Heaven's Love Language

Saturday, February 27, 2010 Print Article
Leave a Comment
Heaven's Love Language
Pastor Sherman Scott
I can remember the day I married my wife, it was a sunny day in September and everything was perfect. We were happy to finally get the chance to say I do. We both thought that after we say I do everything would be wonderful. We would buy our first home together, raise children and serve the Lord with all our hearts.

Things were great for a while, until after the marital bliss was gone and we had settled in. We started to notice that marriage was different than dating. There were things she liked that I hated, and vice versa. My wife grew up doing things one way and I grew doing things a different way.

Then one day we were listening to the radio and heard Dr. Gary Chapman a leading author in biblical marriage counseling talk about a book he had written entitled The Five Love Languages. Right then we realized we spoke different languages and if our marriage was to succeed we had to become bilingual. I had to learn to speak her language and she had to learn to speak mine.

As Christian sometimes we can get so got up into having church and walking in our different roles as believers in the church that we forget to speak the language of our heavenly Father gave us; the language of Love. John 3:34-35 states that we have received a new command; which is to love other believers based on the sacrificial love of Jesus: This is the new language we have to learn, to love others based on the sacrificial love of Jesus.

Our love and support for one another enables us to survive in a hostile world. Just as Jesus Christ was the embodiment of God's love, so now we should embody Christ's love. This love is a sign to the world as well as to every believer.



Founder and pastor of Life Changer's Christian Church, located in the suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, Pastor Sherman Scott enjoys fulfilling the mission of the church which is to 'change lives, strengthen Families and impact communities.' For more information about Pastor Sherman, log onto www.thelifechangers.org


© Pastor Sherman Scott all rights reserved.

Somebody Needs What You Can Give

Friday, February 26, 2010 Print Article
Leave a Comment
Somebody Needs What You Can Give
Pastor Paula White
Numbers are significant to God.

The number "9" signifies "gifts," and "fruit." 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 states that we are given nine different ways in which the Holy Spirit shows Himself in our lives. And as with the "gifts of the Spirit" described in Galatians 5:22, these are inner qualities that bless those around us when we share them.

How we share our blessings, gifts, and talents with others is how we show God's love and allow our lives to be a light to the world around us.

Love is a verb - an action word. We can love those around us by our simple actions of giving. Each of us has something to give our world. And somebody out there needs what you can give!

Giving is not about a financial thing -- although that is one way to give. Sharing with others stems from our inner being; it is giving of ourselves, our talents and our abilities. Today one of the most valuable gifts we can give someone may be our time.

Any time is a good time to give, however, during seasons of struggle, hardship, or transition -- which many of us are experiencing now -- I think it is especially important. It is easy to become self-absorbed, and feel we have nothing to give.

But I assure you, you have something somebody needs. It may be a warm smile, or a friendly touch! I have found through my own experiences that when I'm going through difficult times, it helps to make a deliberate and conscious choice to give of myself to others.

While going through a series of very painful experiences, I visited a nearby nursing home and devoted a portion of every week to five elderly people who had nobody else visiting them. My gifts to them were simple:

I listened to stories of their childhood adventures.
I held their hands and told them stories of my own.
I joked with them.
Sometimes I brought them soft cookies they could "gum" on -- or little bouquets of flowers they could smell, even if they couldn't see them.

By sharing simple acts of kindness with these precious seniors, not only was God's love manifested, but it brought me incredible blessings of joy and happiness and allowed me to focus on the positive side of my personal life. When we give to others it is impossible not to be blessed.

I encourage you to take time to hear the small still voice within.

Be sensitive to God's Spirit in every area of your life. Find simple ways of sharing the gifts He has given you with the people around you. You will, in turn, find yourself filled with joy and contentment, as you become His hand extended to a hurting world.

Remember, your life is a gift from God - what you do with your life is your gift to Him.



A life coach, author, and highly sought after motivational speaker, Pastor Paula White is the host of her own television program -- Paula Today, which reaches an audience of 2.3 billion people worldwide, spearheading a number of global humanitarian efforts. Her mission in life is to Transform Lives, Heal Hearts and Win Souls. For more information about Paula, log onto www.paulawhite.org.

Get Up And Love

Thursday, February 25, 2010 Print Article
Leave a Comment
Get Up And Love
Tanya James
Many of us, if not most of us are quick to say how much we love God. God is the center of our joy, our very reason for living. God is our "this" and God is our "that" - we love God from the depths of our soul and spirit.

