THREE THINGS IN LIFE!
THREE THINGS IN LIFE THAT, ONCE GONE, NEVER COME BACK
1. TIME
2. WORDS
3. OPPORTUNITY
THREE THINGS IN LIFE THAT CAN DESTROY A PERSON
1. ANGER
2. PRIDE
3. UNFORGIVENESS
THREE THINGS IN LIFE THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER LOSE
1. HOPE
2. PEACE
3. HONESTY
THREE THINGS IN LIFE THAT ARE MOST VALUABLE
1. LOVE
2. FAMILY
3. KINDNESS
THREE THINGS IN LIFE THAT ARE NEVER CERTAIN
1. FORTUNE
2. SUCCESS
3. DREAMS
THREE THINGS THAT MAKE A PERSON
1. COMMITMENT
2. SINCERITY
3. HARD WORK
THREE THINGS THAT ARE TRULY CONSTANT -
FATHER - SON - HOLY SPIRIT
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Am I Being Myself???
On 11/01/08 I read that it was said by Soren Kierkegaard, "...now with God's help, I will become myself." I know not who this man is or was and it doesn't matter. What he said set me to thinking, AM I BEING MYSELF??? My resounding answer was NO!!! I purposed in my heart at that moment to forget what others thought or wanted or expected of me. I determined at that moment to BECOME MYSELF! My goal is to be the best and most Godly "MYSELF" that I can be, with God's help. In the process of becoming, I will start BEING MYSELF on a moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day basis.
· As a Christ follower and disciple, I may be the only Jesus someone (I know not who) may see or hear or experience today.
○ That gives me the awesome (a word I seldom use) responsibility of being as much like Jesus as I can be in proclaiming Him through my every word and deed to a dying world.
· My mission is to grow and serve as I serve and grow.
· Д [The Spirit of God says: ]
Romans 12:1-2 (NASB)
1 Therefore I urge you, brother, by MY mercies, to present your body a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to Me, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
John 8:36 (NASB)
36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Therefore,,, BE YOURSELF!!! Д
On 11/05/08 I was instructed to write a paragraph on the difference between becoming an offering and being an offering.
I believe that BECOMING is a future tense proposition. I cannot live in the future (woulda, coulda, shoulda), but I LIVE IN THE HERE AND NOW! Therefore I must concentrate daily on BEING an offering. I will BE the best offering to Christ that I can be TODAY, on my way to BECOMING a better and better offering in my tomorrows. Silver and Gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee.
· As a Christ follower and disciple, I may be the only Jesus someone (I know not who) may see or hear or experience today.
○ That gives me the awesome (a word I seldom use) responsibility of being as much like Jesus as I can be in proclaiming Him through my every word and deed to a dying world.
· My mission is to grow and serve as I serve and grow.
· Д [The Spirit of God says: ]
Romans 12:1-2 (NASB)
1 Therefore I urge you, brother, by MY mercies, to present your body a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to Me, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
John 8:36 (NASB)
36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Therefore,,, BE YOURSELF!!! Д
On 11/05/08 I was instructed to write a paragraph on the difference between becoming an offering and being an offering.
I believe that BECOMING is a future tense proposition. I cannot live in the future (woulda, coulda, shoulda), but I LIVE IN THE HERE AND NOW! Therefore I must concentrate daily on BEING an offering. I will BE the best offering to Christ that I can be TODAY, on my way to BECOMING a better and better offering in my tomorrows. Silver and Gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Leadership, Accountability & Mentoring
This is an article that I wrote back in June that was not published until now. I feel it is even more appropriate today.
Leadership, Accountability and Mentoring
Woody Wood 6/30/08
• Everybody needs a LEADER!!!
Leaders come in many shapes and sizes with many attributes. A Leader is someone you are willing to learn from and to follow, who can take you to a higher place than where you are now. A leader can give you the How To but not the Why To for doing things to improve your life.
I have never met a person that I could not learn from but I have met lots of people whom I don’t want to emulate and would not follow. A GOOD leader is one who not only inspires you to learn from them and follow them, but also one you will want to emulate. Famous people have said “…I am not here to be an example to…(anyone)”, but that is simply not true. EVERYONE is an example, good or bad! We must be wise enough and discerning enough to be able to decide which they are. Some are easy to see, others not so easy.
