller". He even went to compare her achievement with the great warrior Alexander the Great. He said, "her overcoming of blindness and deafness were arguably victories more important than those of Alexander the Great, because they have implications still for every living person."

The success of Helen Keller was not impaired because she didn’t have sight but many of us fail not because we don’t have sight but we lack vision. If lack of sight didn’t stop her from envisioning, those of us who have sight- do we really have excuses from conceiving vision and impact our world? We don’t have any strong excuses; if we want to be honest with ourselves. She didn’t sympathize such personalities rather rebuked them. She said, "The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision." One of the synonym words for pathetic is pitiful. Don’t be mad on her. She had the authenticity to call those of us with sights but devoid of vision Pathetic. We rather should seriously question whether we are complacent and think that having sight alone renders us a security to live more than pitiful life.

If someone is trying to make things religious, the Bible makes the case worst than Helen Keller’s perception about the lack of vision. It says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18) Understandably, the Bible talks about people who have sight but that doesn’t immunize them from being perished. Sight can get us along to navigate our territory on earth but our scope, as people who would like to get fulfilled, demands more than a mere sight. Unless we upgrade ourselves and demand more than a mere sight living and deny sight to dictate our move, we are deemed to perish before reaching the territory God saw for us to occupy as our inheritance. To reach our height and get fulfilled, we need to have vision. Make it today that the days to live by sight alone is over!

The visionless syndrome is treatable if people are in a position to admit that they don’t have vision. The complication comes when people assume that they have vision and they are fine with where they are and their destination. You might have already heard some people arguing that they are visionary just because they have yearly resolution. Or some think that they have vision because they have some agendas like improving their social or academic status. These are great and nothing is wrong in doing so but we shouldn’t confuse them with having life time Vision. Surprisingly, most people may think that they have vision of some kind just because they imagine and try to visualize their next move and action. The aforementioned people might think that the above scripture or Helen’s quote are not for them. They are complacent and don’t strive to know more and are not thirsty about vision.

We are honest when we find out the defect in our sight or when it comes clear that our eyes couldn’t help us see some tiny or distant objects. We look for a binocular and humble enough when we are clear about our inability to see distant views. We are docile when a doctor recommends us to wear eye glasses. We are obedient and look for microscope while we are in the laboratory and to observe tiny microscopic matters. If we are honest, humble, and are looking for help when we learn that our mere eyes couldn’t give us the amount of clarity we need, why not we admit that our soul and spirit requires having vision to stretch and help us reach the height of our destiny?

There is also one big misunderstanding out there where people are using dream, illusion, and vision interchangeably. However, there is a huge difference between them. Vision is very distinct than its counterparts. On the other hand, for instance, illusion is defined as an erroneous mental representation or something many people believe that is false. But who, in his right mind, entertains an erroneous mental representation and embrace what is believed to be false. That means we might not be sure in the beginning whether a particular idea in our mind is an erroneous mental representation; we might rather thought that it is believably a true picture. This is a delicate line we should walk carefully. It is very dangerous when someone considers illusions and fantasies as visions.

Please remain tuned to read more as we further discuss details about vision from the perspective of the Bible, its advantages, some features of vision like whether vision is time bound or not, for self gratification and interest or selfless causes, and more.

Get envisioned and live out your dream Part I

2008-11-04T01:03:00Z

It is important to be visionary. It is also equally important to revisit and reinforce your vision periodically. It could be possible that some people might not have a clear vision and sense of direction about where they are going and not sure of their ultimate destiny. It may take protracted debate and training to convince such people, help them discover their vision, and pursue till it comes to pass.

We will try to dig into the Biblical truth of vision and its significance in our living on earth. We will also encourage many who might have once conceived a vision but lost its intensity through time. The later case maybe rampant considering the fact that the demand of life intensifying and presenting challenges and confrontations more than ever where the likelihood of shifting and reshuffling our priorities is high to handle those issues that are urgent and immediate in the expense of the most enduring and prime agendas like our life time purpose.

This month, we will appeal to you- if you are not yet thought of conceiving your life time vision- the importance of a visionary life. This is a journey you won’t regret and this is a period that might bring you to a turning point in your life. There is a saying, "The world is dominated by visionaries." Whether that world for you personally is business, politics, religion, academics, science, research, athletics, or charity, you name it, you cannot inherit or conquer or excel before you could be able to envision it in your inner being. Welcome to the club of visionaries!

You might have already conceived a life time vision and even walked on it till you lost it before you even knew it. You might be a person who was once excited about your new envisioned world and were flying high till you were confronted with life prime challenges and priorities that knocked you out from that exciting life style. You might be a person who tried to actualize the visualized dream and found it hard and postponed it till ‘its time’ come. You might have one but when you get married or coupled with your beloved one, you found it hard to inspire your partner or friend to own that vision. You might be a victim who once lived a life dictated by your life time vision but life or people or your peers or families told you or intimidated you that you are ambitious, out of touch, unrealistic, and ended up conformed with your environment to live a 'realistic' life devoid of vision. Whichever maybe be your case, friend, this is the month where we would like you to get reintroduced and rediscover your life time vision.

We know that this topic is not easy and/or we might not have ample time and space to discuss it thoroughly and on the Web alone. However, we are convinced that we should dedicate this month’s Inspirational Word to address the importance of being visionary and how to conceive, nurture, and pursue your vision than doing nothing. This is our believe that, at the end of the month, you either get excited and start/restart the long and protracted journey in discovering/rediscovering and pursuing your life time vision or at least get challenged to reconsider your reluctant and reactive position.

