NEW LIFE !
JAN/FEB 2015
GOT LIFE Don’t Be Actively Lazy Imagine your favorite NFL football team announces their new season lineup. As you listen you get excited because the list of players sounds like the perfect Super Bowl bound team. However, when you watch the first game you notice that one of the main offensive guards who is supposed to protect the quarterback appears to always look to the other offensive guards to do his job, while dodging the guys from the opposing team who are coming after the quarterback. No matter how many great players that team has, they can kick their dream of the Super Bowl goodbye until something is done with that player. Hey, he may have even been a great player in college, and have the strength of an Ox. But, at the moment he is costing the perfect team their dream. It’s quite easy to join an exciting team that is doing great work, while you contribute very little to the great work the exciting team is doing and receive the same applause the rest of the team receives. Unfortunately, this happens all too often. Over time it starts to wear out the other members of the great team because they spend unneeded time and energy doing
what the nonworking member of the team pretends to be doing. About a month or two ago I was reflecting on a group conversation that I was a part of. In the conversation most of us talked about what we needed to do and how we planned to go about making things happen. But there was one individual who seem to offer very little input as to how they would accomplish their responsibility. When solutions were offered they expected the rest of the team to pitch in to help them do their assignment, yet they never offered to assist any of the other team members accomplish their task. For me it was extremely annoying, yet no one else seemed to be put off by this, in my opinion, selfish behavior. So as I pondered that gathering, I realized that many great teams struggle not because they don’t have enough team members or workers, but because they have one too many actively lazy team members. The same thing happens in the church. Churches are filled with some of the greatest people anywhere. They have some of the best skills, education, experiences, life testimonies, ideas, and yet often time they may choose to Continue on page 5
Take A Coffee Break One of the things I picked up during my out of the country travels is how much other countries make use of “down time”. Kenyans are great for doing this. They take tea breaks throughout the day. During this time they just relax and enjoy conversation with fellow co-workers or friends over the office tea. I’ve gone into shops to buy clothes and end up spending an extra 30 plus minutes because they insist on me taking a break and enjoying a cup of fresh brewed hot sweet tea. And 90% of times, I love it! Every day I try to enjoy my coffee break time when I arrive at work. It’s the time I use to think about the days work. Later in the afternoon I enjoy my tea and “biscuit” . This is when I just relax for a few minutes. Every now and then we all could use a few moments to just relax. In this new year give it a try. Just take a moment and see what the coffee actually taste like. -Pastor Mel
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