To be a teacher or a coach does not require willing students. If you are a GOOD teacher or coach you will inspire willingness in your students by your leadership characteristics.
To be a mentor is something else altogether. To be a Mentor you must be chosen by the Mentee. There are two kinds of mentorship, direct and remote. Remote mentorship tends toward idolization or hero worship. We find this type among professional athletes and performers. People choose to be “just like them” even though they are unaware of the attachment. The preferable type of mentorship is the direct type where the Mentee chooses the Mentor. This would come from personal contact by saying something like
“ I see in you something that I want to emulate in order that I may become more like you, will you teach me?” It is sometimes called Discipleship. Not always will the Mentor choose to accept the discipling of another. It is a very demanding and time consuming job which many refuse to accept. A wise person who accepts the role of Mentor will attach strings to the mentor/mentee relationship. The most important string is Accountability. When I say ‘I want to be your disciple’, I should automatically be saying, ‘I am willing to be accountable to you’. As a Mentor you should automatically be saying, “I am willing to spend my time and effort with you and I will be accountable to you for doing that.” Mentorship is an awesome responsibility, not to be taken lightly. Mentors agree to shape the future of another person’s life. Without dual accountability, what you have is a ‘catch as catch can’ relationship that may or may not produce good results.
• Everyone needs someone!!!
Someone that they are willing and able to be 100% accountable to. Someone to whom they can tell ANYTHING no matter how personal or painful or embarrassing. Someone from whom they can hear the TRUTH no matter how painful or rewarding.
Most men and many women do not have such a person in their life, therefore they go from day to day making the same mistakes over and over because they have not asked or allowed anyone else to speak truth into their lives.
• To be successful we must!!!
1. Find a mentor who will disciple us.
2. Find an accountability partner (if not the mentor) with whom we can share at the Gut level.
3. Build ourselves up to where someone else will want us to mentor them.
4. Build relationships with others such that they will want to follow us as leaders.
MENTORS BUILD LEADERS WHO BUILD LEADERS WHO BUILD LEADERS….
Remember this: If you agree to be mentored (discipled) you must learn to deal with the pain of truth without dropping out or quitting. It is ok to get angry, but not at the Mentor. The mentor is the messenger and not the cause of the anger. Don’t blame anyone, just get mad enough to make the personal changes in your life that are necessary for you to WIN.
FSW
Leadership, Accountability and Mentoring
Woody Wood 6/30/08
• Everybody needs a LEADER!!!
Leaders come in many shapes and sizes with many attributes. A Leader is someone you are willing to learn from and to follow, who can take you to a higher place than where you are now. A leader can give you the How To but not the Why To for doing things to improve your life.
I have never met a person that I could not learn from but I have met lots of people whom I don’t want to emulate and would not follow. A GOOD leader is one who not only inspires you to learn from them and follow them, but also one you will want to emulate. Famous people have said “…I am not here to be an example to…(anyone)”, but that is simply not true. EVERYONE is an example, good or bad! We must be wise enough and discerning enough to be able to decide which they are. Some are easy to see, others not so easy.
To be a teacher or a coach does not require willing students. If you are a GOOD teacher or coach you will inspire willingness in your students by your leadership characteristics.
To be a mentor is something else altogether. To be a Mentor you must be chosen by the Mentee. There are two kinds of mentorship, direct and remote. Remote mentorship tends toward idolization or hero worship. We find this type among professional athletes and performers. People choose to be “just like them” even though they are unaware of the attachment. The preferable type of mentorship is the direct type where the Mentee chooses the Mentor. This would come from personal contact by saying something like
“ I see in you something that I want to emulate in order that I may become more like you, will you teach me?” It is sometimes called Discipleship. Not always will the Mentor choose to accept the discipling of another. It is a very demanding and time consuming job which many refuse to accept. A wise person who accepts the role of Mentor will attach strings to the mentor/mentee relationship. The most important string is Accountability. When I say ‘I want to be your disciple’, I should automatically be saying, ‘I am willing to be accountable to you’. As a Mentor you should automatically be saying, “I am willing to spend my time and effort with you and I will be accountable to you for doing that.” Mentorship is an awesome responsibility, not to be taken lightly. Mentors agree to shape the future of another person’s life. Without dual accountability, what you have is a ‘catch as catch can’ relationship that may or may not produce good results.
