Posted by ventures under Advice | 
For a few years now I have run a christian dating site at http://www.christiandatingreviews.net
I’m now at the place where I am challenging the propriety of this model of finding God’s mate for you for life. Whilst sites like this narrow the field, so to speak, and provide an escape from the many mainstream dating sites, christian dating sites are not devoid of their own challenges.
Are we to seek God’s face solely in this area and expect Him to find us our life partner in the everyday goings on of life?
Are we to make the issue of a life partner a matter of prayer?
Are we to busy ourselves with the work of the Lord and in due season our life mate will gradually appear in osmosis fashion?
I will address this issue in upcoming posts… stay tuned.
Posted by ventures under Advice, Featured Articles |
So often we hire or pay for services from professionals to assist us in our lives, to help solve our problems, or to help us through a challenge or calamity. We also spend thousands of dollars in the process! What if there was a way that you could access a myriad of professionals from the comfort of your home, on demand, for a fraction of the cost. I have been recently introduced to a wonderful product which is helping me improve my important personal relationships and I would me negligent not to share it with you. I’m talking about my relationship with my spouse, my daughter, and my extended family. What about your marriage – the most important earthly relationship you could have. I’m learning about my love language, how to handle conflict, conflict resolution, strengthening my parenting skills, how to hold a family conference, how to improve my communication with my spouse, and how to create greater harmony in my life!
Well I’m talking about FamilyIQ, as featured on the Dr. Phil show as well as the Tyra Banks program. If you’re interested to learn more you can visit FamilyIQ for more details. Be sure to claim your free gift (bottom right hand button). I hope you like what you see, the program is really helping me improve my personal relationships and that is priceless!
Posted by Kent Bascome under Advice, Featured Articles |
The Christian’s Present (Phillipians 3:12–16)
The figure of a runner is a favorite with Paul (see 1 Cor. 9:25–27; 1 Thes. 2:19–20; Heb. 12:1–3; 2 Tim. 2:5). Of course, Paul is not suggesting that we run to get to heaven! The Olympic runners in ancient Greece had to be citizens of the nation they represented. They also had to be free men, not slaves. The unsaved sinner is a slave, but the Christian is a citizen of heaven (3:20) and has been set free by Christ. Each Christian is given a special place on the “track” for his or her own service, and each one has a goal established by Christ. Our task in life is to “lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of us” (v. 13). Paul is not talking about salvation but sanctification—growth and progress in Christian life and service.
How do we reach the goal God has set for us? For one thing, we must be honest with ourselves and admit where we are: as Paul declared. “Not that I have already attained” (v. 12). Then, we must keep our eyes of faith on Christ and forget the past—past sins and failures, and also past successes. We must press on in His power. The Christian life is not a game; it is a race that demands the very best that is in us: “This one thing I do” (v. 13). Too many Christians live divided lives. One part enjoys the things of the world and the other part tries to live for the Lord. They get ambitious for “things” and start minding earthly ambitions. Our calling is a “high calling” and a “heavenly calling”; and if we live for this world, we lose the prize that goes with our high calling.
Satan wants us to live in the past. God wants us to press on in the present with an eye to the future. We often let those things which are behind to distract us, whether they be “good” things or “bad” things, we may let them keep us from what God has in front of us.
Think of how the above spiritual lesson parallels in our business. We need to perservere when things look dim and success seems far away.
Posted by ventures under Advice, Featured Articles |
The entrepreneur is born with a unique drive and ambition. Starting something and carrying it through to completion becomes a lifelong passion for those born with this entrepreneurial spirit. To do anything but start a business will lead to frustration, and starting a business from scratch and seeing it through to success will fuel our passion.
As a kid, I always knew I wanted to start and run my own business. This intense desire for the entrepreneurial challenge may have been provided by a series of early experiences. At age 9, I took a paper route and was thrilled the first time I purchased something with my own hard-earned money. When it was time for our scout troop’s popcorn drive, I was tenacious about out-performing my friends in popcorn sales. I also watched my father’s career end early and in personal tragedy as a result of a careless and unrepentant Fortune 500 company to which he had devoted his life. In any case, I knew that SOMEDAY I would start a business and chart my own path.
The problem for me was that SOMEDAY simply did not come. While in college, it seemed like I was the target of every get-rich-quick scheme. Thankfully, I never took the bait. In my twenties, I spent lots of time researching what seemed like several perfectly viable ideas, but I kept waiting for one of those “home run” ideas where talk turns to action. So I kept working at a job that I didn’t particularly enjoy but I knew that SOMEDAY things would be different.
What I realize now is that there are not that many “home run” business ideas. Most companies that are wildly successful today (Google, Microsoft, Wal-Mart) started very small and grew over time with many years of hard work. The founders of these companies took an idea and invested their lives to realize the often distant target of success.
I’ve learned some secrets along the way to successful entrepreneurship, and it would be unfair of me not to share them with the world.
1. Find a skill or talent you already possess.
2. Form an idea from your talent that you’ll love to pursue.
3. Cultivate your passion – good ideas don’t change the world without passion.
4. Ask yourself, “If I were independently wealthy and didn’t have to do anything, how would I spend my day?” Develop your business concept around the answer and you’ll be that much more committed to it.
5. Do your research and gather facts. Educate yourself as fully as possible.
6. Form friendships and find mentors that will help support the successful execution of your idea.
7. Realize that not every good idea is a winning idea.
8. Also realize that perfect opportunities do not exist.
9. Calculate the risks involved, but don’t be crippled by fear.
10. Find something that you can start part-time, while you keep your bill-paying job and when the part-time income exceeds the full-time, make the switch to your new entrepreneurial career.
11. LAUNCH! Start this process today.
12. Give back. Share your experiences and invest in others.
You can’t complete what you won’t begin. Take the leap with courage and pursue your passion, and start today!
photo credit: Erik Charlton
