Just put the deposit in for our condo at the Cape for Memorial Day weekend.

A beautiful spring morning in PA, sun is out and temp is rising. A perfect sequel into this weekend. The Son is out and he has risen!

New Website!

While doing some writing last night a thought popped into my head concerning "personal branding". The idea of personal branding has probably been around forever, but more likely known as self-promotion...

With the popularity of Social Media taking off, forums such as Blogs, Twitter, Face Book and Linked-In have allowed anyone with an idea to create their own "brand with little to no real cost.

So I went searching for a new domain name that captures the essence of my writing and mission. After checking many names here is what I came up with. I think it's awesome and really fits my personal branding. It also has room to grow with me as my writing becomes more marketable. Here it is:www.sowingseedsministries.com

Any Thoughts?

Looking forward to a productive day at the office and at my computer. Great things are happening in God's kingdom. I plan to participate!

I was awarded the opportunity to provide christian leadership articles to a syndicated publisher today. God has blessed my family many ways.

This is the week Jesus put it all on the line for each of us!

Check out this weeks discussion at www.leadingisreading.blogspot.com.

We'll be discussing good and bad decisions and their ramifications this week at www.leadingisreading.blogspot.com. Tune in!

Bad Decisions Make Good Stories

I ran across this quote on Friday and at first it didn't really mean much. It was part of one of those annoying forwarded emails which I usually delete without opening. However i opened this and was glad. Doesn't mean I'll open any others so please don't flood my inbox with chain emails and such. Thank you in advance.

This email had 20 or so goofy quotes including the title of this weeks blog. So I pondered this profound philosophy all weekend and came up with the following:

Bad decisions make good stories only when there is a happy ending. Otherwise bad decisions make horrible stories. On the flip side good decisions make great stories, don't they? Why do we make bad decisions?

So when do bad decisions make good stories? One of my beliefs is people only change when one or both of two specific things occur in their life.
1. A catastrophic situation. Death in the family, near death to the person or another type of desperate situation.
2. An encounter with the Holy Spirit. Not any type of encounter but a meaningful gut wrenching type of encounter. This usually happens after #1 occurs.

Bad Decisions can make good stories if they lead to change and receiving God's blessings.

Up early with my awesome wife as she prepares for clinicals. Made her a nice cup of coffee as we do out morning devotion and prayer.

The Lancaster writers conference was unbelievable! Reignited the fire for my writing and increased my passion for God!

Make it a priority to compliment someone that has caused you grief lately. You will both be blessed! Proverbs 25:21-22

I am preparing for my first writers conference this Sat. looking forward to making some new connections and getting closer to publication.

Preparation

As we discussed yesterday a critical part of preparation is the planning phase. Time management is often talked about, but can we really manage time? Probably not, we can manage our priorities and our commitments though. Time happens regardless whether we do anything or not. How we manage our commitments and priorities is what really counts.

I learned years ago to plan out everything that is critically important well in advance. This includes church, family time, personal recreation time, and business appointments. I use my planning system, my outlook and my cell phone to keep track of all these events. Cell phones are awesome tools to keep track of recurring events. I also make sure i set adequate reminders so I'm not caught off guard.

Once this is done I enter additional events and appointments as they come up and before you know it you have turned yourself into an organized person. You end up reaping the reward of more free time to enjoy yourself because you sowed the seeds of proper planning.

One of the major foundations of my leadership philosophy is sowing good seeds and reaping good harvest. You can fall back to this in any area of life because good habits lead to good results. And habits are formed by doing the right things repeatedly. I really hope you get what I am laying out here.

8 years ago today I married the most awesome, wonderful beautiful woman. Today our marriage is more vibrant and alive then ever. Praise God!

Preparation

Another part of your daily preparation is the planning stage of your day. How can you be prepared if you don't have a plan for the day, week, month, year... Seriously, how can you be a leader if you don't have a plan to lead yourself by?

Over my life I have used many different planning systems and they are all good. Since none of them fit exactly what I needed, I developed my own. I will send you a copy that you can use for free if you ask.

This system is a two page system and covers everything you need for your preparation and planning. Most people think the planner is simply a calendar to mark down appointments. That is a small part of the system. A complete system will let you record your affirmations, personal mission statements, long and short term goals, daily priorities, what you are reading, praying about and your daily calendar.

The age old saying, "people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan" is so true. I would venture to say many actually take more time planning their vacation than they do for their future. People spend $1000's on a wedding and won't spend $20 on a planner. Doesn't make much sense to me.

Get started and develop the routine of planning your day by preparing your mind every morning. The pay-off is incredible. God Bless!

Preparation

All great leaders start the day with a preparation exercise. Whether it is praying, using a planner, reading, doing affirmations or all of the above. They realize how important it is to be properly prepared to face the day.

