Christians: Playing The Left Behind...

Happy Memorial Day weekend celebration all.

Trust you're all enjoying the holiday, sharing the memorable moments with friends and family.

Happy weekend. And remember to safely, carefully and prayerfully enjoy your Memorial Day holiday. 

-----------------------------

Today, I am continuing the excerpts from my book - YOU CAN Make A Determined Difference and talking about the obvious fact that Christians play "left-behind" when it comes to assuming positions of influence and responsibility.

What's more, there is an ironical commendation in the Bible for the children of this world who are supposedly more "clever" than spiritually-minded people of God - Luke 16:8.

Brian Tracy, one of America’s time management experts and accomplished author, while contributing to the topic of essentials of making the determined difference in RELATIONSHIPS at the market-place, aptly puts it this way:

“The glue that holds all relationships together - including the relationship between the leader and the led is - TRUST and trust is based on INTEGRITY.

I couldn’t agree more. Trust and integrity are indisputably inevitable, sustaining bonds in every facet of our society: at school, at work and in our community. They are necessary in business just as they are in politics and sports. They hold things together for here, now and certainly lead us to an enduring future.

Whereas Christians form majority of the workers competing for jobs in the United States - at 76% of total adult population - according to the American Religious Identification Survey, 2008; http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/AmericanReligionSurvey-ARIS/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf] and whereas they are as educationally qualified as any of their peers, it is an irony that fewer of those that profess and practice their Christian faith seldom get to be engaged, recognized and/or adequately rewarded, not to talk of being considered for positions of responsibility and trust - because they lack the key principles of making the DETERMINED difference among their equals that their employers most often seek.

My main aim is to advocate the importance of Christian character as needed virtues at the market-place, in circle of friends and associates as well as in our very own communities: where all of the things we are taught at school, at Church, at seminars and conferences about making the difference are put to the social test.

I am writing principally to draw awareness of Christians aspiring to positions of influence and non-Christians alike, to the key spiritual insights laid out as principles of wisdom and those virtues that enable enduring fulfillment of life’s goals.

Two Scriptures every reader/worker must seriously ponder over and take note of in reading this Book are found in Jesus’ Parable of the Shrewd Manager found in Luke 16:10-12 and some of King Solomon’s principles on how to succeed in life - Proverbs 24:3-4:

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?...” Luke 16:10-12 [NIV]

and… 

“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” Proverbs 24:3-4 [NIV]

I believe that each of us can make an enduring, “determined” difference when we have learned the simple truths of these key principles that enabled others succeed.

I believe that we can leave behind the pains of debilitating defeat and progress to harnessing the gains of the efforts towards making the determined difference. Yes, WE CAN. We should.

Quick Fixes Usually Don't Fix Quick...

Hello all and trust you all had a good and restful weekend.

Looks like with all my busy-ness over the weekend, it just skipped my mind to do this posting. But not to worry. Here it is - early enough on Monday morning - for your coffee delight.

I am sharing thoughts on the effects of "quick-fixes" and how not to get trapped in the common parlance - "the end justifies the means."

Have a great rest of the week; happy reading and be sure to give me your feedback as always:

Not long ago, I read on a billboard that’s located at a strategic location on one of America’s busy city streets that says it all. It read: LIFE’S SHORT CUTS - CUTS SHORT LIFE. It perhaps sounds somewhat too philosophical until you realize that today’s popular life game could best be described as “Quick-Fixes.” This game is played every where and by almost everyone: politicians, athletes, business people, academia, families, etc. and it is addictive. What with the world of “Google” where virtually everything and anything could be discovered and referenced with relative ease! It used to be that we were taught lessons on staying at it and doing it right. We spent hours learning how to, till we became really good at it. Now we celebrate and reward short-cuts, quick fixes and more often than not, mediocrity.

Oh that men and women will learn to do good planning and work hard. Oh that they would realize that hasty shortcuts lead to poverty - Proverbs 21:5

Worst still is the fact that our quest for legality and correctness overshadow decency and performance at the expense of expediency.

Apostle Paul must be looking far ahead at our day when he wrote to the Corinthians:

“All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify.” - I Corinthians 10:23

Beyond professionalism though, personality, integrity and quality must be seen as necessary and excellence must be coveted. In a world where “correctness” is fast replacing civility, it is necessary that personality, integrity and quality be accorded their rightful place when considering equally well educated individuals for recognition and promotion to leadership - in small, medium and large organizations. In a world where corruption, suspicion and hypocrisy seem to be so pervasive, personality, integrity and quality cannot be ignored. And in an economy with limited and competing resources, it behooves employers of labor and business leaders to be determined ever than before, to go beyond consideration of mere educational appellations, into seeking those with strong character traits.

Enduring character traits must complement paper qualification. Best qualified candidates must be those whose acknowledged lifestyles of integrity are not in doubt. That, to my mind, is the way to ensure the integrity and sustenance of enterprises.

What say you?

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/solomonbbabajide

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/solomonbbabajide?_ga=1.102519553.1416034543.1460244529#

YOU CAN Make A Determined Difference... Yes YOU CAN!

Happy Sunday all and to the Mothers in our lives... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to you.
Thanks for staying faithful to your calling and for your loving care. You certainly must know that you make that determined difference!

During the week just ended, I had the rare honor of having Canton Coop Bank, 671 Washington Street, Canton graciously promoting the book "YOU CAN Make A Determined Difference..." The Bank is keeping the book and its CD on display for two weeks - till Monday, May 16th at their Banking Hall, and will be rounding it off with a raffle draw.
As you should expect, I am not taking this kind gesture for granted. I sincerely appreciate the Management's believe in what the book is all about and for daring to promote it.

Do me a favor - if you live in the area, stop by the Bank and let them know that you appreciate the good work that they doing to support the community and/or feel free to visit them on the web: www.cantoncoopbank.com and leave a word or two of appreciation. Thanks.

For today's blog, I am continuing the discussion of excerpts from the book. Please contribute to the discussion. Post your comment and observation. Be heard!

Thanks

Solomon B.

The principles applied by the religious worthies were not religiously exclusive. In our modern world, there have been numerous outstanding men and women that made a DETERMINED difference as they changed their communities and the world at large:

Steve Jobs [1955 - 2011] was one of them. From educational obscurity, he went ahead to found what was to transform the computer age in what became Apple Computers. That was nothing short of making a DETERMINED difference.

South Africa's Nelson Mandela [1918 to-date] spent 20 years in jail only to come out and become the President of his country. By standing against apartheid, the nation's rulers could not resist the determination of this larger-than-life man to see freedom and human dignity evolve!

Oprah Winfrey [1954 to-date], America's talk show host, is supposedly the richest and the most influential woman in the U.S. She is a passionate believer in self-improvement and works hard to make a DETERMINED difference.

Russia's Mikhail Gorbachev [1931 to-date], against all odds and threats to his life, had the courage and strength of character to confront age-old Soviet Communism and to move the Union to democracy and respect for human rights. That was a testimony to the power of making a DETERMINED difference.

Erstwhile British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher [1925 - 2013], and the only woman that ruled Britain for over a decade, changed the landscape of British politics for good. She emphasized individual responsibility to leadership and was called the “Iron Lady” of Britain by her strong will and determination to make the difference.

Here at home, the name Barak Obama [1961 to-date] will go down the world's history as the first black man to become America's two-time President. By defying racial and class barriers that has kept many black people away from such leadership role, Mr. Obama steadily but surely made significant and DETERMINED difference.