• Everyone needs someone!!!
Someone that they are willing and able to be 100% accountable to. Someone to whom they can tell ANYTHING no matter how personal or painful or embarrassing. Someone from whom they can hear the TRUTH no matter how painful or rewarding.
Most men and many women do not have such a person in their life, therefore they go from day to day making the same mistakes over and over because they have not asked or allowed anyone else to speak truth into their lives.
• To be successful we must!!!
1. Find a mentor who will disciple us.
2. Find an accountability partner (if not the mentor) with whom we can share at the Gut level.
3. Build ourselves up to where someone else will want us to mentor them.
4. Build relationships with others such that they will want to follow us as leaders.
MENTORS BUILD LEADERS WHO BUILD LEADERS WHO BUILD LEADERS….
Remember this: If you agree to be mentored (discipled) you must learn to deal with the pain of truth without dropping out or quitting. It is ok to get angry, but not at the Mentor. The mentor is the messenger and not the cause of the anger. Don’t blame anyone, just get mad enough to make the personal changes in your life that are necessary for you to WIN.
FSW
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
What do Christian men want to do???
What do Christian Men want to do ???
In reality, pretty much the same thing that non Christian men do with a few exceptions.
They want to kill or catch something, drink something, dress or clean it, drink some more, cook it, drink more and eat their fill, sit back, burp, drink, scratch themselves and watch sports and then have sex after the wife gets the cooking mess cleaned up. Now if that doesn’t sum you up then you have either evolved to a higher level or been well trained (probably by a woman) to act differently or have just gotten too old to care any more. Or perhaps you are one of those fortunate singles.
Seriously, what do Christian men do when they get together in a group? Generally speaking, if left to their own, they will Meet, Eat, Burp and Retreat . They either want to
· watch something exciting,
· talk about their great feats in life (or hear someone else’s) or
· go out and fix something for some poor soul that can't do it themselves.
· Or throw some money at a problem to make it go away.
Never mind the fact that they could probably have gotten a better meal at home, had some enlightening conversation with a stranger (their wife) and chances are,,, she could have pointed out any number of things at home that need fixing, one of which just might be their love life or their marriage.
So,,, why do Christian men gather together as a group? What is the purpose of a Christian men’s organization? What do you expect to accomplish by banding together? What would you be doing if you were not taking the time to band together with your brothers?
Here is the $6400 question or group of questions.
Will it make you a better person? Will it make the community and the World a better place? Will it bring GLORY to God and help to build his Kingdom?
I don’t have the answers,,, just questions, but IF what you are doing does not answer yes to the last three questions, you are probably wasting time that could have been better spent elsewhere.
I have been around a lot of churches over the last 50 years and about all that has changed has been the name on the building when it comes to men’s ministry. We have left it all to the Pastor and the women for so long that no one remembers that it is our responsibility as men to be the leaders. I for one am anxious to become a MAN OF VALOR. I am ready to stand up and be counted as a leader for God! How about you?
An Oldtimer’s Advice
:
* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight
and bull-strong. Good fences make for good neighbors.
* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a safe
distance.
* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a
John Deere tractor.
* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
* You cannot unsay a cruel word.
* Every path has a few puddles.
* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
* The best sermons are lived, not preached.
* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't
never gonna happen anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.
* Remember that silence is sometimes the best
answer.
* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get
older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't
botherin' you none.
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a
rain dance.
* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever
have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
* Always drink upstream from the herd.
* Good judgment comes from experience, and a
lotta that comes from bad judgment.
* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot
easier than puttin' it back in..
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some
influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God
* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight
and bull-strong. Good fences make for good neighbors.
* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a safe
distance.
* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a
John Deere tractor.
* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
* You cannot unsay a cruel word.
* Every path has a few puddles.
* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
* The best sermons are lived, not preached.
* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't
never gonna happen anyway.
* Don't judge folks by their relatives.
* Remember that silence is sometimes the best
answer.
* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get
older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't
botherin' you none.
* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a
rain dance.
* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever
have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
* Always drink upstream from the herd.
* Good judgment comes from experience, and a
lotta that comes from bad judgment.
* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot
easier than puttin' it back in..
* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some
influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God
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