1 Peter 1:13 is a great scripture for this.

My preparation consists of the following:
1. prayer.
2. reading daily devotional with my wife. We use Leadership Promises, by John Maxwell.
3. write and verbalize my affirmations.
4. write and verbalize my life mission statement.
5. read at least 15 minutes.
6. write and verbalize my 10 action steps.
7. write and verbalize my short and long term goals.
8. make sure my planner is current through the week.

At first thought you may think you don't have the time to do this each morning. As a real leader though you'll know and understand the importance. It takes less than 30 minutes to accomplish this.

Could you imagine an NFL teams simply showing up for games with preparing themselves? Of course not, why should you show up for the day with preparation? You shouldn't.

Take the time and set a routine for each day, the results will be astonishing! Be Blessed!

leading the way is discussing preparation this week. Tune in. www.leadingisreading.blogspot.com

For all of you who don't know, God is great! He'll take your burdens and transform you and them into greatness. All you need to do is ask.

Nevaeh is coming home, Praise God! Baby shower was awesome and our grand-daughter coming home, Thanks for the prayers and support!

What a beautiful morning. Working on blog message for the week and getting ready to go worship the Lord. Doesn't get any better than this!

How cool is it to have the baby shower after the baby is born. This actually makes more sense. Nevaeh come's home today, thanks for prayers

Need your prayers for baby Nevaeh. She is still at hospital for observations. She'll be ok, your prayers will help guarantee it.

What an awesome day! Mid 70's, sunny and spend the entire day with my awesome beautiful best friend (my wife). Nevaeh is coming home...

Popes and Bankers, Jack Cashill

If the history of Usury and how it transcended into the economic conditions of today interests you, then read this book! If you want answers to specific questions regrading what happened as of late, then you'll need to look elsewhere. Popes and Bankers is written well, although I found it hard to read, especially at the beginning.

There is no doubt the author did his research as the book is loaded with quotes and facts from various outside sources. He even injects his cynical comments which fit at times. Other times they added to the drawn out explanations which were already tough to get through without the one liners.

After reading the book I feel more educated on the history of usury, but don't feel as though I have any answers to the many questions I had.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Heading to the hospital to see and hopefully bring our new grand-daughter home. Nevaeh, which is heaven spelled backwards. Awesome name!

Samantha is headed to hospital. Contractions are coming rapidly. Neveah could be on the way!! Grandchild #2

Its not what happens...

Over the last few weeks we have talked about sowing and reaping; and things outside of our control. One more piece of this not to focus on what happens as much as you focus on what you do.

So we will reap what we sow. This is a biblical and universal truth.

Worrying about things we cant control. Spending too much time here will reap a bad harvest because we end up sowing bad seeds.

If we also focus on what we do instead of what happens, we can really change our lives for the better. We will also lead the way for others to change if they so desire.

If you continue to do the right things, eventually you will be rewarded. Putting our focus on our actions and not the results will help insure we sow good seeds. And then you know what will happen, right?

You got it..we will reap our bountiful and abundant harvest. Galatians 6:7-10 explains it all. God Bless!

It Wasn’t Until I Began Accepting Responsibility That Things Turned Around

It Wasn’t Until I Began Accepting Responsibility That Things Turned Around

Control

There is another factor on control that seldom gets talked about. Many of us talk about about not being consumed about things we cant control.

What about things we let control us? Things we should be able to dismiss, but instead we let them determine our attitude or direction in life. These could be anger, jealousy, over-indulgence, and other emotions which effect our lives each day.

Romans 8:6-10 and Proverbs 16:32 discuss lack of self-control.

Emotional Intelligence also deals with inner and outer control and we will discuss this tomorrow.

In the meantime, let things go! When you are feeling overwhelmed by a negative emotion take a few minutes and reach out to God for strength and a tenacious spirit to overcome. He is the way to truth and light and will deliver us all from our sins.

This is not always easy to do. The good things are not always easy, but worth it. It is nearly impossible to do something positive while thinking about something negative so we need to get rid of these thoughts and emotions quickly. Going to God is the answer.

God Bless.

I love my Awesome, Beautiful wife. She is an inspiration to me, our kids and everyone else in our life!

I learned about www.ping.fm from "Crush it" by Gary Vaynerchuk. A great website! Can post to all sites and blogs from one spot, very cool!

Control

Have you ever spent substantial time trying to resolve an issue or fix an issue only to come to the startling conclusion there is nothing you can do about it. In other words, the situation is out of your control.

I have, and still do on occasion. Many people live a life in the "out of control zone" Meaning they are in constant struggle with things they can do little or nothing about. Three areas come to mind.

Things other people think, do and say. The past. The weather. Spending too much time in these areas brings about a bad harvest. You cant sow good seeds here, because you have absolutely no control in these areas.

You cannot control what others do, so quit trying. You can control how you react!

Once something happens, it is the past and cannot be changed so quit trying. You control how you react!

The weather is the weather, you cant change it so quit complaining. You can control how you react!

