1. Volunteer for jobs no one else wants.

2. Never be on time – be early.

3. Respect everyone—especially the “little people”.

4. Money isn’t everything. Never make quality of life decisions based on money. Money follows ministry.

5. Help others succeed and you will always succeed.

6. Don’t forget the people who got you here.

7. Never take credit—pass praise on.

8. Be a life-long learner. “What did I learn today?”

9. Select and enlist mentors.

10. Be generous – sow into other’s life.

11. Determine your finish lines: A. What is “enough”? B. Inheritance vs. legacy

12. Forgive quickly.

13. Accept responsibility when things go wrong—don’t pass on the blame. Fess up when you mess up.

14. Discover your gift and operate in it.

15. Gifts change at different times in your life.

16. Don’t imitate—be an original. Be yourself.

17. Love life—enjoy living—laugh out loud.

18. No one “owes” you anything—assume responsibility.

19. Life is not easy—roll with it. Regardless of what you observe on the outside in other people’s life—it is tough.

20. Stay away from negative people.

21. Look at everyone you meet as God’s appointment—you never know.

22. Never do anything well—do it with excellence.

23. Never keep your promises—over deliver (beat deadlines, come under budget, do it with fewer people).

24. Develop a team in everything you do.

25. Hang with passionate people.

26. You’re not always right—the most important thing you will change is your mind.

27. Work hard – don’t be lazy.

28. Conquer procrastination. Practice OHIO. (Only Handle It Once)

29. If you are collaborating with businesspersons to finance your ministry—they prefer early morning.

30. Donors don’t give when you are down—they give (invest) in success.

31. Go to meetings and meet new people. Follow up with notes ASAP.

32. Learn to write notes.

33. Take risks—anyone can do the safe thing.

34. Think long term.

35. Build relationships before transactions.

36. Let someone in ahead of you while in traffic or line—you’ll feel better and live longer.

by Dr. Samuel R. Chand

Mr. Bilson

Consider these events; the United Nations to counter eventual threats deployed missiles to Bulgaria and Romania. The Russian president Vladimir Putin was quick to oppose it. The United States, around the same time, fortified Hawaii to oppose threats from Korea. This kind of reactive response to threats has been followed by many other countries all over the world including China, Pakistan and India. Whether it is a matter of insecurity or not is another topic all together.

The radars, satellites, sensors on these kill vehicles are positioned to detect the light, heat and range of the attacking object. These positioned weapons are quick to detect the threat and respond with speed and accuracy destroying the intentions of the enemy.

Each nation strives and spends millions of dollars to develop their defence technology and missiles, even today, despite the severe economical challenges. These weapons are strangers to the concept of rest, boredom, vacations; they are ever ready for their masters to use. Here is what I want you to know; the truth is that God has his own positioned weapons against the work of the enemy.

The Lord has always used men and women for His purpose against the work of the enemy and the ones that will create HIStory are the ones who are completely surrendered to His will and ready at all times.

While I was praying, the Lord reminded me of a message that I had preached when I was 14 years old. It was about David’s anointing. Notice that when Samuel arrived, he called the sons of Jesse to consecration and sacrifice. That was to purify themselves to be anointed as king. He said, “Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” 1 Samuel 16:5. And after all of that, he still did not find the king among them.

Then came David, the youngest who was keeping the sheep. And as soon as he came in, the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he…” 1 Samuel 16:12, 13 Wait a minute!! Does he not need to be consecrated like the other brothers? What’s the hurry to anoint him?

The simple truth was that David lived in consecration in the fields while he attended the sheep. He lived in holiness. David did not have to switch gears to worship God for the anointing to fall. He lived his life s an act of worship. He, David, was a positioned weapon for God. Some of us struggle to get into a prayer or worship atmosphere when we enter into the presence of God. It is simply because throughout the day and the rest of the week, we are not positioned weapons.

I had one of my spiritual sons text message me the other day saying, “Dad, I want to be used by God.” I wrote back to him to saying, “Don’t pursue ministry. Pursue God.” We are God’s weapons that will damage the kingdom of satan. We do not need to tell God how to use us. We just need to be available to let Him deploy us the way He deems best. We need to keep pursuing God despite our struggles. (If you missed reading ‘The secret of the standing man’ Read, HERE

Do not let your carnal desires mould your spiritual dreams. Gifts of the Holy Spirit are not for our fame, prestige or money.

Let God use you for whatever He purposes, only surrender to His will in grateful worship and passionate seeking throughout the week and throughout the day. Then, He’ll use you when He wants and however He wants and in that, there is complete glory to God. In His perfect will, there is joy and completeness. Let’s be ever ready, positioned weapons for God!

Are you a positioned weapon for God?

Pass this link on and help me share this word for this hour, to this generation.

Shyju Mathew © SMMinistries. Website: http://www.shyjumathew.com

A distinguished Indian evangelist named Sadhu Chellappa was on a mission trip to a village north of Madras, when in the middle of the night he suddenly sensed God speaking to him: "Leave this house quickly and run away!"