Loving God is a beautiful thing, but is our love something we just say?
Or do our actions back up those words?

One way we love God is by loving his people. John 14:15 says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." There are many commandments we could discuss, but let's look at a particular one that says: "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12

Loving the way God loves us is a huge task because God love is unconditional. God knows EVERYTHING about us - the good, the bad and the "oh I hope no one finds out about this" - yet, He loves us.

We disobey and disappoint God...yet He loves us.
We don't listen to God's mandates...yet He loves us.
We are too busy to spend quality time with God like we should...yet He loves us.
We ignore His instructions and then beg for mercy when we fall down...yet He loves us.
We gossip, lie, cheat, steal, fornicate, abuse our temples, etc...et, He loves us.

We continue to do that "thing" we keep asking for forgiveness about and promise never to do again... yet He loves us. Now turn the tables and look how we treat those around us. Does our love for God's people even come close to the love God shows towards us?

Are we willing to see the good in people instead of always emphasizing the bad? Are we willing to help that sister or brother struggling with that addiction, or are we just going to continue to talk about them?

Will we reach out to that family that we know is in need or will we assume the next person will assist them? Will we pray for that couple whose marriage is suffering or just speculate about what took place? Will we embrace that young woman prostituting her body for attention and teach her what it means to love herself, or will we just turn our heads?

It's time out for being a Christian that simply talks the talk. Love is not passive - it's active. It's not just words, it's actions. So ask yourself, what will I do today to love on God's people? How can I strive to love others as God loves me?

Perhaps we will never make it to that place of loving as God does, but each day, we can work to get one step closer. So stop talking about love...

...get up and love!



Founder and president of The Master Plan, Tanya James is the author of From Promiscuity to Proverbs 31: Getting Off the Fence of Sexual Immorality. For more information about Tanya, log onto www.armedanddangerous.biz.


© Tanya James all rights reserved.

I Still Love Those Fries

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 Print Article
Leave a Comment
I Still Love Those Fries
Milan Ford
In the fall of 2002, I was blessed with the unique opportunity to serve as the college ministry director for one of the largest and most influential churches in the country. For nearly four years, I had the opportunity to serve, counsel, lead, and learn from hundreds of college students who attended various schools within the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

During that span of time, I witnessed first hand what many ministry leaders throughout this country are experiencing today - a growing discontentment and apathy regarding the relevance of the local church in the eyes of today's generation of young people.

Despite all of the programs, events, concerts, scholarships, pizza nights, and other heart felt approaches our churches have tried to offer in order to reach this generation, what was once considered necessary, has now become optional.

And worse, what was once attractive... now repels.

And although many would like to attribute this pattern of apathy only to young people, there is alarming number of believers today (ages 30 and up) who now refuse to have anything to do with the local church because of either a prior unfavorable experience they had while apart of one, or perhaps being made aware of a considerable disparity between what a particular leader was saying or teaching in public, and what he or she was doing in private.

I am often asked by parents and ministry leaders alike what my response is when I encounter someone who has given up on God and their faith because of something that happened to them while attending a local church. My answer, although far from earth-shattering, is always the same. Feel free to borrow it whenever you like. Here it is:

I am in LOVE with McDonald's fries.
In my opinion, they are the best-tasting fries in the world.

Yet despite my unfailing adoration for them, I am not at all impressed with what I have to endure in order to get them. No matter the hour of the day, no matter which restaurant location I select, my experience at McDonald's has often been an awful one.

When going through the drive-thru, my order will always be missing something.
When inside, I always encounter that one cashier who clearly is upset that I choose her line.
And I won't even get started on having to pay an extra quarter for more barbecue sauce!

Yet, no matter the trial and obstacle, I still insist on returning. No bad experience I may have today can hinder me from expecting a better one tomorrow. Why?

Because I still LOVE those fries!

As believers, there must come a time when our love and commitment to the PRODUCT is no longer subject to the imperfections of a particular PROVIDER. Once we allow the SERVICE we have received from others to cast doubt on the SERVICE we have received from Him, we will become a great DISSERVICE to everyone we come in contact with.

On the night before He was to be crucified, Christ delivered perhaps His most important message to us all: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this ALL will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:34-35.