The common theme is how we react to things we can't control. This is our subject for the week, God Bless!

Rising Up

Our youngest, Josh, loves basketball. He achieved one of his goals recently when he was one of only three new players invited to join the LVBS travel team.

Josh has 2 seasons (not two years, two seasons) of organized ball under his belt so far. His new team mates have been playing for at least five years and at a much higher level.

In this league, there are no guarantees on playing time and no promise he'll make the team next year either. There were close to forty players at the initial tryout. From those forty, 18 were returning players, leaving 22 to compete for the remaining three spots.

Josh has to respond by demonstrating his ability on the court. He has to out hustle and out play his teammates. In other words he has to RISE UP to the occasion!

How he handles the next few weeks will speak volumes on his inner drive.

There is no doubt he will give 100%. What about you? Are you in a similar position in life, or at your job, or in a relationship which will require you to RISE UP?

Situational Leadership

There are several types or styles of leadership. Have you ever thought about your style? Do you know the styles? Here are a few.

Transformational- looks to bring about change in others
Transactional- by the book, no room for improvising
Charismatic-The leaders personality is strong enough to overcome all
Situational- Adjusting the style to fit the situation
Autocratic- The leader is more of a dictator
Laissez-Faire- A hands off approach

We will cover the pros and cons of each as we go through the week. The style I have tried to learn and use is Situational mixed with Transformational. I feel these two style are the best mix and will bring about long term success in any endeavor.

Based on this, we will spend more time on these than the other styles listed above, which by the way is not an all inclusive list. Depending on where you search or who's theories you subscribe too may offer differing styles.

Regardless as a leader you should be aware of the different styles, how they differ, and more importantly which one you are.

Take time today and research leadership styles. We can compare notes as we progress, god bless!

What are you reading?

As the web address of this blog implies, leaders are readers. So what are you reading? We discussed this in the past, but it is so important I wanted to bring it up again.

When I interview a prospective employee for a position requiring strong leadership skills, I'll always ask the following question.

"What was the last book you read cover to cover?" The answer will ultimately determine whether I move forward or pass on this person.

In order to lead to must read. There is no substitute for reading. Listening to audio books while driving is an excellent habit and one you should do. Reading however stands all alone on top as the number one activity all successful and effective leaders participate in.

I have recently finished "The Map" by David Murrow. The review was posted last week. Other books I am currently reading are as follows:

In the Zone, Joe Pettigrew and Kyle Rote, Jr
Everything Counts, Steve Case
Leadership Promises for Everyday, John Maxwell
The Leadership Bible NKJV, John Maxwell

These books are all designed to be read daily, so I am also reading:

Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz (5th time)
Elements of Style, Strunk and White

I am looking for a new book to read as we speak, if you have any suggestions,, let me know.

Please respond with what you are currently reading.

Faith Without Works

Faith without Works. This phrase is as important as you reap what you sow. We have a part in our future and we must understand this. God says we need to pray for what we want; and we do. We also need to act and step out on faith to make things happen.

Many stories in the bible are based on people stepping out in faith after prayer. They set goals, prayed about them, received God's blessing and then got after it. They didn't set goals, pray, receive the blessing and then do nothing. They acted, they put works behind the faith and were successful.

I truly believe action is one of the factors that separates successful people from unsuccessful people. Action makes the difference when all else is equal.

If you have dreams you have not acted on go ahead and take the time to pray about them, then take action. Get after them with passion! You'll be amazed on the results.

God Bless.

The Map, the Way of All Great Men by David Murrow

The Map promises to reveal hidden messages and maps within the book of Matthew enabling men to become more Christlike. The story begins with a fairly exciting, but predictable fictional journey in which the author sets out to find a secret map that could change the way of the world. In particularly the Christian world.

The book then suddenly transforms into a how-to explaining the secret map and the three journeys of Christ. Though there is lots of wisdom in the teachings, I found it to be redundant in spots and there was a bit of stretching of the journeys to fit the authors hypothesis.

I started out my journey with excitement, but ended up slightly disappointed by the time I was finished with the book. I do plan on reading the authors other book, Why Men Hate Going to Church.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Faith Without Works

Matthew 9 starts off with the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man. This story reveals much more to me than a healing. Four men had to go through extreme measures to get their friend to Jesus. They literally carried him up on to a roof, peeled the shingles back and lowered him down in front of Jesus.

This took hard work and commitment on their part. They had the Faith for sure, but the needed to participate in the act to get the man healed. They could have stayed home and prayed for his healing. Instead they took action and made it happen.

The man also took action by standing as instructed. We have no way of knowing how long he was paralyzed, but he took it upon himself to act on the healing. The action along with his faith resulted in a miracle.

The same can happen today with all of us. In my up-coming book, one of the strategies I discuss is a three step action plan:

1. Pray like it Depends on God
2. Work like it Depends on You
3. Get after it with Passion

This formula works, provided you take all the steps.