How to Work in Any Environment

HOW TO WORK IN ANY ENVIRONMENT

1.  Don’t expect to be appreciated.  Your only expectation should be to get a
paycheck.  Don’t come to work to have personal relationships.  Don’t allow what
you do to affect who you are.

2.  Do your job well, but remember your mission.  God put you there to be a
Light.

3.  Seek opportunities to change the atmosphere without commenting on the problems.  You have a God to talk to.  You are on an assignment.  Quietness and competence shall be your strength.

4.  Don’t let your environment get inside of you.  You should influence it, not let it influence you.  Stop going to work to be fed.  You didn’t come to receive, you came to give.  Remember to Whom you belong.

5.  Increase your capacity to work with different personalities.  (They are doing this with you.)  God will often bless you through people you don’t even like!

6.  Remember where you are does not define where you are going.  This will deliver you from frustration.  God has a plan for your life.  Keep your eye on the prize. When Peter did this, he was able to walk in what made other people sink!

7.  Get the optimum results with minimal confusion.  Be effective without making the environment worse; don’t deliberately cause commotion with your personal issues.

8.  Don’t be associated with one group or clique.  Labels limit your usefulness.  God wants you to work with everybody but be labeled by nobody.  Use all your God-given gifts.

9.  Always keep your song near you.  Do what you should when nobody is watching or will ever know.  Hold on to your Priority and let it shine!

10. Understand that God anoints you for trouble.  Put on the whole armour of God before going to work.

Also remember…

• Psalm 75: 6-7 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
• Proverbs 18:16 -  A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.  
• Matthew 25:23 – His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
• Galatians 6:9 - And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 
   

Childhood Holiday Memories

Growing up, my parents were quite the decorators. My Dad went to lengths to make sure that our “picture window” indeed had a picture. I can remember people driving by real slowly to admire my dad’s handy-work. The pictures don’t show them real well, but he lined the interior of these pictures with lights, painstakingly lining up and taping each light. One of these pictures (Easter) even includes a picture of Margie (my sister), Rodney (my brother), Deanna (Mom), and Yours Truly! Like most fathers, Dad was taking the picture; probably with his favorite Pentax camera. There was a lot of talent in those windows, but more than that there was a lot of LOVE!

This was the picture window at our house at 367 S. Christine in Westland, MI – We had some great memories in that home. I was 10 years old when we moved into that house and just after I graduated from John Glenn High School in Westland, we relocated to where my mom and dad currently live.

Thanks Mom and Dad for these memories!

  

 

The Challenge of Holiness

The Link Between Holiness and the Standard
Coming from an Apostolic background that can be accused of being “legalistic” people tend to term us legalistic because we do have standards of dress and conduct that are taught in the scripture to help us preserve or protect our holiness. Doing or not doing something doesn’t necessarily make someone holy, but can help preserve the holiness. Our view of holiness has a deep correlation to our standard. Some view a standard as a limitation. I personally view the standard as a means of protection, a buffer as it were, against worldly influence. Abiding by the standard as set forth by God, not man, I invoke a spiritual protection over my life.

Your Fruit
The deeper you go into study about holiness; you’ll find that the flesh and spirit are intertwined. Overall, yes, holiness is a matter of the heart, but often is displayed physically by our choices of entertainment, dress, conduct, morality, etc. In Matthew 12:33 Jesus says it like this, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.”

Fit for His Glory
I am going somewhere with this. Some would argue, “well it doesn’t matter what happens to my body or what I choose to do with it.” Paul would disagree in I Corinthians 3:16 – Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

We have a mandate, as Christians, to live a holy and separated life from the world. To defile something means, “To make unclean or unfit for ceremonial use; to desecrate.” The effects of our choices in the above-mentioned entertainment, dress, conduct, and morality, can certainly lead us to become defiled and unfit for use by God. Holiness is not a question of how closely we can live to the world’s standard and still be used of God. Rather, it is a conscious decision of how closely we live for God and how far away from the world we can remain.

The Physical Side of Holiness
Our bodies are a canvas on which the holiness that we pursue is displayed. A person who pursues holiness is unmistakable. Their demeanor, their behavior, their choices are reflected physically as a result of a spiritual encounter. Paul who was by far more spiritual than I ever profess to be stated in I Corinthians 9:24-28 – ²⁴Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. ²⁵And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. ²⁶I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: ²⁷But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. The best way Paul found to run the race was to bring his body under subjection. How do we do that? By denying ourselves fleshly pursuits, appetites, lusts, and affections. These all will be demonstrated both spiritually AND physically.

The Body Does Matter
This is the last thing I’ll say about the “physical nature” of holiness. The brutality of Calvary was not just spiritual. The bloody torturing and scourging that took place absolutely was physical in nature. Yes, we glean spiritual liberty as a result of the suffering of Christ, but that never would have happened unless he endured the agony physically. The scripture again teaches us that, “by his stripes, we are healed.” Those stripes were endured physically but had a spiritual impact. The salvation we enjoy is a direct result of the physical blood that was shed from wounds that were physically imposed upon Christ’s body. So, it stands to reason that the effects of what we endure, and what we pursue physically will have a direct spiritual manifestation and impact.