We also know that, as this subject has been dealt excessively, you might have already thought that you have enough of it but let’s get humbled. Yes, you might have read, meditated, and even preached about it but it doesn’t hurt to get some refreshment moment and who knows you might get some new perspectives and insights as you dedicate this month for vision.

Don’t let others define you-Part II

2008-11-04T00:52:00Z

Unless we are watchful and bold enough to resist, the world out there is full of prescriptions and ready made version personality for us. The temptation is high if we are looking to wear a convenient and cheaper personality by copying others. It will be worst if we are people who easily bow down for peer pressures, cultural expectations, and as far as we assume that we must subscribe for custom tailored personality fashions of the season.

We should stick, collectively, on what God said about us. In Genesis 1: 26, God defined who we are as human race when He 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." Generally speaking, whether we know it or not, we humans refuse to accept any form of dominion and control over our life even if it originates from the very people we love. We were made of controlling and dominating and when the reverse is happening on us, we are uncomfortable. The degree of resistance and the reaction may vary from person to person and from circumstance to circumstance - consciously or subconsciously - but it is there. The extent we resist such an imposition from others depends up on how much we are well aware of who we are in Him and how He feels when He looks up on us. Our collective success as man kind determined on how much we maintain the definition God gave to us from the very beginning. Whoever is the source, it would be a total failure to accept none than this definition from the Author.

In the school of individual success and fulfillment, it is the same. God never created a failure person and He never regretted bringing us to this world to accomplish specific assignments as per the generation, space, and time. According to His time and will, He brought each of us from eternity- where our predetermined destiny was coded- and fleshed us with an earthly clay to interact, survive, and accomplish His purpose for our life. The most deadly mistake we can make is to think that we are that flesh which assists us to interface with the physical world. The sun interacts with other planets and creations through her rays and other influences of her mass and distance. We are the number one and the main beneficiaries of the sun. We could have many praises to the sun and her role for our survival on earth. Of course, we don't worship as others did and still doing but we recognize her contribution and most importantly we worship the Creator of the sun who shaped, molded, and configured this massive, striking, and beautiful creation.

However, feeling the heats, touching her rays, our admiration for her, and even our dependency on her doesn't guarantee us to claim and say 'we know the sun'. No one ever could be closer to her, let alone to investigate and understand her true nature. The nature, worth, and destiny of the sun is in the hands of the manufacturer of this wonderful being. We might have a say and full of guesses but we are helpless to understand, define, and fully comprehend who the sun is, when was her birth date, and how she is going to end up, and more. We don't think the sun accepts, if she was given the chance, any of our definitions until we could be able to come closer, read the manual about her, and talk to Her author. Till that prerequisite is fulfilled, the descriptions and simulations about the sun remains unauthentic and irrelevant. She appreciates our praises, well aware that we are dependent on her but these all don't authorize us to define and prescribe who she is. Wouldn't it be shame on any one who may hope the sun subscribe, 'knowing who created her and her worth', to its definition and live after it? Wouldn't it be shocking if the sun downgrade herself and accept the description of her worth by others who never been closer to her except feeling her heat, guessing her distances, and appreciating her rays?

If you are allowing others to define you, that is exactly what it means and will happen. You are created, shaped, molded for a specific purpose by the Majestic Almighty. Others are unable to come closer and know who you really are until you demonstrate it. They try to feel, measure, and give you a quote. You cannot avoid being quoted but will you commit and enter into an agreement to take their quote as your authentic self is the real question. No one could know and give you who you really are and you just wear it. Yes, you may go to garment shop and they measure and prepare for you suits that fit your physical body. They might hire modelists and arrange fashion shows to lure you for a particular fashion. That is okay for clothes and shoes. But, don't over simplify and apply the same method when it comes to living as who you are to get fulfilled. If you are headed to that direction, this month is here to notify you that that is the wrong way.

Have you ever seen the big warning red traffic sign, which says Wrong Way? We might have seen that sign so many times and never worried because it is the other side of the road and doesn't apply to you. We might have also never expected to confront this sign and one of the reasons maybe because we knew our destination and was sure the route. Our confidence though determined from whom we got it. If it is from a trustworthy vendor that has been producing accurate maps, we feel hundred percent sure we reach our destination without troubles and such signs like that are not an issue at all.

When we see that sign next time let's think about our driving direction towards fulfillment. What do we feel about our journey in the school of life? Do we know our destiny for sure? Are we sure that we got the route from God Himself? Is the source of the coordinates for our GPS from God's database? Did we print, in our very soul, the map (picture) as dictated by the Holy Spirit and confirmed by the Word (Christ)? Are we always activating the inner GPS in every move we make?

Think about it? If we are not sure where we are going or we just picked any map to go no where, do we really feel comfortable to face that sign on the road and still ignore it? Why then are we so comfortable, while we subscribed a destiny as dictated by others who are not the true source of who we are, to drive in any how on the high ways of life? Surprisingly, the world looks like a jungle and network of highways of life but without signs from the author of those highways and even if there are people and institutions who help to post some critical signs, the drivers look like don't care to invest their time to understand and obey those signs. There is no real time navigation at all.