3rd Quarter

I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can make it. Gayle Sayers

What Quarter are you in?

If life were like football and therefore divided into Quarters then some of us would be in the 1st Quarter (0-25), some would be entering the 2nd Quarter (25-50), others would be starting the 3rd quarter (50-75), while a smaller group would be somewhere in the 4th Quarter (75-100) of our lives.  Parents, teachers and peers most likely dominated the 1st quarter of your life. By the time you entered the 2nd quarter… employers, spouses, career choices and children influenced many of your decisions. Now that the 3rd quarter is beginning for many Baby Boomer’s it is time to stop playing defense exclusively and instead dominate the game of life on offense. It is time to get offensive!

1st and Ten

Seventy-six million American babies were born between 1946 and 1960, representing cohorts that would be significant on account of its size alone. These so called Boomer’s grew up at a time of dramatic social change and political upheaval. In the United States, that social change marked the generation with a strong cultural cleavage, between the proponents of social change and the more conservative. Some experts believe this partitioning of the American Sociopsychological consciousness has played out politically since the time of the Vietnam War, to some extent defining the current political landscape and division in the country. This generation witnessed the political assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X, Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy. This was also the generation that experienced the proliferation of nuclear armament, Woodstock, Hippies, flower and black power, the Beatles, the Jackson Five, black and white television, Civil Rights as well as equal rights for Women, People of Color and Gays. They have stood on the shoulders of Giant’s and have hidden in the shadows of Me’ism and indifference. They have straddled the two worlds — the world of yesterday (post-industrial age) and the world of today (technological and information age)!

1st and Goal

The fact is the generation that is [living in] or [fast approaching] the 3rd Quarter is poised to change the world. This is why it is so important to master the language of the new world order so historical definition and context can be shared particularly with the young generation (those who are still in the 1st Quarter) yet are struggling to keep the opponent (Satan) from running up the score.  Let it be said… There has never been a generation quite like the 3rd Quarter generation. I understand America’s infatuation and idolatrous worship of youth which is actually the worship of the Greek Goddess Hebe. I’m keenly aware that unlike most cultures throughout the world America is unique in its proclivity to throw its elderly away. But I also know that Joshua  would have never made it to the Promised Land without the wisdom and leadership of the elder statesman Moses.

The Player Coach

The world can’t afford to wait for you to “make it” before you start giving back some of those things that have been passed on to you by previous generations. God is not going to wait either. He is not going to postpone His plans to expand His Kingdom another thirty, forty, fifty or sixty years while you decide whether or not you want to get your life together.  You are going to have to become a Player coach. In other words…while on your way to climbing the proverbial ladder of success, you are going to have to coach others on how to beat the opponent, how to remain healthy enough to play all four quarters, and how to win when you don’t have home-field advantage. This is what others have done for you. They’ve won at home and on the road. So prepare yourself for success and victory. Listen to what thus saith the Lord in this your appointed season: You may have to call all the plays from the sideline plus score the winning touchdown in order to have your victory.

Are You the Millionaire next Door?

Within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and sickness, to riches and poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another. Richard Bach

The Millionaire Next Door?

According to the Wall Street Journals 2009 ”Wealth Report,” there are still 2.5 million millionaires in the United States even after the recent financial and worldwide market crisis. Which essentially means nearly one out of every 122 people in the United States are millionaires. In their national bestseller, “The Millionaire Next Door,” Thomas Stanley, Ph.D. and co-author William Dank, Ph.D. make this amazing declaration, “Eighty percent of America’s millionaires are first-generation rich.” They go on to say that, two-thirds of the millionaires in America are self-employed. Furthermore…

• Most (if not all) live well below their means.
• Most (if not all) wear inexpensive suits and drive American-made cars.
• Only a small minority drive the current-model-year automobile.
• Most of their wives are meticulous budgeters.
• Most have accumulated enough wealth to live without working for ten or more years.
• Only one in five are college graduates even though all stress the importance of education.
• Most work forty-five to fifty-five hours per week. Most invest 20% of their household income.
• Most are homeowners (97%) who have occupied the same home for more than twenty years.
• Most likely live next door rather than in some affluent upscale community.

So what about the old song and dance about “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” which makes the difference? So who do you know? Better yet… who are you living next door to and who is living next door to you? Who are you spending time with and who is spending time with you? Take a look at this.

Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces. Proverbs 13:20 MSG

Are You A Thermometer or a Thermostat?

