Thoughts from Within

  The Trainer and His Objective The role of a trainer is to prepare another participant for a future engagement. Trainers are to provide the trainee with tools for interacting during that engagement when it arises. If successfully trained, the trainee will use those tools to effect the outcome desired of the trainer . Therefore, it can be assumed that the trainee's performance is a direct reflection of his training, but even more so of the one providing the training... the trainer . The Christian Trainer If you, as a believer, have children, then you are a spiritual trainer regardless of whether or not you desire to be. The parent is either training proactively by obeying God's Word, or he is training myopically (unwittingly) by ignoring God's Word. So often we hear Proverbs 22:6-- "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it" -- and we tie it to Biblical obedience. We all understand that the verse denotes that...

I fail God everyday. There are days I fail Him by sinning willfully and there are days I sin and don't even realize it. We've all been there, I'm sure. When we sin willfully, we understand it and we can choose to correct the behavior at our own inclination. But how can we change the pattern of sin of which we are unaware? A few days ago in my morning devotions, I came across Psalms 19:12. It says, "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults." It struck me, and humbled me as I read, re-read, and pored over it in meditation. Here King David enlightens the believer to recognize that there are sinful actions, thoughts and behavior of which we are completely oblivious. In fact, we are repeat offenders because these sins have not been revealed to us. It got me to thinking, "what are my secret faults?" I'm sure those who observe me closely can tell me, and I could very easily return the favor because it's always easier to poi...

The year 2014 was a roller coaster ride for me and my family, and as with any roller coaster, you start at the bottom. Our ride began in January, homeless and living with my in-laws. It sounds way worse that it played out. Being homeless was actually an answer to prayer. We owned our own home for seven years before we outgrew it. It sold quickly and, to make a long story short, we needed a place to crash until we found a new house. My in-laws were actually very hospitable and patient with us during our tenure there. February was looking up. But that's the only direction it could have headed after receiving news that my dad had prostrate cancer. We spotted a home online, did some research and made an offer. By month's end, we signed paperwork and the house was ours. This was a miracle in itself, seeing the home had been repossessed and was government-owned. The process on houses like this normally takes months and months, but God worked it all out. March w...

As we strive to project the Gospel in our daily lives, we are to display boldness. Boldness is simply taking a stand without fearing the repercussions or consequences of that stand. The Bible says in Acts 4:31, "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." Boldness is a good trait to have in light of spreading the Gospel; in fact, it is a trait most leaders possess. However, being bold can be used as a tool of discouragement if abused. It can empower the tongue (or keypad) to voice opinions and judgments that are contrary to the will of God, and when that happens, we lose credibility for the Gospel.  I recently ran across something very helpful on the internet the other day that I am going to try to keep in mind. I did expound on them a bit. Here they are: Boldness doesn't justify: Poor planning. Why plan? The bold individual has i...

  How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove? Job 6:25 It is my nature, as it is with many others, to lash out and criticize things contrary to my will and opinion. When difficulties arise from dissenting opinion, my flesh wants to use words in a bitter fashion to persuade them to the truth as I see it. God, however, is not pleased with that reaction. What He wants is for us to use our words rightly (Pr. 15:26) -- to bring glory and honor to Him. Call it holy public relations if you will. Crisis management was just one of the many topics covered while studying the role of a public relations worker as a college student. Although a position in PR/Communications was not one I desired after graduation, I'm certainly glad I had the opportunity to learn effective ways of maintaining a positive outlook for an organization. During my time in college, I had the opportunity to intern under my university's public relations director and its assistant PR dire...

MAY 20, 2014 For just the second time in my ten years as an educator, I had to contemplate retaining a student in his current grade. The first time I was faced with this decision, I had just one year under my belt. My lack of experience showed as I immediately looked at the student's grades and concluded that sub-par grades justified the decision. This student's poor attitude toward schoolwork and toward anyone in authority made the decision easy to make at the time. It was almost like a form of punishment for her, which I was glad to administer. This time, I had come across several articles about the negative effects of retention. How it damages self-confidence and self-esteem. How it actually reduces desire to improve. How it typically has the opposite effect of the one desired. Now, I'm not advocating the idea of social promotion -- the idea of promoting a student to keep him with his age-appropriate peers, regardless of failing grades. The proponents of so...

  Puke, Vomit, Hurl. These are the best words I can bring up (pun intended) to describe my disgust for cultural androgyny – the societal blurring of the gender lines. We live in a culture where masculinity is criticized for its rough exterior and insensitivity, and feminism is elevated as the preferred trait among men. To succumb to this idea, it is now acceptable for parents buy their son girls’ jeans and allow him to grow his hair out long enough to make Rapunzel jealous. This same culture that belittles masculinity in men, promotes it for women. Our daughters are told that there are no barriers or rules for dress. Anything goes, even if that means looking the part of their male counterparts. Society warns that it would be an epic failure to ask individuals to don a gender-appropriate hairstyle or wear gender-appropriate attire because “you may damage their psyche” and you might “limit their opportunity to express individuality.” In the 1970s, Sandra Bem – the inventor of t...