It is literally impossible to truly love God without loving what (and whom) He loves. Despite its many challenges, I still believe the local church and the Body of Christ at large is by far one of the greatest ideas our God has ever had. Perhaps His finest. Imagine the impact we could have on this world if we as believers took the time to just believe the BEST of one another.

Let's face it; some of us (as Christians) can take ourselves way too SERIOUSLY. Once you and I make the decision to lighten up and embrace the fact that all of us have missed the mark from time to time, we will be able to extend the kind of grace and unconditional love that will bring glory to God.

And most importantly, draw others closer to Him.

Milan Ford has been a leader (and survivor) of ministry within the local church for most of his life. A lover of Red Vines Licorice and all things pointing North, Milan released his first book, 83 Things I Wish The Black Church Would Stop Doing in December (2009). You can find Milan rambling and writing at at ThePewView.com.

David Walker Bio and Resume

Gentlemen,

Over the past year I have been unemployed. During that time, my energy has been focused on Talk-It-Up, a not-for-profit organization. Talk-It-Up is an organization that I created to break the cycle of poverty that occurs in families where access to educational & social programs is limited.

As I continue to develop Talk-It-Up, I am looking for employment. I have an established, solid background in the financial sector and I am open to opportunities in the not-for-profit sector as well - ideally in the area of Human Resources.

Attached is a copy of my resume. I welcome any leads and contacts that you can provide.

Thank you

David Walker
718-614-7677

___________________________________________




David Walker
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Talk-It-Up, Non-government Organization, United States

David Walker is the founder of Talk-It-Up, an organization that recognizes that individuals who experience poverty over generations often have limited access to available education and social resources which could propel them out of poverty. David has over 20 years experience in the financial services sector with a Fortune 100 international company. He combined his experience with a Master’s Degree in Organizational Management which provides him with extensive knowledge of the working dynamics of organizations from both an employer and employee perspective. This understanding is pivotal in his ability to encourage a vision and implement processes that support the organization’s strategic plan. David worked and served in different capacities, including as board member and chairman of a development committee, with several local NGO.

________________________________________


DAVID WALKER

davidwalker2055@aol.com

539 Bainbridge Street, 1st Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11233
Home: (718) 919-4488
Mobile: (718) 614-7677

PROFILE
Operations manager with extensive experience in financial services industry. Broad ranging skill set includes people management, problem solving, analysis, and oral and written communication. Educational background in organizational management with expertise in streamlining processes.

EXPERIENCE
J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO – New York, NY 1988 – 2008
Client Service Manager | Benefit Payments Services, 2005 – 2008
• Issued and managed over $10mm in pension payments each month, including monitoring and reconciling benefit payments, and converting new clients.
• Facilitated conversion and technology project meetings monitored and maintained project plans and assured accuracy of project timelines.
• Trained staff on methods of gathering relevant data from client inquiries, ultimately contributing both to increased problem resolution and prevention of other quandaries.
• Created and archived meeting minutes to keep track of work progress and avoid communication gaps.
• Coordinated smooth conversion of new and existing clients by parallel testing.
• Streamlined pension payment process and introduced new products and services.
• Identified areas to improve client satisfaction and efficiency, increased clients’ use of automated system, and trained clients on online benefits processing system.
• Ensured compliance with Federal, State and departmental guidelines, successfully saving several hundred thousand dollars in punitive fines.
• Maintained productive relationships with clients, to extent that clients were eager to recommend products and services.
• Developed and implemented procedures to improve benefit payments processes.
• Provided technical support to staff members and external clients on pension processing to maintain perpetual customer satisfaction.
• Trained new and existing clients in benefits payments system.
• Took initiative to facilitate resume writing and interviewing skills workshop to support employees’ transition away from line of business.
Benefits Payment Representative, 1994 – 2005
• Processed pension payments and reconciled discrepancies.
• Developed and implemented new procedures to improve efficiencies of check processing.
• Cross-trained new staff and shortened duration of on-boarding process, saving significant human resources.
• Improved morale of colleagues by creating and implementing incentive program for perfect attendance, gathered data to measure effectiveness of program, gave presentation to senior management and obtained buy-in to produce project.
• Served as Total Quality Management Team Leader and:
o Identified key processing errors and introduced solutions to reduce errors.
o Maintained team cohesiveness by identifying team members’ skill sets and delegating responsibilities accordingly.
• Encouraged team members to achieve high performance and gathered data to support findings.

EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX 2005
Master of Arts in organizational management.

CITY COLLEGE, City University of New York – New York 1987
Bachelor of Arts in management and administration.

SKILLS
• Strong group presentation and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated leadership abilities.
• Expertise in employee and client training.
• Exceptional organizational skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Loving God's People

Monday, February 22, 2010 Print Article
Leave a Comment
Loving God's People
Bishop Walter S. Thomas
Hebrews 10: 24-25 says this:

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

It goes without saying that often in life we feel alone. We feel as if we are standing against the storm alone, fighting the rising tide alone, dealing with the difficulty alone, and living the great moments alone.

Life has been so unkind to so many of us that we have failed to cultivate or revisit the art of being close to persons and knowing the joy that comes from true and genuine fellowship.

We can find ourselves seeking to be alone because we feel it is safer and we won't be hurt. The real truth, however, is that we are missing out on what God has purposefully put in our path: His people.

God knows we cannot make this journey by ourselves and still know the fullness of the joy God has for us. What God has for us is intricately woven into fellowship and cannot be fully experienced until we allow ourselves to embrace the community of which God has us a part.

He has given us His people and now we must learn to love again. Jesus said that we would be known as his disciples 'by our love one for another.' God allows us and teaches us how to love and just what love means.

He teaches us that within the confines of God's family, we must learn how to love and to forgive. We must learn how to care and to be compassionate. We must learn how to celebrate and to serve.

I must admit...I love the people of God. They have been my instructors in life, my companions in suffering, my cheerleaders in success, and my friends in life. The writer of Hebrews said that we should not take this love 'for granted.'

We should seek out ways to build upon it and to encourage one another. We have a community that is always looking for new ways to inspire and to edify us. In the midst of a world that wrestles with the meaning of love, God has placed us in a community that seeks to practice love.

Let us not be naïve; the church is far from perfect. It has its flaws and makes its mistakes, but it is the bride of Christ being prepared for her Lord.

A love for God's people can help us all to realize that we should not live out our lives' journey by ourselves.



Serving as the pastor of the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland since1975, Bishop Walter S. Thomas, Sr. is the presiding Bishop of Kingdom Association of Covenant Pastors. Bishop Thomas is a certified Personal and Executive Coach. He also is the host of Empowering Disciples broadcast. For more information about Bishop Thomas, log onto www.newpsalmist.org.


© Bishop Walter S. Thomas all rights reserved.


Share this devotional on: Facebook MySpace del.icio.us Digg

A Love For God's People

Sunday, February 21, 2010 Print Article
Leave a Comment
A Love For God's People
Dr. Patricia Bailey-Jones
Life is God's gift to us, but what we do with that life is our gift back to God. One of the most expressive ways to show God our attitude of gratitude is to share the life of God's love with others.

We live in a world that is screaming for love in all the wrong places. As a society, we have lowered our standards to believe that it doesn't matter where the love comes from, as long as it packaged with a label called "love". Most often we find that what we call "love" is actually lust disguised.

One can always use this example as a gauge to measure if something is love or lust: If it is true love it's always looking for an opportunity to give. If it is lust it is always looking for an open door to take.

We have crossed the threshold of a new age, we must hold fast to the core values that have made us sober and secure. Jesus tells us that on these two hang the entire laws of the prophets according to Matthew 22:38-40:

"This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

As we walk out and share this love with others, we should exemplify the horizontal and vertical love of God. This model displays the insignia of the cross. Then we take up that cross daily (the love of God) and carry it to a lost and dying world that so desperately awaits it.

Today we are being faced with a challenge that we've never been faced with before. We are openly commanded to love a people who do not think or live like us. We must find a way to channel that passion and conviction into loving them with the same conviction that must be modeled beyond words only, it must become tangible.

John 13:34-35, Jesus explicitly declared,

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

The only way the world would ever believe that the Kingdom of God existed and that God had a sincere heart towards humanity was if those who had been in the presence would show the love of God towards each other.



The ministry of Dr. Patricia Bailey-Jones has created a tremendous impact for more than 25 years in over 100 countries around the world, bringing deliverance and salvation to countless thousands through Master's Touch Ministries, a mission outreach that has headquarters in North Carolina, Los Angeles, and London, England. For more information about Dr. Bailey Jones, log onto www.mtmintl.org