I’ve always asked my students to ponder this question: Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? In other words, do you change the temperature in the room when you enter or do you simply record (keep track) of what’s already there? If you are one of those people who is a bit on the sheepish side, who would rather not rattle any gates or take risks, then it is very plausible that the person next door, not you, may be the potential millionaire next door. If that is the case then it might be wise for you to begin baking cookies and cakes today as a goodwill offering. However if you are the one who is putting in the time, energy and money to make your dreams happen then expect the knock on the door or the anonymous basket filled with goodies.

So Who Are You Walking With?

It is great to have long-time friendships from elementary school, high school or college but not if that person or persons are not moving in your same direction. One of more interesting observations in the Millionaire Next Door is the chapter dedicated to how one spends their time, energy and money. “People who become wealthy allocate their time, energy and money in ways consistent in enhancing their net worth.” There are those who were supposed to walk with you only so far. For there will always come a time when you will either out-pace them or outgrow them. And if you linger there, your life and purpose-driven momentum will all come to a screeching halt. Personally, I don’t believe in throwing people away or burning bridges. However, I’ve learned from strength training so many years that if I’m doing all the heavy lifting only one of us is going to get strong.

What Are You Studying?

You don’t have to be a student to study but you have to make yourself a student in order to make your dreams happen. This follows the kingdom law of Sowing and Reaping. The fact is we are always sowing and always reaping. It just depends on what we are sowing that ultimately determines what we reap. We are always studying. However what we study determines if we reap wisdom or folly. A fool by scriptural definition is anyone who purposely turns a deaf ear to instruction. None of us know-it-all which is why we must forever be students. But what we study is vastly more important than if we study.

This is Your Year saith the Lord!

If 2010 is going to be your year then it is not going to be who you know, but rather who knows you. For God tells us that “A city on hill cannot be hidden,” so this is your year to stop hiding. This is your year to fortify the temple in the city. This is your year to start studying. This is your year to work for Self. This is your year to consent to Health. This is your year to Live for others. This is your year to Love like there is no tomorrow. This is your year to become a Blessing to your neighbor, to step out of debt and lack, to become the Millionaire Next Door!

Soul Scrapbooking (a parable for mind renewal)

“Run your fingers through my soul. For once, just once, feel exactly what I feel, believe what I believe, perceive as I perceive, look, experience, examine, and for once; just once, understand.” Author unknown

The eternal love of God is in every human being from the poorest of the poor — even those who profess to be atheist as well as others whom we condemn. No matter! Underneath the veil of all the unhappiness in life, there is the power of love.

The natural world challenges us. The unfulfilled dreams of those who have gone before us challenge us. Those who have failed and the few (who even after making mistake after mistake continue to strive for a breakthrough) also challenge us. This is because all the heartaches and joyous moments of our past are recorded by the soul. Therefore, each life experience seeks to remind us that the hand of God is forever on our lives. Yet because we live so much in our bodies, binding ourselves to our physical needs, we forget about our souls and our eternal future, and so in essence we only live a partial existence.

Our souls do not record time they merely record growth. Which is to say… every random act… every known and unknown condition… every circumstance and experience is recorded by the soul. Every person you meet also leaves impressions whether good or bad but this is simply soul bookmarking. Soul scrapbooking on the other hand takes place when a person makes a time investment or sows something into your life that is substantive therefore worthy of page dedication. These pages create the scrapbooks of our lives and are filled exclusively from the soul not the heart. The heart may influence our choices but it is the soul that impacts our destiny.  For everything that is recorded by the soul challenges our fears while building our faith. The reason this is true is because soul scrapbooking is our testimony. And so whenever we look back on the pages of our lives we should see the demonstrative power of God on every page, filling every blank space.

The challenge however is for every person to see and seize those present opportunities, which will never come again; those opportunities that show up disguised as problems and fears; those opportunities that challenge our faith even after countless hours of preparation; those opportunities that color our lives with fresh hope, with a beautiful picture of our future, because of the confidence we have in knowing God always wants the best for us. This is the power of soul scrapbooking —the self-propelled engine that is used to draw our train of thought along the tracks of mind renewal. As believers our soul scrapbooks should be filled with miracles. In fact, by the time we reach our thirties, we should be living epistles no longer needing to quote bible verses to others in order for them to know God. We should be able to witness the love of God just simply from the pages of our scrapbooks. This is important because we live in an age of information rather than an age of truth. So today the world distrusts words! Today only demonstrative images of love and compassion and respect are trusted —like disaster relief to Haiti or Southeast Asia or the Sudan or Nicaragua or anywhere else in the world where love is in need of love. Today we are going to have to walk the walk if we’re going to talk the talk.

Even after Christ and Krishna and Mohammed and Buddha… the wonderful inner touch of the sublime in man that opens the doors of the mind so that the light of the soul can shine, enlighten, and warm lives… still remains our greatest challenge. Whenever we get this, we will begin to leave pictures, thoughts, moments, glances and glimpses of ourselves in everyone’s soul scrapbook and they will gladly respectfully fill our pages in return.