Not exactly a convenient thing to do. But Chellappa was accustomed to accepting even strange instructions from the Lord without debate, so he dressed quickly and ran into the darkness.

After a while, he was in open country. As he passed beneath a large tree, he felt God tell him, "Stay here and start to preach!" Now, even for an experienced evangelist, this was puzzling--because there was no one to be seen. Why did God want him to preach to an empty field in the middle of the night? But he stopped under the tree and began to preach the gospel.

Finally, he reached the point at which he called on his unseen listeners to give their lives to Jesus. He was surprised to hear a voice from the top of the tree and see a man climb down, crying. The man tearfully gave his life to Jesus. When Chellappa asked why he was in a tree out in the middle of nowhere, the man admitted, "I came out here to hang myself."

How is your obedience quotient? God calls us to be obedient to that small voice inside that can direct us to sometimes do strange things. Jesus was obedient in ALL things. "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (Rom 5:19). God can do exceedingly great things through one man or woman who is willing to be obedient to God's voice. Ask for His grace today to be obedient to His voice.

His Prayer House

Spending habits have undergone dramatic changes in recent years in India. A new report finds that people are speanding a great deal on clothes and communications.

Indian is showing a preference for ready-made apparel with a massive 75% hike in such purchases while the neighbourhood darzi may soon be an extinct species as tailoring expenses have gone down by 26% in the rural sector and 33% in the urban sector.

Another major change in consumer behaviour was found in the way India connects. Telephone expenditure, per person per month, increased by a whopping 515% since 1999-2000 in rural areas and by 230% in urban areas. The deep inroads made by the mobile revolution was visible in the proportion of households incurring expenditure on telephone going up from 5% to 32% in rural areas and from 25% to 63% in urban areas. Expenditure on education has gone up from 45% to 57% in urban India and from 29% to 44% in rural India while expenses on healthcare have also gone up substantially.

All of these are a clear indicator of change culture and values in modern India. Embrace of modernity and globalization of India does not come without its perils. Consumeristic ideology and ramphant materialism does not satisfy deepest human aspirations. More stuff and toys only adds to new and complicated problems in the society. It merely replaces one set of problems with new ones. How will Indian community, Hindu faith or church in India address these and other changes in India? Something I would like to keep a close eyes on.

Coconut Generation

Mumbai, 24th February 2010

Source: Siasat News

7000 Sindhis Convert to Christianity in 2 Years

The close-knit Sindhi community in Ulhasnagar, north-east of Mumbai, is undergoing a social upheaval of sorts. Over the last two years, a sizeable number in the township — primarily created for Sindhis who came in as refugees from Pakistan’s Sindh province after partition — have drifted away from Hinduism and embraced Christianity.The “conversions” have sent shockwaves among the community elders, specially since Indian Sindhis, weighed down by the scars of partition, are known to be staunch followers of Hinduism.

Most of those who are shifting their faith allegiance to Christianity are in their 40s and, in fact, had been devout followers of Hinduism.

Out of four lakh Sindhi-speaking Hindus in Ulhasnagar, around 7,000 (1.75%) have changed their faith in the last two years, according to a rough count. The growing number of “conversions” has scared the Sindhi-speaking Hindus to such an extent that they are contemplating a social boycott of the neo-Christians. Those who are taking to Christianity are not branding it as a conversion; instead, they say they have only changed their faith. Most have not even changed their Hindu names, which is turning out to be a major bone of contention with the Hindus.

“We are not against any religion but if they do not believe in Hinduism and are drawn closer to Christianity, they should adopt Christian names. We have called a meeting of the saints in our community in July. In that meeting, we will take a decision to boycott the converted Sindhis socially if they do not change their names,” said Sai Balram, general secretary of the All India Sindhi Samaj, one of the prominent organisations of the community.
Global recession is to blame, say Hindu leaders in the community. Ulhasnagar is largely a business township, full of small scale industries and traders.

Balram said, “The Christian missionaries helped the small businessmen rebuild their businesses. Since then, there has been a wave of conversion.”

But Ram Budhwani, a resident who follows Christianity, rubbishes the argument. “I started visiting the chapel to get peace of mind. I lost my wife in an accident two years ago. I became an alcoholic. I suffered heavy losses in my business and had to close down my shop. But since I am visiting the prayer house (known as Prarthana Ghar in Ulhasnagar) I am making progress in my business. I set up my shop again and am doing well. I have changed my faith, not the religion,” he said.

The Sindhi-speaking Hindus in Ulhasnagar feel people like Budhwani have betrayed the community. “Sindhis are known for their loyalty to Hinduism. We preferred to leave our places (in Pakistan) during the Partition but refused to convert into Islam. Now, we are confused how to face the situation,” a senior citizen from the community said.

Siasat News