President Woodrow Wilson set aside the second Sunday of May starting in 1914 as “Mother’s Day”. Originally, it was founded as a day for mourning women to remember their fallen soldiers and achieve personal peace. The greatest champion of Mother’s Day was Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. See, it all started in the 1850s when the West Virginia Women’s organizer Ann Reeves Jarvis held Mother’s Day. Her organization had many lofty aspirations, including dropping the infant mortality rate. They were also the first organization to put standards on the quality of milk in order to help curb related sickness (Katharine Autolins). The group also tended the wounds of soldiers regardless of allegiance during the U.S. Civil War. In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, best known for her composition of “The Battle Hyme of the Republic”, issued a widely read Mother’s Day proclamation calling for women to take an active political role in promoting peace. So originally Mother’s Day was about women helping others. Today, let us celebrate Mothers for what they do and how hard they work. Let us take a moment to appreciate their influence being ever present in our lives. I wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the great Moms out there who truly care.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Legacychurch.com

When we as people demand our rights instead of taking responsibility for our actions we create a mess. Look at our country. It is so messed up because its people only demand their rights. They demand someone take care of them and help them. It is almost like people today make themselves helpless. Demanding our rights creates strife and discord in our lives. Strife and discord kill relationships, destroy organizations, and create confusion. People who demand their rights also place blame and it will always be someone else’s fault. People who take responsibility do not blame and do not point fingers. They ask how they can improve and what they could have done differently. They are willing to change themselves or make changes in their lives. They say it is my fault and no one else’s. Being responsible is necessary in order to be healthy and have healthy relationships. It is necessary to have hopes that things will get better. Take a person who blames his or her parents for all their issues. Their parents may have been awful, but the parents are not the ones who suffer. If this person only blames his/her parents for his/her issues, the person will never get better. If they would take responsibility for their choices, they would experience more freedom. There needs to be an expiration date on what was done to us. We need to take responsibility for our own choices and decisions. Your choice, one leads to a mess while the other leads to a better you.

In every organization you have leaders and you have the “the leader”. A leader can generate bad leadership and bad organization, or good leadership and good organization. The leader determines the direction, vision, culture, and goals of an organization. They also determine the collective attitude of an organization. If the people working under the leader have a bad attitude, the organization’s success is sabotaged. Attitude determines the altitude. People left to themselves with no direction from a leader are a constant reminder of why we do what we do. Those same people will develop their own culture and their own goals. When that happens failure is close by. Leaders must communicate what they expect as well as constantly remind the people working with them of their shared vision. The absent leader and the micro manager also stifle the growth of the individuals who work under them and consequently will run the organization into the ground. We should write our vision down and make it very clear so those who read it may run with it (Habakkuk 2:2). We must remember to keep our attitudes right while getting our jobs done. We must appreciate what we have and take care of it. We must honor those over us. We must strive to be the best we can be. Let us practice being better leaders and prepare to grow in leadership.

We must all realize there are consequences for our actions and the decisions we make. If we make good choices, good consequences follow. If we make bad choices, bad consequences follow. The culture we are in the midst of does not like to think about bad consequences. They think no matter what we do, we deserve good consequences. Real life does not work that way. In reality, we are all accountable for our actions.

This past weekend we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead. We can all have new life if we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and confess Him as Lord of our lives (Romans 10:9-10). The consequence of choosing to do this and choosing to follow His ways is eternal life. If we reject Him by not receiving Him as Lord and Savior and refuse to follow his ways the consequence is eternal death in Hell, where we will be lost forever. What a choice. The greatest news is that you get to decide for yourself who to follow. You get to choose which consequence you end up with. It is your choice, and I pray you choose the God of another chance.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Legacychurch.com

In our country, we throw the word leadership around lightly, and I believe we misuse it.  What does leadership mean?  It is such a simple question, yet it continues to vex consultants and the lay people alike.  To answer this, let us first look at what leadership is not.  Leadership is not a top spot in a hierarchy.  Leadership has nothing to do with seniority.  Leadership is not found in titles.  Real leaders do not need a title to lead.  Their authority is reinforced by their follower’s trust.  Perhaps the lowest form of leadership is a leader resting on the old “I am the boss so do what I say” concept.  In this concept,  people listen to you because they have to,  not because they have any desire to.  They listen to you based solely on your position, not on their respect or trust for you.  Most people I meet use this style of leadership.  To me, this is not leadership at all.  Peter Prucher  defined a leader as someone who has followers.  Warren Bennis says  “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality”.  Bill Gates said “As we look into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others”.  John Maxwell defined leadership as influence, nothing more and nothing less.  Either way, leadership is more than just managing people, and it is a whole lot more than just a title.  In addition, leadership is forfeiting your right to complain and to do what is in only your best interest.  Leadership is not about you, it is about the people you lead. 

Just a Thought

PSS

Legacychurch.com