No more, No less… scrapbooking for the soul!

To believe in one’s dreams is to spend all of one’s life asleep. Chinese Proverb

I believe in dreams and dreamers. I believe that having dreams for your life is important because dreams provide the dreamer with a spark of hope. But dreams are not the fire. Dreams are like cinders floating through the timberlands of time and space possessing the potential to ignite the forest on fire.  Thus dreams possess potential. They have the ability to inspire us but not the presence to awaken us. Only the raging fire can arouse us. For once we are on fire no power on this earth can extinguish our flame. This is why if you are planning to set the world on fire in this new decade then you must understand that laws not dreams will govern the behavior of your fire. Not man’s laws but rather universal laws — God’s laws.

God’s law of reaping and sowing is one of the operating systems placed in the earth realm to enrich every area of our lives. By contrast, the world’s economic system is solely based on buying and selling. But this is not how God operates his kingdom. In God’s economy there is no supply and demand, there is just abundant supply. This is important because every universal law outside of man (macrocosm) operates within man’s heart as a (microcosm).  The law of reaping and sowing is a kingdom law which subsequently governs the earth and all its natural and material matter. Eastern cultures called it the law of Karma or retribution. Western cultures called it the law of cause and effect. But as a microcosm it is the law of effort and expectation. And except for the law of love every natural law: attraction, relationships, correspondence, substitution, relativity, reciprocation and energetics all are attached to this single universal law. Ultimately, this law determines abundance or lack in the material universe.

So the question is how much effort have you sown into your own life over the past decade? How many times within the past ten years have you released your cinders of hope and dreams into the forests of supply? How many times have you set someone’s life on fire? And finally, how many times has expectation matched effort? This law is so important to God’s economy that Jesus kept the disciples after class in order for them to fully understand the parable of the sower. If you are going to reach your mountaintop in 2010 you are going to have to fully understand kingdom economics. Do not expect a bumper crop in 2010 if you have only sown a millet bag of seeds or you are still living at the cinder level of life. There will be no need to consult the river god of the harvest, the Greek goddess Demeter or Saturn the Roman god of the harvest. Jesus already authored the law. Whatever you have sown is recorded in your soul’s scrapbook. Whether you have sown into your own life or you have sown into the lives of others you can only expect to get back in 2010 what you have put in— no more, no less.

Living at the speed of sound!

“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” Mahatma Gandhi

In the world of physics there is a phenomenon known as acoustic shadows. An acoustic shadow occurs when sound that would normally be heard is blocked. This can happen because the sound is absorbed by some material, or refracted when it meets a warm or rapidly moving layer of air. The refraction cannot only bounce the sound away from a location but it can also direct it to another location where it would not normally carry. In these ways an acoustic shadow is to sound what a mirage is to light.

Now consider this from a spiritual perspective. What happens to words that are spoken in anger? What if the angry words you intended for your enemy bounced to another location and instead fell on the innocent ears of your child? Or what if the negative words you speak about others were refracted and redirected to your body cells? Since sound travels approximately one mile in five seconds how long do you think it would take to break someone’s heart or to scar him or her for life with your words — with the sounds of your personality? The bible teaches us that we hold both ‘life and death in the power of our tongues.’ This is why even today we all carry the wounds of misplaced and misdirected words in our hearts. This is why we all remember the thoughtless words of a parent or the insensitive words of a teacher or the inconsiderate words of a friend or the spiteful words of a spouse like they were spoken only yesterday. If we are ever going to live the life of our dreams then our words will have to correspond to the direction we want to go as opposed to the direction we came from.

ΑΩ

The Alpha and Omega Section

Do you believe words have the power to bless or curse your life?

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What does it mean to be blessed? Most th…

What does it mean to be blessed? Most think blessings are the material things acquired by an act of God. This is why you see so many Christians driving new cars or luxury vehicles with personalized license plates, e.g., HeBlzMe, which is their way of telling the world God gave them a new car. Of course, there is nothing wrong with giving God credit for our acquisition of things because we know ‘every good thing comes from God’; however, a blessing is actually the indwelling power of God to get the thing. In other words, preparedness, education, faith, self-belief and hard work will often yield the same results with or without a belief in God. Why? Because God has placed irrevocable laws in the earth i.e., reaping and sowing, and anyone can tap into these laws and subsequently take full advantage of them. Remember God allows the rains to fall on the crops of the just as well as the unjust. You are not blessed because you have things. You have things because you are blessed! Let me know what you think…