Celebrating 18 Years of Marriage – Weekend Getaway Day 4

Sunday February 10, 2008 

Officially our anniversary date. 18 years ago this day I married the absolute love of my life! We had a great time while away. It was a good thing we got that massage the night before we left. We woke up to sub-zero wind-chills and winds gusting at 30-40 mph. It was down-right bitter to say the least. The drive home was treacherous. We had a rental car that the body shop had given us due to Shannon’s car being repaired (long story). It was a Ford Focus, which is small and as it turns out, not very good in high winds and slick conditions. I was WK (white-knuckling) all the way home. We made it safely, but I sure could ahve used another massage after that drive!

I enjoy taking Shannon to the yarn stores. I like plugging in the addresses into my GPS and just heading out. Plus, knowing that Shannon enjoys it so much adds a thrill for me too. God had certainly blessed us over the past 18 years. Our children are both saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, I have a great job, we have a great little home, we help pastor a world-class Apostolic church, and we have a great big wonderful God looking out for us ever step of the way.

I have been invited as the guest speaker at a marriage retreat in a couple of weeks. God has granted us widsom through-out not only our marriage but our ministry. I look forward to encouraging other couples to pursue a happy marriage. It’s one of the most rewarding investments a person will ever make; investing in a relationship of a husband and wife.

Celebrating 18 Years of Marriage – Weekend Getaway Day 3

Saturday February 9, 2007

Day 3 – Traverse City
We started our day with breakfast at Mabel’s Restaurant. This was without a doubt one of the best breakfasts we had the entire weekend. I had the Irish Omelette and Shannon had the Denver with egg-subsitute. We also bought a loaf of their homemade cheddar bread. Delish!

We had every intention of just chilling out and relaxing the entire weekend but that didn’t work out quite that way. Well, the chilling part was certainly a factor with sub-zero temps and windchills, but the relaxing part only came after we ran our legs off from store to store.

Before heading out to the yarn stores and outlets we booked a room for our final night at Grand Traverse Bay Resort and Spa. We were able to get a room for $199/night with a beautiful view of the bay in the “tower.” Our room included a hot tub (for 2), King sized bed, kitchenette, and wi-fi access. This may sound like a lot of money, but this was to be our last night away and we wanted to end our weekend on a high-note. We also booked a massage at the resort’s spa . This included a 1-hour massage. It was fabulous! I didn’t know they could do those things to your body. FYI: I had a man and Shannon had a lady…no hanky panky here!

Lost Art Yarn Shoppe – Traverse City, MI
We headed to a couple more yarn stores today as well as some shoe shopping (my favorite). Our first yarn store was “Lost Art Yarn Shoppe,” in downtown Traverse City. As most yarn stores are, this was quaint and offered some patterns that Shannon was surprised to find, like hair-pin lace patterns. The lady that tended the store was “snippy.” Shannon mentioned that she was pleased to find the hair-pin lace patterns to which the lady quipped, “well you know that’s for crocheting.” Shannon was well-aware of this fact. Another thing that turned Shannon off was when a customer asked about another local yarn store, Yarn Quest (see below), the lady “acted” like she never heard of the store. That’s bad business not pointing customers to your competitors. That says you’re paranoid and that your competitors are likely better than you.

Plamadon Shoes – Traverse City, MI
Across the street from Lost Art Yarn, I stumbled on a nicely staffed shoe store called, “Plamadon Shoes.” We were waited on hand and “foot” by a swee young lady named, of all things, “Winter.” She was very attentive to my concerns and tastes and we wound up purchasing 3 pairs of shoes and (2) bags. I purchased a couple pairs of “Keen” brand shoes and (1) pair of Merrell’s for Nathan. My shoes were Keen Bostons and Briggs. Nathan’s Merrells were Barcelona’s. The bags were by Keen as well called Alameda 15, made completely of recycled material. Hats off (or shoes as it were) to this team. They were top-notch in service, friendliness, and variety of merchandise.

Yarn Quest – Traverse City, MI
By far one of Shannon’s highlights was this store. Yarn Quest on Garfield, in Traverse City, was a good find. Shannon was able to get authentic Irish Yarn along with some patterns. She was very pleased with the staff. Shannon said she felt like she could just sit there and knit for hours. We returned for some more yarn for Shannon’s knitting partner, Pam. The ladies nearly hugged Shannon and were genuinely happy to see her. Now I know why Lost Art Yarn Shoppe was so hesitant about recommending them. They were awesome.

Irish Knits – Cedar, MI
Usually when you shop at yarn stores you’re greeted by ladies that average in age from 50 and up. This store was different. The staff was around 35 and under. Irish Knits was another nugget on Shannon’s yarn travels. They were located about 15 miles from Traverse City in a sleepy little town called Cedar. A very pleasant experience for Shannon.

Thistledown Shoppe, Sutton’s Bay, MI
Maybe it was just the time of year. The dead of winter can wreak havoc on small shops in the north. There is little or no tourism and to survive, the stores often have to skimp on inventory and variety. The Thistledown Shoppe appears to have fallen prey to the winter lull in business. They were certainly not worth the drive this time of year. Shannon was very disappointed, although the drive to it was beautiful even with all of the snow.

Dinner
Once we finished our massage we headed to a restaurant, I think it was called City, but can’t find information or links on the web to it. Suffice it to say, I know why. It was lousy. Not a very good ending to our day. We headed back to our hotel and relaxed for the evening.

There is a severe weather front that blew in over the evening. It didn’t bode well for our travel the next morning home.