Articles published in 2016

Preparing for the ‘Fourth Quarter’

By Jim Mathis Life can be compared to a football or basketball game, or perhaps the final minutes of a soccer match. At some point you reach the fourth quarter. You feel tired, maybe hurting a little, but there is still time on the clock. There are still plays to be made. Chances are, they are the most important plays of the game. This is where you win or lose the contest.

Benefits of Being Authentic

By Rick Boxx How do you feel when you suspect someone is not being authentic or genuine, when it appears that individual is putting on an act – a “façade” – to make a desired impression with the people he or she is with at the time?
Tags:  Authenticity

‘Tis The Season To Get Distracted

By Robert J. Tamasy As each calendar begins drawing to a close, we often find a curious paradox. On one hand our desire is to focus these final weeks on attaining annual goals, quotas and deadlines. At the same time, with the many holiday festivities getting underway as seasonal holidays approach, it becomes very easy to lose our concentration on the tasks that need to be done. We could call this “the season of distraction.”
Tags:  Time, Wisdom, Holiday Season

The Secret to True Genius

By Rick Boxx One of my favorite television shows is “Scorpion.” In this series, a group of socially inept geniuses contract with the Department of Defense to solve potentially catastrophic problems. They are highly intelligent, even though their people skills often leave something to be desired. The fascinating aspect of every episode in the series is that all the geniuses have their own unique fields of expertise, but when they combine those skills, their synergy and the sum of their collective genius solves incredibly complex and challenging problems.
Tags:  People, True Genius, Genius, Teamwork

Indispensable, Like A Cellphone?

By Robert J. Tamasy How did we ever survive without cellphones? Have you wondered about that recently? Decades ago, before cellphones became commonplace, it was not a concern. If we had an urgent need to place a call, we would seek out a payphone somewhere – in a store, or even along a roadside. If someone needed to reach us while we were traveling in a car, or somewhere without phone service, they were just out of luck.
Tags:  Indispensable, Scripture, Bible

The Great Leaf Blower Incident

By Jim Mathis Some time ago my wife suggested I stop patching up my old leaf blower and buy a new one. So I bought one at a local home improvement store. After a few minutes of blowing off the patio, however, I realized I had come very close to cutting off my fingers because there was no guard on the machine’s impeller.
Tags:  Competence, Experience, Standards, Excellence

Ways God Is At Work In You - At Work

By Robert J. Tamasy Have you ever thought of your work as more than a job? Perhaps you are among the people that regard your work as an opportunity of ministry. But have you ever considered your work could be a place where God is at work in you? Keith Welton, a pastor who has spent time in the corporate world, has written Working for Glory: A Theology for Doing Work that Matters. Drawing from it he wrote an article, “Six Ways God’s at Work in You,” that appeared on desiringgod.org. I have borrowed his bullet points, adding my own thoughts. Basically, Welton suggests God is using the workplace to:
Tags:  Work, God At Work